Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, jeff Eric, how you doing, man?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm good? How are you?
Speaker 3 (00:03):
I am great? I am fascinated by Eric Vitro singing
like the Stars. You've got a new online course, so
as somebody who uses my voice a lot on the radio.
I'm also the announcer for a basketball team in an arena,
and I've been in a band for thirty years. So
I am very very interested to hear what you have
(00:24):
to say about this and hear more about it. And
my goodness, the list of your students is pretty impressive.
So so hit me with some of your students here,
because I think everybody's going to connect with some of
the names.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Oh well, something you might know is Ariana Grande been
a Carpenter, Sewn Mendez, John Legend, Camila Cabello. There's a
lot of them, Katy Perry, I've worked with Pink, Vanessa Hutchins,
Ali Goulden, I mean, if you Dominic Fike, Austin Butler
for Elvis Wow, Hey Zellweger for Judy the Wicked movie
(00:56):
coming up. I work with Jonathan Bailey who plays Piero,
and of course Arianna and Timothy Challamet and Monica Babaro
are in the new movie A Complete Unknown about Bob
Dylan and Joan Baez. Oh yeah, and Adelina Jolie who's
playing the opera singer Maria Kallis.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Well, were you just so proud watching Ariana on Saturday
Night Live last weekend?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
She makes me proud every single time she does anything
she does, it's always so beautifully I mean anything, just
watching her on the Red Carpet. But yes, watching her
du Snel was so exciting. I mean, she really she
has such a beautiful voice and she can use it
in so many different ways because she has a great year.
So she's a great mimic. Yeah, sound like anybody and
(01:37):
could just sing so easily.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
At any moment, singing like somebody like I mean, I
knew She've always known she's a great singer.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
I can't wait to see Wicked.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
But when she came out and just reels off Brittany
and Gwen Stefani and it's just like wow, okay, and
of course Selene Dion, It's like, man, she's she is
super talented and has some pretty dark good act big
chops too, which obviously she's very familiar with.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
So she just had the whole package.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
I thought that was one of the best snls in
a long time, so she was awesome.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
I thought so too, thought I'll tell you said that,
but I thought so too. Yeah, people don't realize how
hilarious she is. She's really funny. Yeah, but then when
you see Wicked, you're going to say, wow. She's also
such a great dramatic actress because she really she just
will touch your heart. It's just such a beautiful, loving.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Performance, which we can't wait for.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
We got about another month or so to wait for that.
But Eric, I do want to talk about this. So
how first of all, did you get into the world
of vocal coaching where you obviously you were I would
guess you were a singer and maybe went from there
or did you just have an interest in helping people sing.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
I just had an interest in helping people sing. I
never really pursued it as a singer. I I've been
doing it since I was a kid. I learned to
play the piano when I was really young, and I
would play the piano. My neighbor next door had a
nice voice. She would come over. Kids my age and
my neighborhood would say, oh, come over to my house,
and if they had a piano and they sang. I
would sit at the piano and they would sing. And
(03:04):
then I started teaching my cousin, Debbie, helping her audition
for the high school musicals, and it just went on
from there. I've just done it my whole life. It's
it's one of those lucky things that I discovered something
I loved at an early age and just kept doing it.
And then, you know, I've been really fortunate and blessed
to be able to work with a lot of really
(03:24):
great people, really talented people, and it's exciting watching these
kids go from you know, just starting out to becoming superstars.
That's been really gratifying.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Oh I bet, I bet. And it's been interesting.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
It seems like maybe we're just hearing about it more,
but so many folks have gone through vocal surgeries or
they've had to cancel tours and take a year off
and try to come back. It happened with, you know,
with Adele, but it's also happened to a lot of
especially like the you know, maybe the seventies and eighties
rockers that you know have been doing it for decades
(03:59):
and singing these you know, crazy high register songs and
they've just kind of blown their voices down and they
just can't do what they used to do. That's is
that when you get the call a lot of times
for somebody to try to rehab themselves back in.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah, I do get that call a lot, and that's
why that was one of the reasons I really wanted
to do this course, because you know, I only have
so many hours in the day. Right after about eight
or nine students, I'm done, you know, I'm exhausted, And
so I wanted to create a course where people would
be able to learn how to protect their voice. First
of all, how to use their voice, so good technique,
(04:34):
learning how to you know, breathe, support your voice, all
of that is important. Vocal exercises that are going to
strengthen your voice and create stamina because a lot of
people just don't know how to do that, or they
don't know how to warm up. So I've got a
lot of warm up exercises and stretching your vocal cords
is actually very healthy for them when you stretch them
doing vocal exercises. And then also just following you know,
(04:57):
what to eat, what to drink, how to exercise, all
of that everything comes into play. Everything we do all
day long affects our singing voice, and so I thought,
you know, let me do it this way so a
lot of people can learn all the things that I've
learned through my experience all these years.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
That's really cool.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
I was talking to Kelly Hanson, who's been the singer
for Foreigner for the last twenty years, and Tommy Shaw,
who's been with Sticks forever. I've talked to a couple
of these guys of the summer, you know, said because
they're still in such good vocal form. And I believe
it was Kelly who said, he goes, you know, when
I'm on tour and I've got to show the next day,
I got to think about how late I stay up,
(05:36):
do I have a beer with the guys after the show?
I have to watch how I laugh. It's like, there's
so many things that can play into losing someone's voice.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
I love hearing that does that, because, yeah, that is
all so important, and that I put all of that
into the course and all of those things. Now, some people,
you know, are just born with really great vocal chords
that last longer than others. But most people really have
to put a lot of thought into it. If they
want to have a long career, and and and like
(06:08):
I said, some people just want to be able to
sing karaoke better. Some people do amateur musical theater, right.
And so for those people, a lot of times they
have to know the technique because they're not using their
voice all the time. They're just using it as opportunity,
as you know, certain opportunities that come up, so to
have the vocal exercise to keep, you know, maintaining their voice.
(06:28):
So when they do get the opportunity to sing, it's
ready to go.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Yeah, I will tell you I you know again I
have I would be I guess considered a heavy user,
being on the radio daily and singing and also announcing
for a basketball team. I had a vocal paralysis about
fifteen years ago, and it was the weirdest thing. I
just in the middle of a show, I couldn't I
couldn't go high and I couldn't go low. I could
(06:53):
only just middle mid range. And it was it was
the worst feeling, the scariest feeling ever. I had no
problem talking, but I lost like the ability to fluctuate
and go up and down it all, and it was
it was about for me.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
It was a smaller scale.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
It was like three months of rehab, and but I
learned then how important it was for a vocal person
and a vocal coach and exercises and constantly drinking water
and things like that that helped me. Fifteen years later,
knock on wood, I haven't had the problem again, and
I know better now what to do. And I would
imagine that's the kind of stuff that people will learn
(07:30):
from your online course.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Absolutely all of that. But I will say, listening to
you right now, your voice is pretty well placed. It
sounds quite forward, which is great. You know, it's not
in the back of your throw. You're not gravelle, and
so I think that you probably were obviously put on
a good path by whoever did the vocal rehab with you.
So that's great, and that's probably why you have not
(07:53):
had a problem in the past fifteen years.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Well, thank you, and I'm glad to hear you say that.
And it's it's but it is something that's for somebody
who uses their voice all the time, and all of
these stars that you've mentioned who are acting and singing
and sometimes acting like singers, I can't imagine. It's it's priceless.
So as we wrap up here, Eric, what do folks
need to do? I know you've got eight hours of lessons,
(08:17):
it's like twenty nine lessons, fifty four vocal exercises. What
if folks need to do to check out your online course,
just tell them to.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Go to BBC Maestro. So it's BBC like you know,
the broadcast in London, BBC Maestro, M A E, S
T R O, BBC Maistro dot com and it'll pop
up Eric Metro Singing Sing Like the Stars the program
and they can just stream it or they can download
it and they'll get all the exercises and videos of
(08:46):
me working with other people which I thought that would
be helpful for them to watch, and then lots of
technique and also it's almost one hundred pages of course
notes as well.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Wow, well your list is absolutely cover as much.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
As I possibly could. Well, everybody a really good overview
of singing and helped them get better.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Well, Eric on behalf of all of us. Thank you
and all the A listers that you've been helping out. Man,
that's that's really cool And I look forward to checking
out your website and and I'll be logging into this
for sure.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
So really great to talk to you.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Eric all right, If you have any questions let.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Me know, absolutely will, Thank you so much, Take care
and
Speaker 2 (09:24):
I've talked to you.
Hey, jeff Eric, how you doing, man?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm good? How are you?
Speaker 3 (00:03):
I am great? I am fascinated by Eric Vitro singing
like the Stars. You've got a new online course, so
as somebody who uses my voice a lot on the radio.
I'm also the announcer for a basketball team in an arena,
and I've been in a band for thirty years. So
I am very very interested to hear what you have
(00:24):
to say about this and hear more about it. And
my goodness, the list of your students is pretty impressive.
So so hit me with some of your students here,
because I think everybody's going to connect with some of
the names.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Oh well, something you might know is Ariana Grande been
a Carpenter, Sewn Mendez, John Legend, Camila Cabello. There's a
lot of them, Katy Perry, I've worked with Pink, Vanessa Hutchins,
Ali Goulden, I mean, if you Dominic Fike, Austin Butler
for Elvis Wow, Hey Zellweger for Judy the Wicked movie
(00:56):
coming up. I work with Jonathan Bailey who plays Piero,
and of course Arianna and Timothy Challamet and Monica Babaro
are in the new movie A Complete Unknown about Bob
Dylan and Joan Baez. Oh yeah, and Adelina Jolie who's
playing the opera singer Maria Kallis.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Well, were you just so proud watching Ariana on Saturday
Night Live last weekend?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
She makes me proud every single time she does anything
she does, it's always so beautifully I mean anything, just
watching her on the Red Carpet. But yes, watching her
du Snel was so exciting. I mean, she really she
has such a beautiful voice and she can use it
in so many different ways because she has a great year.
So she's a great mimic. Yeah, sound like anybody and
(01:37):
could just sing so easily.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
At any moment, singing like somebody like I mean, I
knew She've always known she's a great singer.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
I can't wait to see Wicked.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
But when she came out and just reels off Brittany
and Gwen Stefani and it's just like wow, okay, and
of course Selene Dion, It's like, man, she's she is
super talented and has some pretty dark good act big
chops too, which obviously she's very familiar with.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
So she just had the whole package.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
I thought that was one of the best snls in
a long time, so she was awesome.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
I thought so too, thought I'll tell you said that,
but I thought so too. Yeah, people don't realize how
hilarious she is. She's really funny. Yeah, but then when
you see Wicked, you're going to say, wow. She's also
such a great dramatic actress because she really she just
will touch your heart. It's just such a beautiful, loving.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Performance, which we can't wait for.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
We got about another month or so to wait for that.
But Eric, I do want to talk about this. So
how first of all, did you get into the world
of vocal coaching where you obviously you were I would
guess you were a singer and maybe went from there
or did you just have an interest in helping people sing.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
I just had an interest in helping people sing. I
never really pursued it as a singer. I I've been
doing it since I was a kid. I learned to
play the piano when I was really young, and I
would play the piano. My neighbor next door had a
nice voice. She would come over. Kids my age and
my neighborhood would say, oh, come over to my house,
and if they had a piano and they sang. I
would sit at the piano and they would sing. And
(03:04):
then I started teaching my cousin, Debbie, helping her audition
for the high school musicals, and it just went on
from there. I've just done it my whole life. It's
it's one of those lucky things that I discovered something
I loved at an early age and just kept doing it.
And then, you know, I've been really fortunate and blessed
to be able to work with a lot of really
(03:24):
great people, really talented people, and it's exciting watching these
kids go from you know, just starting out to becoming superstars.
That's been really gratifying.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Oh I bet, I bet. And it's been interesting.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
It seems like maybe we're just hearing about it more,
but so many folks have gone through vocal surgeries or
they've had to cancel tours and take a year off
and try to come back. It happened with, you know,
with Adele, but it's also happened to a lot of
especially like the you know, maybe the seventies and eighties
rockers that you know have been doing it for decades
(03:59):
and singing these you know, crazy high register songs and
they've just kind of blown their voices down and they
just can't do what they used to do. That's is
that when you get the call a lot of times
for somebody to try to rehab themselves back in.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah, I do get that call a lot, and that's
why that was one of the reasons I really wanted
to do this course, because you know, I only have
so many hours in the day. Right after about eight
or nine students, I'm done, you know, I'm exhausted, And
so I wanted to create a course where people would
be able to learn how to protect their voice. First
of all, how to use their voice, so good technique,
(04:34):
learning how to you know, breathe, support your voice, all
of that is important. Vocal exercises that are going to
strengthen your voice and create stamina because a lot of
people just don't know how to do that, or they
don't know how to warm up. So I've got a
lot of warm up exercises and stretching your vocal cords
is actually very healthy for them when you stretch them
doing vocal exercises. And then also just following you know,
(04:57):
what to eat, what to drink, how to exercise, all
of that everything comes into play. Everything we do all
day long affects our singing voice, and so I thought,
you know, let me do it this way so a
lot of people can learn all the things that I've
learned through my experience all these years.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
That's really cool.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
I was talking to Kelly Hanson, who's been the singer
for Foreigner for the last twenty years, and Tommy Shaw,
who's been with Sticks forever. I've talked to a couple
of these guys of the summer, you know, said because
they're still in such good vocal form. And I believe
it was Kelly who said, he goes, you know, when
I'm on tour and I've got to show the next day,
I got to think about how late I stay up,
(05:36):
do I have a beer with the guys after the show?
I have to watch how I laugh. It's like, there's
so many things that can play into losing someone's voice.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
I love hearing that does that, because, yeah, that is
all so important, and that I put all of that
into the course and all of those things. Now, some people,
you know, are just born with really great vocal chords
that last longer than others. But most people really have
to put a lot of thought into it. If they
want to have a long career, and and and like
(06:08):
I said, some people just want to be able to
sing karaoke better. Some people do amateur musical theater, right.
And so for those people, a lot of times they
have to know the technique because they're not using their
voice all the time. They're just using it as opportunity,
as you know, certain opportunities that come up, so to
have the vocal exercise to keep, you know, maintaining their voice.
(06:28):
So when they do get the opportunity to sing, it's
ready to go.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Yeah, I will tell you I you know again I
have I would be I guess considered a heavy user,
being on the radio daily and singing and also announcing
for a basketball team. I had a vocal paralysis about
fifteen years ago, and it was the weirdest thing. I
just in the middle of a show, I couldn't I
couldn't go high and I couldn't go low. I could
(06:53):
only just middle mid range. And it was it was
the worst feeling, the scariest feeling ever. I had no
problem talking, but I lost like the ability to fluctuate
and go up and down it all, and it was
it was about for me.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
It was a smaller scale.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
It was like three months of rehab, and but I
learned then how important it was for a vocal person
and a vocal coach and exercises and constantly drinking water
and things like that that helped me. Fifteen years later,
knock on wood, I haven't had the problem again, and
I know better now what to do. And I would
imagine that's the kind of stuff that people will learn
(07:30):
from your online course.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Absolutely all of that. But I will say, listening to
you right now, your voice is pretty well placed. It
sounds quite forward, which is great. You know, it's not
in the back of your throw. You're not gravelle, and
so I think that you probably were obviously put on
a good path by whoever did the vocal rehab with you.
So that's great, and that's probably why you have not
(07:53):
had a problem in the past fifteen years.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Well, thank you, and I'm glad to hear you say that.
And it's it's but it is something that's for somebody
who uses their voice all the time, and all of
these stars that you've mentioned who are acting and singing
and sometimes acting like singers, I can't imagine. It's it's priceless.
So as we wrap up here, Eric, what do folks
need to do? I know you've got eight hours of lessons,
(08:17):
it's like twenty nine lessons, fifty four vocal exercises. What
if folks need to do to check out your online course,
just tell them to.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Go to BBC Maestro. So it's BBC like you know,
the broadcast in London, BBC Maestro, M A E, S
T R O, BBC Maistro dot com and it'll pop
up Eric Metro Singing Sing Like the Stars the program
and they can just stream it or they can download
it and they'll get all the exercises and videos of
(08:46):
me working with other people which I thought that would
be helpful for them to watch, and then lots of
technique and also it's almost one hundred pages of course
notes as well.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Wow, well your list is absolutely cover as much.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
As I possibly could. Well, everybody a really good overview
of singing and helped them get better.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Well, Eric on behalf of all of us. Thank you
and all the A listers that you've been helping out. Man,
that's that's really cool And I look forward to checking
out your website and and I'll be logging into this
for sure.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
So really great to talk to you.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Eric all right, If you have any questions let.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Me know, absolutely will, Thank you so much, Take care
and
Speaker 2 (09:24):
I've talked to you.
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