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Voice Coaches Radio #470 – Reunited (and it feels so good)

Voice Coaches Radio. Everything voiceover. And welcome to this week's edition of Voice Coaches Radio. I am Josh Heller. Delighted to have you joining me as I am each and every week here from the mothership at White Lake Music and Post here in Colony, New York. And, uh, you know, I've kind of previewed this a little bit, but, um, well, the time has come.

You've waited enough. You've been patient. You guys have been great. Uh, and, uh, and you deserve, uh, You deserve a prize. And the prize is this, ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor and pleasure to welcome back to The Voice Coach's radio microphone, the one, the only, the man, the myth, the legend, Sam Booty.

Sam, welcome back to the program. Josh, thank you so much for having me. What an intro, the man, the myth, and the legend. All three. All three of those things. Wow. Sam, it's been, uh, it's been a while. It's been, God, it's been over a year. It's been a year and a half, almost two. Oh my goodness. Yeah. This year has been, uh, weird.

So, uh, yeah. The time is, uh, time is a funny thing. Time is a funny thing. But, uh, but welcome back, Sam. Thank you. You've been, back with the, uh, with the organization for a little bit now. And we've been, uh, we've been trying to get you on here on the pod and, uh, and finally able to, to wrangle you down. But, uh, but first of all, man, welcome, welcome back.

I don't know if for the, uh, for the fans of Voice Coaches Radio, a, uh, a very, a very welcome voice to hear back in, uh, back in their headphones. Aw, thank you, Josh. Absolutely, my friend. Absolutely. I wanted to come back on one condition. Oh. One condition, and one condition only, that we remove the name of Josh and replace it with none other than Josh.

Drumroll please. Ba da da da da da da da da da. Baby Bear! We're bringing it back! We'll get into that. I'm pretty sure nobody... Nobody understands that anymore. Which is good, we'll bring it back. I'll resurrect it. That's my goal. My one job here is to bring back that name for Josh. So you brought me a book.

Uh, uh, I believe it was called Where Is Baby Bear? And um... I found that book, too. I think you found it at one of those lending libraries. Yeah, those books. It was a bike path by our house. And it was just sitting there with the facing out, everything else had the spine out, and that one just had the picture, and I'm like, well, I gotta grab this for Josh.

Well, and, and I, and I appreciate that, and, uh, and I was like, you know what? I'm gonna read this to my son. And then I started reading it to myself, and I was like, this is so weird. Did you read it? No, I didn't read it. Of course I didn't read it. Like, it's bizarre. Um, so that did not get, uh, not get read to myself lesser children.

Fiction. I did. I still have it. Well, I'm plattered. I did still have it. Um, but, uh, but Matt Fern, welcome back. First of all, thank you. Thank you. You know, tell us what you've been up to. Uh, you know, we do, uh, you know, you, uh, you left for, uh, you know, for, for some great opportunities. But tell us, you know, what you've been up to.

Obviously, you know, with, with things the way they are. It's, uh, it's. It's an interesting world out there, and uh, we're obviously excited to have you back. Thank you. But tell us what you've been up to. Yeah, I'm glad to be back. In the meantime, what I've been doing, I left Voice Coaches for an opportunity to produce and manage a podcast.

So I was producing, managing a business podcast out of San Diego, uh, did that for a year and a half. And then in the, in doing that, I found myself. other shows. So I'm still doing that as well. I'm managing, I think, two shows right now, producing two shows right now. And then I just found myself coming back to the world of voice acting.

In addition, I produced radio plays, I've been working with a college actually, not too far from us in upstate New York. So I've been still working in the world of audio and it's just other skills, that have been adding to the skill set in expanding upon my directing, my producing, my audio engineering, all of those things and management.

So that's been really, really exciting to do and to continue to do as well. That's awesome. And that's awesome. You know, it's uh, I feel like your experiences on Voice Coaches radio kind of set you up pretty good for, uh, oh my gosh, that was the training podcast. I mean, I'm assuming that's what you, you know, when you were going for the, uh.

You know, for the, for the job, you're probably like, well, I'm a big part of voice coaches radio. And they were like, voice coach, the voice coach's radio. And, uh, and it was pretty much slammed down. You know, Josh, I might even say I'm friends with Josh. I don't know if I go that far. Uh, so, but, uh, so now you, now you are back and, uh, and tell us what you're, what you've been doing here.

I know you've been helping us out in a pinch and, uh, and, and teaching some classes and doing some demos and that, but, uh, but tell us what you're, what you're going to be doing here with us. Yeah, in a lot of ways I jump back into the old job, uh, and then also then some. So in addition to training students and clients and making demos and teaching classes, I've actually been training some new teachers.

We're going to bring some more producers into the mix and maintaining our. Our teaching style here at Voice Coaches. And in addition to that, I'm gonna help with the student experience where the, as you know, and a lot of our clients would know as well, we rolled out a whole new website. So I'm kinda working through all the kinks with, uh, with David on that and just upping the user experience.

Yeah. Uh, you know, and, and by the way, for those listening, those new teachers, when they do come on, we certainly will be having them join us here on the podcast. So don't you worry about that. We will, uh, we'll introduce you to all the, the new faces that are, uh, that are here at, uh, at voice coaches radio.

But, uh, but you know, uh, you talk about the experience and, and I think that's. That's a huge part of people who are going through here and, you know, I remember when, you know, when you were first here, that was something that you really kind of had your hands in along with the teaching. So that's that's great that you're able to kind of focus more on that.

And like I said, you know, even kind of helping us out in a pinch right now. But, um, but certainly that's. That's got to be kind of fun to have that, uh, you know, especially with the new website being rolled out, with the new programs coming out. That's something that's kind of, uh, it's kind of clay that you get to mold.

Absolutely. It's, it's, it's still the same thing, but on a broader scale. Like it's, it's still teaching, it's still directing, it's still producing, but now we're doing it. from a bigger picture and also having other people in, in the mix as well. It's, it's a lot of fun and that's something I learned in podcast production.

It's, producing is like, it's like taking a step back and seeing the, the whole painting, right? So if each, if each voice actor, if each student and if each client, if each producer becomes like the paints, we're creating this whole canvas. So that's what we're, we're really working on. That's really fun for me to do.

That's awesome. That's awesome. And you, and some, you know, in the time that you've been gone, you've had some Some big personal news as well. Oh yeah, I got engaged. I think I was here when I got engaged. I might have been right when I left. Uh, I also got a new dog. That's definitely, definitely a welcome addition.

That's almost as important. Yes, very much. Some would say more. Some would say more. Maybe not your fiancé, but some would say more. No, yeah, the dog is, we love, we love dogs. We're dog people. It's, it's, dogs are just the best. Huge dog fan. You're talking to a guy who has two cats. I know, I know. Fat fatties, two, two fat fatties.

Oh, I love it. Cats are great. Um, I just love animals. You know, the older I get, the more I just love animals. Well, I mean, the truth is, you know, uh, so, so we had a cat, my wife had a cat for 16 plus years who passed away a little over a year ago. Oh, I'm sorry. And, well, thank you. And, uh, and actually a year ago this week, we, uh, we adopted, uh, two brothers, uh, Pretzel and Sam.

Uh, they're 8 years old. Pretzel! I love it. Pretzel is a Maine Coon. He's enormous. He's about 22 pounds. Down from about 29 when we got him. Uh, Sam is, uh, his brother is, uh, has a little less Maine Coon in him, so he's not quite as big. He's only about 17 or so pounds. Uh, but they're big boys. Uh, you know, but ultimately we do want to get a dog.

I want to wait until my son's a little bit older because I can only deal with so many children at one time. Uh, but ultimately and I think I have expressed this, I do ultimately want to get a dog and a kitten, a puppy and a kitten, and have them be best friends and live together forever. And uh, and you know, they'll have a, they'll have an Instagram page, you can follow it.

Actually, our two cats do have an Instagram page run by my wife. Yeah, they're called, uh, The Round Boys. Because the day we were going to get them, um, like I said, it was right before everything closed down. It was March 10th, uh, last year. And, uh, you know, we knew we were gonna get them. We had already visited them.

We were gonna pick him up from the Humane Society, and, uh, and that day I was bringing my son to, uh, to daycare, and he goes, he goes, Daddy, can you take a picture of me? And I was like, yeah, okay, sure. And I was like, why? He goes, I want you to send it to the round boys so they know that we're coming. And I was like, okay, first of all, that's hilarious.

Second of all, that's adorable. And, uh, and that's, uh, that's what it was. And, uh, Sam is a, uh, Declan and Sam have a good relationship. Pretzel is a little bit ornery, I'm not gonna lie to ya, a little bit ornery. We actually have, you know, uh, you've obviously met, uh, the, we have a mascot now at, uh, uh, at Voice Coaches, a little dog who, uh, who's here basically every day.

Oh, I love her. Little Marcy. Marcy is the best. I keep telling Will, I'm like, who's my girl? Come on, get out of there. Get out, we're gonna, we're gonna steal you. Come on, get out of here. She, uh, she loves to, uh, to pull down my mask, and bite my beard, and pull at it like it's a chew toy, and it's, it's unpleasant, but, you know, how can you stay mad at that?

So she's a, tiny, she's a, um, uh, uh, well she's part poot, I don't know what she is, she's a... Oh, he told me, um, a cockapoo. She's a cockapoo. That's correct. But like a miniature cockapoo. Like, she's tiny. Like, I think she's only like five or six pounds right now. She's a little, little bit of a thing. But she's here every day.

And it's amazing. And it makes me happy. Yeah. Yeah. It definitely makes me happy. So if you do come to Voice Coaches, bring your pets. Bring, bring your pets. Oh, we love it. We've had people do that before. Absolutely. I had a demo not too, too long ago with, uh, with a woman. And she brought her, uh, she had a, a dog.

It was a, um, uh, it was, it was a working dog. And, uh, just sat in the corner the entire time. I love it. That's just, it's so, it was super polite, like at one point I was telling her a story of something, you know, it happened at some, uh, it was a car accident, uh, not for me but for my neighbor. It was just kind of a stressful, uh, week and, and she was, and she literally was like, and the dog walked over to me and just put his head down on my knee and I was like, Oh my God, I need this so badly.

She's like, I know. I was like, Oh my God, they're great. They're great animals. They are, they are. They're so intuitive. They are. It's, it's awesome. It's awesome. And, and you know what? It's, uh, It's, uh, yeah. So we, we need more animals. Bring more animals to, uh, to Voice Coaches. Our new dog is a mini pin and chihuahua mix.

He's 12 pounds. When we got him, he was like seven. Tiny tiny dog rescue. But we got him because our other dog needed a dog. It really, I mean, we, Jocelyn and I, we love dogs. We definitely, we were really interested in getting another dog. But our other dog, he is really grumpy. He doesn't always... he was also a rescue had a pretty rough life to begin with, but he loves dogs and when he's around other dogs, he behaves differently.

He's more sociable. He has a better time. So we got him and now he's like super grumpy, but he's also, he's a, and he's not huge. He's a 20 pound dog, not, not the biggest dog in the world. And now he's like. I'm the big dog here like you just get in line little kid and he's, it's great. It's giving him a little boost of confidence, which is what we wanted.

If you're curious what the dog looks like, I think you can go to voicecoaches. com and see a picture of Sam. Oh yeah, Chef is on that one. Yeah, so uh, you can check that out voicecoaches. com. By the way, you can go to voicecoaches. com for all your voice coaches information needs. Um, or you can email me josh at voicecoaches.

com. That's how you can get in touch with me. Uh, so Sam, you know, or if you have any questions for Sam, wondering what he's been up to. Wondering why he, uh, he, he left us and, uh, and made me cry, but that's okay. It's fine. It's fine. Don't start. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. Uh, no, but we've, uh, we've had some great engagement recently, uh, with, uh, with you guys listening and, uh, and cannot appre I cannot express how much we appreciate that.

And, uh, and Sam, we're, we're definitely going to be, uh, be making you a regular back on the show. If not every week, then as often as humanly possible. I'm excited to be here. Thanks for even considering me, Josh. I am so flattered. Oh, come on now. Come on now. That was part of You know what? I was told Yes, I know Josh.

I was told that, that you were, you were probably coming back and I was like, under the auspices that he comes back to the podcast. If he does not, then I'm not interested. Deal, no deal. But if he's coming back, yeah, then, then that's okay. Then that's okay. No, I was saying we're, we're obviously, like I said, and I told this when, when you, you let me know you're coming back.

Cannot, uh, I cannot tell you how excited we are to have you back, not just on the podcast, but back in, in my life. Um, so, and you know what, it's funny because we, we've been saying like, oh, we got to get together like all the time that you've been gone. And then like, Like the last year, I haven't seen anybody, uh, at all, so, um, so hopefully Jocelyn's doing well.

I have no idea. Probably. She's doing great. Probably. Yeah, she's doing great. I figured as much. I figured as much. Um, well, excellent. Well, Sam, again, man, thanks for, uh, thanks for coming on and, uh, and welcome, welcome back to, uh, welcome back to the family. Welcome back. Well, thank you. It's good to be here.

Glad to have you back. Maybe a bear's glad to have you. But uh, if you have any questions for Sam, if you have any questions for me, any topics you want us to, uh, to discuss, we've been doing that recently and certainly enjoy, uh, doing that. Uh, Josh at voicecoaches. com, that's the easiest way to get in touch with us, josh at voicecoaches.

com. Again, as we mentioned, voicecoaches. com, that's the best place to go to find out all the information. There's a huge FAQ section there, so you can find out a lot of answers to the questions you may have there. But, uh, but don't hesitate to reach on out and let us know, because as always, and this has not changed, it's not just our show, it's yours as well.

Alright, Sam, welcome back and uh, and certainly you will be a, a regular voice here on the podcast but uh, but great to hear your vocal stylings once again, your dulcet tones back here on the pod. Pleased to be here. And for each and every one of you, thanks so much for tuning us in this week and every week.

We will be back next week. Don't you worry about that. VoiceCoaches. com is where to find out more information. Josh at VoiceCoaches. com is how to get in touch with me. So, take care everyone. Thanks for tuning in this week and until next time, so long everyone. Visit VoiceCoaches. com For more voiceover news and information.

Josh welcomes back former Voice Coaches Radio co-host Sam Buti to the program. The two catch up on what Sam has been up to since he left, and what his current role with Voice Coaches entails.