I’ve started this new feature on my website, interviewing interesting people and finding out what makes them tick. Dan Calley has the honour of being the first guest. He kindly answers some questions about himself, and tells us about the new debut book he’s written, due out in December 2023.
Dan Calley
Tell us a bit about what you do and why you do what you do.
I’m a voiceover artist by trade and have drifted into doing mostly audiobooks, specialising in M/M romance (thanks to a chance meeting with Jack L Pyke, who picked me to narrate a series for her on ACX). I love it mostly because the community that write, read and listen to the books/audiobooks are incredibly passionate about the genre, the writers are super talented and a joy to work with and the listeners are so delightful and enthusiastic. I work from my home studio and am fortunate to work at my own pace, so I have lots of time to learn new things and ways to make my audiobooks even better. I did stand up and acting for years before, so this path scratches that itch to perform as well. The most rewarding part is when an author is blown away with how you’ve brought their characters to life. I work closely with all my clients to make sure I get the voices as close to what they had in their heads as possible.
Do you have a motto or a mantra you apply to either work, life, or both?
Don’t be a dick!
Give us some details about a typical day in the life of *YOU*
I have breakfast, catch up on edits of stuff I’ve recorded the day before until everyone else has left for work, start recording until about 12 or 1, go off to the gym, come back, record some more until my voice gets shaky, then spend the rest of the day editing. Then in the evening, after I’ve cooked dinner, we spend hours trying to find the next decent box set on Netflix or whatever.
What do you think is your greatest success in business?
Never to rely on anyone else. If you want something done, learn how to do it and get it done yourself. Also, consistency is key!
What do you think is your greatest success in life?
Winning Best Comedy award for my podcast Best in Galaxy and getting to the BBC Comedy Awards final when I was a stand up.
What would the closest person in your life say if we asked them, ‘What is the one characteristic that they totally dig about you, and the one that drives them insane?
That I’m very generous, but I leave cupboards open in the kitchen ALL the time.
How did the idea for your business come about?
I started out as an audio engineer and got made redundant from my job, so panicked and revoiced a few adverts I’d been working on, sent it out to a load of voice agents and ended up getting signed by one of if not the biggest in the UK. Then I just built on that, started doing audiobooks, built a solid rep, put the money into building a super studio at home and started adding additional services to my clients like professional book promos. I’m lucky enough to have a constant flow of work, but I’ve worked hard to get here.
SILLY STUFF
What is the most useless talent you have?
I can do a really good Christopher Walken impression.
Do you sing in the shower?
What songs?
If you were to write an autobiography, what would the title be?
Tinsel Tonsils
If someone was going to make your life into a movie, who would play you? #
There’s an actor called John Lynch who is the absolute spit of me, so much so that my fiancée laughs so hard every time she sees him in something.
If you could ask your future self one question, what would it be?
Look, shall I bother with the lottery or not?
If you could learn any language fluently, what would it be?
I’m half Italian, but my conversation skills are woeful.
What do you think the greatest invention has been?
Rice Cooker/Milk Frother
Dan’s new debut book is due out December 1st, and you can find the link on his Linktree below the blurb.
Quint has a secret – he’s a Player: a reincarnated soul walking amongst the living with his past life memories intact, with all the heartache over remembering his loves and losses.
Society knows Players like Quint as the One Percent, but only seems to hear about the bad ones, not understanding the burdens and knowledge that most have to carry.
This is Quint’s first time as a Player and he’s living it, using his past life’s knowledge to make a fortune in crypto and buy his dream London apartment, but he still hasn’t found what he came here for – Leo.
In their previous lives, Quint and Leo declared their love right before they died, and made a simple pact: in the next lifetime, they’d find each other.
Only Leo isn’t keeping to his promise.
Needing to understand why, Quint has one option left to try to find Leo: The Player’s Lounge…. A mysterious app where the lost souls of the One Percent can reconnect.
