This week saw the return of Joe Mcfadden and Gyles Brandreth to A1 VOX.

Gyles was his usual cheery self and Joe cut quite a dashing figure – probably due to his recent on stage role as eccentric inventor Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Chris has been recording some bits and pieces for a highly confidential project that I would love to tell you about but would have to cull all your vocal chords, so my lips are sealed!

As for Charles - any early birds out there might have caught him chewing the cud with Vanessa Feltz as he took to the Radio 2 airwaves last week. He was also driving the desk for Moira Stewart, so a long old shift, and blooming early starts for our man in the field, Mr Nove.

I simply don’t know how he does it?! Up with the lark and then speaking to the country with precise diction and free wheeling chat with Vanessa…….the mere thought sends shivers down my spine, but it is certainly a job that Charles loves and there is no doubt about it, Charles is one of the best in the business.

It was for this very reason that Charles found himself being interviewed by friend and esteemed showbiz colleague - Mr Lewis Mcleod, on 'Speak Up' for BBC Radio Scotland.

(Unfortunately at the time of this Blog going to press the interview had been up for its 7 day period and may therefore only be found in the BBC archives at a later date)

The topic of the show was all things voice over and the interview entertained anyone with fingers in audio pies and quenched the thirst of newbie audio goons thinking of becoming a V/O themselves.

So it was a case of audio geeks unite as Lewis interviewed our own legendary Mr Charles, then Simon Grenall, (aka, the very famous meerkat), and last but by no means least, Peter Dickson - the right hand human boom-box to Simon Cowell's X Factor.

Lewis himself has a huge repertoire when it comes to voicing. He can pretty much turn his vocals to any character and accent going.

He quizzes Charles on how you go about becoming a ‘voice’, the pitfalls and dangers of joining the industry, and how we here at A1 VOX train people through our sister company Voxtraining.

If I had a pound for every time somebody calls A1 and says that their aunt Maude suggested they get into the biz as they have an exceptional voice, I would be one rich lady.

“The industry is very competitive so clear off and forget all about it”

That is definitely not what I say to people enquiring about our courses but this is what Charles says in much jest during the interview.

What he goes on to explain is that to make a real commitment to the world of voice over any prospective punter needs to be armed with all the information in order to fully understand the nature of the business.

As Charles points out having a good voice is only one part of what constitutes being a professional voice artist, and in actual fact.... not really the biggest part.

Charles’ Checklist

Before taking the plunge and jacking in your 9-5 to take up the vocal mantel here is a quick fire list of things to consider:

Can you amend your delivery?

Can you finely tune and add or shave seconds as requested?

Can you take direction?

Can you maintain a character/accent over a two hour session?

Can you maintain enthusiasm even after 100 takes of saying the same thing?

Can you ensure that the client has full confidence in you?

Do you know how to behave in a session?

Can you decipher what the client really wants even if they don’t seem able to communicate it to you in words?

Being a voice over takes a lot of patience.

Over the years I myself have been privy to many a session.

There will often be one voice artist in the booth, three clients in the studio, and another couple calling in on the phone. The voice artist has to keep their cool when they are getting conflicting direction from all angles. They have to use their voice, and more importantly - their brain, to take everything that is thrown at them and deliver the goods.

It is a myth that anyone can go into the booth and read from a script – well anybody can do that of course, but the end result won’t be a patch on what a pro can produce.

We have had some clients that bring people in from their office as they say…yes you’ve guessed it…..'he/she has got a really good voice'. They get in the booth, they clam up, they can only read the piece in one particular way, and good voice or not, the outcome has as much life as a piece of wood.

The client then admits defeat and usually ends up paying for another studio session with a professional voice artist.

But it is not all caution, doom, and gloom as there is a pretty penny to be made if you persevere. Established voices do very well out of the industry especially if they carve a particular niche for themselves. Brian Blessed, who often visits us at A1 VOX, has an instantly recognisable voice – you think ruddy loud and proud – you think Blessed!

Here at A1 VOX we run a one day Introduction to Voice Over course each month. We also create demo show reels for experienced and established voice artists that want to freshen up their reel, or for people that are attempting to break into the business and need a demo to get themselves a voice agent.

We will be discussing both of these courses in blog detail over the weeks to come.

So for now look over the checklist. If you are still saying ‘hell yeah – I wanna get me some of that vocal pie’ then read all A1 VOX has to offer to get you started on your path to talking for money in a blog coming to you soon.

LONDON NEWS

‘THE HUNT IS ON’

Faberge present The Big Egg Hunt.

For forty days and forty nights London will be transfixed by the most astounding and exhilarating egg hunt it has ever seen.

Each corner will hold a secret treasure for you to discover and it is all in the name of charidee!!!!!

Elephant Family and Action for Children are the two charities behind the exciting event. You may remember the painted elephants that made an appearance in London and in this blog last year…well this is the second brainwave from the charities whose boundless passion and vision has brought them together to raise money that they both so urgently need.

Many a special egg lays hidden and with online competitions bringing hunters together – are you up to the challenge?

I was - so I hit the pavement and managed to snap these groovy little pieces on my jaunt around Carnaby Street.

It certainly is a jolly idea and has even made headlines when the egg-cellent Post Box design below was stolen and subsequently retrieved – the egg of some people eh!

“That has got to be the worst pirate I have ever seen”

No that isn’t a rebuke for a dodgy download.

The famous quote from Pirates of the Caribbean, is one which guest of the week, Tom Hollander, knows only too well having played Lord Cutler Beckett in the famous franchise.

At Cambridge Tom studied English. It is also where he took the title role in a memorable production of Cyrano de Bergerac that brought together an interesting assortment of talent. Sam Mendes, a childhood friend from Oxford, was the director, their pal Tom Piper was designer, and Nick Clegg played Carbon de Castel-Jaloux.

So more the thesp, director and politician than the lion, the witch and the wardrobe!

Moviegoers will have seen Tom as a penniless aristo in Gosford Park, as hapless minister Simon Foster in The Loop, and as creepy-sounding choreographer/child catcher in the fairytale movie Hanna.

From December to March of this year you can catch him in Richard Eyre’s production of Flea in her Ear at the Old Vic.

However it is Tom’s latest TV performance in Rev that is winning him all sorts of new fans.

Lily Allen tweeted her love of Rev, which sees Tom playing the embattled leader of a tiny, rackety congregation in grimy East London:

“Tom Hollander is my favourite British actor, very very funny”

This coming from someone with an often acidic cyber-tongue is high praise indeed!

So Tom packs quite an a-list punch, but at just 5ft5in let’s hope he doesn’t get into a real fight!

A1 VOX INSIGHTS TO THE WORLD OF VOICE OVER

So after an extensive session, recording a myriad of foreign voices, we asked resident A1 VOX engineer Chris – “how do you go about organising such sessions?”

Our intrepid audio goon had this to say on the matter:

“Rule 1 of foreign voice over – we don’t talk about fore…oops, sorry, wrong list. What I mean to say is that the translations will be picked apart by every language artist that comes in.

Never assume you will be able to start a session without a voice artist pointing out the inadequacies of the translation they have been given, and how to improve it – which of course is very helpful, apart from when you’ve been asked not to deviate from the given script; as it has been approved by clients.

Always record two versions – one that is exactly as written, unless the artist say’s that it’s complete gobbledygook, and one translated as the voice artist wishes. Send both to the client and diplomatically ask if they think the new translation is an improvement.

Rule 2 of foreign voice over – LABEL EVERYTHING!!!! If you don’t know your Turkish from your Kurdish, your Thai from your Taiwanese; then you will be kicking yourself if you don’t have everything clearly labelled!

Rule 3 of foreign voice over – if you have time, play everything recorded back to the artist, and make sure they are confident that they haven’t fluffed or mispronounced anything.

Rule 4 of foreign voice over – If you feel that something sounded hesitant, it probably was. The voice artist might assure you it was ok, but when they do it again, you will notice that it didn't sound hesitant the second time around.

No matter what the language, the human ear can pick up on unfamiliarity and beat pauses that were not meant to be included.

Trust your judgement, even when someone tells you it’s ok.

Rule 5 of foreign voice over – copious cups of tea are essential to recording any language, but especially ones you don’t understand very well!”

Thanks Chris - that is a top trump lesson. There can be no more excuses for anyone out there battling with a foreign voice over session. This blog should become your bible.

SOHO NEWS

I haven’t done any celeb spotting on the streets for a while now so I thought I would share my double whammy Valentine’s Day experience with you all.

There I was minding my own business and on my way to a free cut and colour when I stumbled across a rather large group of grown men prancing about on Old Compton Street with Proton packs on their back!!??.

This can only mean one thing, I thought, - the council have finally had enough of the ruddy pigeons and decided to exterminate the whole blooming lot. Heartless measure to take on Valentines Day!

However on closer inspection I noticed the group were huddled around Gerry’s Wine and Spirits.

Dutch courage before the V Day massacre?????

NO – in fact the furore was all for the benefit of Mr Dan Aykroyd – aka Mr Ghostbuster.

It seems that Dan was camped out in the Soho drink emporium to promote Crystal Head Vodka – the most recent and innovative vodka brand to hit the spirits market and created by none other than Mr Aykroyd himself.

It was quite a sight to behold as the nerdy collective of Ghostbuster fans all queued to get a signed bottle of vodka when all they really wanted was Ray Parker Jrs. hit Ghostbusters playing out whilst they neutralised vapours, entities and other low life spectral deviants, thus preventing chaos on the streets of Soho,…..and ultimately saving the day…Gulp!

So I moved quickly on to my hairdressing appointment where woman of the moment, England's answer to Rihanna, and girlfriend to Rob Kardashian, - Rita Ora was also getting her locks chopped. Or should I say extended as Rita had been in the salon for 7 hours having her extensions removed and replaced!!!!!

Brother Kardashian stayed with her throughout the whole process even when she suggested he go back to their hotel suite – it must have been Valentines love……or maybe the free beer they kept giving him, but he stuck with her throughout the whole ordeal!

If you would like to be a free hair model, and do a bit of celeb spotting at the same time, then give Percy and Reed a call. A-List hair without opening up the purse strings – Sir, Yes, Sir!

So end’eth another Blog. Who knows what A1 VOX insights we will be delving into next week but be sure to tune in and find out oh loyal followers of Soho’s friendliest studio.

We are still in the grips of the big freeze but have a lot of vocal warmth left in our hearts. Long live the British spirit……..and radiators!

It seems that our guests were feeling the need for getting their tonsils toasty, as they merrily chatted away to us before their sessions.

I suppose it is a great way of getting the old pipes going, and it sure beats those wierdy vocal exercises and la la la’ing that we often hear as people ascend the stairs.(What our neighbours think I have no idea!)

Our first merry customer of the week was Corrie star Steven Arnold.

Steven will be fondly remembered for his role as squeaky-voiced butcher Ashley Peacock in the Weatherfield drama. Son to Fred Elliott on the show this was one sausage maker that had his fill of humorous and meaty storylines including the murder of first wife Maxine.

Last year it was with a heavy heart that Steven had to say goodbye to a character he had played for over fifteen years. In true soap land style he went out with a crash, bang and WALLOP as Ashley was one of the few Corrie unfortunates to find himself killed off by that fateful tram.

TV Genius at its best.

But whilst Steven is a veteran of the small screen I feel very privileged and honoured to be able to say that myself and the team at A1 VOX guided him through his first ever voice over gig!!!!

Added to this monumental occasion Steven also informed me he had given up the dreaded weed that very day, so it was with some trepidation that I offered him a cup of tea for fear of a nicotine induced melt down!

However, Steven laughed and said a cuppa would be most welcome. I hope I managed to put Steven at ease by talking him through the process of the voice over session ahead, and prepping him for entering that strange little booth for the first time.

I guess working on the Street, in such a pressure cooker environment, gives you an invaluable set of skills. I listened in to Steven’s session and he sounded like a consummate professional.

On leaving he had a big grin on his face - a sign of relief, and pride, that he ‘had it in the can’. Praise where praise is due and with his vocal cherry well and truly popped I let him know that he had done an outstanding job.

There had been talk of Steven quitting acting to reportedly become a roofer. I asked him with a coy smile how he felt about that now – it seems ‘don’t give up your day job’ may become his mantra as he continues working in the arts - all be it behind a mic for now.

Good luck Steven we hope to hear more of you in the future.

Who here remembers Mel and Sue’s Light Lunch on Channel 4?

It was hosted by Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, who shot to TV stardom having written for French and Saunders.

I have to say that Mel is one of the few comedians that seems to either imitate her art or simply is as outgoing and bubbly as her on screen persona.

She came bounding into A1 like an over excited puppy and her enthusiasm was infectious.

On reading up on Mel it seems that this is the real deal as even on her own website she is very much tongue in cheek about her good self:

“Mel has spent most of her adult life as a child. Her only long-term relationship to date was a regrettable liaison with television personality Cap’n Birdseye.

Their five year marriage ended in the divorce courts after Mel discovered her husband had faked his navy credentials and was not a Cap’n at all – just a struggling actor with a penchant for standing too close to small boys with a frozen cod-stick in his hand”

I'm saying nothing!

Here she is taking a bite of the forbidden A1 fruit that Chris offered up to her, like the snake tempting Eve.

Not that I am likening Chris to a snake - he is anything but! He is just very generous and likes to keep his guests delicately tuned with his pick of Tesco’s finest.

Mel and Sue recently joined horns once more on The Great British Bake Off - Brit baking with a good dollop of Mel and Sue – lovely jubbly.

Mel continues to venture into the vocal and radio domain, and you can catch her presenting The Four O’Clock Show on BBC Radio 4 Extra.

A1 VOX News

Continuing with the baking theme it seems you really can have your cake and eat it!!!!!!!!!

Earlier this week Charles drew my attention to an article he had spied in The Telegraph.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9069276/Chocolate-cake-breakfast-could-help-you-lose-weight.html

YES – according to new research having dessert – along with the traditional fry up – is a calorie defying burn buster.

Article ‘can this be true’ states that eating choccies as part of a breakfast that includes proteins and carbs stems the craving for sweet something’s later.

So put down that lumpy porridge, spit in the face of muesli, and get yourselves down Kath’s Caf' for a greasy platter and a wedge of something naughty to follow – Oh be still my calorie laden heart.

Join us next week when Chris will be instructing on the best way to cope with multiple, foreign voiced, Sound to Picture sessions (try saying that after a few shandy's!), and we get to grips with the baddie from Pirates of the Carribean star, Tom Hollander.

Till then - Eat Cake!

Shivering timbers! Things have taken a definite turn to the cold side.

Being ever so British I have been discussing weather fronts all week with a multitude of clients and producers both in Britain and the rest of the world.

On comparing wintry office views with one of our regular radio producers, Eric over at Riviera Radio in Monaco, France, I was sent across a couple of photos as evidence of his opulent winter wonderland.

This is the view from Eric’s office:

Not too shabby.

And this was the view from one of his radio listener’s houses just a stone’s throw away from Eric’s lush 9-5 pad:

I say….what a vista!!!!

Regardless of weather fronts A1 VOX doesn’t just huddle away in the safety confines of the studio.

Chris and Charles regularly trek further afield than London in order to record a regular client.

We are not at liberty to discuss client particulars, but the customer in question frequently changes the recording rendezvous at the last minute due to the nature of their business. We have even journeyed to the coast in a quest to keep smiles on faces.

You see it is our job to make sure we can change our plans, both at the studio and the recording destination to keep everybody happy. Communication is key people, as is swift thinking and a great knowledge of the British transport system and roads!

Unlike my train service provider, A1 VOX go to great lengths to keep clients happy. Both parties reap the benefits, and this makes for a great working relationship. So if anyone out there should need the services of a roaming audio engineer just give A1 a call.

We didn’t have to go very far to record the first guest of the week as Julian Barratt joined us here at A1 VOX HQ.

I often find it interesting meeting comedians to see if they are hilarious in real life or just oddballs with a dark and twisted past.

I guess that coming in for a voice over job doesn’t exactly display every nuance of your character but Julian came across as quiet, very self-deprecating and a totally nice chap.

Julian is an English comedian, musician, music producer, and actor. He is best known for playing “jazz maverick” Howard Moon in cult comedy The Mighty Boosh, which he co-wrote with comedy partner Noel Fielding.

“Noel and I are working apart now, which is quite hard, having made something together. It’s like we’re having affairs but have mutual custody of the kid”

Apart from The Mighty Boosh Julian has had parts in Nathan Barley, Asylum alongside Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, and appeared as The Padre in spoof horror series Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace.

Julian recently completed his directing debut in Curtains. Set in a Norfolk seaside town it is a dark comedy about a Punch and Judy man. That’s the way to do it – sorry.

Julian is now venturing more and more into the world of voice over having put his vocal pout to More Than Insurance, a Directgov advert and narrated the 2011 documentary Seven Dwarves. The mighty voice for little people eh Julian.

So when he is not cavorting around with Noel, what makes this comedian tick?

“Badly spread butter on toast can send me incandescent with rage”

Noted Julian - So if you are having a sleep over in the Barratt household probably best to leave Julian to make the brekkie!

…..Or ask our second guest of the week to make it for you, as next up the stairs was none other than Julian’s partner, and mother to his twin boys – Julia Davis.

Julia is an English comedy writer and performer, but is best known for writing and starring in the BBC Three comedy Nighty Night.

In fact Julia spent three years writing what became one of the darkest comedies seen on television to date. It seems she used her role as sociopathic beauty parlour owner Jill Tyrell to challenge the very notion of what comedy is and can be.

“Jill let me say and do things I would never get away with in real life”

So how did it all start?

Julia used to belong to a comedy troupe which included future Gavin and Stacey co-stars Rob Brydon and Ruth Jones. Her big break came as a regular cast member of Big Train, and her career was given a further boost in 1998 after she sent a tape to Steve Coogan who invited her to write and tour with him.

Julia has starred in many comedy TV shows including I’m Alan Partridge, Big Train, Brass Eye, Jam, Human Remains, and Gavin and Stacey. She has also had roles in films Love Actually, Sex lives of the Potato Men (yes really!) and Confetti.

Julia’s comedy often comes from a dark place and it kind of makes sense that her and Julian gravitated to one another.

So how does Julia feel now that she too has branched out into the voice over industry?:

“You know, my attitude towards work has changed. I used to think that you’d be selling out if you did something like a voice over. Now I don’t think like that. You have got to be realistic”

We are happy that you acknowledge voice over work as credible in its own right Julia…..I guess it will do until you get your next comedy idea riddled with brutality, murder, and sexual deviance eh!

So that concludes our whizz around A1 VOX happenings.

Now go get under a blanket, stay inside, and crank up the cosy factor to an 11/10.

Word on the street is that if a job is worth doing it’s best to go straight to A1 VOX.

Word of mouth is a strong tool indeed. In fact we were recently approached by a new company who had been nudged our way by an A1 VOX client. Thank you very much.

In a bid to uphold this recommendation we flung ourselves at their mercy and we're only too happy to listen to their app idea.

Technology changes quicker than Angelina Jolie popping out her next sprog, and us folk at VOX Towers love to keep abreast of current trends by getting involved with projects that are a little bit different from the norm. On hearing said concept we leapt at the chance to get on board, and decided we were the ones to help bring it all to life.

The brief we were given was to supply a female artist that could speak a number of stock phrases, in six different accents. Nothing new there for old hats such as ourselves. The unique part of the gig was that they wanted to video the artists mouth as she was voicing.

They had a specific target market to which this app was aimed - namely your bloke on the street who reads Nuts and Zoo and downs lager as if it is going out of fashion. Wahey!

With this in mind, and the client needing a hot woman, (well who doesn’t),…….it fell to Miss Eleanor Howell to deliver the goods, I mean voice.

The day came before we could say 'Apple Mac' and Studio A quickly transformed from audio hub to temporary film set. There was much angling of lights and clearing of decks to make room for the camera but before long the stage was set.

Chris had a table top mic stand with a directional mic ( a c1000 AKG) angled towards Ellie as close as possible (but just out of camera shot). This ensured that A1 VOX got the best quality recording available, rather than leaving the clients to rely on the internal camera mic, which would have sounded 'roomy' due to it's distance from Ellie.

With quotes such as ‘It’s not Christmas, or your birthday, so don’t even ask’ said in numerous fashions, Ellie brought the house down.

She even applied different colour lipsticks for each region to give the whole shebang an authentic touch. Bravo Miss Howell.

So 'Luscious Lips Ellie' will be gracing smart-phones in the very near future, with the addition of some nicely recorded audio of course - how's about that then!

(As for Ellie’s other half…well he is happy to stick with the real thing giving him grief, even if she isn’t wearing fluro lipstick!).

Excitement reached fever pitch last week as Monty Python’ite extraordinaire Terry Jones came into the studio.

Chris was stoked that he would be working alongside one of his idols and with this in mind we thought a picture of Chris, with Terry, was the order of the day.

To some people he is a god but to coin a Life of Brian phrase…'He’s not the Messiah. He’s a very naughty boy!'

Terry will forever be synonymous with Monty Python but he is also a renowned medieval historian, controversially, a champion of church conservation, (even though Life of Brian is considered blasphemous and three out four movies that he directed were banned in Ireland: The Meaning of Life, Monty Python’s Life of Brian and Personal Services), oh….and at the age of 69 he is father of a two year old. I say!

He has written countless books and last year he directed a short opera that he also wrote a libretto for called The Doctor’s Tale.

We have met some seriously talented artists here at A1 VOX but Terry sure takes some beating!

‘He promised me all the gold I could eat’

It seems that Terry (unlike Brian's mum), got it all, as everything he touches turns to the shiny stuff - Lucky, talented so and so.

Terry was at our studio for a couple of hours as part of a PR agencies media day.

Another A1 VOX specialty is the ability to co-ordinate a schedule of interviews with different radio stations across the country.

Chris was at the helm to make sure that we connected successfully, swapping from one codec to another, and enabling the session to run without error.

As some of the stations were airing the interviews live, and not all were pre records, this was pretty hairy stuff.

Chris, ever the professional, took it all in his stride and put in an A1 performance.

Terry did his part too of course by sitting cheerfully in the booth and delivering each interview as if it were the first of the day.

Afterwards he was more than happy to hang around with a big smile on his face and a word for everyone. Legend!

A1 VOX NEWS

Many of you who are familiar with A1 VOX will know that one of our resident in house voices has a bit of a strange hobby…no it is not Trevor Nichols playing the lute with his thighs…step forward Lucy Scott.

Lucy likes to swim.. but not lengths of the local, (that would be far too normal). She likes to swim in sub zero waters - the loon!

Last weekend was the 2012 Winter Swimming Championships in Jurmala, Latvia.

The event is held every two years and involves 25metre, 50metre sprints, relay swims and endurance swims in water approximately zero degrees. The air is no better at around minus 20!!!! Makes England seem positively Caribbean.

The meet was set up by the Finnish sixteen years ago and they have been campaigning to turn it into a winter Olympic recognised sport.

Here is Lucy about to swim the 50 metres in a rather fetching glittery red number. You can take the girl off the stage but………..

Lucy was rewarded for freezing off all extremities by getting silver in the 50metres and gold in the 25metres – Well stoke up the fire and call me Wendy!

Well Done Lucy!.

The next event is in 2014, Lapland – the Arctic Circle. So if you fancy a madcap weekend, with people who like to submerge themselves into a vat of ice, (and grin about it afterwards), get in contact with Lucy who will show you that ‘The Only Way is Bloody Cold.’

Join us next week when Julian Barratt of Mighty Boosh fame makes an appearance, and we find out what makes this funny man incandescent with rage!

Grab hold of your mics and nail down your headphones……WE ARE BACK!

So I went off to become a Mrs (please see the couple of photos below as evidence of this) , and took the trip of a lifetime around Asia.

Sarah and Dom outside Leez Priory right after 'I Do'.

Sarah ecstatic that the big day has finally arrived and she can down champagne with much abandon!

All this was happening whilst you lot were at home cautiously twiddling your thumbs and chewing fingernails, awaiting news of the latest A1 VOX happenings.

Well wait no more fine followers!

You will be glad to hear that whilst I was away the A1 VOX ship was calmly sailed by Mr Tom Heath.

Under the watchful eye of Captain Nove, and First Mate Chris O’Conner, Tom steered us nicely into November and December – (Captain Francesco Schettino please take note of how it’s done!).

So we are still technically sound and very much afloat.

Well Done Tom and a big thank you from all at A1 for your hard graft and periless voyages into the depths of the vocal sea.

Here at A1 we aren’t just your run of the mill studio. In point of fact we pretty much turn our hand to anything with much gusto.

It was due to this A1 VOX joie de vivre that we were able to throw a lifeline to one of our Danish clients.

They had been recording Denmark’s Next Top Model (a spin off from the Tyra Banks’ franchise in good ole U S of A), and needed to get some recordings taken as a matter of fashionista urgency from their Danish presenter, Caroline Fleming.

There were however a few hurdles to cross in order to gain said revered lines - the biggest being Caroline’s schedule.

She was due to fly out on holiday the day of the recording, which meant that she was frantically finalising packing and unable to make it into the studio. This left her Danish Top Model counterparts pulling at their hair and making all sorts of guttural noises.

There was only one thing for it…If Muhammad can’t come to the mountain, …….then A1 VOX shall go instead!

So we sent our top man in the field Mr Chris O’Conner off to record Baroness Caroline Fleming in her very own home.

This was not going to be a mean feat as Caroline is a bit of a big deal and we had no idea what to expect.

Caroline pocketed a cool £400 million after splitting from multi-millionaire banker husband Rory Fleming – cousin to none other than James Bond creator Ian!

Seriously well connected people that aren’t short of a bob or two.

In fact Caroline is ‘so money’ that she became known as a reality star in her homeland when she filmed the rennovations to her family pile – Valdemars Castle.

You heard right people…..she owns her own castle. Stone the crows!

Since her divorce she has found happiness with Fellow Dane and Arsenal premier league ace, Nicklas Bendtner. So it is a case of Arsenal 1 Palace 1 for the gorgeous, stinking rich pair.

So Chris made his way to an undisclosed, extremely exclusive, neighbourhood.

It seems that this area is so ‘well to do’ that the mere presence of an unknown face causes the police to question anyone who doesn’t walk around with a chihuahua in their handbag and go by the first name of Darrrrrling.

Chris made it to Caroline’s modest abode where he had to wait in the hallway with the conceierge until she was ready to receive him.

Once in, the recording took a total of 5 minutes to complete. Chris said that Caroline was very professional, giving him two reads of the script before sending him out with a signed picture of herself.

Job Done!

Our Danish clients were delighted and said that Caroline must have been impressed with Chris and his lack of intrusion to her day, and her home, as she was very amenable towards him and told the client that all had gone very well….apparantly not everyone rings in such high praise.

So if you have a job….. and no one else can help…..maybe you should hire…The A1 Vox Team!!!!!!!!!


Back at A1 VOX Central this rugged Northern type by the name Ralph Ineson came in to offer up his rich Yorkshire accent.

Ralph is best known for playing the character of Chris Finch (aka Finchy) in The Office.

‘What’s the difference between a fox and a dog?.......About 8 pints of lager!!!!!!!!!!!!’

Classic Finch.

The travelling Sales Rep and David (Ricky Gervais’ character) were debauched partners in crime. His appearances in the office consisted of unprintable language and innuendo. He was, however, unfathomably successful with women.

‘So I get there, she’s aged 19, Ferrari chassis, fantastic set of shelves and legs up to her arse. Muchos tequilas later I’m in a cab with her’.

Ralph took a turn in Hollywood blockbusters First Knight and Jonny Depp’s From Hell. Most recently you may have seen him in Spooks and playing Amycus Carrow in the Harry Potter films.

'Eh By Gum' he were a lovely lad and a pleasure to have at the Towers.

Well that is all for this week folks.

It is an absolute pleasure to be back in the breach. I for one am looking forward to sharing 2012 behind the mic of Soho’s friendliest studio with everyone out there in the vocal stratosphere.

Till next time when Chris meets one of his all time idols and Ellie Howell features in our next ‘A1 VOX can do Anything – and More!’ special session report.