Larry Semkew's journey is a testament to the power of perseverance, creativity, and a little bit of humor. We delve into the intricate dance of voice, emotion, and connection—how every word spoken can ignite feelings and spark change. Larry’s insights on the voiceover industry are eye-opening, especially when he discusses the seismic shifts brought on by technology and the pandemic. We explore how advertising has transformed, with Larry sharing his hilarious anecdotes about working with A-list artists like Taylor Swift and adapting to new trends in the market. It's not just about delivering lines; it's about evoking emotions and capturing the essence of the moment.

Takeaways:

• Larry Semkiu emphasizes the importance of persistence and emotional connection in voice work.
• The transition from traditional advertising to digital is reshaping the voiceover industry, making adaptability crucial.
• Reading out loud and practicing character voices are essential for developing a versatile voice.
• Collaboration and mentorship are key for voiceover artists to hone their craft and succeed in the industry.
• AI technology is changing the game, but the human element in voiceover remains irreplaceable.

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Ignite Voice Inc.
• Live Nation
• Taylor Swift
• David K
• Bruce Allen
• C-FOX
• Bill Young Productions
• Tour Design

Your voice is your superpower. Use it. Welcome to ignite My voice becoming unstoppable. Powered by Ignite Voice Inc. The podcast where voice meets purpose and stories ignite change.

Deep conversations with amazing guests, storytellers, speakers and change makers.

And that's why I went, I went a lot of tours is I would, you know, yeah, that's a great spot. Let's go done. Before all the competition ever got a spot in, you know, they were working on perfect.

We were just, we were the McDonald's of the drive thru spots. Get your spots and where you go.

Today's guest is Larry Semkew, entrepreneur and producer extraordinaire. Someone who's built a career creating powerful.

Concert and commercial spots and what stands out right away. He's all about getting out of your head and into the work, taking classes,.

Reading out loud, opening up emotionally. Because voice is about feeling, not just sound.

Matching that feeling to the client, the tone, the moment you're trying to create.

He built his career through persistence, collaboration and a deep belief in what he.

Was doing and stayed sharp. Fast turnaround, evolving tech, even recording from anywhere in the world.

This is about craft, consistency and staying.

Relevant in a changing industry.

Well, let's get into it.

Larry Semkew.

When Covid came back, the model had changed for advertising. They weren't doing blanket advertising for the whole tour. They would just put out one spot saying it's coming to your town.

You know, it wasn't specific to Vancouver or Edmonton, Calgary or whatever. It was just coming to your town.

That's efficient.

And then you had to find out when the tickets went on sale. And also it was instead of doing, you know, for a tour, be a normal tour, be 30 to 40 markets and four spots per market went down to one spot. Wow.

So it was a big change in the world of. For me, you know that because Live Nation was a huge client for me for quite a while.

And you know, they're still a client but they, they just have a different business model now where they do a few drops on, you know, social media and that, that, you know, this band is coming to town. Check it out.

And what, what do you suppose drove that? Was that just a cut in advertising dollars they decided to spend or it. What changed?

You know what, honestly, I think it was just a younger group of people coming into the promoting business and they were more Internet savvy, you know, that we can just put an ad up on Internet.

One little ad, it'll pop up on your screen, you know, and you've got, you know, so you didn't need radio and TV ads, which were expensive, where you can get, you know, a little thumbnail on the bottom of your computer screen saying that your band is coming to town and that's not that expensive for them. So.

And they've got, you know, they got a graphic artist person in house and you know, and that's so that they just change their bottle and cut a lot of expenses that way.

Does it work?

They're selling out shows. Okay, I mean, I mean, bad example probably, but you know, Taylor Swift never advertised. Just word of mouth got around. Just come and get tickets.

Never advertised, but, you know, like, she's so big she wouldn't have to have a cat. And just, just for fun reference, I made her famous.

Okay, let's hear that story, because you told me that. But I want to hear it.

I was the. When she did her first tour, I did the spots for, you know, and she was just doing small venues and that.

And then the second time around, the other, she's starting to do the arena side shows and that. And I did all the spots for her then as well. And then the third time around, the eras tour, nothing. No tour. No tour advertising. So.

Which is, you know, probably fine because that was such a big, monstrous tour. I would have probably had to hire people to cover it all off.

Do you get backstage passes, Larry?

The two most common questions I get all the time when they find out what I do is do you meet them? No. Do you get tickets? No. You know, and well, why don't you get tickets? I says, well, because I'm charging for my product.

Why, you know, they charging for their product? It wouldn't be fair, you know, so I'd rather pay for the ticket and get paid for my work, you know.

Yeah, but you're just not getting the appreciation you deserve, Larry. Huh?

Oh, you know, I get the appreciation by living a good life.

So you're a swifty.

I am, yeah.

I love her.

It was funny.

We had a Christmas party for all our friends last year and I made a little commercial for the, you know, to advertise that we're having a party in that. And I had drops of Taylor Swift that she was going to be the special guest.

But I actually truly sent her a request to management saying, hey, having a party. Taylor wants to drop by and play a few songs.

Love to have it, you know, and got a note back saying, regretfully, Taylor can't make it because she has to be in Houston because her boyfriend is playing football.

But she would have been there.

Fine.

Yeah, I mean, she would have been there, I'm sure. You know, it's interesting. Yeah, yeah.

So maybe this year if he retires,.

You know, retires well, then she'll probably have babies by that time and then it'll be too busy for, you know, but maybe she could bring the baby to your party.

Maybe. Yeah, we'll let that happen if she wants.

It's an interesting, interesting example though of, of Larry's job and, and the move away from legacy media and the dollars shifting and, and you hear about it. But that's just a nice example of it in action, right?

Yeah, yeah, I, you know, unfortunately it happened late enough in my career that it didn't, you know, I didn't have to go seeking another job anymore. And like I said, I've still got, I do work for Live Nation. I've got a casino chain in Ontario that I do.

There's like 14 or 15 casinos all in one chain and I do most of their advertising for them. And so I put in my spots and.

But I'll usually put like two or three male voice reads in and at least one, maybe two females because, because it's a male dominated world, the concert spot world, but, you know, so usually put at least five or six in. And since the invention of AI as well, I've been playing with AI voicing and a couple of AI voices, I regret to say have got picked, you know.

Wow. Yeah, interesting. Okay, so what, what do you look for in a voice versus what a client looks for in a voice? What's any differences?

Well, for me, I look for someone who. The biggest thing for me is return time, like how fast you can get it back to me.

Because the weirdest thing is, is like they plan these tours like years out in advance, but the advertising is the last thing they do. And it's like tickets go on sale Friday, we don't have advertising yet, so we need something today. So.

And you know, I get a lot of, you know, people, you know, sending me demo tapes and that saying, you know, hey, and then my first question is, what is your turning time? I'll say like 24, 48 hours. I can't use you. I need like two to four hours maximum. Well, that's ridiculous. I can't do that. All right, sorry.

That's what you need. Well, you're looking at two voiceover artists right here, Larry.

So yeah, tell us what else is.

Special about that one voice you like so much, Dan?

Well, he gets back fast and he's good. He. He knows he's got the feel for what it takes to do a concert spot.

And a concert spot is quite a bit different than what a normal, you know, spot for a jewelry company or a car sale or something. Because every line is kind of like you're selling this line, every line, because it's going to go into a piece of music and you.

And there's going to be music underneath you. So you got to be above that music.

So you've got to be able to cut through the music, but you also have to just make it exciting all the way through the spot and, you.

Know, bigger than life.

Yeah, yeah. You know, they used to be like, you know, the monster truck spots now, but they kind of tone it down a bit.

And the other thing that, you know, Dan's running into this now, too, is aging out because it's a younger voice they're looking for. Like my guy that I used. Well, we both broke into the industry together, David K. We've had him as a guest. He is the king of voiceover.

And even he's kind of aging out,.

Sadly, you know, and that's crazy because isn't a voice a voice? And do you hear age in a voice?

You go, yeah, definitely your age in a voice. Like, you know, his voice is deeper now, you know, whereas younger voices are usually a little higher, you know, in the.

In the tonal categories and that. And definitely you can tell age and it stands out.

Like, you know, you can't put an old David K. And respectfully, so, like, he's the master, but he's just not going to be in a rap spot. You know, it just doesn't work. Makes sense, you know, so even though he's good enough, he can pull it off. The managers would don't pick him.

Like, I'll put him in there, but the managers won't pick him. They want the guy who sounds like he's 18, gangster sounding or whatever.

You know, it's interesting because Kevin and I get a lot of auditions and what we see in the auditions is we don't want an announcer. We don't want that big voice. But what you're working with is something completely different. In a way, it is.

They want the announcer. They want you to get the attention of the listening audience, you know, that you're kind of in their face.

That's still the mold, you know, unless, you know, we're doing a shod a or something like that, then that's probably going to be a female voice and sexy Female voice or something like that that fits the mood. But you know, for most acts it's got to be it in your face, bigger than life voice, you know, and young.

Interesting. I never really thought about a voice being an age related, but I do not that older men and women have like a gravel to their voice.

And it must be something with vocal folds as you age. I mean, every body part ages. So your vocal folds age as well, don't they?

Totally. You know, I mean, my voice, I can never, never even consider doing reading spots because it was just too weak.

But as I'm getting older, 55 plus now, I put my voice in on some demos and I've been selected a few times just because is I. I still have that young sound to them, but it's deep enough that it can cut through the music and stuff like that and maybe just helping me.

I think of Phil Collins as a singer, like he's not really a good singer, but he has emotion in his voice and he brings that out. So it's. Is it the voice or is it the emotion behind the voice that's more important?

The emotion is definitely key, but the tonal qualities matter too.

Because the tonal qualities, like for me, I mean, I've got a lot of tools I can use to make sure that you're above the voice and all that sort of above the music, but you can still hear the music and you know, I can make all that happen. But it's easier for me if the voice has got that natural edge to it and it'll just cut through. It's got all the right tonal qualities to.

It'll cut over top the music, you know.

And Phil Collins is good at that, you know, in producing his music and that, that he knows that his voice can cut through because it's a little edgy, you know, he's got a little bit of a rasp to it and it'll cut through easily.

So he tends to bury himself a little bit more in his music than a lot of other, you know, lead singers have to be above the music, you know, and this, it's the same thing for, you know, radio production, you know, the big voices and that can get above the music without burying the music.

A lot of people come to Kevin and I to work on their voices because they want to get into this business.

What would you say are some of the key things that they would need to do in order to work with their voice, find their voice and present it to someone like you?

A few of the tips that I give new voiceover artists get children's books and read them and bring the characters to life. Make the character. Make a voice. Make a different voice for the other characters in that. And just learn how to control your voice and use your voice.

Project your voice. That's the easy way to go. Then get acting lessons so you can get out of your head and get into the emotion of what you're trying to sell.

Don't be shy. You can't be shy. Be an announcer.

You know, you got to just let it all go and just be unabated in front of the mic, you know, no inhibitions, you know, just go get over your fear. Yeah, totally.

And, you know, that's one of the things, you know, watching, you know, and like you say, growing with David K was how he would get over his fear and he became a character behind him. You put him behind a mic and he just opened up, you know, and that's what you need is that character, that person that's just.

Just willing to do whatever you ask them to do, you know, oh, I can't do that. That's.

And that's more than a voice, right? That's a personality.

That's someone who's fearless, who wants to do this, who's energized and excited and ready to go and will take direction from someone like you.

Yeah, that's the big thing, too, is taking directions of, you know, from my point, I have to be able to communicate to get into your head to say that this is what I'm looking for. And I'm not getting that feeling yet, you know, I need that, you know, like, you just love this band.

They're the best band in the world, you know, and you. You do anything to go see them kind of voice and so. And you're so excited that they're coming.

And that's, you know, and once, you know, and Dan's very good at that. Like, he gets into the emotions of that, you know, and. And feels what it's like, you know, and makes you kind of feel what it's like too.

So that's why I think he wins a lot of spots. But, yeah, for Young, you know, get into it and just dive in and practice, practice, practice. Read out loud, you know, and.

Well, I know when, like, I started, you know, doing concert work and it was in. I still work in a Seafox and, you know, we'd have to do the odd spot. It still wasn't a totally Bill Young or tour design business.

It was, you know, that the Promote local promoters would do. So we get to work in a C Fox. It was the odds, but doing. David Case came to me and said, I want to do those spots.

Smart man.

Yeah. We'd stay at night after work and I like. We get a tape in from Bill Young Productions, who invented the industry of concert spots and that.

And I would tear it apart and rebuild the bed. And he would listen to the voice and then he'd do his thing with the voice and practice the voicing and all that sort of stuff.

And together he and I just sort of built this team of, you know, I'd build the beds. And then eventually too then I had to find a sound that, you know, made it big, huge.

And rather than just putting voice on music and sending it off, it was. Now there's a lot more processing goes into that to make it huge and cut through on the radio and that.

And there was one day where we were doing a ZZ Top spot and David came in and nailed the voice. I got the bed right and I found the right combination of plugins, you know, and stuff like that. And it's like, this is it. And we got the tour.

This is. We got the tour in our first tour. Yeah.

Amazing. And it's being flexible, it's being open, it's being creative, it's trying, it's practicing. It's not being afraid to fail.

It's doing all of that with passion, you know, that's huge.

Yeah. Determination for sure is there that you want to succeed, you want to win. And it's kind of.

It is a competition in the world, like I say, because I'm always competing against two or three other companies that do this and you know, when you win, it feels good.

Woohoo. It's kind of like a little high, isn't it? Yeah.

Yeah. It's not so much about getting the, you know, the. The money. It's like we won, you know, we won the spots in that and it's really cool to do that and.

And you know, I know David felt the same way of like, yeah, we got ours. Awesome. You know, we're in, we're in. We're doing this tour and all that sort of stuff.

That's really sweet that the two of you work together and. And grew together and learned your own, your own way together.

Yeah, it was one. I needed him and I think.

I don't think he needed me as much, but I gave him a venue to start, you know, and that's where we did it, you know, and it's Collaborative. Yeah, it's totally collaborative. And, you know, for a while we. He was part of concert spots, like we were, you know, both owned the company.

But then it became apparent that he was going far beyond where I'm going, like, with movies and all that, doing movie trailers and everything. And he was just such a talented guy. I'll buy you out. And then we don't have to worry about it.

And I can use other voices and all that sort of stuff, but we're still in touch all the time.

I'm curious how long it took for you guys working almost for free, trying to build something. How long do you suppose you spent creating it until it clicked?

Wow. I would say 18 months. Oh, wow.

You know, most nights, you know, Monday, Friday, staying a little late and that, and, you know, sometimes a lot late when I got onto something, you know, like, hey, I'm coming about midnight when I get home kind of thing. And it. You know. And then the other big break that happened for me was working at Seafox.

I got assigned to Bruce Allen to be his producer for Sound Off. And so I said to him, hey, I do this. He says, so I made him a couple of, you know, demos for Brian Adams and all right, let's do it.

And so I did all Bruce's work for, gosh, 25 years of working with them and that. And so that was a huge break because he's quite international with my work, you know, give him all the credit in the world for launching my career.

I would have helped a lot. He was always pushing me, too. He said, I'm tired of this junk. I need better stuff. I need better stuff. This is all the same.

But the funny thing was, is I'd give him some spots that were just totally out of the box and weird, weird concert spots that, wow, that's really interesting. That's good. But let's change this and put this song in there. Let's change this. And it all morphed right back into every concert spot that they want.

That's the safe one. You know, A lot of demoing and a lot of demoing, but started winning.

And I knew I was making a big dent in the industry because we were getting tours in that.

But I got a phone call one day from Tour Design, which is one of the two big companies that do this, and said, we want to buy you out and come and work with us and that. And so we agreed to terms, and I started working for them in that, and I became their guy. Like, I was the guy who Won all the tour.

They had nine producers at one point and when I left they had four because I was doing all the work. Like I was handling, you know, probably 60% of their work and winning all the tours, you know, with my spots in that.

And part of the deal that was with them and that's how we became down here is that we didn't want. They're based out of Indianapolis and they said, no, we're not moving Indianapolis.

My wife and I just didn't like it there, but we'll move to Phoenix. And so they sponsored us in and got us our American citizenship in that. And so that's how we're down here.

Good compromise, I'd say. Yeah, Phoenix is not so bad because.

It was like a three hour flight from Phoenix so I could go in there all the time and it worked out well. I was there doing like in tour design is owned by Live Nation. So we did a lot of work.

That's like where you said, you know, the Taylor Swift and then I put her on the map. So yeah, there was a lot of work doing that.

But yeah, it was just, you know, right timing, you know, and just a lot of determination to get to where I wanted to be because I love doing it. Like when Covet hit, you know, first is, oh, well, we're on holidays. Oh, this is great. And then I got bored, you know, it's like we can't do much.

So I would come in and make concert spots just for something to do, you know, and to stay active, the current, you know, so I keep my chops up, you know, and keep my speed up because that's one of the things a lot of the. I'm convinced that a lot of the managers come to me because I can turn it around fast.

You know, I can usually get them something back within three to four hours. I can build something for them and get it to them. And that's one of my assets that you know. And there's a lot of producers and good for them.

Like they'll spend days building these concert spots and they're, they're perfect. Mine are probably not perfect, but they get, they get into the person who needs to hear them the fastest.

And that's why I went, I went a lot of tours as I would, you know. Yeah, those, that's great spot. Let's go done. Before all the competition ever got a spot in, you know, they were working on perfect.

We were just, we were the McDonald's of the drive thru spots. Get your spots away, you go.

Well I mean, I mean, they were phenomenally good at the same time. And you kept the passion going, huh? You still love it?

I do. You know, like my friends. Why don't you retire? Why don't you retire? I like what I do.

I love it, like, you know, if I go a week and not do something, it's like, oh, this is no fun. Help me out, Larry.

The question I have then is, can you identify what it is that you love so much? What it is that you're still passionate about after all these years?

I love editing, creating, you know, putting a bed together that has. Now, there used to be 60 second spots that I would make, you know. Now they're 30 second spots or 15 seconds.

Yeah.

So first off, they have to flow and be like, really flow well and not really bad edits. Like, they gotta flow. Secondly, you gotta get at least three songs in a 30, probably four songs in a 30, then make sure that they.

Everybody recognizes these songs that it's not so short that they can't recognize. So it's a challenge, you know, it's a challenge to make it work. But, you know, years and years of doing it, you've learned how to do it.

And it's, it's, it's rewarding, you know, when it comes to, oh, yeah, that's a good bed. I like it. And then, you know, get. Pick the right voiceover to put over and all that. Sounds great. And make it mix and get the mix.

And then, you know, And I'm always learning new technology as well. Like, you know, I love how the technology has changed the world for me.

I mean, it used to be when I started is I couldn't take a vacation because I couldn't take my studio with me. Now my student. My studio literally fits into a backpack. And I've done spots on four continents at 30,000ft in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

You know, crazy. You know, it's crazy. As long as I have Internet, I can do it now, you know.

Do you think AI will take over any of this voiceover business?

This. Yes. Unfortunately, yes. I'm not. Well, funny story, Dan. One day I sent him, hey, what do you think of this spot? I did. And he.

I don't recall voicing that. You didn't? I just sampled your voice, typed out the script, put it, and he phones me up and he says, what. What are you going to do?

And I said, don't worry, Dan. I will always use the live person. I, you know, that's your business. I'm not taking that away from you.

But I just want to show you what can be done now. You know, beware of protecting your voice. Wow. Does it.

Does it get the same level, emotion or mix of emotion?

It's getting better. Like, when I first started using it, you'd have to trick it. Like, you wouldn't write a word out the way it's spelled.

You'd have to phonetically spell it out and make it said properly. And if you put the capitals in the right spots in the middle of the word, Matt, that would get the emphasis. But it's getting better now.

Like, there's a few sites that I've tested out and tried, and they have some really good stuff on there that, you know, you can tweak the level of the emotion up or down, and it's amazing how they can do it.

So what would you say?

I don't know how they do it.

What would you say to a voiceover artist to help them counter this? What could sustain a real person in the business, do you think, compared to the AI?

Well, I think that the social aspect of it, for one thing, like going into the studio, knowing the producers, knowing the agencies that are hiring you in that just to make, you know, they have interaction with you and they know that they can talk to you and direct you. Whereas an AI, It's. It's not personal.

It's just that, you know, you type in the script, it comes back, it's like, okay, I gotta tweak those few words in that build. I don't think they'll ever get to the point that, you know, you'll need to get the passion in it because, you know, it's. It's a machine. So.

But, you know, so I think that that will sustain live voiceover. I hope it does. I really do, because I think it'd be. It's an art, and it'd be a shame to lose that art to AI.

Can we protect our voices so that it can't be sampled and used for things that we don't agree to?

I don't know yet that that's in place. I'm not aware of it. There was a famous. It was about. I guess it was last year, and it was Drake.

AI, a guy made his own music bed, sampled Drake's voice, made his own lyrics in that, and it became a hit. Oh, and Drake couldn't sue because you. His voice, it sounded like Drake. He didn't say it was Drake. He's Drake. AI is what it was called.

Wow.

Yeah. And so he said, I'm not saying it's Drake. It's Drake, a guy. And so he got away with it.

And I say gone away with it because obviously, you know, it's stealing, in my opinion.

But somehow they're gonna have to lock this down and it's going to be a Drake or a Taylor Swift or somebody big that has the financial backing to sue a person and take it to the supreme courts of the world and shut it down, you know, But I know record companies now, they're. They're starting to do AI tours. Like they're putting out AI bands.

AI tours with an AI band. How does that work?

It's all like, you know, people that are. Well, it's close, like with your ties and that. Like, they make their own beds and stuff like that. But they can hire a singer to go on top of it.

Right. So they're close. So if they just put an AI singer on it, you know, and it doesn't matter who, they're not saying it's Taylor Swift.

They just get a voice and have it sing. And record companies should do it. Now.

I've actually done a tour where, I don't know, I haven't seen it, but here's the songs that you're going to hear. And I guess it's more of like a dance party because there's no band on stage or anything. It's just a DJ playing all these songs.

But yeah, I mean, record companies are not making a lot of money these days, so they're trying to find, you know, we don't have to pay somebody, you know, anything, you know, we're, you know. Yeah, all the money's in the touring. It's not in the records anymore.

Yeah.

Like, because itunes has destroyed that and Pandora and Spotify. Like, there's no money in music for these bands anymore. They have to go on tour.

And that's why you got all these old bands back on tour again, because they have bills to pay and they got to go out and pay. So there's a huge casino circuit now where all these, you know, big name bands are going to casinos and making some money.

Ah, the world changes.

I was just gonna say that.

It really is.

It sure has. And we'll continue.

You gotta adapt.

You sure do. And you are. And we are. And we're all adapting in this new environment.

Mm.

So it's about putting in the reps, not waiting to feel ready and be.

Willing to get out of your head and into your body. Because your voice develops through doing, not thinking.

There's a discipline to it. Reading out loud, practicing staying current. You know, he's still sharpening his skills after all these years.

The human element, the emotion, the nuance, the truth in your voice, that's still the differentiator.

The people who stay curious, who keep learning and collaborating, those are the ones who keep winning.

If you're working on your voice, your presence, your communication, let one of our talent develop. Mentors help guide you and get you to your goals.

We help you find your voice and use it.

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