25 years ago, on the 14th August 2001, my voice went out across talkSPORT and Classic FM as part of a £200,000 campaign to get Britain excited about new and shiny digital radio. A campaign with a reach of about 8 million listeners. I nearly burst with pride.
My first national radio campaign
I can still remember how the finished commercial sounded, ven after all this time.
Although, despite turning my house upside down I can’t find the actual audio. I reckon there will be a copy on my giant circa 2002 Sony laptop, which ridiculously is still lurking in my house, somewhere.
It really was a case of who you know
A friend from my music business days, Simon Rushton, also happened (and still is btw) to be a phenomenal copywriter – he recommended me for the job, for which I am forever grateful. I recorded from Patrick Lunt’s studio (an absolute legend, and my mentor for many years), and when the session was over he appeared with a bottle of champagne. This truly was a very big deal.
In fact, this was the job that paid for my ISDN Codec. If you’ve not been hanging around in the voiceover industry for decades, this next bit may sound unfathomable.
Fax machines and ISDN lines
The session script arrived by fax since the internet was still barely good enough for email. This was a time when invoices and demos were sent by post (remember that?).
So connecting with GWR’s London studio involved leased ISDN lines from BT (essentially phone lines that carried more data) and a big box of magic, in our case a CDQ Prima in lurid purple with yellow buttons, enabling us to link up in realtime. Home-based voiceover was a serious financial commitment back then and this one job enabled me to get on board.
I could finally see that being a voiceover artist was a real job
I was so incredibly proud of this radio campaign.
I’d gone from split shifts in BBC local radio, including everything from breakfast travel presenter to producer shifts for the drivetime show, plus social action campaigns, booking guests and screening calls for air. To terrifying and very lonely TV continuity sessions, bits of editing and transcription for BBC History (“er… I can do that!”), and a really prestigious and innovative e-learning audio production for a business college where I supplied all the voices. Plus traffic and travel presenting whenever I could pick it up (I have very fond memories of working at ITN News Direct).
The one “proper” job I ever had, I quit, and that’s probably an ADHD story for another day.
And that’s how I built my first (tiny) voiceover studio
I think John Peel got the gig after me, but no matter. This one live session gave me the confidence to go all in with voiceover and not long after I had my own tiny studio under the stairs at home, working with radio stations all over the UK.
And I still made time to drink coffee and talk nonsense with Patrick because without him, this opportunity could never have happened – a quarter of a century ago 😳.
Want to book me for your next project?
I’ve got decades of experience and I’d love to work with you! Just send me an email or fill out the form here, and we can get the ball rolling.
About Natalie
I’m a British female voiceover actor based on the Dorset/Wiltshire border and I specialise in commercial and corporate voiceover projects. I work from my custom-built voiceover studio (more here) ably supported by my Head of Wellbeing, Gilbert the labradoodle.
I’m also an ICF accredited ADHD coach and I work with creative professionals – actors, voiceover artists, writers, musicians, and anyone who’s ready to lean into their strengths and stop trying to fit into a framework that doesn’t suit their brain.