Friday, July 12, 2013

Max Miller on THE DARKLING THRUSH and THE GHOST WORE YELLOW SOCKS


Tell us a little bit about your background. How did you get started in narrating/producing audio books? How many audio books have you narrated?


I have been performing since I started in boy's choirs when I was 6. In college I studied classical voice which ended up leading me to NYC where I fell into musical theater. After several Broadway and off-Broadway shows I decided that it was time to follow my true passion, animation. So a year ago I moved to Los Angeles to become a voice actor for cartoons. I had a friend, Pat Fraley, tell me about audiobook narration and how the long form acting it requires can really go a long way to improving every aspect of voice acting so I decided to give it a shot. In the last year I've done about a dozen audiobooks, two of which have been for you. 

How much acting is involved in narrating a story?


It's all acting. Anyone can read, not everyone can bring characters to life and tell a story. If it were just reading, then we'd gladly listen to Siri read audiobooks. 

What was the most difficult or challenging aspect of narrating THE DARKLING THRUSH?


Definitely creating a mood. I have a young voice and sometimes it's a little difficult to create the darker characters or scenes without making my voice sound like I'm pushing too hard. 

What character was the most fun to narrate? Why?


Irania Briggs. I enjoy reading female characters (paging Dr. Freud), especially when they are sexy and seductive…..all things I am not. And while she doesn't involve herself in romantic seduction in this book, I still feel like she oozes it. 

What character was the most difficult to narrate? Why?


Septimus Marx. The voice I heard in his head was something I couldn't produce so it was always frustrating to have to listen to myself reading the role. 

Was there a particular scene you think you read especially well? Or that you particularly enjoyed reading?


I enjoyed reading the final battle scenes. They were just so well written I was able to breeze through them and my mind was totally engaged. 

You also narrated one of my most popular standalone titles, THE GHOST WORE YELLOW SOCKS. What was the most difficult or challenging aspect of narrating that title?


I would say keeping all of the characters straight. The house was just full of interesting people and I wanted to make each one distinct but that meant I created a lot of work for myself. Well worth it I hope. 

What character was the most fun to narrate? Why?


Ms. McQueen. Mainly because I saw her as a female Harvey Fierstein and who doesn't love Harvey. Though I tried not to go overboard on the voice.  

What character was the most difficult to narrate? Why?


Nick Reno. Nick should be rather butch and manly and I've never really considered myself to be too much of either of those things so it was an acting challenge and a vocal challenge. 

Was there a particular scene you think you read especially well? Or that you particularly enjoyed reading?


I really enjoyed, and thought I read well, the early scenes where the entire household is milling around after Perry comes downstairs freaking out about the dead man in the bathtub. I enjoyed jumping from one character to another and creating that sense of chaos. 

How awkward is it to read erotic scenes aloud?


I find it very awkward because I don't see myself as having a sexy voice whatsoever. That said, I make them into a bit of a game, seeing how sexy I can be, and it's rather fun. 

What’s the most satisfying or rewarding part of narrating/producing an audio book?


Getting to see the title go live on Audible.com and knowing that anyone, anywhere could be listening to my voice in their car. 

Do you ever find yourself wishing the author (naturally not me!!!) hadn’t taken the story in a particular direction? Or is narrating a much more detached process?


It really depends on the book and how well written it is. If it's well written, as yours are, then I tend to get attached to the characters and care what happens to them. Sometimes, I read real drivel and couldn't care less if the characters live or die.  Brutal, but there it is. 

 

Where can readers/listeners find out more about you and your work?


 

On my website, www.TheMaxMiller.com. I have, not only information about my audiobooks but also clips of my animation that I've created and those that I've worked on for others, info on upcoming concerts I have, yada yada yada.

 

 

18 comments:

  1. Thank you, Josh, for another great narrator interview. I am so pleased you continue to have these. Just as knowing something about you enhances the reading experience of your stories, so too does learning a little about each narrator increase the enjoyment of listening to them. Max sounds like someone with a wonderful sense of humor and fun to work with.

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  2. Thank you, Susan. I'm afraid I'm running out of narrators now! I need more audio books made. :-)

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    1. Maybe you could interview Chris Patton after every AE?... if only to check how his opinion of Jake improves, ahem ;-) thou possibly not right now after THYS...
      And YES, definitely more audiobooks!!! :-)

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    2. I'm all over the place answering these comments, aren't I? I want to blame it on Blogger, but it's probably me. :-D

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    3. Heh, trickster blogger ;-)

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  3. I love these interviews! Thank you, Josh! and thank you Max Miller! The TGWYS audiobook is such a pleasure to listen to. I could listen to it over and over and never ever get tired of the story or the narration. Narration-wise, I especially enjoyed the fact that one can easily tell apart and keep track of the characters. And i think Max did a great job with Nick's voice.
    :-)

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    1. Yeah! I think it would be great to see what Chris thinks by the end of the series. Good idea.

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  4. Josh, thanks for the interview with Max. I thought he did a great job with both TGWYS (loved his Perry) and The Darkling Thrush. I'm loving all the audiobooks and continue to pick up new lines/nuances in them (even though I've read the books several times each). I can't count the number of times I laughed in my car when listening to Chris on THYS...he is fantastic as Adrien.

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    1. Thank you, Cynthia. Max was one of my first narrators, so I was hugely relieved when the books turned out so well.

      I think the variety of accents in The Darkling Thrush is just brilliant.

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  5. Thank you so much for interviewing Max Miller. Wish we could convince you to continue the Perry/Nick series.

    Since it appears Perry & Nick are moving to LA, why not have Nick go into business with Jake? Could be a lot of fun "watching" the two of them dealing with all the trouble Adrien and Perry fall in to. Perry loves mysteries, he might get a part time job in Adrien's book store.

    I see so very many possibilities there!

    Back to Max Miller, I think he truly nailed Perry and Nick. He does have a rather young voice, but neither of the pair is that old.

    He and Patton are my two favorite narrators and both do a great job bringing your fabulous books to audio life. Both have that ability to perform the story without taking it over. That's very, very important. The characters come through and the narrator doesn't dominate the story.

    Have a great weekend.

    Penelope

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    1. Well, you know I do hope to eventually write a sequel to TGWYS. I think it would be fun to follow Nick and Perry in LA. Not a series! I have enough of those going already, but a follow up, sure.

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  6. I just finished listening to Darkling Thrush and Ghost is one of my favorites (I know, they're all my favorites) and I love it when an author individualizes the voices. I love knowing who's talking just by the voice. This was so timely and I enjoyed it. Thank you and keep well.

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    1. Book narration has really changed within a few years. I agree that I've come to enjoy the changing voices depending on character -- that seems to be a key feature of narration now days.

      But surprisingly, I enjoy the other way too. I think the fact of the matter is I LOVE being read to. ;-)

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  7. I really enjoyed this interview. I will have to check what other work Max has available. I hope I don't come across any drivel! I just finished listening to THYS, and now I feel like re-listening to TGWYS. For the third time!

    It would be very interesting to hear how Chris P's impressions of AE have evolved. And I would love more audio books.

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    1. I do hope that the audio books get more than one listen. It seems like they do, which is very encouraging. Although every reader is different -- I have readers who never re-read anything. That's so interesting to me, because if I like a book once, it's guaranteed that I will read it several times. Same with audio. At least, I think so!

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    2. I always reread and re-listen to books that I enjoy. Revisiting a book is always a good thing!!!

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  8. I will definitely listen to Yellow Socks over and over again. It was a fun story and Max's narration makes it one of the best.

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    1. That makes me very happy! I like the idea the books are being enjoyed over and over. :-)

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