Daily Inspiration: Meet Corey Candray

Today we’d like to introduce you to Corey Candray.

Hi Corey, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for sharing your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
I was an athlete-rocker in high school, playing football, and track & field, in a basement band as bassist, and was a just above-average student. As a teenager, I harbored dreams of playing in the NFL, or being a rock star. Great odds, eh? Small-ish body size, bad back from scoliosis, concussion(s), and injuries eliminated the college football/NFL scene. Rock stardom went by the wayside with my hair and the reality of needing to find a real career. During my third year at Eastern Washington University, I interned at a Classic Rock radio station in my hometown of Spokane, WA. Post-internship, the station offered to hire me full-time, which was the closest I would get to either of my earlier aspirations.

Playing rock music for people, albeit as a radio personality, became my obsession. On the paternal side of my family, in 1898, Great-Grandpa was an engineer sent by the Spanish government to El Salvador to oversee infrastructure projects, Grandpa Jose was a nuclear physicist, Dad was an Air Force Colonel (not much to live up to), and then there’s me dropping out of college to be a radio DJ. I could return to college if this radio thing doesn’t work out. Go for the passion now, and maybe the payday will follow. Radio station talent compensation IS the joke you’ve heard about. At 11, early puberty had turned my voice into an unusual baritone; I recall an elementary school teacher teasing me about it one day. Of course, back then, the thought of someday using my physical oddity as the basis of a career never occurred to me. Beginning in 1989, along with being a DJ, station sales constantly tapped me to produce commercials. For the record, voice-acting is SO much more than the sound of your voice. Fast-forward to 1992: I moved to Arizona with my new wife for an opportunity with a start-up station group. I was employed as an air personality/producer for a few years there and eventually segued to Production Director with another company for 25 years. Covid ended my longtime radio station employment in April 2020. It was quite a ride! Along the way, I met and worked with movie, television, and rock stars, professional athletes, governors, mayors even one of the astronauts who walked on the moon. Sorry, no substance abuse issues or wild-crazy-party-rock-stories… at least that I’m going to share here 😉 I am now 100% self-employed as a freelance voiceover artist working from my home studio. It has been a pleasure of a career using my voice, writing, audio editing skills, and direct-link-to-consumer marketing experience to help thousands of large and small companies in central/southern Arizona, and now nationally, with their image and promotional campaigns. As an intensely private person, I was never interested in the ‘being locally famous’ side of the industry; being the faceless voice of ‘Commercial Corey’ has been just right for me. The paychecks eventually came, and much to Dad’s chagrin… I never made it back to college. But, in 2021, I was hired to do a voiceover for the Cleveland Browns, and finally making it to the NFL! Sort of. Ultimately, ‘altered dreams’ were a way to get there. Now, about that rock star dream, hmm.

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Great morning show radio personalities make it sound so easy. It takes a lot of work unless you were born with a type A, gift-of-gab-curious personality and were okay with getting up early. I’ve worked with many of these folks through the years. I am not one of those people. Thus, hopes of being part of a raucous radio morning show never materialized, but I did sit in the saddle of the other dayparts at various times. The odd hours weren’t very suitable for normal family life. Around the time our daughter was born in 1995, I was offered the opportunity the be the Production Director of our multi-station (4 at the time) group. Taking that position would mean coming off the air and committing full-time to the business’s advertising end. Had I sold out? No. The stability of M-F 9-5 (with flexibility) was hugely conducive to raising a kid and would open up new opportunities. It also meant working closely with salespeople constantly pressured to create profits and please clients rather than properly writing and producing effective radio commercials. It was a challenge to wrap their heads around the creative side of  putting  ad campaigns for our local clients. Fortunately, it was the beginning of the digital/internet age, and information was becoming more available to help them understand the importance of the actual message their clients were paying for. But still, aye ya, aye! Speaking of the digital age, wow, was that a transition and revolution in the industry!!!

Thanks for sharing that. Can you tell us more about your work next?
Self-employed as a voice artist. I help businesses and commerce convey their message by providing them with high-quality audio takes of my voice. My baritone sound lends naturally towards being cast as the voice for auto dealers, concert/sporting events, movie-trailer style roles, television station IDs & promos, and streaming services. I also have a monster truck show client… Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! While not ‘bubbly-voiced,’ being versatile is very important; on the other end of the spectrum, I have been used many times as the friendly-folksy voice of numerous businesses, Chambers of Commerce, civic events, and have also done numerous explainer video narrations. I am most proud so far to have been booked as the voice for companies such as Cisco, Husqvarna, BASF, Cleveland Browns, EZ-Cater, George Remus Whiskey, and Fram and even made it onto a couple of show episodes on the Discovery Channel. A couple of years ago, I auditioned for a role where they wanted you to clear your throat initially, and they booked me for that part, which morphed into the sound of a car revving.

We love surprises, fun facts, and incredible stories. Can you share something that might surprise us?
My geeky/hobby subjects are archaeology/history. I am the bassist for a rock band that plays at concert venues, clubs, and private parties in Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, and surrounding towns. I also play weekly in a competitive roller-hockey league.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.coreycandrayvo.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/corey-candray-b325bb4a/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw2ZPGmgxBnhyNgkqFbTFsA