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The Many Voices of Benji Loveless
91 Plays3 years ago
Today, on Apocalypse Duds, we are joined by photographer, voiceover actor, artist, kink model, and more, Benji Loveless!
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Transcript
Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
Hi, I'm Connor Fowler. And I'm Matt Smith. Today on Apocalypse Duds, we are joined by Benjy Loveless, photographer, artist, kink model, actor, voiceover actor, and I'm sure much more. Welcome, Benjy. Thanks for coming on the show. Well, thank you for having me.
Fashion and Personal Style
00:00:17
Speaker
Benjy, just as a quick intro, what's your fit that you're wearing look like today?
00:00:22
Speaker
Okay, so today I am wearing, let's start with, I'm wearing a mostly pink, like a medium bright pink short haul. Do you know which short haul is? Oh yes, let our audience know. A short haul is a short overall, also sometimes called a jumper with like those straps with the pinafore like, you know, fastening on it. So it's a short overall, it's pink, it has
00:00:52
Speaker
uh little bunny heads little bunny heads on it um which are in the kawaii style uh do you familiar with kawaii kawaii kawaii fashion oh yeah yeah sort of like in that thing and then it has darker pink bows uh stars and crescent moons so it's sort of that pattern all throughout
00:01:16
Speaker
And then I'm wearing a light pink shirt under that short sleeve with a crew neck with very puffy sleeves on it.
00:01:28
Speaker
Then, so it was a little warm today. I have some sweat bands. I have one lavender wristband on and one yellow wristband on the other with my, um, jewelry, my bracelets that I made with beads from the Dollar Tree in a similar sort of, uh, soft pastel vein. Today's beret was my dark, uh, medium purple beret.
00:01:56
Speaker
today's beret. I have a lot of berets, so that was today's beret. Um, brought to you by me. It's, um, and then down to socks is, uh, a thin cotton sock with a double frill at the top. So it's a little icing frill.
00:02:16
Speaker
And then it's a pair of canvas Keds. They are the KED triple kick because the sole is triple thick. Oh, all right. Triple kick. This is triple thick and it has a little bit of a white fringe on it. And that's the, that's the basic setup today. That sounds like a very warm weather type of outfit. It is. It's a little bit warm because you do have this extra layer over your chest, but you know,
00:02:45
Speaker
I can hack it up to about the mid 90s. That's about where it where it's good. And, uh, yeah. Yeah. I think probably in Georgia right now, it's, it's high eighties with lots of humidity. Uh, not fun, especially as I love wearing jackets. So, uh, yeah, I love Jack that's, that's how I would describe it before is jacket weather. I was always looking forward to jacket weather. Right. So.
00:03:16
Speaker
I wear one all the time, and people always ask, oh, you don't get hot. And I'm like, I'm going to be hot as shit no matter what I'm wearing. So at least this keeps the sun off. Exactly. So I'm a redhead or used to be. Really? Oh, yeah. I did not know that. I did not know that. I can usually spot another redhead, but I do that. You didn't notice the freckles? Come on. No, I noticed the freckles, but I thought you were blind.
00:03:43
Speaker
You thought I was blonde. Yeah, I know. I know, which is an insult. I'm sorry. How are you going to insult Benjy? Come on. It's pretty hard to offend me. But yeah, I'm a redhead. I burn and sweat. That's what I do in this weather. So protection is good, but I've gotten better with the sunblock, and I've got to show these legs off. Of course.
Baltimore Roots and Culture
00:04:06
Speaker
So Benjy, speaking of climate, are you local? Where are you from?
00:04:12
Speaker
Yes, I'm from Baltimore, Maryland. Excuse me. That's in Baltimore and Maryland. No, I'm from a neighborhood called Overly is where I grew up in, which is like the northeast corner of the city. That was the city county line. You know, I grew up there in the late 70s, early 80s. So I don't know if there's two movies that sort of describe the vibe.
00:04:38
Speaker
You're familiar the movie gummo at all Yes, so gummo and then there's another movie from the mid 80s called the rivers edge Which is heavy metal it was Crispin Glover was Okay Heavy metal grits looking for shit to do
00:05:08
Speaker
That was kind of was the vibe of things. So yeah, or have you seen like heavy metal parking lot ever that little dock? That of course. Yeah, I think that's a great. That's the vibe of when and where I grew up. Okay, so were you involved in the metal scene at all?
00:05:28
Speaker
only as much as that's what was, you know, that was the language kids were talking in, you know, and people, kids would have, they're like, maybe they're metal shirts if they could afford one. And, you know, I had my hand-me-down Brothers Judas Priest t-shirt and something like that.
00:05:45
Speaker
I was into it in only from the sense that that's what, you know, the other kids are into. And I, you know, was another kid. I was never like deeply in the middle or anything. It was just like, that's what the atmosphere was. And, you know, and slowly the 80s were there. So New Wave and other stuff started coming in. But as far as a lot of the neighborhood aesthetics and such, that that was probably the dominant one.
00:06:13
Speaker
Was it was it kind of one of those places? Yeah, and I know some of that. Oh, sorry, Connor, go ahead. No, no, no, no, no, go ahead. I was just going to say. Both are too polite to. Yeah, yeah, we both like to talk. So sometimes we we interrupt each other. But was that kind of just like one of those type of suburban, you know, or somewhat suburban places where it was like
00:06:39
Speaker
basically a bunch of white kids trying to rebel against their parents. And like, that's why they were in the middle or not just not necessarily I okay, so that's interesting. So overly is one of the earlier suburbs, most of the houses there from the teens, maybe the 20s, like 19 teens, 1920s. And for my generation, most of our parents were sort of like,
00:07:05
Speaker
Not necessarily hippies, but of the hippie ilk. Like they came out of that style era and that philosophy era. And so they're sort of like trying to take on that guys. Like they weren't good enough to be yuppies, but they could buy a house, you know? So it was that kind of thing. And so there was still a sense of like abandon.
00:07:31
Speaker
So there was some rebellion or some escapism, I guess, from from the different parental house. I don't mind was escapism, definitely. But there it was. So I don't think it was intentionally like, screw you, dad, I'm listening to rock and roll. It wasn't like anything like that.
00:07:51
Speaker
I'm gonna hang out in the sewer and smoke cigarettes. But we did hang out in the sewer and smoke cigarettes. It wasn't like to show anyone what's for or something like that. It was just that, you know, go out and play. We were still in that era of like, you went out and you went out and then you came back eventually. And depending on how controlling your parent was, you know, maybe you got
00:08:21
Speaker
you know, yelled at or beaten because you came back to. So that was sort of that was the neighborhood. OK, that makes a lot of sense. So not rebellion, more like just chaos because we were bred out of confusion and chaos. So to go in to go into the to the next part of the interview, I think this is perfect.
Journey into Photography
00:08:45
Speaker
What was your first camera?
00:08:49
Speaker
So my first camera, I don't even know. I mean, I came into photography totally sideways, but my very first camera was probably like an old, it wasn't like a brownie, but it was something similar to that that I picked up at a flea market when I was like eight or nine. So very, very early on you started. Very early on, but I, this,
00:09:16
Speaker
me considering myself a photographer is extremely recent event like of the digital era. So I had a couple point and shoots and then I would you know take those along in my outings and then what happened in the past six or seven years I was doing a lot of regional travel
00:09:40
Speaker
to like natural and historic areas and I was missing, you know, missing my souvenirs. So I started to like upgrade the game a little bit and I eventually got a super zoom, like more than a few, a super zoom camera is a super zoom. Let's hear it though. So a super zoom, it sort of looks like a professional camera camera with interchangeable lenses, but it's actually a built-in lens
00:10:08
Speaker
that has zoom capability in and out. And it has a small sensor like you would on a cell phone. So I did a lot of nature shots on that. And I deliberately avoided taking photographs of people like I was people were in my way. I was trying to get away from people. I didn't. I wanted to shoot the bird or the scene or the old bridge or the C&O Canal, whatever it was. And then, you know, this was only about a year ago.
00:10:37
Speaker
a friend and sculptor, Mark Sanders, whose stuff is up on the station North billboard right now. Like the station North billboards brought his sculptures like as of yesterday. Yeah. Well, I'll have to check that out. So he's like, yeah, man, I need I need new shots for promotional stuff. And I really love what you're doing and love some of the self photography. I was posting on my outfits at the time, too. And
00:11:05
Speaker
I'm like, um, okay, Mark, but you know, I've never actually shot a human being before. Like never had. So like I go on this first gig with him just to take promo shots and it ended up working out. And then I started getting some more gigs from there, but it was just totally by accident. I never intended to be hired as a photographer. It just sort of started happening. Holy shit. And you said this is like a year ago.
00:11:35
Speaker
This is only about like a year and a couple of weeks at this point. You can see it on your Instagram.
00:11:42
Speaker
where you go from shooting nature to shooting street photography, basically, that was going to be a question that I was going to ask you when that took place. But it sounds like it was just a more or less change of coincidence, right? Like you wanted to do. And a change of circumstance because my travel was very involved with my ex-girlfriend also. I was dating a lady who
00:12:11
Speaker
did a little better than me. So she sort of facilitated a lot of our trip things. It was fun. It was fun to be being in my 40s and a boy toys kind of fun. I was a boy, but you know, they'll be like the young one who gets dinner bought for him or something. Yeah, that's great. But I guess there was some there was some things facilitated that I would not have been able to facilitate on my own. Definitely. Good gig. But
00:12:42
Speaker
So when that ended, my access to those spaces kind of ended on a regular basis too. And I was looking for new things and simultaneously at the same time,
00:12:54
Speaker
me dressing up started really coming in. So I was looking for more social endeavors. So those two paths sort of crossed. So I was going to different environments to be seen as well as to sort of exercise these other photographic skills that I still needed to work those muscles out on.
00:13:17
Speaker
Yeah, and it sounds like you have some good opportunities to do. I mean, so Benji and I met at this street festival in South Baltimore and I was like, with my little film camera that I had just gotten, I saw this outfit and I was like, I have to take a fucking picture of this outfit or I'm going to die. Like I need to take a successful street photo. And I don't know that I did.
00:13:40
Speaker
But I did take a picture of you wearing a great outfit and I posted it on my Instagram and then that's how we Okay, I don't know why I never put that together until right now. Yeah. Yeah Little number. Yes Yeah, it's funny, I mean there is a small town
00:14:06
Speaker
But yeah, that was the Mount Vernon pride before the week before pride. Yeah. So I was going to ask, how do you sort through your photos? Like you go to these events, you shoot a thousand photos, you shoot 5000 photos. How do you go through and figure out which ones are worth which ones are even worth editing? It it's.
00:14:31
Speaker
It's sort of a haphazard process, but it is a process. I mean, point by point, usually I'll load my card, like literally like load the card to the computer and the stuff that's just pure shit, I'll, you know, cut from the card even before I download it on my computer. If it's blurry or if it's just, you know, random, um, fingers in it, whatever.
00:14:55
Speaker
And I end up with this big sub-sorted file of like the first culling, you know, so to speak. And then I'll just start going through. Now sometimes I'll actually sub-sort files before I start deleting, but usually nowadays I'm literally just going through, literally I'm like that one. And I might be choosing between four or five of a set or something, and then I'll go straight to edit.
00:15:18
Speaker
And then put it in an edit version of the photo. So it's, it's literally just driving through all the scenery and not picking and choosing at this point has ended up being more efficient than me trying to be efficient. So yeah, I understand what you mean exactly. But G on kind of a, but I mean that, that's it. Okay. Go ahead. But I do have kind of an interesting question.
00:15:44
Speaker
What do you think on average per event is the amount of photos you take? I mean, I don't have enough events under my belt, at least the ones I've been paid for to have. Or maybe in just a general sense. If I'm going out for fun to take pictures, I'm taking pictures, I'm only shooting what is
00:16:09
Speaker
terribly interesting to me or what I think might be. I'm looking for those opportunities and moments. So it's actually going to be less if I'm out on a personal endeavor and maybe like 800 shots. If it's a really like active evening or I'm looking at watching someone with a lot of charisma or something like that.
00:16:30
Speaker
Um, for like paid events, these past two paid events I did was the overly arts festival a couple of weekends ago. And then there was a family reunion I shot and I worked with this guy before. And that whole weekend was 5,000 shots for those two events that were back to back. And, and that's because I'm also trying to capture
00:16:57
Speaker
I'm still trying to get at least the spirit of capturing moments, but there's certain just functional things I want to make sure I've covered the ground of, even if they're not like something I normally would have taken a photograph of or a person I normally would have taken a photograph of. Yeah. So there's just going to be more content there because I'm trying to cover all these various categories as well. So five thousands.
00:17:26
Speaker
was for two events, and most of them were for the Arts Fest, but I think it was about 3,000 shots for the Arts Fest that I'm still sorting through. And those will be called down to, you know, when I submit edited stuff to them, it might maybe, maybe a couple hundred photographs. Right. Not a crazy huge percentage. If I'm lucky.
00:17:52
Speaker
No, it's not. And I'm working on that. I have a lot less absolute rejection. I do find myself having to make more choices now as it goes on, which is a good sign to me that I have to decide. It's not just like, that's the one in focus. It's like, hmm, that split second or that split second.
00:18:18
Speaker
So there are other like more than usable stuff, but it's my first batch is going to be what I think is. Worthy and, and conveys what the client is hoping to convey about their event or, or retained from it. So yeah. And you mentioned, you know, you got your first camera pretty early. What did you have any, you know, uh, photography or a kind of like artistic inspiration?
00:18:46
Speaker
when you were when you were kind of starting out shooting photos or have you just kind of, you know, when I was like, young or for the in the recent history?
Artistic Family Influences
00:18:56
Speaker
I mean, I think both, you know, if you if you were drawn to photography at some point when you were younger, then you picked it up later on again, as my mother was, I mean, just in a domestic sense, a pretty good photographer.
00:19:09
Speaker
Like our family photo albums look really good. Like, especially if you compare Elsa's and I, like, they look really good. She just like knew what she was doing. She had like a Conica 35 millimeter. And I'm sexually surprised she didn't expand out. Well, I'm not knowing her, I'm not, but seeing what skill level she was at, just taking pictures of the family and photos of the kids. It's.
00:19:36
Speaker
It's a surprise that she, she didn't go further and probably could have. Um, so that was there. And then my albums look awful. I can't even imagine this scenario, but I'm enjoying it. Wow. These are like good photos. Um, and my brother, um,
00:19:56
Speaker
well before I started taking photos with intention, was taking a lot of photographs also on film when he was living in New York for some time. This is about 20 years ago or so. He was doing a lot and shit was really good. So there is something
00:20:14
Speaker
I was in the family and my mother was also, you know, again, just a domestic setting and an artist and an embroiderer and things like that. And my brother also illustrations and things. Nothing you can like look up, but it was in the atmosphere to be creative or to try to be creative. Or there was that drive. And so later on, it was just to meet
00:20:42
Speaker
Yeah, I was going to say after that, you know, you said you picked it up kind of somewhat recently, again, what kind of inspired that? So I picked it up like deliberately within the past seven years, eight years, maybe it was again, just to document the nature stuff, because I was seeing all these fascinating things that I wasn't documenting. So it was literally just
00:21:08
Speaker
for a functional purpose of sorts. And that's what started making me want to capture it better. So it, you know, started with frogs and birds and I, I love birds. And I was doing this whole bicycle tour of the C&O canal. And the nature of photography looks, I mean, not like I've seen a thousand nature photos, but it looks professional. It looks really like.
00:21:33
Speaker
crisp, even like the there is an animal and you understand exactly what it looks like. Thank you. Yeah, it's it's a lot of observation and patience. And, you know, and again, I, I'm a bit of a misanthrope, I really like, you know, I don't have I'm not, you know, I'm not socially adverse in the same way I once was, or I was for a period. But
00:22:00
Speaker
I definitely feel a certain liberty when I'm out in those environments and observing. I like to see how things interact with each other and out in those environments. It's all obvious like what affects what and how and why. That's a pretty fascinating perspective.
00:22:21
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And speaking of interactions and liberty, let's talk about kink modeling, which in your Instagram bio, what does it entail?
Kink Modeling and Personal Freedom
00:22:34
Speaker
What does kink modeling entail? What has your journey into the kink community looked like? That was in, I put that in there. Kink is a problematic term because it brings about
00:22:48
Speaker
certain presumptions that it's like, oh, it's something someone does to, to make themselves sticky. And, um, it's not necessarily that simple. I think I prefer to think of it in terms of sensuality. So if you're doing something, whether it's an action
00:23:10
Speaker
or wearing a piece of garb or having a certain context within a relationship with someone romantically that makes you feel more free.
00:23:24
Speaker
then in turn, if you're generally more free, also your libido and arousal systems are more stimulated as well. And it's just ways for people to find their freedom to be them.
00:23:42
Speaker
themselves. And so we have, you know, different tools and garbs and stuff to go about that. So that's, when I say kink, it's an abbreviation for that whole concept to me. Yes. It's a spectrum in some ways. Yes. So, and for me, I had my own
00:24:05
Speaker
I have my own set of interests and the pandemic hit and I was literally looking for ways to cash in at that point. So I figured maybe I can pull this off and get some
00:24:21
Speaker
You know, I can, I can be, you know, daddy's boy to a few guys online or something. And, you know, I gave up on that pretty quick because you're competing with a lot more youthful people and it's something you have to just, it's, it's being sex worker is work. And, you know, it's like, man, it is work. And, and, you know, hats off to the, those that are successful.
00:24:50
Speaker
at being cam girls or boys or whatever that can do that. Because it's beyond a full-time job. It's like a full-time thing, man. You are on. It's your entire lifestyle. And then you're being invaded by all of these people who are messaging you and making demands of you. And it's like, do you have boundaries or do you want to eat?
00:25:18
Speaker
Exactly. And I, um, now I wasn't getting to taste that yet. I realized I was not even going to get to taste that. So it was just kind of like, this isn't going to work and I'm not sure.
00:25:31
Speaker
that this is what I want to dedicate all of my energy to, to succeed at. And so I, I kind of stopped with it. So now when I put it up there, it's, it's mainly that, you know, some of the photos of some of my outfits can also be dumped into other genres as well. And I think, you know, I'm, I'm a kink friendly model, I guess is more a better way to put it at this point. Yeah, I see. I think that that's a worthwhile distinction.
00:26:03
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not getting, well, I'm not getting paid to do it. That's, that's the thing. And I'm not putting out anything at this point that involves, um, you know, nudity or sexual action. You know, that's not what I'm putting out there. So I guess that's the difference, but yeah, understand. I think I love.
00:26:31
Speaker
I am the kinky people. Nothing against the kinky people. Yeah, that's not exactly what I'm doing now. It's just sort of something I did do. And I think when I started that Instagram, you know, I think there was sort of like a coin toss in the pool that if someone also liked my photographs and they'd be, yeah, now, hey, hey, you want to do it? Sure. Why not? Why not? Yeah, I'll take it.
00:27:02
Speaker
But that hasn't really happened. So sort of like a little flag out there, like, you know, if you're thinking about it, you can, you can send me a message, but I'm not really doing it or pursuing it right now. Also, it seems like being open with that, like, I don't know, something about, you know, there's a little bit of solidarity with other marginalized kind of like,
00:27:27
Speaker
sexualities and genders and things of that nature. So, you know, having someone that just kind of shows that part of themselves without actually, you know, being not seduced, but you know, they just want to show that kind of thing. Like, I can imagine that people find that very, you know, very positive.
00:27:49
Speaker
They do. I think it, I think it's disarming. It's disarming to the people you want to disarm around it. You know what I mean? Absolutely. It's approachable to the folks that you would probably get along with. Exactly. Yeah. Because you're putting things on the table about yourself. And you know, a lot of my wardrobe is about that too. You know, I'm, you know, I'm putting a lot of things on the table about myself confidently and that
00:28:17
Speaker
message does get across to other folks and I get approached by a lot of people. I get a lot of messages about, you know, you're really inspired me or I'm love that you're sharing this and, you know, thank you for doing that. I mean, even just walking down the street, like I get compliments every day. I, uh, literally stop traffic on a fairly regular basis. All of people pull their cars.
00:28:42
Speaker
And not in like a lascivious, like, hey, baby, it's not like that. But like, people literally stop their cars and like, you made me really happy today. I like verbatim, like some guy the other week just like pulled over, he's like, man, you just made me really happy today, I wanted to tell you. And like, it's fucking touching, it's powerful. Oh, absolutely. So yeah, putting all of that out on the table and dressing the way I dress,
00:29:10
Speaker
It opens you up to people and I think it lets people open up to themselves and just be, I don't know. It's really opened up communication. I was expecting a bit more pushback, but it's much more the opposite effect. I have way more access to people since I've been, you know, dressing cute or playfully or feminine than I ever did.
00:29:38
Speaker
than I ever did. I have so much more access to conversations with people or engaging with them, and that's one line in person than I have in my entire life. It's really strange, but that's the effect that it's had. That's such a good feeling, I'm sure. That is how we met.
00:29:57
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. I mean, if I was wearing my normal gray shorts and white shorts, and would we have probably had the conversation? No, I wouldn't have taken a picture of you at all. Yeah.
00:30:10
Speaker
I might have talked to you like, oh, hey, other photographer, what are you doing? What have you seen here? Have you seen anything good? Exactly. It would have been about that and then have a nice day. Maybe we would have seen each other on the Instagram, but maybe not. Yeah, but it's giving me opportunities to engage with people and then it gives people opportunities to engage with me.
00:30:38
Speaker
Like I guess it's very approachable because people approach me all the time. It's yeah. Yes. I mean, I saw the beret and I was like. I've got to talk to this person. Do you know how many you have? Let's see. Let's see now we got a list. Take account. We got the purple. We got the yellow. I got the white. We got the navy blue.
00:31:06
Speaker
We have the pink and there's one more. Oh, yeah, it is the light blue. Mm hmm. That's the one you were wearing when we met with light blue. Yeah, I believe so. Oh, yeah. Like that was wearing light blue. And those are the. Those are sort of these.
00:31:28
Speaker
You know, kangal, kangal hats, that brand. I was going to ask what, what brand they were and what they were made out of. They're, they're like a knockoff of the kangal mesh. Okay. I guess that material is like a very light summary one. And those, I don't even know the brand. It's like joy for you now or something. Yeah, exactly. Your joy.
00:31:54
Speaker
Um, happiness plus, um, but something like that. Um, then I have a couple heavier weight ones, uh, for autumn and I would like to pick up a couple more. So I have some color options, but, um, so they go together somewhere about.
00:32:15
Speaker
12 or 13 that I actually wear, and then probably a few more that I don't. Yeah, there's quite a few berets. I've always loved hats since I was a kid. Hats have always been a thing, and then I settled in the beret a few years ago is sort of like the thing, the universal solvent of all hats is the beret. Do you have a favorite? Like one that you've replaced a lot of times?
00:32:42
Speaker
So I have these berets I'm wearing now, these colorful ones. Oh, I also have those in gray. And that's where these started actually, when I was still wearing, you know, boy clothes more regularly, is that I had those gray ones.
00:33:00
Speaker
I don't know. I'm really fond of this purple one. It seems to go with a lot as far as color wise, my favorite one color. It's a strong, the strength. It's a regal color. It is the color of Kings. It is the color of Kings, the color of Kings. That's a new movement coming out with Paul Newman's ghost. They're going to CGI him. Part of the color of money coming soon.
Evolving Fashion Sense
00:33:34
Speaker
There is a there's a heavier knit gray one that I'm very fond of the fit and weight and hand of it. And that's sort of probably my favorite as far as the way it hangs and everything. But it's definitely not my favorite color one to wear. So that's what I'm trying. I'm very particular about all my shit. Like it has to sit and hang in a certain way before I'm happy about it. Absolutely.
00:33:53
Speaker
The color of kings. He was dead, but he played pool.
00:34:04
Speaker
I feel like that's why you're on the show. Yeah, that's why I'm on the show. Yeah, yeah. I forgot we're talking about photography. Think whole category. You're not just going to target to buy whatever is cold or whatever you think looks half decent, you know, or on the other side of things. I have gotten some things from Target. Oh, certainly, certainly.
00:34:26
Speaker
But they have to meet the right, you know, meet the right point with you. And if I'm going to do this, like, you know, if, if I'm going to go walk the streets dressed like a little girl, it better be good. You know, like, you know, you can't do that half-assed. But you can. You're not going to get the reaction you want. It's got to be good. You got to put it together.
00:34:53
Speaker
And that's not that admonish someone who can't afford certain things or whatnot, but it's just, if you're going to do it, do it right. You have to figure out your aesthetic, essentially. Yes. And different things are going to work for everybody else. And it might not be the thing you thought it would be. You might have to arrive at something. How did you arrive at the vibe that you have been playing with for the past little while?
00:35:24
Speaker
So I'm still arriving at it. I'm still figuring there's a lot of, there's a lot of misfires and, um, but it started.
00:35:38
Speaker
It started much more just sort of like playful, like definitely still more boyish kind of stuff. You know, again, like short hauls and a little like stripey shirt or something and a pair of fish head sneakers and sort of at least like publicly, I would have some more like girly stuff for like private. But then as I started doing the public dressing, I started getting, you know, braver also and
00:36:05
Speaker
I originally sort of like that more kind of like, you know, childish, playful-ish kind of look and for myself. But then I also very attracted to that sort of forties, fifties aesthetic in women's clothes. And then that sort of morphs into that kawaii fashion. And I'm trying to add a dash of
00:36:30
Speaker
You got to be careful about when you use this word because they're, they're a savage little bunch. And I warn you the Lolita is the Lolita fashion. Yes. So I like elements of them, but man, you do not want to tag anything Lolita unless it's purely Lolita. Oh, I can imagine. Oh my God. Oh man.
00:36:51
Speaker
No, they'll look, I'm serious. They will come after you. They're like angry little people, the Lolitas. Exceptions. There is a resistance movement within them, but there's a lot of self-appointed gatekeepers to what Lolita is and what Lolita is not. And if you at all try to mention it in conjunction with other styles or aesthetics, they'll bring the hammer down. They're nuts. That sounds like you're speaking from experience.
00:37:21
Speaker
Oh yeah, I've had them attack accounts and try to get things shut down and shit before because I tagged something Lolita that wasn't to their vision of it. Jesus. Wow. Yeah, seriously. This has happened to plenty of other people too. So it's like a Lolita poppy. Yeah, it's a weird, savage little thing. Now, there's going to be a Lolita maybe that hears this and hears that and you're going to get some shit.
00:37:48
Speaker
I don't know about that, man. I apologize to any of the Lolita's that come across this. I'm not talking shit. Just fascinated. Yeah, I'm just expressing my opinion as a guest. This is not the views necessarily the views of our hosts. This is a neutral Lolita show. Yes. Yes. So those... I've heard a few different voices.
00:38:17
Speaker
And I know that you do voice work professionally. So I was curious how long you have been at it.
Voice Work Beginnings
00:38:25
Speaker
And most importantly, how long have you known that you had a marketable voice? So I'm still trying to figure out if I have a marketable voice, because I get a lot of work outside of my regular client, which works mainly for financial insurance companies. OK.
00:38:46
Speaker
But, um, I, I started, I have always wanted to do it like since very early on, I think since I was like a teenager or something. And it was something I kept putting off for years and years and it's like, Oh, you need to make a demo. And so I just didn't get around to it and.
00:39:08
Speaker
I did a couple projects. I was the facilities manager at Port Discovery for like 13 years. Oh boy. Yeah. I left there in 2019, but I did a few projects with them.
00:39:22
Speaker
And I think those are my first actual recordings I did for something outside of like a performance art thing or a play thing that I just did a voice recording that was to be used in an exhibit or some type of engagement. And it was like a telephone that rang and the kids would pick up the phone and it would be like, welcome to Tiny's Dinah, how may I help you? And this whole piece of pie, it's gonna be my birthday and that whole,
00:39:49
Speaker
So that was actually the first work I did, and I think that might still exist, the diner phone. Oh my God, so you were, hang on a second, Port Discovery is an enormous children's museum in downtown Baltimore, and it has all manner of interactive displays. So your voice is on one of the exhibits at the museum? Yeah, if it still exists. I don't know if it still exists. That's crazy.
00:40:16
Speaker
So I haven't been there for three years. But yeah, yeah, my voice. Oh, yeah, that's really funny. And that's like cool work, cool voice work to be doing, you know, it's not like corporate. It's like to entertain people, specifically children. It was pretty fun. It was pretty fun. And am I?
00:40:35
Speaker
One of the other employees wrote that script at that time and then I think I'm on their kiosk for their, um, there's a touring exhibit they had also for a while, which is like this.
00:40:48
Speaker
the farm exhibit or the harvest exhibit. I can't remember exactly what it was called, but I'm on a kiosk for that about harvest songs throughout the world. Listen to the rhythm. Gang gang sule.
00:41:10
Speaker
That and I guess that was my official start. And then mainly I do like voiceovers for financial.
00:41:20
Speaker
uh, insurance industry, like blog posts and promo videos, which is like agent to agent stuff. This is not like direct to the public. It's like, you know, do you still have the, do you have the insurance that pays while you're still alive? You know, trust financial group is a trust that a whole thing. Yeah. And I do some of that stuff.
00:41:43
Speaker
And I do some voiceover. I have one social media client and I do occasionally do voiceovers for their Instagram posts as well. Um, and that is threaded armor. So yeah, I, I, I run the social media account for an adult diaper company named threaded armor. So like the voice of threaded armor, threaded armor, man.
00:42:14
Speaker
I was going to say, Benji, you kind of remind me of J.K. Simmons, who I absolutely love. So that's who kind of comes to mind. Oh, man. Yeah, a little bit. Oh, yeah. I think he's more Midwestern, but you know, a bit more with Westburn when he has Frank. That's the first time. Yeah, he has a bit of that thing. And yeah. Yeah. Oh, man. You know, I always thought immediately.
00:42:43
Speaker
Wow. I love that. Yeah. I don't quite hear it, but I'll take it. Oh, absolutely. Take it. I always thought he should have played the comedian in watchman. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. That would have been a great casting. Yeah. That guy's, that guy's great. Wow. Thank you. That's a compliment. Of course. I don't know why I feel like he's one of those, um, mostly just, you know, sideline characters and things, but I always just.
00:43:12
Speaker
find him hilarious no matter what context he's in. I don't know. He's really good. He started off as a character actor, but he's kind of coming to his own. He's definitely done some lead now at this point. But yeah, there's a what's that movie extract? It's a Jason Bateman and Mila Kunis.
00:43:36
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yes. So he's such a good way in that. What is it? He's calling everybody. He's calling every not pinhead. He keeps doofus or so. I don't know. There's some catchphrase he has in that film movie. Doofus would sound good in his voice. Doofus or something like that. I don't remember. But yeah, I love the JK Simmons. I've lost. No, we were on voice. We were on. How did I know?
00:44:06
Speaker
I was going to ask you because you said in a call before this interview that you watched a lot of advertisements on television when you were a kid. And I'm going to ask you if any of those have kind of stuck around in your brain and have influenced your voiceover work now. I don't think there's like a specific one I could say, but I think that era that sort of like
00:44:35
Speaker
late 70s, early 80s is towards the end of the classic broadcaster era where you'd hear a trans voice on the video, that whole thing. I always thought that was so powerful and I just loved hearing it. It's fading now. You don't really hear that. The news time is 4.49 PM. You don't hear that too much anymore.
00:45:04
Speaker
Um, and, and I think there was, but yes, that did get in my brain. There was some sort of authority and regard. There was something powerful about hearing that to me and you paid attention to it or it was something important. You know, it's like a commercial for like an ambulance chaser was somehow important. It's like your child's brain damage may be caused by cerebral palsy. Oh, you're right.
00:45:33
Speaker
It might be correct. And, you know, you'd pay attention to it still.
00:45:39
Speaker
And I don't know, it did set about something, and that is what I'm going
Inspiration from Classic Radio Voices
00:45:43
Speaker
for. I want to be as good as those guys were, or convey that same thing. Because there's a rhythm to it, there's cadence, there's all these lovely little bits and pieces to that, presenting it that way, which I think we've lost. And I think I was discussing this other aspect with you earlier, where now it's sort of popular as like the dickhead,
00:46:09
Speaker
Like Dickhead Pinchman, like the Ryan Reynolds type or something. Yeah, yes. You're saying this is better than you. Whatever. Like, it's just like. And it's just like, huh, oh, you're still using ice? That's that's shit. Ice doesn't keep your drink cold. Why do you think it is that way? Why do you think the annoying voices have won out? Because that's what it is. I think in maybe half of advertisements, there are extremely annoying people.
00:46:40
Speaker
It's okay. I don't know exactly why it is, but I think I can pinpoint when it is and how it developed. So it's, so here's the, here's the inherent problem. The inherent problem in movieism, movieism, movieism. Do you have movieism? You should get it looked at there's in moviedom and, um, sitcoms and such is.
00:47:06
Speaker
Instead of really fleshing out characters, it's not it's not the event and what is occurring that is funny anymore. They try to make every character snarky and funny, like like every character. Yeah, exactly. Every character has like a sarcastic affect. And like Marvel Universe currently is just awful with it. Like every character is just like a comedic fucking genius. And it's like, this is not interesting to me.
00:47:34
Speaker
Right, you know, it's just not. And if you look at. The remake of Ghostbusters, the all female cast of Ghostbusters, he did the same thing like the original Ghostbusters.
00:47:50
Speaker
There's a few jokes in there, here and there. There's a few intentionally funny lines, but for the most part, it's the interaction and it's the context and it's the faith. The characters themselves are not trying to be funny for the most part. The new one, that's all it is. Every character's trying to one up the other with how funny they are. And it's not funny. I didn't laugh once during that whole movie.
00:48:18
Speaker
And there's actually, if you know, uh, look on YouTube, there's a guy does movie reviews called mr. Plinkett red letter media. I know. Yeah. Okay. He does one on the new new Ghostbusters. You got to watch it. That will explain everything I'm talking about. But if you, I think you can trace all of this all the way back. And I think this is where this is the source is Joss Whedon and Buffy.
00:48:42
Speaker
I love Buffy the Vampire. I do. I'm a fan. And especially like Angel too. But I think he did it right and he had a certain balance with it. And there was a certain feel to it that somehow worked. But that became because of its success and because of it, you know, it lingered around for years and years, you know, became kind of a cult show.
00:49:05
Speaker
And he became a more powerful director and better known as well. And I think that became a template and a formula that everyone started following and then they kept compounding it. And not only is it popular,
00:49:21
Speaker
they forced that into popularity is that that's sort of what the viewer wants. The viewer thinks now that, oh, well, what I want is to be the snarkiest and I want to be the funniest in the room and I want the attention that way. So kind of like I was influenced by the deep radio guy who was sincere and told you this important thing, this important message. Like I desired that effect.
00:49:45
Speaker
And it was the effect I was surrounded by. Now we're surrounded by dicks getting away with everything. I'm a dick in between everything. Dick and get away with everything. So it's enforcing its own popularity. That's my theory at this point is that everybody, I guess, wants to be a dick. I don't know. So we're looking up to them at this point. Maybe it's going to fade. I don't know what the next big thing is going to be. I have no guess.
00:50:15
Speaker
I think the dicks are here to stay. The dicks are here to stay. I don't know, man. This young generation is throwing curve balls left and right. No, you never know what to come up with next. You might just cut the dick off. Right, maybe so. A Shirley Bobbitt situation in Nashville. Yeah, Shirley Bobbitt, the whole thing. Boom. Yeah, exactly. It's going to change forever.
00:50:40
Speaker
No offense to him, but I can't take Ron Reynolds for that much longer. He seems like a cool dude enough, but the one character in everything which, like you said, has translated into literally every production is just overwhelming. Yeah. And he's always the same thing. Not that he...
00:50:59
Speaker
Look, the guy's a professional. That's a lot of work. What he does. I'm not shitting on his like, yeah, he's, he's good. But God, it's annoying. And also I have to say I'm biased now because, okay, I got mint mobile. I switched to them back in May and they just.
00:51:18
Speaker
They hurt me. They hurt me bad. And it was this whole rigmarole. Mint Mobile's the cell phone company. He partly owns and advertises. Gotcha. There's the connection. I was like, what the fuck is he talking about? I renamed it excrement mobile.
00:51:38
Speaker
It's shit. But, um, at any rate, I'm at the point I feel I had to switch over from them to another company at this point. Cause it's just the shit to stop working. And I had bought like a year's worth of service. So Ryan Reynolds owes me $200. So Ryan, I want my $200 Ryan Reynolds. Well, we'll try to let him know. Hope we can facilitate this.
00:52:04
Speaker
I facilitate. Yes. That would be great. But so there's a little, there's a little further bias now and I have to acknowledge my bias. That's all I'm saying. That's all I'm trying to acknowledge that I'm slightly biased now because now I have this.
00:52:20
Speaker
you know, personal thing going on with me and Ryan that we need to resolve. And, um, you know, it's coming out, but I acknowledge it. I see it. I can admit it. You know, you can go forward. Exactly.
Conclusion and Contact Info
00:52:33
Speaker
It was about, we're all stronger for it. So Matt, if you have any questions to ask, I mean, this has been fascinating and Benji, thank you for, uh, for taking the time to chat and.
00:52:47
Speaker
It's been hella fun and I very much enjoyed listening to your various voices. Yeah, absolutely. And thank you so much for coming, Benji. If you have something that you want to plug, plug away. Yes. I don't have anything specific plug if you need. Hey, if you need professional photography, if you need graphic design, I'm going to work with you.
00:53:10
Speaker
at mediaservicedudio.com. So that's my website, sort of my talent portfolio out there. I do graphics. I do photography for events or personal photography, boudoir photography. I do silver. We know that now, don't we? Yes, we do. Yes.
00:53:34
Speaker
I can do it. So yeah, media service, studio.com. That's me. So that's what I'm plugging, I guess. Thank you for the plug opportunity. Of course. I need a better person. Thank you for coming on the show. You're welcome. Is this how we're wrapping up? What's your, how do you close your show? I'm Matt Smith at rebels rogues on Instagram. Uh, give our other episodes and listen at apocalypse studs on Instagram. And if you want to reach out, apocalypse studs at gmail.com.
00:54:03
Speaker
And I'm Connor Fowler at Connor Fowler. Matt has given all the other contact information for the show. So please don't be a stranger. We are very responsive. Thank you and have a nice day.