Luck Of The Irish #1: "Soulpunching and all." Starring Shygurl (Jin Wells)

***Foreword***

Dear Reader:

The next few blogs will be subtitled “Luck Of The Irish” - because it's me (HI! I'M CALLED PADDY!) asking 13 questions to people that I wanted to ask them to, because I could.

I will assume that you saw what I did there, and move on.

Be warned: If I'm accidentally any sort of interviewer, it's only because that's technically correct because I asked some questions, not because OH MY GOD, HOW GREAT WAS ANDREW DENTON AT INTERVIEWING? It's like he was the Mike Patton of interviewers: Creativity and Courage is a heady mix indeed.

See what I mean? I'm no journalist! I'm not even really a proper blogger - because a proper blogger can keep to a schedule. :\ 

But me, I'm all like: “What, sorry? That free thing that I didn't charge you for and didn't cost you anything didn't meet your standards? Well, have a Coke and a smile and whine more because it makes me less whiny by comparison.”.

Except for formatting, like when Stewart pointed out that he couldn't read the tables in the 'So To Speak' Blog entry, because iPhone. THAT is just bad planning/research. Sorry, Stewie.

Reader: “Hey, can I ask you a question, Paddy?”
Paddy: “Sure! I'd love to ans-”
Reader: “Is there any actual interviews coming up, or are you just going to carry on for ages?”
Paddy: (SIGH) “'Yes', 'no', and you surely meant 'Are'.”
Reader: “Ummm – What?”
Paddy: “You should have said 'are there any interviews blah blah blah', because you w-”
Reader: “Are you padding this? That's padding, isn't it? You're padding this out for a word count, aren't you?”
Paddy: “Read my name, wonder how I got it. NEXT. Good day, sir/madam.”
Reader: “This is going to be another one of your stupid in-jokes, isn't it? I can tell.”

Paddy: “I SAID GOOD DAY, SIR/MADAM.”

And without further ado - apart from this sentence - actually, I've always wondered why people say that. Why SAY it, when you could actually be getting on with it? I mean, now really.

Where was I?

Oh, right – of course.

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Our first interviewee (because 'subject' always sounds creepy) is the inimitable Virginia 'Jin' Wells, who is the cheery-and-playful-yet-always-professional singer/songwriter from one of my favourite local bands of all time, the very excellent Shygurl.

Shygurl Lineup (current):

Jin Wells - Keyboard/Guitar, Vocals

Jules Palmer - Guitar (Main), backing vocals

Mat Marshall - Bass, backing vocals

Will Groom - Drums/Percussion, backing vocals

Jin is the Headmistress of the Red Hot Music School, which is in the Red Hot Music Shop in Devonport. She also works in the shop itself, along with the guitarist from Shygurl, Julian 'Jules' Palmer (and many other fine people, for that matter).

PROTIP: Never call her Virginia. EVER. It's not worth it. If you do, she will punch you in your soul. Can you even imagine that, being punched in the soul? You can't, can you? Don't even try. Just don't ever call her that name. Don't do it to yourself. I remember how I had a soul once, before I called her Virginia. Then she punched my soul so hard that I cried memories for week. That doesn't even make sense. It felt weird. DON'T DO IT, MAN. DON'T DO IT.

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Luck Of The Irish #1:

"Soulpunching and all."

Starring Shygurl (Jin Wells)

Jin Wells: Singer, Songwriter, Soulpuncher.

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1 - How did the band initially form?

The band formed through friends of friends and work acquaintances, and we decided to get together and have a jam for something to do. We started on a few covers firstly, and then I (Jin) decided to give writing originals a try.

2 - Where did the name come from?

The name (Shygurl) was first brought up as a bit of a joke.

My mum (upon meeting Jules working in the music shop) commented how pleased she was that I was doing more with my music, as this is my first ever band.

"She used to be such a shy girl" I believe was the comment that sparked amusement enough to stick as a band name. However, we decided to change the "i" to a "u" to make it easier to distinguish!

(Author's note: It is indeed an awesome name, and the fact that it's all one word is a stroke of subtle genius. And, Dear Reader, if you're going to change the spelling of a word for a band name, never ever ever add an X, Y, or Z. Unless you're an '80s band. And you're not. So don't.)

Even The Wiggles had more sense than most '80s band, and The Wiggles work with animals and children.

But at least they aren't called 'The Wigglez'.

3 - Where was your first gig?

Our first gig was for a charity fundraiser, The Winter Solstice, a couple of years ago. We played 2 small sets and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to play for the first time live.

The Winter Solstice has since gone on to become a massive annual event, so perhaps some credit is due there...

(Author's note: I played there in 2012, and it was awesome. I don't imagine that it's wrong at all to say that Shygurl would have been a memorable act, and that some credit might be due to them for the success of the annual Winter Solstice, philosophically speaking at the very least.)

Jo Green (creator of the Winter Solstice Social Event) has an excellent blog named 'Faker'  which you should read. Right now. Well, finish THIS blog first. Obviously.

4 - Would you say that you're a live band, or a studio band?

Due to a few shufflings of band members and other commitments, the band is currently a studio band. We aim to change this in the future, however.

5 - Have you released any material so far?

Shygurl produced a home recorded demo "Snowglobe" a couple of years ago, and distributed it amongst friends and family.

(Author's note: That was where I first heard them.)

6 - What challenges did you face in recording Snowglobe?

So many challenges were faced in the recording of the demo!

We ended up putting more into it than what we had originally planned in order to get the best result. I think overall it was difficult to stand back and tell the differences because we had no outside opinions. We had all our own ideas and had to come to compromises to get the end result.

7 - Do you have any another material due to be released?

We currently have a mini-album on the cusp of being released. The album will be called "Marmalade" and consists of 6 previously unrecorded tracks, one of which, "Winters Lullaby', has been released on YouTube. We expect to release the full album towards the end of 2012.

(Author's note: If it isn't obvious, that's a link to free awesome music, that is.)

8 - What challenges did you face in recording Marmalade, as compared to Snow Globe?

The recording of Marmalade went to a whole new level.

We originally recorded everything ourselves again - but we had become more selective the 2nd time around, I guess. In short, we ended up getting a lot of parts re-recorded through Fatlip Studios with a massive difference in results due to better equipment, more experience and an outside opinion. The challenges I faced personally included learning to do many more vocal takes than what I was used to, being able to trust someone outside of the band with the songs, and sometimes staying awake in long mixing sessions!

I need to mention that all these challenges were definitely worth the end result.

(Author's note: My emphasis, not Jin's – we're coming back to this idea later on.)

Looking at a picture of some cute kittens can decrease stress in any situation, and recording fantastic music is no exception. I don't know if Shygurl actually employs this particular technique.

I just really wanted to use the picture. Because LOOK AT IT.

9 - Who writes the songs?

I write all lyric content and come up with the basic chord structure of the songs. After this I go to the band and we work on the fine tuning of the song. We usually come up with our own parts, and [on] some of the songs, Jules has added extra chords and bridge sections.

10 – How do you begin your songwriting process?

As far as the initial song writing process, I usually feel compelled to write by a new experience linked to a strong emotion. Quite often the lyrical content can be related to more than one experience of mine personally, but I have also written parts of songs from inspiration of someone else's experiences.

As far as the chord structure/melody goes, I just sit and let it come to me. I sometimes work out the chords first until I find something I like, other times I have sat and written words first then worked out chords later. It just depends on the day.

11 - Do you prefer the songwriting process, or the recording process?

I definitely prefer the song writing process!

There’s something very raw and satisfying about completing the basic structure of a song. When the band comes together to learn it for the first time it amplifies the power of the song in ways I never expect and it’s exciting to see where it can go.

The end result of recording is always good but it takes so much longer and you get sick of it pretty quickly. It's tiring, draining, frustrating... but it's worth it.

Jin: displaying for us what should be termed the 'Thousandth Time Stare'.

12 – What has been your approach for marketing and creating product awareness?

As far as our upcoming release of Marmalade goes, we've used mainly social media and word of mouth to create awareness.

We have a Facebook page, MySpace page, TripleJ Unearthed page, YouTube channel and I use my own Facebook to promote also.

As the CD release gets closer, we will more than likely pursue other avenues such as posters etc. for a CD launch event.

13 - How are you measuring your current success at marketing or creating product awareness?

Basically the best thing is that most of the internet social media sites have their own details of how many views your songs, posts, photos have. This is a really effective way for us to tell how many people are seeing our music. Working in a music shop is also a really good way of getting word around, and other musicians and friends will often ask how the band is going merely because they are in the shop.

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That was 13 questions, and that's the Luck Of The Irish for this week.

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(Thanks very much to Jin and Jules for their time and input into bringing this interview to life.) 

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So, Dear Reader – what can we learn from Jin?

Because that's why we read interviews, isn't it? By learning more about others, we can learn more about ourselves.

• We can learn the importance of level-headed funkiness, which is much harder to understand than it sounds.
• We can learn that art is it's own reward, and that some artists are not in it for the money.
• We can learn the value of hard work, and of getting the results of some of that hard work out there.
• We can learn that being a musician is not all fun and games.
• We can learn that art can be a chore, and we begin to understand why artistic productions are called works of art: if you're looking at the art, it's only because the artist has done the work.

Remember, 'labour' is another name for 'giving birth' - ideas are awesome, but only effort can bring things into existence. As an artist, you don't get paid for having great ideas - you get paid for implementing them. That's what being a creator means, literally. It means that you make stuff up from out of thin air, something that didn't exist before you set your mind to it – you create your work of art.

"A work of art is simply an idea realized; made physical."

Remember the part where she said she was having trouble staying awake during the mixing sessions?

That's either because they'd been going for hours, or because it was after work, or – more likely – for both of those reasons. Remember, this isn't her day job; she made a sacrifice for her art, because she is a creative type and that's how creative types roll.

Ideas are nice, but everyone has ideas. Everyone has ideas, but does everyone have the skill, the time, or the energy to make it become real?

Can you build something, based on your idea? Or do you buy something that someone else created, instead?

The world needs both types of people, because if nobody bought art, then nobody could sell it, either. And that would suck, because you can learn a lot more about a culture from looking at their art than you ever can from asking them directly.

Which brings me nicely to the main insight that I gained from the interview: your personality is always and unavoidably linked to your artworks. When you do something, it always turns out exactly how you did it. No matter wherever you go, there you always are. That's kinda cool.

In naming the band 'Shygurl', Jin also accepted who she was in the past, and then used that knowledge to create a new future for herself – a future which featured 'being in an awesome band', and all the other things that go along with it.

By wearing the name like a badge, she mocks the apparently uncaring nature of the very universe itself.

The seemingly innocent face of a known universe-mocker.

Seriously, look at her eyes. They're saying:
"Oh, Universe, you silly thing - is THAT all you've got? You're REALLY going to bring a knife to a gunfight? Just turn around and go home before you hurt yourself, Actually, make me a sandwich first. THEN go home.  You funny old universe, you.
Off you go, little fellah. Run along now. And don't forget that sandwich!"

I like both her attitude and her music very much, and I hope my two daughters grow up to be just like her - Soulpunching and all.

(Liam 'Paddy' Padmore wants to tell you that Shygurl's 'Marmalade' will be out “when it's out, probably at the end of 2012”, and you can catch them on YouTube via the link in the blog. And he just did.)

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Next week: Tune in as Paddy interviews Launceston-based actor/director David 'Q-Dog' Quinn, and gets the name of a college flashmob group horribly horribly wrong and refuses to edit it out, because 'comedy'.SEE! Quinnie's awesome face!

BELIEVE! You too will believe that a man can fly!

CAPITALIZE! Words at the start of a sentence to give off a B-Movie and/or '50s comic vibe!

Tune in to “Stardate: AWESOME” for the interview with – wait, that's not the name of my radio show. Wait, it's not a radio show, it's a blog.

Oh, just WATCH THIS SPACE, dammit.

(Note to self: create Radio Show called “Stardate: AWESOME” as soon as possible.)

#5.5 "Black Sabbath, Bitches."

"Australians all let us rejoice, for we are young and free"*

*(free to marry anyone we want, anyone at all. Unless you're both gay, of course.)

(When I use the word Gay, I mean Gay/Lesbian. Because I think that usage of the word 'lesbian' is sexist. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I have the keyboard and a strong opinion.) 

"We've golden soil, and wealth for..." uh, whatever the words are. Sorry, I'm still caught up on the obvious lie in that first line.

In Tasmania at the moment, there is discussion about the legalisation of Same-Sex Marriages.

This raises 2 questions:

1) Isn't this already a thing? What the F*CK year IS this?

2) So, let me get this straight: You can't tell someone you won't hire them because they're gay, but you can tell someone you won't allow them to be married because they're gay? So how is that not the exact same type of discrimination, exactly?

Now, here's another question: What's worse than someone not listening when someone else is talking?

We voted for people like this, and we feed their kids.

Yay us, I guess.

Same-Sex Marriage will not destroy Traditional marriage. How can it? It's based on it. You may be thinking of Zombies, perhaps. They would do that. Or maybe Vampires. You DO know that gays are just other people - nothing more and nothing less, right? Not monsters? Not aliens? Not 'okay to be told who to marry and who not to'? Because 'discrimination'?

Not pictured above: Gays.

And even if you're the type of person who believes that people are gay by choice: Why deny people the life that they want, solely on grounds of tradition? Who is anyone to tell anyone else how to live, beyond matters of safety?

This vote - this entire issue - is only being presented to us as Same-Sex Marriage. It's all of that and a bag of spuds, sure - but it's so, so, SO much more.

This is about one part of the government saying "We need to represent the people, because that's our job.", who are fighting the other part of the government, who are saying "Whatever. We still get paid. Also, The Bible."

Not pictured above: A gay dude.

Shouldn't all taxpayers have the same rights, whether they're into chicks or dicks?

(My thanks to Brady for that charming phrase)

Police don't get to make laws, willy-nilly. I'm inclined to say that the laws would make a lot more sense, and be a lot more practical if they could.

The Police are only there to do one job - enforce the policies which were created by people who wear suits and have no idea what our lives are actually like. People who make these policies are called Politicians. Unsurprisingly.

It's like there's some type of correlation between the words 'Police' and 'Policy' and 'Politician' somewhere. Quick, someone call Michael Moore! There's, like, a conspiracy and stuff or not or whatever.

"Hmmm - the only mystery I can see is the fact that you think that's interesting, Paddy.
Also, why haven't you used a picture of a Vampire, yet? Oh, right - of course. "

It is up to the Government to make HUMANE policies, so that the poor old Police aren't in the unenviable position of enforcing INHUMANE policies. Because they will, if they need to.

For instance, Cannabis - which has never killed anyone - is still illegal, while Alcohol and Cigarettes - which both actually kill people with alarming regularity - are completely legal.

And this makes sense HOW, exactly? SERIOUSLY?

And the cops enforce this anti-social law, because that's their job. Because they love their families and don't want them to starve. The cops are just as bound by the law as the rest of us, if not more so. But I get to sit back and comment on it - they're the ones who risk their safety for the order that I so hate because it cramps the living daylights out of my style and busts up my groove to such a highly tuned degree as to make me think that the world is a giant mousetrap designed to break me for THE MATRIX or some shit like that.

NO! You can't make me! You're not my real mother!
Mmmm.... Steak. Yummy.
What was I saying?

WELL, IT DOES.

I don't see many politicians risking their career for the same idea of order, let alone their lives. If cops are like soldiers (and they are, bless 'em), then many politicians are like war pigs ("Why don't they go out to fight? They leave that up to the poor.").

The reason that this Same-Sex Marriage issue matters so much is because it could clear the path for policies that create understanding and compassion, and actual social cohesion - instead of the usual financially and/or religiously inspired fear.

It matters because they're listening to us - the PEOPLE - and actually doing their JOB (some of them at least), instead of getting all their info from a 2,000 year old handbook written for a male-oriented Middle-Eastern Farming/Fishing community, which was allegedly ghost-written by an invisible magical sky wizard who looks like Kenny Rogers.

"Lo, and verily - upon the seventh day did the gambler he break even."

Or some bribery. ALWAYS with the bribery. Oh, sorry - I meant 'Lobbying'. Because that's sooo totally different from bribing. It's, like, spelt and pronounced completely differently and everything. Totally different. Not even remotely like legal bribery or anything.

It matters because it shows us that not all politicians are in it for themselves - or that if they are, that they will still stick their neck out for our beliefs. Or that some of them are even still human. Even if you don't agree with their actions, you MUST respect their courage. They're showing us that not all politicians are war pigs. That matters. Because it gives us faith in the system - the one that Kafka described so well.

(Just for the record, when I say 'us' there, I mean 'you' - I'm having trouble seeing any good in the system that isn't immediately shat upon by something else in the system. But that's my issue.)

But ring-a-ding-ding, here's the thing:

Do you know why the government always give us shitty laws and rules, that don't actually represent our needs or desires? Because we let them.

No, I'm not talking about a riot. Are you insane? Good God, man/woman! This isn't the '70s anymore!

You can tell it's not the '70s, because all the music sucks ass now.

Niki Minaj: Role model for young children, possible candidate for new Bob Jane T-Mart ad campaign.

This Same-Sex Marriage vote matters, because we have had a say in 'HOW HIGH' they expect us to jump. In what they will consider 'HUMANE'. In how mature we are, as a society. But we have to tell them, because they're NOT mind readers.

So: "What's worse than someone not listening when someone else is talking?"

Someone not talking when someone else is listening.

I just wrote a damn blog and shared the f*ck out of it - what have you done to make your voice heard lately?

(Liam 'Paddy' Padmore is as straight as f*ck, but many of his favourite people aren't.)

#5 - Highlander and Spongebob: So to speak

So, we (probably) all know that Bart Simpson is voiced by a lady. A (presumably) nice lady called Nancy Cartwright.

But tell me, my friends - What's the link between Highlander and Spongebob?

Don't give me that 'Which Higlander?' malarky. As far as I'm concerned, MacLeod was correct - there really WAS 'only one'.

Clancy Brown as The Kurgan

Anyway, the answer is: This guy - this guy right here. He's also Mr Eugene H Krabbs.

Clancy Brown as Mr Krabbs.
(Makeup is truly awesome nowadays.)

The Kurgan is Mr Krabbs.

Weird, huh?

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When I was younger, I played a game on PC called 'Baldur's Gate II'. It was the first time I'd ever encountered the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons system, and I got right into it. Long story short, you travelled around the world slaying stuff and talking to bizarre characters who would sometimes join you, the player. Eventually Bioware (this is back when they made actual games instead of fancy slideshows with crappy endings) released an expansion for the game, called 'Throne of Bhaal'.

In 'Throne of Bhaal', you find out that one of your previous enemies named Sarevok is actually your half-brother, who then joins your party. He's a complete hardass. And it felt like it, too. See, it was voice acted by some awesome talent (more on that later) and they would all say things based on whatever was happening to your party at the time.

Sarevok = hardass brother from hell, literally. 

For example: When a character in your party is hit by an attack, they might make an 'Ugh!' or 'Oof!'noise. If they were low on health, they would say things like "I could really use some help over here!", or "I require your assistance.". Which is kind of funny, because they've accidentally also said 'I require your ass'. Anyway, my favourite part is how they communicated the general personality of each character by the thing they said when you click-on/select each of them. The bard would say something like 'How may I assist you, my pretty little raven-dove?' (because Bards are overly wordy wankers. Yes, I'm a Lvl 36 bard. Shut up.), the low-confidence magic-user would say something like 'I just KNOW I can help!', and the crazy ranger would say "Butt kicking, for goodness!". When your character dies, they yell a loud and painful yell.

I'm sure you can imagine the type.

And you'll need to, because I can't find any good links for any of this stuff.

"GO FOR THE EYES, BOO - GO FOR THE EYES! (Squeeeeaaak!)"- yelled by Minsc (and Boo).
Actual in-game quote. AWESOME.

But not Sarevok. Oh, no - never Sarevok. When he gets hit, he LAUGHS. He literally laughs. Because 'as if you could defeat me!'. When he is about to die from his wounds, he yells "HEAL MY WOUNDS NOW!", and when he dies he says through gritted teeth "NO! I - REFUSE!"

"Gritted teeth? Why would a voice actor grit his teeth? He's not an actor, nobody is looking at him." thought a younger Paddy. "I see now - because he is voice ACTING. It's not just turning up and saying some stuff. It's getting into the role, and preparing, and all that stuff. But no-one sees your face."

Whoever that voice actor was, I liked his work. So, I checked the game manual for the voice acting credits. And it wasn't there. That moment right there, I vowed to find out his name. But this was (just) before the internet allowed us to research things of that nature, so all I could think to do was keep an ear out for the rest of my life (I'm not real smart and stuff).

Fast Forward to The Matrix. There was an animated DVD release called The Animatrix, and it featured a selection of 9 different stories which took place in The Matrix universe. One of them was called 'Final Flight Of The Osiris', which was (unsurprisingly) about the last voyage of an airship called 'The Osiris'- and I knew I'd heard the voice of the captain before.

It was that guy, the one who played Sarevok.

I think that might be the only time that anyone has ever stopped the feature just so they could look at the credits.

I found out his name is Kevin Michael Richardson, and here's a clip of his work on Final Flight Of The Osiris (assuming it doesn't get taken down):

Final Flight Of The Osiris trailer on YouTube

(Skip ahead to 3:30 if you wish to go directly to the Osiris part to hear his voice)

And he looks like this:

 Kevin Michael Richardson, who is unbelievably not related to Craig Charles.
(thanks to Johnno for that gag)

As he should.

Fast Forward again, to when The Cleveland Show first came out. This Family Guy spin-off show features a whole cast of characters, and I was curious as to who voices Cleveland. Cleveland is a (usually) softly-spoken black man who has a very slight southern accent (and an annoying son).

Here's the trailer for the first season for those who haven't seen the show, so you can hear his voice:

The Cleveland Show Season 1 trailer

(Did you recognise the voice of Seth Green? He plays Chris, the son from Family Guy.)

Here's a picture of the guy who plays Cleveland Brown, who surprised the hell out of me by looking nothing like I thought he would:

Mike Henry, the voice of Cleveland Brown.
Also: WTF, Universe?

Did you know that Kanye West was on The Cleveland Show, as a character called 'Kenny West'? Check this out or not or whatever:

Kenny West and Cleveland Brown Jr - Mic Battle

So, you (most likely) know what Kanye looks like. I'd like you to, in your head, imagine the face of the person who voices Cleveland Jr. What does he look like, do you think?

Now watch this clip about the recording of the above Mic Battle:

Cleveland Brown Mic Battle: Behind The Scenes

If the guy who voices Cleveland Jr looks familiar, it's because you were just looking at a picture of him: it's Kevin Michael Richardson.

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Most people have 'favourite actors'. I have 'favourite voice actors, and also Tim Curry' instead, because I think it would have a higher degree of difficulty and that voice actors don't get anywhere enough credit. Literally. Like in the game manual for Baldur's Gate II, which I mentioned earlier. Also, because I have minor hipster tendencies. But mainly the credit-where-it's-due thing.

(If you know actors well enough to know that Tim Curry does plenty of voice-work, and want to share that with me because you're a pedant, then please punch yourself in the face instead. Because STYLE, bitch.)

Here is some pretty bizarre voice actor trivia from the two main voice actors from Curious George, which may or may not actually align properly.  I even added bullet points because I love you:

Curious George Voice Actor List Of Surprisingness
Actor	Character	Also known as the voice of:	From:
Frank Welker	Curious George	Megatron / Soundwave Brain / Dr Claw Abu Nibbler	Original Transformers series Original Inspector Gadget series Disney's Aladdin Futurama
Jeff Bennet	Man In The Yellow Hat	Dr Steinman Kyle Katarn Johnny Bravo	Bioshock Jedi Knight games Johnny Bravo, animated series

FUN FACT: Flea, the bass player from the Red Hot Chili Peppers voices the jungle boy 'Donnie', in the Wild Thornberries.

Here are some voice actors from BGII that you might know from their other works, in no particular order. This isn't about how awesome BGII is ('very' - thanks for asking), but about reading the lists below and saying "Hey, I didn't know that Ghostface was Mojo Jojo!" or "Wow - a Jem And The Holograms reference!" or not or whatever. I only add the BGII references as a framing device for the list - if you haven't played the game, the list should still make sense.

Baldur's Gate II Voice Actor List Of Awesomeness:
BGII NPC	Actor	Also known as the voice of	From
Aerie	Kath Soucie	Cubert Farnsworth Kanga Phil and Lil Minx	Futurama Winnie The Pooh Rugrats Jem and the Holograms
Keldorn	Roger L Jackson	Ghostface (Voice) Mojo Jojo Abraham Lincoln	Scream PowerPuff Girls Sam and Max
Anomen	Rob Paulson	Pinky Boober Fraggle / Sprocket / Marjory the Trash Heap Spike	Pinky And The Brain Fraggle Rock The Land Before Time
Yoshimo	Maurice LaMarche	Brain Kif Kroker / Lrrr / Morbo (and others) Vekk Mr Freeze	Pinky And The Brain Futurama Guild Wars: Eye of the North Batman: Arkham City
Mazzy	Jennifer Hale	Female Commander Shepard Samus Aran Jean Grey	Mass Effect games Metroid Prime games Wolverine and the X-Men
Viconia / Nalia	Grey DeLisle	Mandy Azula Jeanette / Therese Ms Marvel / The Enchantress Catwoman Kahlee Sanders /Dalatrass Linron Female Wizard (Player)	Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy Avatar: The Last Airbender) Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines Marvel Super Hero Squad Batman: Arkham City Mass Effect 3 Diablo III
Minsc	Jim Cummings	Winnine The Pooh (and Tigger too!) Captain Mathias Thanos	Winnie The Pooh Dead Space: Downfall Marvel Super Hero Squad

That's right, folks: Winnie The Pooh is The Avatar Of Death. Try not to think about that when you go to sleep. Ever. You're welcome.

FUN FACT: Mike Patton, solo artist and vocalist from Faith No More, Tomahawk, and Mr Bungle (and the list goes on - oh, boy does it go on) was the voice of the zombies from the Will Smith film 'I Am Legend', and also from the game "Left 4 Dead". He was also the 'voice' of The Darkness from the game of the same name.

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But my current favourite voice actor of all time (I got that from 'Tautologies R Us', thanks) can't be found on Wikipedia, or IMBD. Indeed his internet prescence is much smaller than his works would suggest. Some have said the same about me, but they're wrong because I currently have the keyboard. Oh, and a Soundcloud account. And clips on YouTube (kind of). Where's YOURS? Also: HA-HA! Unless you have them, in which case I say: "You are already a success in my eyes, which are a very handsome shade of brown. Oh, so very very handsome."

In any case, observe this little comedy gem about what Boba Fett might get up to in his spare time (you might need to press play on the screen/link/etc.):

In A Neighbourhood Not So Far Away...

Watch the credits for the 'hey broo, git in tha kitchen and cook me sem iggs' bit, and see his awesome face.

(Also, you can thank Joffre Street Productions for that fantastic little skit by hiring them to record stuff for you.)

So what if I already knew David 'Q-Dog' Quinn? So what if I call him Quinnie instead of (the equally awesome moniker of) 'Q-Dog'? So what if we were already pals?

Should I not enjoy his work merely because I know him? How does that even make sense?

And yet that's how it works, isn't it?

We friend-zone artists all the time.

Even when we already know them.

In fact, I'd even go as far as to say: Especially when we already know them.

"Dammit, that is NOT what I meant by Friend Zone, and you know it."
FUN FACT: This is the first picture on this blog that doesn't feature a bald dude in it. Seriously.

You would think that familiarity bred support and word-of-mouth, but no - it does indeed breed contempt.  Well, maybe not contempt - but definitely indifference. Even in other artist friends. Indeed, what you've just witnessed is me realising/admitting that I friend-zone my artist friends, and my discomfort at the knowledge.

(Dammit, didn't I already cover this in another blog? How deep does my well of talent-blindness go, anyway? BAH!)

When we friend-zone artists, 2 things happen (he said, wanting to sound smart but just coming off as preachy):

1) We miss out on their works.
2) They miss out on revenue.

Even if you only care about one of those things, you can surely see that they are both connected.

I haven't followed Quinnie's career as closely as I might have, but I recently interviewed him (more on this after the blog, stick around - there's cake. I PROMISE.) and was frankly astounded at the amount of his work that I've missed out on so far. Many of those involve stage acting - and I can never see them now because I've missed out on my chance.

Some might say: "You're jumping on a bandwagon, Paddy". Well, to those people I say "If I intend to be a paying customer, then I'm pretty sure the ticket master (or whatever bandwagons have, or however the hell this analogy is supposed to work) will happily accept my money, friend or not. Also, your clothes are stupid. And your face. Your ridiculous ridiculous face, you goofy-looking bastard you.".

"But what should I use a picture of?"
"Anything at all - it doesn't matter. You just need to break the words up."
"Okay, so what about the caption?"
"Just use anything, it doesn't matter."
"Anything?"
"ANYTHING."
"Ummm... Like, this conversation?"
"No, not like this conv- actually, you know what? YES. Use this conversation. Problem solved. Good day, sir."
"But what if there's som-"
"I SAID GOOD DAY, SIR!"

Ultimately: It's nice to hear that someone loves your work, it really is - it really, really is - but banks and supermarkets really couldn't care less about stuff like that.

Seriously - ask them.

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I was recently on Facebook, and somebody (a certain legend who shall remain nameless because I don't want to overuse his name in this blog) mentioned the comic 'Greener Pastures', which is a classic tale about a country boy moving to the city. Also, the country boy is actually a Minotaur type of fellow - a human body with bull's head and all that.

It remains one of the few comics that I've ever read that are set in Australia. I'd forgotten all about it, and I started wishing I had followed it more. I started thinking: "Oh, I'll never be able to collect them all, there must be so many by now!" I commented on the thread/post, and was eventually able to contact the very polite and humble Tim McEwen, creator of the Greener Pastures series. It turns out that there aren't as many as I'd thought. At first, I was relieved. Then I was disappointed.

Then I was disappointed in myself., Oh Son, was I ever disappoint. (sic)

Maybe if I'd bought more, something more could have happened with it. Who knows who may have overseen me reading it, and become interested, and then later on been in a position to have turned it into a movie? It's not that crazy an idea - something similar must have happened at some stage with Footrot Flats. Blah blah blah, 'the butterfly effect', blah blah blah.

I told him how I felt, and what I'd taken away from the comic, what certain scenes meant to me, and how it had affected me when I was younger. He replied that he was happy that I had gained some insight into the world from his comics when I was younger, and thanked me very much for contacting him and letting him know, because that meant something to him.  I've since ordered the entire Greener Pastures series run from him. How could I not?

When you tell someone you like their work, it means something.

According to many film school students, *this* also means something.
But they can't agree on what, exactly.
So they don't get any pie.

Consider This: When you actually buy their work/service/product/whatever, that also means something.

Something different.

Maybe not something better as such, but certainly something that society seems to count as success.

In reality, you're always voting with your wallet, because it's impossible not to. To me, that's why piracy is ethically incorrect. Not because of 'The Law', which can go and take a large rusty (SECTION REMOVED BY ORDER OF THE COURT) until it prolapses, but because every single cent that you throw at an artist increases the amount of time that they can keep creating the work that you're enjoying.

(If you treat piracy as a try-before-you-buy type of deal, and then follow up on it - well, I can dig that.)

My point is that we live in a world where Megatron became Curious George - if Frank Welker had never been Megatron, then he probably wouldn't have been Curious George either. Perhaps. Maybe. Possibly.

Work with me here, dammit.

"I guess there really was 'More Than Meets The Eyes' to Megatron."

(cue canned laughter)

"Thanks folks, I'll be here all week."

By this same logic: It is my fault that David Quinn didn't get to voice Bane in the new Batman movie.

And I am very sorry for that -  because that WOULD HAVE BEEN F*CKING AWESOME.

Still...

At least we got to see him as Boba Fett - so to speak.

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(Liam 'Paddy' Padmore is a Level 36 Bard who performs the voice of Liam 'Paddy' Padmore in all his public appearances. See him, know him, love him.)

*All images in this document were taken from Wikipedia, and all clips link to YouTube. The author of this blog blah blah blah legal stuff blah blah blah*

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The next batch of Who's Your Paddy blogs will feature a series of interviews with local artists/producers/etc. They will be asked 13 questions, in a marvellous word-orgy of knowledge, laughter, and (insert other enticing thing HERE) called 'Luck Of The Irish', because 'Paddy', dammit.

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