Meet Jay Sawyer | Voice Over Actor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jay Sawyer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jay, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Honestly? I started life wanting to be a car mechanic, I love cars, motorcycles, racing. I realized early on that working for someone else will never get me the income I need for fun, fast cars. When I reached high school, my best friend was into cars, girls AND radio. I got “the bug’ and made a ten plus year career of being in radio. Between radio jobs, I DJ-ed at many types of nightclubs to keep me close to “today’s HITS” and keep my audio board skills sharp. My natural progression was to move full time to voice overs. I started as a freelancer and worked myself into becoming a union professional. My total VO career, including radio spans 40 years. In voice over, no two jobs are alike, I get to meet different people every day and the money is good. Once I was asked ‘why voice overs’. I looked at him, cupped my hand over one ear and with my BEST Gary Owens impersonation I exclaimed “Noooooooo heavy lifting!” We all got a laugh, but he quickly understood what I mean!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I picked the category of ‘other’ because I am in show business. I mean these two words literally. There is the fun acting part of voice overs and there is the business side. I have my own recording studio, I do my own marketing, advertising, digital platform(s) cold calling and maintain my relation ships with talent agents. I am tasked to do everything a ‘normal’ business does, PLUS act. I am most proud of still being able to work after all this time. You have to reinvent sometimes, but we all do, or die on the vine. Technology makes part of the work easier, and also opens a pathway to anyone who can now afford the technology. Don’t be fooled, even if you have the exact same studio as others, some people do not know how to correctly use their technology. A lot of analog information translates to digital. I am thankful I learned in an era of both. I’d like the world to know that I have been here for a long time and have done most every kind of voice over there is, and I still love it each and every day. So come on world, I’m STILL ready for you! For the right money I’ll even say… “….in a world where…”

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I am a foodie. First stop, Italian Oven in Stockbridge, GA. Great food and people. On another day I’d take time to stop at Manuel’s tavern for a great lunch and a couple of drinks. At some point a visit at Stone Mountain park, just to chill and walk around, maybe visit the lake and then head out for some BBQ at City BBQ! I’d take a day just to drive around town seeing how things have changed. I’ll need a day to chill at the house and recover with some nice Sumatran coffee and a home made breakfast/brunch. Next? Waffle House, if you don’t have it, you really miss it! Aside from that, everything else will be on the fly and catching up!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
As I mentioned before, my best friend in high school took me to many radio stations, as he had those connections. I gained an interest and grew my radio career from there. That radio career led directly to voice overs. When I introduce Don Lewis, I mention that he got me started in radio and I have yet to forgive him. If you have ever worked in radio or professional entertainment, you know what I mean!

Website: https://www.voicemasterltd.com/

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