We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Paul Slavens a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Paul thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you have an agent or someone (or a team) that helps you secure opportunities and compensation for your creative work? How did you meet you, why did you decide to work with them, why do you think they decided to work with you?

I used to do a lot of work in the Voice Over and On Cameral Commercial world. I was playing in a locally popular band in my late 20s. One of the fans was a guy who was in radio but made a lot of money doing voice work and on camera work. He said he thought I would be perfect for that kind of work and he basically set it up so that I could be seen by his agents.
They were with Kim Dawson Talent in Dallas. This was before the internet or even cell phones.
Because Dallas was a big advertising hub a lot of the commercials were produced here.
They saw me and signed me on the spot and within a week I had gotten my first audition , booked it and was on a soundstage in front of a crew and a huge camera. I booked a lot of stuff over the next couple years but soon got into voice work and found that I was even better suited for that.
For the next decade I made a lot of money, had a lot of fun and learned a lot.
Then the internet happened. I got older. Things dried up.
Connections are critical they open doors.
You gotta be ready to walk through that door.
Everything can change in one day, for the better !
Nothing lasts forever, and thats ok.
In the music business, acting business, dancing business, whatever business….the business side is almost certainly more important than the art side.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I grew up in rural Nebraska and came to Texas for my graduate degree at UNT in Denton. I got into an original rock band , Ten Hands. We were regionally successful and over the next 10 years I did that. It opened a lot of doors for me.
One of them was the opportunity to be signed by Kim Dawson Agency. I did a lot of on cameral work initially but then got into voice over work which I still continue today. I largely work from home these days and have a studio setup in my house that allows me to work with producers from anywhere.
Along the way I happened to pick up a radio show on KERA FM in Dallas. The station bought another station KXT and I migrated there and have been since.
Doing the radio show put me in touch with a lot of people and gave me the opportunity to give back on a larger scale. I created the show specifically to involve the listeners in the process and to buck the prevailing model of radio programming. I allow the listeners to suggest the music that I play on my show and we dont limit it by genre , type , style or time period.
It is called The Paul Slavens Show and it is on every Sunday from 8-10 pm. you can stream it at KXT.org/listen or visit my show page at KXT.org/Slavens to see how the blog works.

I think of myself first and foremost as a musician and composer. I have my BM in Piano Performance from Morningside College in my hometown of Sioux City Iowa. I went to UNT for degrees in Theory and in Composition. I still live in Denton and work at UNT as the Coordinator of Dance Accompanists for the Dept of Dance. I accompany other companies throughout the area and for several years have been the accompanist for the Joffrey Ballet Summer Intensives held here.
Ten Hands still plays shows and I have several musical outlets myself. I make up songs for people on the spot based on their song title suggestions. It is fun and I have been doing this for 20 years, in just about any setting you can imagine from kids to senior homes.

Perhaps most importantly currently is the release of my album Alphabet Girls Vol II , on June 24 2022. I have been at work on this project for many years, wriitng it and several years getting the album itself produced. Thanks to State Fair Records for taking and interest and making the project happen. I wrote a song for every letter of the alphabet, using a womans name that starts with that letter. The first volume was released about 10 years ago so it is very pleasing to get the second half out.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I just turned 60 back in May. I started out thinking I was going to be a big rock star.
And to be honest, I came a lot closer than most people do.
But I did not “make it”.
I watched my music career disintegrate even as I experienced an unexpected voice over career surging.
Then I watched that career disintegrate over a few years time as the internet changed the whole business.
Just about that time I got offered a radio show and it was successful beyond anyones expectation.
I am still doing that radio show , but like most creatives, I have to have several income streams to make ends meet.

I found myself back playing music as a career , but with different goals.
I did not think I would out a record on a real record label at this late place in my music career.
But I was wrong and I now have a wonderfully recorded album produced just how I wanted it and a label to help me spread the word about it and I am quite happy about that.
The first single for my first real label-album was released on my 60th birthday,
I feel pretty good about that, considering that kid who wanted to be a rock star also figured he would be dead by 60.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

this speaks mainly to my radio show, I have a weekly radio show , 8-10pm on KXT 91.7 DFW
I play all kinds of music and I make my playlist almost entirely of music that is suggested to me on my Listener Suggestion Blog.
Early on doing the show I was trying to make a show that didnt have themes, or play just one kind of music. I wanted real variety. I realized that if I only played things I liked that soon the show would become boring and I would not learn as much. That is when I started turning it over to the audience.
Crowdsourcing , if you will. Taking myself out of my own creative process in certain aspects.
And giving the audience a sense of investment in the show. Making them a part of the creative process.
What I got was a great show week after week because I follow my process and let the show make itself great. I let the audience make it great and they do every week.
This creative process and philosophy migrated to and from my musical composition process.
In fact I look at the entire radio show and its creation from a compositional perspective.

The goal is to open peoples ears and minds. To break down the idea that you have to like music to listen to it and get something from it. To fight the natural tendency for people to stop listening to new music as they age. To realize that if you only listen to music that you like you will miss lots of music that you would have otherwise come to love. The music that pushes you forward and makes your tastes broader. And also to listen to things you think you already know and “hate”.
I have come to love so much music that I used to “hate” when I was younger. Its ok to love something you used to hate when you didnt know any better.

Contact Info:

• Facebook: facebook.com/Slavens

Image Credits
James Bland