The (Reluctant) Superhero of Voice Overs Posted August 1, 2008
At least that's what some
people call Shane August. No cape or flashy costume, just an amazing
super power: his voice. And if laughter can kill, then add sense of
humor to his list of super powers. Known to "come to the rescue" by
fixing, improving, rewriting and/or replacing voice overs for
clients, Shane has saved many a project over the years. One client
even came up with the name "Voxman" for Shane's vocal superhero
alter ego--the superhuman vocal range only added credibility to the
moniker and it eventually stuck. He's had fun with the label and
never takes himself too seriously. However, the more you get to know
him, the more you begin to wonder if the guy really is a superhero,
disguised as a mild-mannered voice over artist.
"I love voice overs and I'm all about doing the best I can at all
times. I love to make others laugh and feel good about
themselves...but I really want people I work with to reflect fondly
on the time we spent together, whether it was in the same studio or
on the phone, five thousand miles apart. Occasionally, however, I
might have to run out of a session for a few minutes to redirect an
inbound meteorite or save a damsel in distress. Good thing most of
my clients are cool with that, though. All in a day's work. YEAH
RIGHT. (laughs)"
Not so funny is the real reason the "hero" label might have
originated--from an incident in the nineties when Shane confronted a
small street gang to stop a girl from being raped in a Hollywood
alley, taking two serious gunshots for his efforts. The story was
passed around and a small legend grew around him and the event.
However, Shane always downplayed it and didn't like making a big
deal about doing something he thought anyone should have done.
"I definitely didn't involve myself in that situation because I
wanted to be a hero--let's get that straight. It was late and I was
leaving a songwriter showcase. I heard a girl screaming and figured
out pretty quickly what was going on. My body and mind just reacted;
I had no choice in the matter. One guy with Kung Fu and a pack of
Juicy Fruit; six guys with semi-automatic weapons--do the math.
Unfortunately, I hadn't completed my bullet-evasion training by that
point and forgot my pack of Big Red (laughs)...but I'm just grateful
to be here now."
Born and raised in Hawai'i, Shane spent much of his youth surfing,
skateboarding and imitating every sound he heard around him. His mom
was a high fashion model and clothing designer; his dad was a gifted
aviator and flew secret missions for governments around the world.
His parents knew a lot of influential people and he got to spend
afternoons with people like Steve Wonder, Mel Blanc and Nelson
Rockefeller. Free time at home was spent watching Warner Brothers
cartoons and duplicating every sound. By the age of one, he found
his gift for singing and by two, he was throwing mini-concerts for
friends and relatives. By thirteen, he was opening for artists like
Whitney Houston and Jermaine Jackson. A gifted student and having
graduated early from high school, he went on to study at
Northwestern and UCLA. Even though his scholastic focus was Quantum
Physics and Theoretical Mathematics, music was always a big part of
his life and he continued to study operatic voice, composition and
music theory throughout his college years.
After college, Shane moved to Hollywood, where his amazing pipes
were immediately noticed. He was "discovered" by animation legend
Charlie Adler, who recognized Shane's vocal range and encouraged him
to do more and stretch. Disney asked him to provide voices for their
theme parks and Pioneer LaserDisc made Shane number one call for
their karaoke catalogues. In fact, most of the (male) voices (and
music productions) you hear on the Pioneer LaserDisc and JVC karaoke
catalogues to this day were done by Shane. From Bono to Prince to
Michael Jackson to Phil Collins, Shane imitated just about every
male singer in the book. In fact, he nailed some vocal
impersonations so well that record labels sued Pioneer to prove that
the Laserdisc giant didn't actually copy and use tracks from the
original artist's masters. True.
"I used to get some funny looks going from Michael Jackson one
minute, then turning right around and doing Neil Diamond or Freddie
Mercury the next--three complete opposites in my book. People think
it's a lit-tle strange, but I like being able to go from Cartman to
Barry White in the same two word sentence. At least people don't
mess with you after they hear something like that. But they might
hand you their therapist's card."
However, Shane wasn't limited to karaoke, sound-alikes and celebrity
impersonations. He was also called in to do radio IDs, TV promos and
all manner of narration and commercial voice over work through the
early nineties. Right around that time, he was offered high-profile
musical tours and production gigs that he couldn't pass up,
affording him the chance to work with the best of the best in music,
including Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Chris Isaak, Tamar
Braxton, Stevie Wonder, Edgar Winter, Eric Clapton and the list goes
on. Not only did Shane produce and write for recording artists, he
also played almost all of the instruments and sang most of the
background parts on his productions. After a decade of some serious
time in music with a few high profile jingles and voice over gigs
here and there, Shane decided to return full time to the artform
that he started perfecting as a child: voice over.
His past employers appear on almost any voice actor's wish list:
Clear Channel, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, General Mills, Kellogg's, Toyota,
Ford, Southwest Airlines, Match.com, BMW, Chevrolet, The U.S. Postal
Service, Random House, Scholastic, Hanna-Barbera, NBC, CBS, ABC,
CNN, Fox, ESPN, Lifetime, Dreamworks, Sony, Warner Brothers,
Paramount, Universal, MGM, Miramax, among many others. Clients use
words like hilarious, dependable, original, honest, brave, generous,
humble, sweet, versatile and limitless when describing Shane. People
are constantly amazed by his many talents: He writes music, ad copy,
screenplays and novels; He plays fifteen instruments and is
considered one of the top music producers and session singers
around; His voice over samplers speak for themselves; He owns a
state-of-the-art recording studio and is truly gifted at
engineering, mixing and mastering; He's a perfectionist and a really
nice guy; And if that weren't enough, he's funny--Jim Carrey funny.
But, maybe that's what a Superhero is supposed to be.
"Superhero? Nah, I'd rather just be the voice of one on Saturday
morning cartoons. And I never ever mix capes with unitards. That
would feel strange--even for me--to walk into a session dressed like
Superman. Now, Wonder Woman, maybe. (laughs) Then again, people I
know probably wouldn't expect any less from me. LIfe's all about
having fun, right? Thanks, but no, I'm definitely not a superhero."
Well Mr. August, there may now be a few more people out there who'll
beg to differ with you.
