Xenocell

me: Welcome, Keith, thanks for taking the time for this interview.
 
Keith: Thanks for having me, I’m really excited for the opportunity to work on Xenocell.

me: You will be the lead male narrator for Xenocell, who tells the story of the player from a first-person perspective. How did you become a voice actor?
 
Keith: Well I’ve been acting since High School, doing plays and musicals.  I’ve been involved in a lot of productions at local community theaters since then and was even involved in a web series show called Gossamer that is currently in its first season.
 
Anyway I’ve been doing funny voices and imitating people my whole life and people have told me my whole life I should try to get into voice acting.  I decided to put up a video of me doing some voice acting on youtube.com.  Shortly after posting my first demo video game companies and other random jobs began contacting me with offers.  I’m proud to say that Xenocell is my first online game contract I’ve accepted and I’m very excited about the opportunity.
 
me: When you watch a movie, do you usually pay attention to how actors use their voices?
 
Keith: Yes, but not necessarily for voice acting reasons.  I’ve done a lot of mimicry because I find imitating people funny.  Recently I was at a party and my friends were having me prank call their friends using my movie preview voice.  I really enjoy trying to talk like celebrities and making people laugh.
 
 
me: You have been also doing programming for games. Can you tell us a bit more about it? Is programming more of a hobby for you, or is it something more?
 
Keith: My day job is a .NET C++ Programmer for an environmental laboratory.  Programming is my life.  I program in my own time as well and am learning more about game development so I can program my own games some day.  I hope to help with the development with Xenocell as my skills improve as well.
 
 
me: What are your favorite games? What genre of games do you usually like to play?
 
Keith: I’ve played games my whole life.  Recently I’ve played a lot of online MMOs and Xbox 360 games.  My favorite games of all times include Everquest, City of Heroes, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, Rock Band, World of Goo and Call of Duty.
 
 
me: You've got a really cool voice for singing. Do you sing in a band also?
 
Keith: Actually I’m not in a band but I have been in numerous choral groups and singing groups.  My most recent performance was with a group called “Broadway Live”.  I sang numerous pop standards and “Gaston!” from the show “Beauty and the Beast”.  We sang for Relay for Life, a charity group that raises money and awareness for cancer research.
 

me: In the future, would you rather see yourself as a rock star or as a well-known voice actor?
 
Keith: Actually, I’m extremely eccentric and have a lot of interests.  I try to be the best at everything I do.  I’ve always thought of myself as being more of a hard worker than being naturally talented.  I would really like to be the best I can at programming, acting (in general) and singing.
 

me: Anything else about Keith Murphy you can tell us?
 
Keith: Let’s see, I keep myself extremely busy.  I work full time, go to school full time, own a house and have a girlfriend.  Finding time for everything is very challenging!  On top of all that finding time to pursue other interests like voice acting, theater and keeping up with my own video game playing is really challenging.
 

me: Thanks for letting us interview you Keith!
 
Keith: Thank you for having me, I’m extremely excited to get started on Xenocell!