Damon Alums, the Urban Legend of voiceover, celebrated his birthday with me on the podcast. It’s been ages since I interviewed a man on this show, but I had to do it!

In this first of my ColorVO Collective series highlighting talented, unknown Black voice actors, we had a blast talking about doing VO part-time, how being a Blerd (Black nerd) is an asset as a voice actor in animation, why racial representation and authenticity matters in VO, and how the voiceover industry is kinda like a cut of brisket! I'm so glad to be a part of your smokewood squad, Damon 🙂

In This Episode…

How we met 1:43

The Urban Legend in his own words 5:02
Doing voiceover part-time 6:47
How being a "Blerd" (Black nerd) is an asset 8:27
Why representation matters (racial issues in VO) 14:23
#VOLifeChat and Twitter activity 22:01
How the voiceover industry is like brisket 22:26
What it means to have success and integrity 26:38
Advice for your younger self 29:49
Connect with Damon 30:17

Key Points

There's nothing wrong with starting out in voiceover as a part-time actor. Dabble in those things that you've been interested in, start learning about them. We all have our own story, and everyone has to start somewhere.

Representation matters. Authenticity matters. When a character or role is meant to represent someone of a particular demographic, you should not do that role if you don't fit that description. For works and performances based in a realistic culture, cast folks from that culture, to increase visibility and help actors of color pay their bills with the industry that they love so much. #BlackVoicesMatter #RepresentationMatters

Ethics and integrity come into play with deciding not to voice projects (political ads and others) that you I don't believe in and don't fit your values. But some people will do anything if the price is right. Maybe some reasons are out of need and necessity to eat, but some of it isn't— some people are not in survival mode, they're just greedy. They have no firmly set boundaries.

What You Can Do

Voiceover is a very tough industry. And if you don't know what you're doing, you're going to end up getting your feelings hurt, putting out bad product, and burning yourself out. If you don't know the right way to go about it. So, being that voiceover so big, you have to trim down your focus in the beginning, and take your time.

I've been in places where I've had enough money, but to have the freedom to decide, "I want to do this. Would it be wise to do that? No. Oh you know what you're right, I won't do that." So let wisdom be the only constraint on the moves that you've made that the success, and that goes beyond financial gain and clout chasing.

Connect

Damon Alums, The Urban Legend is a Native Californian, dedicated family man, and burgeoning voice talent with equal parts warmth and gravel, Damon has amassed a resume that ranges from audiobooks to videogames, with no signs of stopping!

Website: urbanlegendvoiceover.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/damon.alums.3

Instagram: Instagram.com/UrbanlegendVO

Twitter: Twitter.com/UrbanlegendVO

Brisket thread on Twitter: https://twitter.com/UrbanLegendVO/status/1313519497068769283

Twitter chat highlights (including Damon’s tweets) https://dareevoiceover.com/reecordings/

VoiceOverview CRM (affiliate link)