Vocal Arts

Lolli Wren is a singer, composer, vocal arranger, and vocal coach AKA The Fairy Voice Mother. She is widely known for her ability to explain a huge range of voice techniques and replicate them in a way that anyone can learn, even absolute beginners. As a vocal analyst on YouTube, Lolli has built an audience of over 265,000 subscribers.

Peter and Lolli chat about voice science, vocal technique for varying genres, Lolli's background and training, how she got into analyzing the voice, building a YouTube channel, teaching, the love of music videos, career goals, and much more. Please welcome Lolli Wren.

Matthew Aucoin is an American composer, conductor, writer, pianist, and a 2018 MacArthur Fellow. In recent seasons, his music has been performed by artists ranging from Yo-Yo Ma to the Philadelphia Orchestra, and commissioned by institutions including the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, and the Ojai Music Festival. Aucoin is a co-founder of the American Modern Opera Company. His book about opera, The Impossible Art: Adventures in Opera, was published in 2021 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

Peter and Matt talk about what it takes to compose an opera, writing classical music in the modern age, the symbiotic benefits of being a composer, pianist, and conductor, Matt's upcoming projects, and much more. Please welcome Matthew Aucoin.

Joe Santoni is a bass singer and studio vocalist, best known for his work with DCappella, Disney's premiere acapella group. Joe has had the pleasure of performing for over 15 years both professionally and academically. Throughout his music career he’s had amazing opportunities come his way. Some of his performance credits include performing in over 3 professional operas, benefit concerts, various a cappella groups as well as an elite LA choir called the LA Choral Lab. Performing alongside the LA Choral Lab he’s sung in the ‘Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses’ at the Dolby theater in Los Angeles, and had the pleasure of singing on ‘The Nun’ from the James Wan conjuring universe. Joe’s hometown is Port Huron, Michigan where he grew up and went to college for opera and has since moved to Los Angeles to pursue his career in singing.

Peter and Joe talk about working for the monolith company that is Disney, being a part of high-budget music videos, working and living in Los Angeles, vocal ranges, what it's like to be a bass singer on tour, being a studio vocalist, and much more. Please welcome Joe Santoni.

Jonny Stewart is a bass singer, an engineer for studio and live sound, and an arranger/director. Jonny’s arrangements and mixes have been streamed over twenty million times on Spotify, although it bears mentioning that fourteen million of these were for TikTok sea shanty ‘Wellerman’, by the Wellermen. In addition to his work with the Wellermen, Jonny sings in London-based group NoVI, alongside freelance choir and session work.

Peter and Jonny talk about the rise of sea shanties, going viral on short-form media, going on tour, audio engineering, mixing & mastering, future plans for The Wellermen, and much more. Please welcome Jonny Stewart.

Teagan Earley is a Chicago-based singer, actor, and producer, and the proud co-founder of Sisters First Productions—a Tony and Emmy award-winning production company and entertainment fund that seeks to support women, early career artists, early stage businesses, and other vehicles for underrepresented voices using cutting edge technology and original, hybrid content. Throughout her performance career, which includes theatre, concert, and opera credits, she has trained with world-class instructors such as Melissa Foster, Betsy Wolfe, Kiera Duffy, and Nathan Gunn. Her voice is currently being featured as Athena on the Original Concept Album of "EPIC" - the musical that first went viral on TikTok and has amassed more than 100 million views (and counting), debuted as #9 on Spotify with more than 3 million streams in its first week (doubling that to 6 million by the end of its second week), and climbed to the #2 Cast Albums spot on the Billboard Charts, surpassed only by "Hamilton".

Peter and Teagan talk about the origins of EPIC: The Musical, what it was like to be involved with that project from the ground up, the challenges and triumphs of being a live performer, career goals and ambitions, potential collaborations, upcoming endeavors, and much more. Please welcome Teagan Earley.

Davide Dalmonte is a 19-year-old bass singer, songwriter, and producer. He has amassed over 1.5 followers on TikTok via covers, adding bass lines to popular TikToks via the duet feature. Lately, Davide has entered the world of original music, with new songs coming out in the near future. 

Peter and Davide talk about creating music in short form media, what it's like to "go viral," distortion of singing expectations due to the "TikTokification" of music, career and musical goals, psychological challenges of being a creator with a large following, our admiration for other creators in the space, like Bobby Bass, Marwan Ayman, Danny Brevik, and much more. Please welcome Davide Dalmonte.

Colm McGuinness is an Irish composer, producer, musician, and singer. Primarily, he composes and works as a studio artist in the video game sphere for major titles like Critical Role, League of Legends, and more. In addition, Colm produces high-quality covers for his YouTube channel and streaming services, where he has garnered hundreds of millions views/streams, and millions of followers. In the online space, he has become well-known for his extensive vocal range and instrumental prowess. 

Peter and Colm talk about composing music for major video games, artistic goals, dealing with haters, working as a bartender, making lemonade out of lemons (a "limoncello cocktail," rather) when the pandemic hit in 2020, vocal range, social media, and much more. Please welcome Colm McGuinness in his first-and-only appearance on a podcast.

If you'd like to take your singing to the next level, Colm and I highly recommend StudioBrev, the most handsome of all voice studios! Check it out here: https://crm.studiobrev.com/webinar-registration-page-9946-3885?am_id=peter_barber

Charlie Hopkinson is a UK impressionist with over 500 million views across platforms. Best known for his impressions of Morgan Freeman, David Attenborough, the Peaky Blinders, and now, many of the iconic voices from the Star Wars universe, Charlie has gained the requisite popularity to go on tour for stand-up comedy, where he brilliantly incorporates impressions into his act. 

Peter and Charlie talk about creating impressions, voice acting, building an online platform, incorporating impressions into stand-up comedy, the challenges of performing live as an impressionist, and Charlie even does a number of his famous impressions in real time. Please welcome Charlie Hopkinson.

Marwan Ayman is a 20-year-old acapella musician from Egypt who gained fame on YouTube as a member of The Bass Gang. His viral "build-up" covers contributed significantly to his rise in popularity, and have earned him nearly 20,000 subscribers on YouTube. As a member of The Bass Gang, he has written many of the group's most popular arrangements, including; Hide and Seek feat. Lauren Paley, Emperor's New Clothes, and Arabian Nights. Marwan is considered by many to be the greatest young talent in the acapella world, and is recognized for his abilities to not only write and produce music, but for his video editing skills as well. 

Peter and Marwan talk about the current state of acapella, the evolution of acapella, living in Egypt, growing up in a musical family, favorite projects, arrangement process, and much more. Please welcome Marwan Ayman.

From the guest: "I'm Gav, an independent producer/songwriter & singer from Ireland. My music and songs, under the name 'Miracle Of Sound,' cover a vast range of genres & styles from metal to folk to classical. They have become popular through grassroots word of mouth and gathered over a billion cross-platform digital streams, with my biggest hit 'Valhalla Calling' (which I wrote & performed solo) gathering over 120 million streams.