Cathy Weseluck on EverFree Radio

By Viper998

Cathy Weseluck, the voice of Spike and Mayor Mare as well as lots of nonce ponies (who she has all given souls of their own), has been interviewed by EverFree Radio. Head over there and enjoy the interview.

Additionally, you can find my summary after the break.

• As she also mentioned on her interview for the Dennis Daniel Show, she originally studied music with a minor in sociology, and just somehow stumbled into voice acting through some almost forcible albeit highly fortuitous circumstances. (30:51)
• Her knowledge of sociology and music, however, comes in very handy. She has a keen interest in and awareness for the nuances of her characters (34:14), and on the musical side, can play the piano, trumpet, viola, and guitar, as well as sing. (43:11)
• At 39:07, she described the importance of the storyboards for the director in advising the voice actors. Hence, those have to be already finished at that point.
• The recording process itself has not changed much over the course of her twenty-two- or twenty-three-year career, the auditioning process, however, has. (39:30)
• It only says “Mayor” in the scripts, but “she must have a name in her personal life.” (46:26)
• She described Mayor Mare as “officious and yet friendly,” “older than the other ponies,” and “probably the business woman in the group,” and went on to give an example of how she developed her voice from another voice she did for a completely different occasion. (47:50)
• “There’s no question that the characters do evolve.” Every episode with its new lines and scenes is “a discovery and a process at the same time” for the voice actors. Of course, “the characters are amazingly developed.” Here she again picked up the example of Spike, who seemed “like such a little baby when I first saw the picture,” but progressed to become “a little bit more boyish” and received a number more character traits as well. (50:16) This discussion was continued from 59:42 onward, and we actually get to hear a range of different Spike pitches!
• A brief mention of incidentals and side characters. (52:38)
• Prompted by a question about Secret of My Excess, she showcased even more deep and deeper Spike voices. Awesome! (1:02:50)
• Spikes voice, generally, is comparatively comfortable for her to do, but if they are “screaming … or yelling out for a long period of time …, it can be quite taxing.” (1:05:12)
• Asked whether she voiced the vet in Secret of My Excess, she wasn’t entirely sure anymore but replied “I believe that was my voice though … I don’t wan’t to say 100%, but I think so.”
• Apparently the little singing game they played on December 1, 2011, was her idea. (1:09:08)
• At 1:16:03 there is across-the-board agreement that “we need good politicians.” Yup. And then we need to elect them.
• She gives workshops on voice over and narration. More on that at 1:14:29 and following 1:16:03, as well as on her website.
• Our love for the show, so her conjecture, is due to “a connect to the heart and a connect to quality.” “So if it’s spreading the love the way it is to those parameters and beyond, we couldn’t be happier. We’re thrilled!” (1:22:29)
• She has seen some artwork, and “what’s really a wonderful thing about it mainly is that it’s created such a community. … Or many communities actually.” (1:23:54)
• On the question if there was something that she would like to see from the community, she seems to largely agree with Jayson Thiessen. (1:26:55)
• She is currently working on two projects that are still under wraps. (1:28:25)
• “I believe I was in Mark of Chaos.” (1:29:32)
• And then at 1:32:30 everypony suddenly started imitating funny voices.
• At 1:35:01 they switched to Russian.
• Eventually, at 1:35:56: “Thanks to the fans out there too. We really appreciate the connect.”

Now it’s past 7 a.m., which means that I haven’t slept in more than 25 hours. If you notice any errors or omissions, please leave a comment, so I can correct them. Good night.