Singer Actress Disney Voice Over

Genevieve has a remarkable career simply using her voice. With a fantastic talent and zest for music and life it has taken her on a roller coaster ride through musical landscapes she never expected. Hop on board her train with Skyler Jett and his team at Music For Global Change. Who knows who you’ll recognize or remember on this journey?

Tom: Welcome to the show Genevieve. In 2017 and 2019 you earned Grammy nominations for writing children's music and in 2018 you earned a Grammy as a recording artist in the children's music category. You are a writer and producer of music for television. Your career started in R&B and Hip-Hop in the San Francisco Bay area. You’ve done voiceover work in cartoons and are a recognized voice in children's entertainment. You've had over a decade of experience appearing as the singing train conductor in Disney Junior's Choo Choo Soul. This was originally crafted as an audio CD by a video game developer Greg Johnson whilst you worked for him on the game Toe Jam and Earl The Mission to Earth which we'll talk about a bit more later on. There are loads more to talk with you about Genevieve and thank you so much for joining us. Please do tell us more

Genevieve: Yes.

Ryan: I was a die-hard original and when I saw your bio I thought how do we not talk about this? How do you get into it? I'm more fascinated now, so how do you get into this whole voice-acting world right? Um, that's kind of where I wanted to start to be honest.

Genevieve: I love that well what was so cool I was working on Hip-Hop and R&B music in the Bay Area. The Bay area is big time, you know a melting pot of many things including genres. So I was singing in this audition came through for Toe Jam and Earl. They were looking for female rappers and so that was kind of like my vibe at the time and so I auditioned for the part. One of my favourite stories of my career to share is the fact that I did not get the part that I was auditioning for! So it's kind of a cool thing. How it all started was not being chosen for that and not because I'm not talented but because I just wasn't the right voice. It's something really good for a lot of us to hear and be reminded of how it's nothing personal and then you hear the person that got the part you're like oh yeah that was perfect but something in my audition they liked about me.

Genevieve: Oh thank you wow. It’s just weird to sit there as your bio is read, I know it's not the traditional career you hear about every day. It's been a blast, it's been a wild ride and now I'm coaching kids on how to record themselves and write and hear harmonies and all that good stuff. So it's a wild ride it's super fun thank you. Why did I get the feeling you knew Toe Jam and Earl?

Ryan: Oh…listen, what an amazing video game, it brings me back to my teenage years of my Sega Genesis. I think you're in the third iteration of the game.

They were like, you know but-there's some background characters and I was like okay cool let's do it and so it was just like this thing I wasn't even quite doing yet but I just dove in kind of like well I can do that I could be could be a little girl I could be this I could do that and each character had to fall off a cliff which was really cool like now you are the kid that was so fun so I kind of got thrown into this and during that session um there were gospel singers and they were the Gateway into this next level that you were gonna go to on the game and so it was like we've got a mission in mind we've got a mission to find I'm like that's their line and they're singers I'm like why aren't they singing it so I just was like we got a mission in mind we got a mission to find and he was like come back tomorrow I was like oh what happened when I came back the next day he had written all these new lines as songs and he had like so much fun with it that deep in his mind he had this whole like love of trains and this whole secret songwriting ability Greg Johnson who created Toe Jam mineral that was like the beginning of Choo Choo Soul he was like hey by the way would you ever make a kids album okay and it's kind of like where we went but I think that the idea was the first question was about getting into voice acting work and I think the cool way to do that is to identify that ideal job then you know fake it till you make it just kind of make it sound like you did it you know it's like if you want want to do commercials like find pick up your makeup thing and just read it in that way and you know it's like just actually making it sound like the job you want is basically how the beginning of making your demo to try to get work for said project so it's kind of like rather than waiting to be hired for it it's just making it sound like you've already done it.

Ryan: Was there an aspect of being in the Bay Area or California as a whole, I mean what if you're just the average person who's like I want to be a voice actor dude well I think let's relocate you know?

Genevieve: I don't think so, not if you have the recording equipment and the technology going on. Covid showed those of us fortunate enough to be working in the animation industry that it was the type of production that could keep going, it was busier during the pandemic you know because there are so many great technologies, it's fun. I wasn't even going to try to be like a salesman on this but, it's kind of like what I'm showing people, how you can start with something as simple as a USB microphone from your home. It's easy to just start that with a recording setup, I'm sure you guys know the deal. If you get booked for a gig and you're able to send samples of your audio recordings to a lot of places that are cool with that I'm sure. There are these programs that run like plug-ins I think we all have worked in recording software before, yes? (laughing

Skyler: (chuckles)

Genevieve: (laughing) I think so, like before it was a program baby.

Ryan: (uses his hands to mimic a circular motion and says jokingly) Yes rewind that tape all right.

Tom: (smiling) Back in the eight-track days.

Ryan: (smiling) Splice those two together.

Genevieve: (laughing again) Yes exactly.

Skyler: (bashfully smiles) I'm a dinosaur, you know I gotta hold it up for the dinosaurs. Making all that money from home, I like all that stuff.

Genevieve: (laughing harder) Yeah, dinosaurs tiny hand fist bumps yeah (Everyone laughs and smiles)

Ryan: (mimics a tiny dinosaur fist bump while everyone is laughing)

Skyler: Oh man, you might not know that Genevieve is a humanitarian too and I love you for that sister because we've written some songs on the humanitarian tip, you know for the George Mark Children’s House. You know for the hospital we did it for that, I mean it's just it's wonderful you know the duets that we've done over the years.

Genevieve: Oh I know it's amazing and I mean some of them we co-wrote, yeah I watched in awe while he wrote it in like seconds and then was kind enough to say we cowrote it I'm like I think I only suggested something there somewhere.

Skyler : It all started with us at your dad's studio, right and then did I send it to Robert Damper, Kenny G's musical director and he played on it, then Kitty played, incredible and didn't charge us a dime!

Genevieve: There it is!

Skyler: You know we're doing it but you and I were already doing it even before it came to this right here. You do a lot of work helping kids. I want to help kids, to help them to write the kind of lyrics that you and I exactly started doing for others because we can do that right?

Genevieve: Music is the best translation tool we have.

Skyler: It’s the number one language in the world. Tom, you got a question?

Genevieve: Those are collaborations. I feel just so honoured to even be chosen to be a part of those albums. Two were with the Alphabet Rockers which are this amazing group you guys should talk with them, talk about change makers oh my gosh. They're just incredible, they really do walk the walk. On their albums, I wrote a few songs with them over the years and some I featured on I simply just wrote on. Their albums were nominated and they were just nominated again this year which is outrageous and I got to write on that as well. Oh my gosh is this I feel like I'm just piggybacking off someone, but that is the way it goes. Then I worked on a children's album called Building Blocks, by fellow artists Tim Kubart. I was on his Block Party song so that one I was singing, we were kind of featured together and that one was nominated as well. So it’s just so cool that we even have that recognition in the children's genre because it really is a genre you know. I have a two-year-old about to be three and I see how easy it is to just hand them the iPad and go on YouTube and find whatever. We have to be mindful about what we're playing for them and what we're creating for them because they have incredible palettes for sound like we do. They don't need to be sunk down to some rinky-dink song. They love music you know, so yeah it's cool to be acknowledged in that way as a genre. I wish they had a singles category but we'll wait (laughing)

Skyler: What is it like to perform to 15,000 kids out there in front of you how does it feel?

Tom: Yes, off the back of everything else you've got your Grammy nominations for writing the children's music, almost back to back it looks like from 2017 right through. Your nominations how did they come about?

Genevieve: Man you mean performing live, yeah oh it's so great I mean it's been a while since it was that many in an audience because I haven't been touring as much. But it's just incredible it's definitely changed me as a songwriter too because when you see the kids in the crowd it's like they just want to be involved and they want to succeed immediately! You know, so if you're going out there with a mentality that you're an incredible musician, check out this chord progression and check out this modulation I did - they're just like - how do I sing along to that? You can find the right place, but I really like starting out right from the beginning of the song, this is how I want it to go you know for example I’ll sing a number count - one two three four five five six - seven eight nine ten…and the kids already know what to do and sing back the same to me, so let's get them to sing along, let's show them how we want them to be involved. Over the years I've met families and kept in touch with them. I've made incredible friends through this all and it's just it's crazy watching these kids graduate from high school and I'm just like oh my gosh you were jumping with me on the Choo Choo Soul Train, you know.

Ryan: Absolutely yeah the Choo Choo Soul, I saw it was around 2006 or something.

Genevieve: Yes that was it when it first came out.

Ryan: Yep okay so yeah my son is seventeen so he would have been right in that age where he probably saw it. I'm gonna play this back for him today.

Genevieve: Oh my gosh, just play the little “all aboard the choo-choo train” line and see what happens. It's been great too because I had this reacquaintance with myself on Tick Tock where through the pandemic I came on Tick Tock and it was like opening a door and everyone was like “Oh my God you were my childhood”.

Ryan: You are huge, massive on Tick Tock, I checked out your Tick Tock and people just like finding you and want to sing with you and stuff.

Genevieve: Oh outrageous yeah, so cool, so fun.

Skyler: I love that song about inside voice and outside.

Genevieve: Yes that that right, that's my method for teaching it's like we're gonna make them scream but we're showing the difference yeah between inside and outside voice, it’s so fun I love that one too.

Skyler: Then there’s the potty song, about going to the bathroom, gotta do my business.

Genevieve: Hilarious, hilarious you know there's something so special about that and I thought I could probably put that out on Tick Tock or something but it might go viral, I don't think if I want to be known for just that song, but it's pretty good.

Ryan: It can go sideways pretty quickly. (laughing)

Tom: Down the pan as it were. (everyone laughs)

Skyler: What are you working on now?

Genevieve: Yeah so right now I'm working with the Disney Junior channel. I'm making some music for little short-form stuff that's going in between their other shows and it's great. I started doing that about six years ago now I think where they wanted to do some new nursery rhymes remaking nursery rhymes. They went on some big summit and they came back and Disney was like - Disney needs to own nursery rhymes - like okay guys yes you do because it's like they see all these billions of views going on with this like.

Ryan: I mean they gotta want some of that baby shark money you know what I mean.

Genevieve: Exactly they're like - come on now we're Disney we need to - and I mean what an honour that they would come to me to make some of them, cool you know and so that was really fun and through that animation company OddBot, which has grown so much even since then they've done the uh the new action-packed show on Netflix and they did the Muppet Babies reboot on the Disney Channel.

They would make really cute animations based on all the Disney Junior characters oh right that are going on in their shows and so through that then we moved on doing ready for preschool which is another short-form show with like tying your shoes um morning afternoon and night places in your town things like that and then now we're going to do a little bit of just some fun songs for the Disney 100 year Anniversary so it's been a blessing amazing.

It's great to move into the producer role because I've been kind of backseat driving for a long time as far as production so the pandemic certainly helped me with that too where it's like you can engineer it you can mix it you can you hear the baseline do it you know it might take me longer than others but then I've released some in independent songs well independent with a small label called eight-pound gorilla and done some kids songs I did a Christmas EP last year that's going to come back around again this year crazy for Christmas lady kind of fun like going from being the young artist into like the crazy mom so that's really fun that's a song about you know the lady who has Christmas everything it's just a Christmas explosion lights everywhere ugly sweaters.

Skyler: I think you told me he was writing for other countries too right?

Genevieve: Yes so I did, I did work for Disney English where they were teaching English in China as a second language and I wrote a lot of musical curriculum for them which was really yeah really cool to think about it that way that was like Songwriter 101 because it was like here's what they need to learn and here is the property we're going to teach it within like make it sound like Lion King makes it sound like Peter Pan make it sound like Aladdin and then here's the list here's a spreadsheet of the only English words that they know so far so you're like okay that was incredible that that was my songwriter college right there. I work really well from creative briefs where it's like we need it needs to have this and that to when I'm trying to write and release my own music I kind of having to do that to myself you knowit's like okay I want it to give me royalties forever so let's attach it to a holiday and then what's the idea let's say this and that it's like I'm telling myself this is your to-do list so I really want to next year like just write songs just for fun.

Skyler: Do you do adult music anymore?

Genevieve: I do, I have friends that I write will write you know adult Pop R&B songs and for pitching them out to other artists and TV and film and things like that I haven't been doing it as much but I do love it and a lot of my hiphop and R&B you know friends that are doing adult music. Still, I'll sing backgrounds on their stuff or on the hook, that's how I started, it was singing on rap hooks so I love I still love doing that.

Skyler: Right, hey Tom you got a question?

Tom: Yeah, you mentioned it right beginning there that you now uh wrote and produce uh music from your home studio there in LA and you're coaching adults and young people on doing their own kind of recordings from home and stuff like that firstly how did you get into that and get the idea to start doing so, can you tell us a bit more about that?

Genevieve: It's funny I would do this for fun. We would have friends come over it would be a very different setting they would have some beverages and just a bunch of fun and I'd be like come in the studio come on go over there now say this and say that and I've always just loved that aspect of recording and I've noticed in living in LA and slowly I've had some I'm not a professional Voice coach but I certainly have a lot of experience and techniques and things to share and so I had clients they would just coach with me you know it started with just their parents ask me as she has an audition or can you do this or that so it kind of started there it's like it showed itself to me over time and I would notice a lot of the same questions I would hear from people a lot which I've noticed over like different sales training and things they tell you kind of like the napkin test it's like what would your Online course be if you were to sell one if basically if you could write down five questions people ask you the most on a napkin and then you take those blocks and turn those into your thing so I was realizing that I was hearing that a lot from people my daughter loves to sing how could I set up a studio for her.

I realized that I was hesitant to dive in and call myself a coach in just as a singing coach but I realized like no my strength is in the actual recording you know in the program and editing and that's how I can help people so once I had that light bulb moment I was like okay that's what it is I'm doing so and there are free programs now there's Garage Band on a Mac on a PC there's a program called Audacity and so I use Pro Tools um but of course then there's logic Studio One.

There are so many different programs but they all essentially do the same thing which is a multi-track recording so that you can play a music track and then layer your voice layer your voice again again and for kids especially working a lot of my clients um here in L.A. there they have agents already they're getting auditions and what happens a lot is you'll the kids will get an audition let's say it's for a Disney show and it's like okay here's the script of what you need to say and then here's a song they'll send them an instrumental the full song and just the vocals only now if you don't know how to record or you don't know what and you're the parent and you get that and you're just like how do I do this but I want my kid to audition for this.

I'm realizing there really is a need for that and it's in my opinion very easy so much that a kid can learn to do it themselves so their parent is not there editing all night every single audition which they will do we all love our kids but these kids are smart they can they can figure it out they can figure it out I have clients that are 10 I have one that's eight that I helped her do it all like they can figure it out you know yeah and so that's good money too. You know it can be all right per hour, you know what I mean kind of lucrative, it's a good bit I feelyou know what it's a good bit I feel good about it and they feel good about it you know it feels fair so you know what you probably just need is just some Scripts it's like it all starts with that you're like oh this is all you say you know it's just like well you do what do you make them up yourself or I do for some of my classes I'm actually about to do group workshops. I keep just saying I'm gonna roll this out I'm trying to find a time because there are all these different time zones in this beautiful world but yeah just like getting in groups and trying out those lines and hearing how there are notes in spoken words as well right so it's like if you're just reading something like oh no it can't be this we have to run where are they like my mom's coming, hurry up you know like all that sounds exactly the same learning how to be like oh no they're coming oh wait my mom's here it's okay you know what I mean it's like taking them on this ride.

Ryan: I can see the animations in my head already.

Genevieve: Oh yeah this is why I have wrinkles over my eyebrows because I also act with my face.

Ryan: Listen I can't get off this Disney tip, okay, I got two questions, do you ever have to wait in line at Disneyland or do you just get to cut the queue?

Genevieve: (Laughing) I am nobody when I show up there. I used to have the free pass to get in all the time. That's because I was actually an employee okay so now I'm doing contract work. It's a lot if they had to give every contractor a card.

Ryan: I get it.

Genevieve: But, I still have some free, I haven't paid for a while to get in but I can't go whenever I want and I do wait in lines yes,

Ryan: The second question real quick all right, Bob (Robert) Tiger is back in charge at Disney do you have all right SEC don't listen to this if you're watching Youtube do you have any Insider stuff that I should be like buying and selling are they going to sell to Apple who knows you know what you can't go wrong with Disney stock that's not a secret over time it's the long game of Disney I mean I can't imagine a world where Disney is cancelled or taken down I don't know I've never met such fanatical people.

Genevieve: Yeah right yes I know, I mean that that whole thing is so interesting, probably in another six hours from here my dad's eyebrow is twitching, he manages me, he's like don't say anything on the show.

Ryan: (Smiling) This is YouTube too so you know we're trying to get these views and keywords to people… you’re not saying buy but you're not saying don’t buy, who knows?

Genevieve: Whoa okay yeah exactly, I'm definitely not saying don't buy but I certainly don't have any Insider anything… (holding her hands up)

Ryan: (Smiling) Ok, I tried, I tried.

Genevieve: Other than the 100-year anniversary next in 2023, merchandising.

Ryan: Okay so would you do merchandise and things would be when you get your new music done will you come back on?

Genevieve: Oh my gosh yes please hello, I will be here we'll do more of a performance thing can we all do something together we want to promote what you're doing.

Skyler: I love you so much, we’ve known each other for years.

Genevieve: I know it's crazy and you've helped me a lot you helped me really to take that step from I wish I could into I'm going to.

Skyler: You were born with it you know, I didn't do anything but say keep going that's all I said, get out of this corporate job what are you doing at this insurance company you need to get out. We used to go get Vievi when she was working at an insurance company and people would tell her why are you still here what's wrong with you?

Genevieve: (Laughing loudly) Yeah, those insurance meetings, additional death and dismemberment benefits etc.

Ryan: Wow, you just hit her with a nickname and everything man.

Skyler: All right.

Genevieve: Yeah listen I love you too, thank you guys so much how fun it was talking about myself the whole time but, I suppose it's an interview.

Skyler: That’s why we asked you to come on you know.

Genevieve: I love it I am so excited to be here thank you so much have a great day.

One of my favourite stories of my career to share is the fact that I did not get the part that I was auditioning for! So it's kind of a cool thing. How it all started was not being chosen for that and not because I'm not talented but because I just wasn't the right voice. It's something really good for a lot of us to hear and be reminded of how it's nothing personal and then you hear the person that got the part you're like - oh yeah that was perfect but something in my audition they liked about me.