Get to Know the Cast & Crew - David S. Dear

Hope you're all keeping well, amazing people! In today's Cast And Crew Q&A, we're delighted to be spending some time with David S. Dear, who plays the role of Sid Wright on The Silt Verses.

David is an Audible Approved Producer, and produces and performs in numerous audiobooks. He's also the creator of the audio drama A Ninth World Journal (go check it out and subscribe here!), creator and co-producer of Deconstructive Criticism podcast, and appears in many other audio dramas.

You can find out more about his work on his website, or give him a follow on Twitter. 

Transcript:

Hi, David! Please introduce yourself and let us know a bit about the character you play in The Silt Verses - what drew you to them?

Hi! This is David S. Dear and I play Sid Wright.

What drew me to playing the character of Sid Wright is that he starts out pretty much your quintessential DJ-type character, but...without giving anything away, there is kind of a transition or metamorphosis that I suppose he goes through as the series goes on, and I liked that. I liked that change that he’s going through.

So that’s what really attracted me to playing that particular character.

Not to mention what attracted me to playing a character in this particular story is - I love the artfulness of it, I love the darkness of it, with that poetic sense to it.

That whole world really captivated me, and so to be part of that world and to be a character within that world was very, very intriguing for me, and I was really delighted to be able to be part of the show.

How do you feel about Sid as a person?

The character of Sid Wright...how I feel about him is how I feel about playing a lot of characters. I don’t love or hate any of the characters I play, including Sid Wright.

The characters I play, even if they’re people who you’d consider extremely flawed, or who you’d consider baddies, ne’er-do-well type characters...I can’t say I hate them.

An actor might do themselves a disservice if they really despise the character they’re playing, because even self-loathing people still have their wants and needs, and to play them honestly, you still have to understand what drives their wants and needs.

But the strong emotions I had towards playing Sid Wright were really just...understanding what he was going through, and what he felt obligated to do, how that drive may be in conflict with what he was desiring to do. That was really the overriding emotion that I was bringing to the role.

If Sid was living in the ‘real world’, what kind of career would he have?

If my character was living in the real world, as it were, our world instead of the Silt Verses world (laughter)...he’d be a DJ. I think he was cut out for it...it may not have been why he was chosen, but I think he relished it, he really enjoyed spinning the vinyl.

I think he’d be doing the same thing, really.

Can you tell us a bit more about your voice acting experience?

As far as voice acting I have done, or any type of acting that I have done up to this, I actually produce and have a lead role in a science-fiction, science-fantasy audiodrama called ‘A Ninth World Journal.’ That’s my endeavour.

I’m also involved with several other roles in several other audiodramas and podcasts that you can hear across the web.

And I also do audiobook narration - I have over thirty audiobooks under my belt. So that’s a lot of the background I have so far as voiceover work!

I bring to my experience with voiceover...almost thirty years in theatre. I’ve been on the stage for about thirty years. But behind the mic? This is where I love to be. This is my home, as it were.

What’s your favourite genre of literature or audio drama?

I think I gravitated to not only this role, but producing A Ninth World Journal, because as far as my favourite genre of audiodrama goes...I like things that are odd. Things that are strange. Things that are unexpected.

That, or it’s pure slice-of-life. It’s kind of one end or the other. What I like about the Silt Verses is, it combines the two. It’s this alternate world, but the characters go through very mundane living situations, even in the alternate world they’re in.

And I love that about the show, and I love shows that can do that - that can take you to everyday living in some of the most bizarre and extreme circumstances and situations.

As far as its genre goes, I know that it might be considered horror - and I’m really picky about the horror I like. I really like the unsettling, the psychological unnerving horror. Graphic horror is not really my kind of thing! I like the ‘keep you on the edge of your seat’ kind of thing.

So I tend to listen to that kind of stuff. There’s an audiodrama called The Deca Tapes, and that has that kind of feeling to it - that really unsettling and disturbing feeling. So I’m going to put that up there as one of my favourites, as far as that goes.

Now another one of my favourites is - it combines horror and sci-fi - and that’s the original Alien. It really captured me. It’s just that unknown, that mysterious alien creature that nobody knows about, nobody knows how to fight it...it’s just that terror that lurks in the darkness.

And yes, it has those ‘jump out at you’ moments, but I still like that kind of dark, unsettling feeling that you can get from a good horror.

What do you like to do when you’re not voice acting? Do you have any special talents?

So when I’m not voice-acting, what do I like to do? I don’t know...because I like voice-acting!

That’s one of my favourite things to do. When I’m not voice-acting, I’m writing. Usually it’s writing for either the podcasts I’m involved with or short fiction. Aside from that, one of my favourite things to do is be or chat or hang with my loved one - my wife, my best friend, my partner - and we love to travel places.

Inside this current environment, that’s a little challenging, but outside of this environment, we love to discover new things, explore new things, and see new things.

Other special talents I have? Since we’re asking...I’m a musician! Bass is my primary, but I do play guitar and I did write a lot of songs on guitar and was in a band, way back, in New York - actually got to play CBGB’s, that was fun! But my focus is so much more on audio-drama, that music is sort of a distant memory.

But I have that ability. I have those talents.

So thank you for listening to the Silt Verses! Thank you for joining me and the cast members and letting us share a little bit of ourselves with you. We really all appreciate it.

Cheers!

A huge thank-you to David for joining us!

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