INTERVIEW WITH DARREN ROEBUCK — Poco goes loco!
◆◆ EPISODE CONTRIBUTORS ◆◆
Gamerland — Interviewer
Want Some — Design
Darren Roebuck — Special Guest
✵✵ ABOUT SPECIAL GUEST ✵✵
Darren Roebuck was born and raised in coastal Southern California. The arts were a big deal in his family, and Darren was encouraged at every turn to follow his creative muses. This lead to the Honors Drama and Jazz Band progams at his high school, which provided the training and work ethic to pursue a career in the performing arts. After attending the University of Colorado at Boulder, Darren was a regular player in the local scene, and through his music contacts followed through on an opportunity to get into lighting design for bands. This lead to touring the entire US and much of Europe. As fun as this was, Darren wanted to focus more on playing music. He bought a house in Boulder, and began the process of building a recording studio in the basement while playing in numerous bands both as a touring player and studio session musician.
Randomly through playing Words with Friends online, he met a DJ from a local pirate radio station, and scheduled an interview for his band. During that interview, he wound up getting his own radio show, and was on the air every Saturday morning for a year and a half. After all of that time in front of the mic, some of Darren’s friends suggested websites where he could find voice over work. He started getting work right away. That was 2013. In 2015 Darren made the jump to doing voice acting as a full time career. Since then he has sold his voice recordings all over the world, worked with dozens of notable companies, and voiced characters in globally popular video games.
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When Darren isn’t in the recording studio, he can be found doing outdoor activities like skiing, surfing, and mountain biking. High mountain hiking and photography are recent passions, the results of which adorn this website. Darren was recently certified for SCUBA, so check back to see photos from his upcoming undersea adventures
In this episode, we had the opportunity to connect with Darren Roebuck to get to know him better. We are truly impressed by his insights and would like to extend our sincere thanks to Darren for providing such engaging and thoughtful answers throughout the interview. We hope you enjoy reading as much as we enjoyed conducting it!
All important links and sources can be found at the end of this article. Additionally, be sure to check out our and Darren’s social media channels and website for more updates
Feel free to leave your comments and thoughts about the interview below. We value your feedback and look forward to bringing you more fascinating interviews in the future.
▬▬▬ INTERVIEW ▬▬▬
1. How did you start your career in voice acting, and what drew you to this profession?
1. I got into it kind of by accident. I was already into music recording, and through random circumstance met a DJ from a pirate radio station. Through that connection I got my own radio show, and after that people started telling me I could do voice overs on different websites. Since I already had a recording set up, I gave it a try and started getting hired right away.
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2. Which characters that you’ve voiced stand out to you the most and why?
2. Poco and Toy Freddy stand out the most. Not only were they fun to record, but their popularity has been mind blowing.
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3. How do you prepare your voice for a new character?
3. I warm up the same way for any voice over performance. That’s mostly singing and hydrating. When coming up with a character voice, I usually just look at the art work, and let the voice come out intuitively.
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4. Have you had characters that you found challenging? How did you overcome those challenges?
4. Yes. Sometimes it takes a while to “feel” a character. The way around this is to just practice. Play with the voice a lot until it feels natural. They say if you can recite Shakespeare in the character, then you have it. I do this sometimes.
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5. What unique traits do you try to bring to each character to make them stand out?
5. Every person’s voice is unique, and their personality is unique. This should be enough to start. After that the artwork guides me. I also try to take on the physicality of the character. That definitely affects the sound.
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6. What are your favorite projects you’ve worked on, and why are they special to you?
6. The first one, because it got me into this business, and the last one, because it means that I’m still in it.
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7. Do you have any specific techniques or rituals before recording to get into the right mindset?
7. These days I play piano and sing for about 30 minutes before going into the booth for a typical day. If I have a directed session, I always read the script once about 30 minutes before, then have a cup of tea.
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8. How do you adapt your voice to different emotional states of a character?
8. That’s more mental. I first imagine myself in the situation, then imagine the character there and try to act naturally after that.
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9. Are there certain genres or types of characters that you enjoy voicing more than others?
9. Not really, as variety is very motivating for me. If I have to choose, though, anything comedic will always capture my interest.
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10. What are your most memorable experiences working in the video game industry?
10. I work in the voice over industry. I do much more than video games. It’s hard to break down what is most memorable, but firsts always stand out — first gig, first character, first award nomination, first audiobook, first fan interaction. Stuff like that. All of those are special.
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11. How do you see the future of the voice acting industry evolving?
11. Good question. Now that nearly everyone is recording from home, I can’t really tell how it will change. At this point we’re at a state where talent and talent buyers are very easily accessible, and delivering quality product is relatively easy from almost anywhere. I think we may remain stable in this state for a while. I do think we will see more indie producers making more high quality stuff, and I love that possibility.
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12. What advice would you give to aspiring voice actors?
12. Get as much acting training and singing training as you can. Doing improve helps a lot too. This job is much more about acting than voice quality.
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13. How does working on video games differ from voicing animation or films?
13. There’s a lot more screaming and yelling! Aside from that, the process is the same no matter the genre.
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14. Have you had experience voicing characters in different languages? If so, how does it affect the process?
14. I have done a little bit of Spanish. The process only changes in the sense that I have to take more time in understanding what is being said, and making sure that I say it naturally.
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15. Is there a character you dream of voicing but haven’t had the opportunity to yet?
15. Not really. I’m open to whatever is next, and grateful for all opportunities. The surprises are the best part!
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16. How do you keep your voice in good condition with heavy workloads?
16. Warning up is essential, and also knowing when to quit. That’s probably more important. Avoiding injury is really important to sustaining your career.
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17. You voiced Poco in Brawl Stars and Toy Freddy in FNAF. What was it like to work on such big projects?
17. The honest truth is that I didn’t know they were big when I worked on them. This is mostly due to the fact that for security reasons, the developers hide everything but what the actors need to know, so we don’t really have an idea of the scope of the project until after it’s done. I didn’t know FNAF was big until a fan reached out for me to sign his funko pop. That was a surprise! And I didn’t know Brawl Stars was big until after I did an interview and my instagram blew up right after. Fun surprises for sure!
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18. How do you handle professional challenges and stress?
18. Exercise, sleeping well, and just generally not letting stuff get to me. We have choices about what we let in. Staying organized and sticking to a routine helps as well. That’s probably good advice for any business.
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19. In your opinion, what is the role of a voice actor in creating a successful game?
19. To make a successful game, it’s a team effort. Everybody has to give their best, or it just won’t work. An actor in a video game has to be ready for a physically and emotionally demanding day in the booth, and ready to “leave it all on the field” as they say.
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20. What are your plans for the future? Are there any projects you’re currently working on that particularly inspire you?
20. My plan is to keep working in the studio on voice over everyday, no matter what kinds of projects come my way, and to keep producing my music and music videos. I love being a recording artist more than anything, and I have no intention of quitting.
══ SOCIAL NETWORKS ══
Darren’s social networks and links
Site — (www.djrvoiceover.com/index.html)
X (Twitter) — (x.com/DeepOrbitStudio)
All other information was taken from official Darren’s site — www.djrvoiceover.com/index.html
Interviewer’s social networks
X (Twitter) — (x.com/Gamerland469485)
Telegram (RU only): (t.me/Gamerlandbs)
