Gabriel Vaughan is an Audie award winning narrator with over 80 audiobooks recorded including many dual-cast with his wife and fellow narrator Piper Goodeve. Together they run their audiobook production company, Little Town Studios, with recording booths in Vermont and Brooklyn, NY. Favorite titles narrated include Archangel by William Gibson and Michael St. John Smith, 30 Days of Night by Steve Niles, Ben Templesmith and R.S. Belcher, Pyramid Lake by Paul Draker, Greentown by Timothy Dumas, The John Lardner Reader by John Lardner and Rivals! Frenemies Who Changed the World by Scott McCormick. Gabriel is also a founding member of the Tennessee Shakespeare Company where he regularly performs and is a proud member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA.
How did you become interested in performing audiobooks?
My first opportunity to narrate an audiobook came back in 2013. My wife and fellow narrator Piper Goodeve was set to record a dual-cast romance novel by Jasinda Wilder, Falling Into You. Ms. Wilder was looking for a male narrator to work on the book with Piper. Piper recommend me to the author, I sent in an audition and that was how I got my first title. I would add that audiobooks have been a part of my life since I was a kid listening to books on tape. I didn’t have a TV in the house growing up, so I listened to a lot of books on tape. It is a genre that I have felt drawn to and enjoyed for most of my life.
How do you prepare to record an audiobook?
Depending if the title is fiction or non-fiction my process of “prep” is different. I always read through the entire book first, of course, but if it’s a fiction title, I’m highlighting all of the characters’ dialog in different colors on my iPad and making character choices for vocal changes and dynamics. I also make shorthand notes about character relationships that I can refer to quickly while recording which can be especially useful when I’m working on a series where there can be months between recording books. If it’s a dual-cast fiction, I also get in touch with my co-narrator to make sure we are on the same page with character choices (this is very easy when your co-narrator is your wife!) For non-fiction titles, I spend a lot of time looking up words and proper names I might not know how to pronounce. I also make a lot of red scoring marks on the manuscript to help see where I want change rhythms and inflections of different sections.
You have recorded over 80 audiobooks. Which of them do you find most memorable?
One of my favorite titles I’ve narrated is a little-known book called The John Lardner Reader: A Pressbox Legend’s Classic Sportswriting. The writing in this collection is some of the most colorful and creative non-fiction prose I’ve ever come across. It was an absolute pleasure to narrate writing this good. Truly inspired portraits of some of the sporting world’s oldest and most memorable individuals.
You have performed many genres. What kinds of differences or similarities do you find in the performances?
Well, regardless of what the genre of fiction might be, my approach to narration is still pretty much the same. I try to bring a true and believable portrayal to characters just like I would acting in a play or film, especially with books written in the first person. Even when a story is over the top dramatic or comedic and the characters and stories are larger than life, I’m still always trying to ground them in something that feels genuine. Non-fiction is a whole other ballgame, and my approach to narration for that is all about being the inspired and engaging expert on whatever the book is about.
You played the medical examiner, among many other characters, in the full cast recording of The Shadow classic pulp novels. What is it like to work with a cast? Do you record together in order to interact off each other? If you record on your own, how do you conduct your side of conversations?
I’ve been quite fortunate to narrate on several great multi-cast productions including the audio adaptations of 30 Days of Night and Archangel that were originally graphic novels and the upcoming Starship Pandora (also from Audible). Sometimes these multi-cast productions are recorded together with a full cast in a very large studio in a semi-circle of mics and sometimes the production is recorded individually, one actor at a time. If I need to record my lines solo, sometimes I’ll hear back what another actor has already recorded, but if that’s not possible then I just have to do my best to naturally act one side of dialogue. There’s no question that I prefer to work in the former setting; playing off of other actors in real time and all being together in one big studio is very exciting and I think it makes a big difference for the enjoyment of the listeners.
Your wife, Piper Goodeve, is a fellow audiobook narrator. You have recorded several books with her, including some steamy romance novels. What is it like to do so?
Piper is such a fantastic narrator, I’m always learning from hearing her work. Yes, we’ve recorded quite a few romance novels as “dual-cast” productions together. But despite the name, it’s pretty rare that we are actually recording in the booth at the same time. Mostly it’s an alternating chapter kind of thing and sometimes we’ll record our chapters weeks apart from each other. But it’s always great to have your co-narrator right there to ask questions of and make sure we’re on the same page with the tone of a book or a character choice.
You are an Audie winner. For what book have you won, and what made this book special?
Truth be told, it was my pseudonym that won an Audie for one of those “steamy romance novels” you mentioned and he’s actually been nominated since then as well. So forgive me for keeping a little incognito on this. But I will say I’m really proud that both books were by an independent author who we’ve had a great working relationship with for years.
You and your wife own and operate Little Town Studios, where you produce audiobooks. How did you come to start this business?
With the booming popularity of audiobooks in recent years, the major producers now do a lot of outsourcing of production to narrators with their own booths and smaller companies. When it was clear that Piper and I were both getting consistent narration work, it was a logical next step for us to start our own company and build our own booth. It’s not a step for every narrator but it made sense for us. I have a good amount of technical computer savvy from many years working at Endeavor Studios in NYC so I’m comfortable with that side of it. We actually just finished construction of our second recording booth in our Brooklyn apartment so we can now record both there or up in our first booth at our house in Vermont as well.
What kind of work is involved in running this business?
A ton a work goes into the initial construction of recording booths, and then there’s a lot more work with the wiring of everything needed to record and lots and lots of testing and tweaking to get things just right. Not to mention the training needed for recording and editing and being able to troubleshoot things when issues arise. We couldn’t have done it without the assistance of Pete Rohan (Rohan Audio) who we’ve worked with for years. So that’s the upfront stuff, and then there’s the business relationships with different production companies who send us books to narrate as well as the independent authors we work with through ACX.
What narrators do you especially like to listen to?
I’m a big fan of Neil Gaiman who narrates most of his own work. He’s such an excellent writer and narrator. Believe it or not, I’m finally listening to Jim Dale’s unbelievable narration of the Harry Potter series. I know that’s an obvious one but he’s just extraordinary. He reminds me that if the material warrants it, you can make really bold choices with characters without losing the heart and integrity of the story.
You can learn more about Gabriel at the following links:
www.gabrielvaughan.com
www.littletownstudios.com
Twitter: @obivaughan, @LilTownStudios
Instagram: @obivaughan, @littletownstudios
