Alex Gage: Senior’s deep voice and passion for art lead him to pursue voice-over career

Home Features Alex Gage: Senior’s deep voice and passion for art lead him to pursue voice-over career

Senior Alex Gage has dreamed of inspiring people with his voice since the first time he watched a trailer in a movie theater. The gravitas in the stereotypical opening words, “in a world . . .” is something Gage fondly remembers feeling inspired by.

No doubt, Alex expresses strong passion for pursuing a future in broadcasting, said senior Karl Vennerstrom. On long car rides from Nebraska to Michigan and back, Alex does not hesitate to entertain his friends for hours with numerous impersonations of famous people.

“Alex is probably the most interesting person you’ll ever meet,” said Vennerstrom. “You’ll never guess what lies underneath. There is just a fountain of interesting things about him.”

Words have an inherent sense of power, Alex said. They function as the principal carriers of meaning and can consequently impact others in significant ways.

“I believe that, in the beginning, God created the heaven and earth through his words,” said Alex.  “I think he has made it so that words can have impact, and if I can find out how exactly to use that for good, I think I will be able to influence people for the better as long as God continues to bless my efforts.”

Alex is currently majoring in art, and, although he retains a love for the visual arts, it was his ventures into music that made him re-evaluate his interests.

“I think my interests progressed from that [the visual arts]. I started getting into the singing gigs. You only live once, so you might as well get up there in front of people and start singing,” said Alex. “After I started singing, doing coffee house events, I guess I decided I was going to look into broadcasting – I started thinking about the voice more in college. Maybe I was looking for a new creative art.”

It was at that point, roughly a year and a half ago, that Alex’s interests began to expand after taking some broadcasting courses where he acquainted himself with the work of Don LaFontaine – iconically known as the “godfather of voice-overs.”

“I just sat down and started watching all of his voice-over videos, and I don’t know what sparked it exactly, but I just knew at that point that I wanted to do voice-over,” said Alex. “After that, I just started trying it out – as simple as that sounds. I got on my MacBook and tried out stuff with my voice on GarageBand.”

What began as merely goofing around with old movie trailers like Jurassic Park and Jaws later developed into a rigorous exercise of instilling a unique style into each voice-over. Mimicry and impersonation dissipated and were replaced by originality.

Recently, Alex lent his voice talents to a trailer for sophomore Brad Hamilton’s western short film, “The Story of John James and Jackie Fisher.”

“Based on my time working with him, I have noticed he can modify his voice very well to fit certain moods,” said Hamilton. “He is very easy to work with, and we recorded his narration several times for my western film trailer. Even though his voice is already manly, he was able to attain a unique old-school western sound that really fit.”

Recording voice-overs these days, however, is not what it used to be, said Alex. Technology has taken giant leaps forward, and consequently, the means of recording and distribution are far more accessible than they ever were.

“Nowadays, people don’t want you to go into a studio because it is a waste of time and money,” said Alex. “You can do it at your house now and on a cheaper budget. All you need is a computer, a good microphone, and a quiet room that is conducive to recording.”

Alex has uploaded many of his recordings to www.voices.com, which can be found by typing “Alex Gage” in the search bar.

“Alex just keeps getting more passionate about voice-overs,” said freshman Will Gage, Alex’s brother. “I would not say it consumes his life but, objectively speaking, he is very talented.”

Despite his enormous interest in broadcasting, Alex said he has no illusions regarding the difficult journey ahead that he must tread in order to establish himself.

“Voice-over is my goal as a lifelong career,” Alex said. “But I don’t think it is practical to just set off on voice-acting alone because developing your skills and becoming known takes time.”

Still, Alex said he does not worry himself about the future. Although the road to establishing himself in the industry may be an arduous one, he also acknowledges the potential of his talent.

“I feel like God has given me a gift,” said Alex. “Not everybody realizes they have a gift so they do not try. I want to see how far I can go with it. I’m really inspired right now and I don’t know how far exactly I can go . . . but time will tell.”