As actors, Andy and I were used to jetting around the country performing on stages large and small, sleeping in random hotels, eating on-the-hoof and generally enjoying quite an ad-hoc life-style.
Then came kids! This caused us to re-think our priorities - we didn't think it would be possible for us to continue with our lifestyle accompanied by a gurgling little bundle of fun demanding our attention every waking moment!
We had both already dabbled with Voiceover work during our acting careers and Andy had a basic knowledge of sound editing and knew his way round a mixing desk! So we decided to dip our toes into the wonderful world of voiceovers. We bought a basic mic, strung up a duvet and got to work. How difficult could it be?
The answer is that it wasn't - that is, it wasn't hard to read something and record it! We were trained actors after all. What we didn't fully grasp at that stage was the difference between dipping our toes into that world and fully immersing yourself in it. It turns out there is a lot more to being even a half decent Voiceover than we realised! Who knew!?
Ten years down the road, after a lot of hard work and further training, we now have much more respect for the art. We have learnt so much over the years (and indeed will always continue to learn), not only about the performance aspect but also about the technical side of things. We now have a dedicated, treated studio with high spec equipment and a load more knowledge of how to approach our work. We have also come to understand that the more we immerse ourselves within voiceover industry, the more we realise there is to know - and the more we learn, the more pleasure we get from making the end result just that little bit better. After all, as Aristotle put it - "Pleasure in the job puts Perfection in the work".
Needless to say, gone are the days of the Duvet...