We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Matt Chenoweth-Goodson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Matt, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I’ve always found it rather amazing how many resources actually exist. And I don’t mean “oh, you can read this book on acting in a booth” or “here’s some tips on how to get started”; I mean RESOURCES. Namely, people. Performers that have been in the business for a very long time tend to also end up teaching the craft. I’ve had the preposterously good fortune of learning under greats like Bob Carter (Mortal Kombat, Fullmetal Alchemist), Keythe Farley (Mass Effect, Fallout), and Eliza Jane Schneider (Assassins Creed, South Park). All three of them have WILDLY different focuses in their teachings. The only thing I’ve learned over and over from all three of them is that if you want to learn something, you need to be specific. Bob teaches the business of voice acting and what will be expected of somebody for everything from corporate VO, fast food commercials, and live event announcing to original cartoons, dubbing, and video game VO. Keythe focuses on scene interpretation, character development, and understanding direction. Eliza is a dialects coach and teaches how to precisely control everything in your body that can influence your voice and delivery.

Every teacher I’ve ever had has touched on all of the above topics, because they’re all obviously very important, but knowing WHAT you want to learn and focus on is a huge step towards finding a mentor and developing your capabilities as a performer in a manner where you can find contentment. Voice acting is a vast, wondrous landscape, but if you don’t know where in that landscape you want to visit, won’t matter what kind of guide you have.

I could go on and on about the merits of learning from any of my teachers (I’ve had many beyond the three I’ve listed above), but I think the best teacher is the one that does what you want to do. If you see a professional that does work that makes you go “wow, I wish I could do that!”… ask if they teach. You’d be surprised how many professionals are also willing resources (and shockingly delightful people).

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

So, I’m a voice actor, but when I’m not doing that, I manage a research lab for Georgia Tech. Growing up, I’d always been a performer – mostly music (singing and flute). After three years as a flute performance major, I began to resent music because I HAD to do it. As a result, I ended up switching my degree to biology (with a focus in endangered plant conservation). When I graduated, I made the unfortunate discovery that “botanist” and “unemployed” were basically synonyms. Eventually, I ended up as a general lab tech for a lab at Emory, then a senior lab technician, and subsequently lab manager. For those of you who don’t know, the lab manager is the person who makes sure everybody gets what they need so that the work can continue within the bounds of both legality and morality (SO much paperwork!).

Now, I told you all that so that I could tell THIS story.

Around 2014 or 2015 (pre-pandemic has become rather hazy for me), I had a nervous breakdown. I had a slew of mental difficulties: depression, general anxiety, ADHD – all untreated (and in the case of ADHD, at the time, undiagnosed). I was burnt out at work to the point that, thanks to the aforementioned conditions, all it would take was one good jolt in my life to completely unravel me. That jolt came in the form of a collapsing long-term relationship. The resulting “unraveling” was not pretty. I’ll forgo the darker details, but suffice to say, I was not in a survivable scenario. At the time, however, I was exceedingly fortunate to work for somebody that I trusted enough that I could talk to her about what was happening. She put me onto several weeks of extended medical leave, and I was in therapy every other day during that time.

During one of those therapy sessions, my therapist pointed out to me “you know, I can’t help but notice that the only time you seem to smile is when you’re talking about voice stuff.” At that point, I’d taken a couple classes in voice acting and started working with The Atlanta Radio Theatre Company as a hobby. My therapist and I thought it might be a good idea for me to let performing be a larger part of my life and, as part of my ongoing therapy, I took steps toward doing voice work in a more professional capacity. I put together a home studio, started more lessons, started taking auditions. By the time I went back to working in the lab, I was still far from 100%, but for the first time in a long while, things didn’t feel hopeless and pointless… to be more exact in the feeling of it, I stopped feeling like I was pointless

The lab I was working in did a lot of human research on neuroinflammatory/neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, etc). And working with people dealing with such things, working with people at risk of such things… you learn that there is a big difference (a huge gaping chasm, in fact) between saving somebody’s life… and prolonging it. And don’t get it twisted, the work my labs do, that research will absolutely save people’s lives in volumes I will never be able to quantify. But for me personally, I think I can save more lives as a performer – being the background character that pops in for half a second and makes a viewer giggle after they spent the afternoon crying; being the videogame character that lets a player feel larger than life; being part of a story that lets audiences feel less alone.

And in doing so, if I can save lives on even a tenth of the scale of say Phil LaMarr, or Rob Paulson, or Cree Summer, or any number of other greats of the craft… that’s a life I can find a point in striving for.

Forgive me, reader, if this got a little heavier than you were expecting, but that’s what made me the artist I am, and if somebody wants to hire me for something, I want them to know that I will take it as seriously as somebody with my history should. But if somebody is a fan of what I do, I want them to know how much I personally want them to be ok, and that I do all of this for them just as much as I do it for me. Whatever life brings you, I’m proud to be a little something that helps you through it.

oh, and before I forget, The Necroseam Chronicles by Ellie Raine! It’s a project I’m immensely proud to be a part of! Audio book 5 will begin production soon, and audio books 1-4 are available in most places you can get audio books! Hear my character work alongside my co-narrator, the incomparable Christa Burton.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Growing up, I always loved doing impressions, and when I first started doing voice work, I thought “oh, yeah, I’m a shoe-in for so much work!”

nooooooo….

There are three lessons to learn if you like to describe yourself as “being good at voices”

One: Don’t overestimate the value of a good impression. Voice-matching can be a thing you get hired for, but for the most part, if a studio wants a person’s voice, they can afford the original.

Two: Don’t underestimate the value of a bad impression. Just because it doesn’t sound like who YOU’RE thinking of doesn’t mean it won’t be perfect for what somebody wants in their project. Originality will almost always beat out what’s familiar.

Three (and most importantly): There is only one voice that you will be able to do better than anybody on the planet, and that’s your own. It is your greatest asset, and you should find joy and comfort in it.

That third lesson is still hard for me – I want to slip into a character in almost any scenario, especially auditions. But sometimes, you don’t need to be a character – you just need to accept that you are the unique voice a character needs

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Goals and missions are odd for me. Any time I finish a project, I immediately turn into a ten year old getting off an amusement park ride yelling “YEAH! LET’S GO AGAIN!!!” The mission is just to keep going…

That said though, there are some dream gigs. Like, being on a project headed up by the Molyneux sisters, OOO! Or voicing Nightcrawler or Colossus for a Marvel project? Ultimate fan-boy gig!

Barring something like that though, I’m just happy to be here!

Contact Info:

• Website: mcgvoices.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mcgvoices
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MCGVoices

Image Credits
Smite images by Hi-Rez Studios ActionTeamUnite – “Bearcat” – by Awesome Inc.