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Voice Coaches Radio #486 – The New Kid(s) in Town…Part 1
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, and delighted to have a special guest with me here. So, uh, about a week or so ago, I was, uh, I was standing outside the kitchen here at, uh, White Lake Music and Post, and we were celebrating someone's birthday, which seems to be every week.
And, um... And I saw people walking out of the kitchen, and I realized, we have a lot of new people here. A. K. A. I don't know many people here anymore. Uh, so I figured you probably, all listening, don't know many people here anymore, so we decided to have a little, a little introduction, a little, hey, how you doing?
And our first special guest is someone who, if you have called Voice Coaches any time in the recent past, you have probably heard the vocal stylings of Miss Janelle LaPointe. Janelle, thanks so much for joining us. Thank you for inviting me. Absolutely, absolutely. So, Janelle, you've been here for, you've been here for a little while now.
Um, I make it sound like Since February, I think. Yeah. I make it sound like everyone's brand new. But you've been here for, for a bit, which means, shame on me, I should have had you on here earlier. And I do apologize. No worries. But, uh, but, uh, so what is, so what, what do you do here? Oh, um, lots of things. So, um.
Like you said earlier, if you call Voice Coaches, I'm 9 times out of 10 going to be the one that picks up the call. Um, so if you're listening, you probably talk to me. And be nice to her when you call, by the way, people. Yeah, please. I'm very fragile. That's the first thing I thought. First thing I thought about you, yes.
Um, so yeah, I've probably chatted with you. Um, I also do a lot of the scheduling. If you've gotten any email alerts about upcoming classes, like, hey, don't forget, you have a class coming up on this day. I send those out. Um, if you've ever had to change your schedule around, like, my work shift is changing. I used to get out at 2 on Thursday, now I get out at 5, my classes are all messed up and you've called, um, I can shuffle those around for you.
And then, uh, I also coordinate the demo sessions with our studios across the country. So, you know, if you're not coming here to our studios in Albany, if you're going to a studio that's closer to you. Um, and you need that set up, that's what I do. I reach out to the studio and try to find a date and time that works for both them and you.
Awesome. And, and let's be honest, I, there's a staff of what, 12 people here? We, we all wear lots of hats. You also do things like the garbage. Oh yeah, it's very important. Very important. You know what, it is, I used, I used to be the garbage, uh, garbage person when I first, uh, first started here too. It's a rite of passage.
Yeah, it's everybody. I will say that there are a couple newer people here who we'll be talking to in the coming weeks and, uh, you should, I'm just saying, make them do it. Yeah, a little bit of hazing never hurts. Right? I mean, come on, it builds character. It builds character. So, uh, so that is Janelle the Professional.
Uh, tell us about Janelle the Person. So, uh, what's, uh, what's your background? Um, so I actually have a little bit of, uh, vocal training background in the sense that, um, I was in radio for, ooh, maybe about seven years, I guess. It's funny, when I broached you about coming on, you were like, wow, I haven't, I haven't done, you know, radio stuff in years, and I was like, I didn't know you did that ever.
Oh yeah. So, so what kind of stuff did you do? Um, so I started out in college, didn't really know what career path I wanted to go down, but I was like, well, I'll just take a bunch of electives until I figure it out. Um, got on the radio station in college and loved it, and was like, ooh, I could get paid to do this.
So yeah, just not very much. Yeah. Yeah. You can get paid. Not a lot, but you can get paid. Um, so I went down that road. Um, started out just kind of doing pre recorded voice tracks and then ended up on a morning show for five years. So we're about some country, uh, upstate New York. Yeah. Yeah. Did that for about five years.
And as we mentioned, radio does not pay super high, uh, yeah. Paychecks. It's fair. It's fair. So that's a fair assessment. Yes. So I was working a part time job alongside of that and between waking up at four o'clock in the morning to do the morning show and then working at my part time job until like nine, nine thirty at night, doing that every day, I was like, I can't do this for much longer.
Um, and so then I, uh, switched careers one more time, but then I ended up really missing kind of the, the vocal stuff. Like I missed. The audio medium. So then I found voice coaches and was like, ah. Perfect. I don't have to wake up at four and I can still be around recording booths. That's great. That's awesome.
That's awesome. So, yeah, so you're, you're local, originally local. Oh, yes. Um, grew up in Washington County. If, uh, anybody's from upstate New York, you, you may know that. Um, currently living in Saratoga, which is like four, no, not even 40, probably 30 minutes north of the studios here in Albany. Awesome. Awesome.
So, and I can't believe we haven't had you in the booth before with, uh, with, with your background. That's, that's crazy. That's crazy. Like, I did not, I did not know that. So, uh, so fantastic. So, uh, so here is my, my big heavy question for you. What do you want to be when you grow up? Rich. Touche. Touche. And, and you're in this industry, why?
Yeah, right? Good question. Good question. Um, yeah, I don't really know what I want to be when I grow up. I guess I never really have. I just keep going through this thing called life and taking new twists and turns and seeing where it takes me and so far it's worked out. Oh, there you go. There you go. And, and, and growing up is overrated.
I wouldn't reckon. Yeah, it's not the best. I don't think. No, I'm with you there. I'm with you there. And honestly, working in, in, you know, in the Radio and voice medium kind of prevents you from doing it anyway, so you know, it's it works out Well, it works out works out pretty well So tell us something fun about you that we would not know that people calling up would be like that's super interesting We didn't know that.
Oh Hmm, so I guess I'm kind of a Concert nerd, or obsessed maybe is the better word for it. Um, so last year was pretty rough. Because of the lack of concerts. Um, but yeah, I like to go to a lot of shows. What kind of music do you like? Um, rock. This is a dangerous question, I understand. Um, like rock, alternative, indie, little bit of punk.
Stuff, stuff like that. Fair enough, fair enough. Do you have a favorite band? This is, again, dangerous questions. That's a big question. I know, I know. Do you have a Band that you really like. I do, but um, they're not super popular, but the Gaslight Anthem They also don't exist anymore, but the Gaslight Anthem is one of my top five favorite bands and Manchester Orchestra is up there as well Don't know if anybody will recognize.
I've heard of the Gaslight Anthem The Manchester Orchestra, I cannot say that I have. Yeah, but I will but I will look them up. Oh, I will do that. Cool Now, do you have any, any plans for concerts this year? Um, I do. Uh, I'm going to see Modest Mouse in August. They are playing at a brewery, um, in Cooperstown, New York.
So I'm going to check that out. Um, so far that's the only one on my list, but I do have tickets to a festival in 2022 already. Oh, wow. So, uh, that'll be pretty fun. Not until, uh, May though. Boston Calling. Oh, see, I, I, I almost went to that a couple years ago. Oh, yeah. They always have a great, great lineup. Oh, yeah.
I had tickets for, um, I guess it was 2020. Um, super excited. First time I ever went to the festival, I was like, yes, this is gonna be great. The lineup is sick. I'm gonna have so much fun. And then COVID happened, and then it got canceled. So then they came back this summer, and they're like, well, we can't guarantee it.
Guarantee it'll be the same lineup as 2020, but they confirmed two of the same headliners and I'm like that's good enough for me So I know for me two of the bands that that I do really want to see that are more mainstreamer are Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Foo Fighters and they were both playing on that 2020 Yeah, they were um, so Foo Fighters are confirmed for 2022 Love me some David Greuel.
Love me I know. He's the best. He is. He is. Well, awesome. Well, I won't take up any more of your time, but if anybody has any questions for Janelle, uh, they can let us know. Or, I mean, they could call and talk to her, and that's probably the easiest way to get in touch with her. It's the direct line right to me.
I was gonna say, you could email me, and I'd pass it along, or you could just call our main number, and you're probably... nine times out of ten gonna catch her anyways. So, uh, so excellent. Well, Janelle, awesome. Thank you so much for, for stopping in and for, and for chatting with us. Thank you for having me.
Absolutely. Absolutely. And, uh, and we'll have to, uh, catch up with you again, maybe later on in the summer, see how those concerts are going. And by the way, um, a happy belated birthday to you. Oh, thank you. It was Janelle's birthday. I told you it's someone's birthday literally every week here. And we have a lot of June babies in this place.
Apparently. Yeah. Apparently. So, uh. But yeah, no, it, uh, it does seem like every week or so, the day I started, my first day on the job here, uh, was, was Will's birthday. Oh, cool. And, uh, and I got here and, uh, yeah, and I got here. Oh, yeah. She was very exciting for everybody. Um, and no, but I got here and there was a little, a little party, some cake.
And I was like, is this, this is what we do every day? And, uh, the answer is no, but. But it's actually pretty common, and if you were to go into our fridge at this very moment in our kitchen, uh, there are more cakes and pies in there, uh, and barbecue sauce than there is anything else. So. Yeah, that's a fair assessment.
I'm not complaining. Well, Janelle, again, thank you so much for taking some time to, uh, to join us, and I would say welcome to the team, but you've been here for some time now. And I'm sorry I haven't had you on earlier, but, um, but we'll definitely get you on again, all right? Sounds like a plan. Awesome.
Awesome. Thanks so much everyone for tuning in this week. We'll be back next week. Same bad time. Same bad channel. Josh at voicecoaches. com is the best way to get in touch with me if you need questions, comments, concerns. Happy to answer. All right. That's josh at voicecoaches. com. So long everybody. Until next week.
We'll see you then. Visit voicecoaches. com for more voiceover news and information.
And, um... And I saw people walking out of the kitchen, and I realized, we have a lot of new people here. A. K. A. I don't know many people here anymore. Uh, so I figured you probably, all listening, don't know many people here anymore, so we decided to have a little, a little introduction, a little, hey, how you doing?
And our first special guest is someone who, if you have called Voice Coaches any time in the recent past, you have probably heard the vocal stylings of Miss Janelle LaPointe. Janelle, thanks so much for joining us. Thank you for inviting me. Absolutely, absolutely. So, Janelle, you've been here for, you've been here for a little while now.
Um, I make it sound like Since February, I think. Yeah. I make it sound like everyone's brand new. But you've been here for, for a bit, which means, shame on me, I should have had you on here earlier. And I do apologize. No worries. But, uh, but, uh, so what is, so what, what do you do here? Oh, um, lots of things. So, um.
Like you said earlier, if you call Voice Coaches, I'm 9 times out of 10 going to be the one that picks up the call. Um, so if you're listening, you probably talk to me. And be nice to her when you call, by the way, people. Yeah, please. I'm very fragile. That's the first thing I thought. First thing I thought about you, yes.
Um, so yeah, I've probably chatted with you. Um, I also do a lot of the scheduling. If you've gotten any email alerts about upcoming classes, like, hey, don't forget, you have a class coming up on this day. I send those out. Um, if you've ever had to change your schedule around, like, my work shift is changing. I used to get out at 2 on Thursday, now I get out at 5, my classes are all messed up and you've called, um, I can shuffle those around for you.
And then, uh, I also coordinate the demo sessions with our studios across the country. So, you know, if you're not coming here to our studios in Albany, if you're going to a studio that's closer to you. Um, and you need that set up, that's what I do. I reach out to the studio and try to find a date and time that works for both them and you.
Awesome. And, and let's be honest, I, there's a staff of what, 12 people here? We, we all wear lots of hats. You also do things like the garbage. Oh yeah, it's very important. Very important. You know what, it is, I used, I used to be the garbage, uh, garbage person when I first, uh, first started here too. It's a rite of passage.
Yeah, it's everybody. I will say that there are a couple newer people here who we'll be talking to in the coming weeks and, uh, you should, I'm just saying, make them do it. Yeah, a little bit of hazing never hurts. Right? I mean, come on, it builds character. It builds character. So, uh, so that is Janelle the Professional.
Uh, tell us about Janelle the Person. So, uh, what's, uh, what's your background? Um, so I actually have a little bit of, uh, vocal training background in the sense that, um, I was in radio for, ooh, maybe about seven years, I guess. It's funny, when I broached you about coming on, you were like, wow, I haven't, I haven't done, you know, radio stuff in years, and I was like, I didn't know you did that ever.
Oh yeah. So, so what kind of stuff did you do? Um, so I started out in college, didn't really know what career path I wanted to go down, but I was like, well, I'll just take a bunch of electives until I figure it out. Um, got on the radio station in college and loved it, and was like, ooh, I could get paid to do this.
So yeah, just not very much. Yeah. Yeah. You can get paid. Not a lot, but you can get paid. Um, so I went down that road. Um, started out just kind of doing pre recorded voice tracks and then ended up on a morning show for five years. So we're about some country, uh, upstate New York. Yeah. Yeah. Did that for about five years.
And as we mentioned, radio does not pay super high, uh, yeah. Paychecks. It's fair. It's fair. So that's a fair assessment. Yes. So I was working a part time job alongside of that and between waking up at four o'clock in the morning to do the morning show and then working at my part time job until like nine, nine thirty at night, doing that every day, I was like, I can't do this for much longer.
Um, and so then I, uh, switched careers one more time, but then I ended up really missing kind of the, the vocal stuff. Like I missed. The audio medium. So then I found voice coaches and was like, ah. Perfect. I don't have to wake up at four and I can still be around recording booths. That's great. That's awesome.
That's awesome. So, yeah, so you're, you're local, originally local. Oh, yes. Um, grew up in Washington County. If, uh, anybody's from upstate New York, you, you may know that. Um, currently living in Saratoga, which is like four, no, not even 40, probably 30 minutes north of the studios here in Albany. Awesome. Awesome.
So, and I can't believe we haven't had you in the booth before with, uh, with, with your background. That's, that's crazy. That's crazy. Like, I did not, I did not know that. So, uh, so fantastic. So, uh, so here is my, my big heavy question for you. What do you want to be when you grow up? Rich. Touche. Touche. And, and you're in this industry, why?
Yeah, right? Good question. Good question. Um, yeah, I don't really know what I want to be when I grow up. I guess I never really have. I just keep going through this thing called life and taking new twists and turns and seeing where it takes me and so far it's worked out. Oh, there you go. There you go. And, and, and growing up is overrated.
I wouldn't reckon. Yeah, it's not the best. I don't think. No, I'm with you there. I'm with you there. And honestly, working in, in, you know, in the Radio and voice medium kind of prevents you from doing it anyway, so you know, it's it works out Well, it works out works out pretty well So tell us something fun about you that we would not know that people calling up would be like that's super interesting We didn't know that.
Oh Hmm, so I guess I'm kind of a Concert nerd, or obsessed maybe is the better word for it. Um, so last year was pretty rough. Because of the lack of concerts. Um, but yeah, I like to go to a lot of shows. What kind of music do you like? Um, rock. This is a dangerous question, I understand. Um, like rock, alternative, indie, little bit of punk.
Stuff, stuff like that. Fair enough, fair enough. Do you have a favorite band? This is, again, dangerous questions. That's a big question. I know, I know. Do you have a Band that you really like. I do, but um, they're not super popular, but the Gaslight Anthem They also don't exist anymore, but the Gaslight Anthem is one of my top five favorite bands and Manchester Orchestra is up there as well Don't know if anybody will recognize.
I've heard of the Gaslight Anthem The Manchester Orchestra, I cannot say that I have. Yeah, but I will but I will look them up. Oh, I will do that. Cool Now, do you have any, any plans for concerts this year? Um, I do. Uh, I'm going to see Modest Mouse in August. They are playing at a brewery, um, in Cooperstown, New York.
So I'm going to check that out. Um, so far that's the only one on my list, but I do have tickets to a festival in 2022 already. Oh, wow. So, uh, that'll be pretty fun. Not until, uh, May though. Boston Calling. Oh, see, I, I, I almost went to that a couple years ago. Oh, yeah. They always have a great, great lineup. Oh, yeah.
I had tickets for, um, I guess it was 2020. Um, super excited. First time I ever went to the festival, I was like, yes, this is gonna be great. The lineup is sick. I'm gonna have so much fun. And then COVID happened, and then it got canceled. So then they came back this summer, and they're like, well, we can't guarantee it.
Guarantee it'll be the same lineup as 2020, but they confirmed two of the same headliners and I'm like that's good enough for me So I know for me two of the bands that that I do really want to see that are more mainstreamer are Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Foo Fighters and they were both playing on that 2020 Yeah, they were um, so Foo Fighters are confirmed for 2022 Love me some David Greuel.
Love me I know. He's the best. He is. He is. Well, awesome. Well, I won't take up any more of your time, but if anybody has any questions for Janelle, uh, they can let us know. Or, I mean, they could call and talk to her, and that's probably the easiest way to get in touch with her. It's the direct line right to me.
I was gonna say, you could email me, and I'd pass it along, or you could just call our main number, and you're probably... nine times out of ten gonna catch her anyways. So, uh, so excellent. Well, Janelle, awesome. Thank you so much for, for stopping in and for, and for chatting with us. Thank you for having me.
Absolutely. Absolutely. And, uh, and we'll have to, uh, catch up with you again, maybe later on in the summer, see how those concerts are going. And by the way, um, a happy belated birthday to you. Oh, thank you. It was Janelle's birthday. I told you it's someone's birthday literally every week here. And we have a lot of June babies in this place.
Apparently. Yeah. Apparently. So, uh. But yeah, no, it, uh, it does seem like every week or so, the day I started, my first day on the job here, uh, was, was Will's birthday. Oh, cool. And, uh, and I got here and, uh, yeah, and I got here. Oh, yeah. She was very exciting for everybody. Um, and no, but I got here and there was a little, a little party, some cake.
And I was like, is this, this is what we do every day? And, uh, the answer is no, but. But it's actually pretty common, and if you were to go into our fridge at this very moment in our kitchen, uh, there are more cakes and pies in there, uh, and barbecue sauce than there is anything else. So. Yeah, that's a fair assessment.
I'm not complaining. Well, Janelle, again, thank you so much for taking some time to, uh, to join us, and I would say welcome to the team, but you've been here for some time now. And I'm sorry I haven't had you on earlier, but, um, but we'll definitely get you on again, all right? Sounds like a plan. Awesome.
Awesome. Thanks so much everyone for tuning in this week. We'll be back next week. Same bad time. Same bad channel. Josh at voicecoaches. com is the best way to get in touch with me if you need questions, comments, concerns. Happy to answer. All right. That's josh at voicecoaches. com. So long everybody. Until next week.
We'll see you then. Visit voicecoaches. com for more voiceover news and information.
With some fresh faces joining the Voice Coaches’ family, Josh welcomes the newest members of the team. Today he talks with Janelle LaPoint.
