Merging the Vocal Arts with Medical Sciences with Dr. Anatol Silotch

Anatol Silotch:
The Ultimate Medical Dream team. So for a voiceover actor, I would say SLP, the speech language pathologist definitely has to be somewhere up there at the top.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:
Hi there, I'm Stephanie Ciccarelli from Voices, and you just heard Dr. Anatol Silotch and he is just fantastic. You're gonna love it. We're gonna talk all about building your dream medical team for the voice over artist and so much more the art and science of voice over. Let's get into the conversation.

Oh my goodness. So excited to be talking to you right now, Anatol, like, how are you? How, how are you doing? What's going on?

Anatol Silotch:
I'm doing great, Stephanie. Thank you so much for having me today.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:
Very exciting. Congratulations also on becoming a medical doctor. Like that is cool.

Anatol Silotch:
Thanks so much. Orientation's just around the corner start next week. So this is, uh, a perfect timing and I'm really excited to be here.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:
Oh, so I am I, so happy. So Voices has been a part of your story for a long time. Um, but for anyone who doesn't know you yet, Anatol, and they will by the end of this conversation, can you share more about how you got started in voice overs? What's your story?

Anatol Silotch:
Absolutely. Um, well I did, uh, I did medical school. Um, I went down to the Caribbean for my first two years and then I did my rotations in Miami. And then, uh, afterwards I applied to residency. And uh, that's, you know, as you know, the whole, uh, journey of medicine is somewhat of a funnel and things get funnelled tighter and tighter as you go on, uh, into places. So I didn't match into residency that year in 2016, and I was basically trying to get a job in Miami that didn't work out ‘cause I was Canadian. I couldn't get a visa. So I said, what do I do? So, uh, my sister was moving to Montreal to start at McGill at university, and I said, ‘okay, I'm gonna move in with her.’ So we bunked into this little studio apartment together. I started looking for jobs and then during, um, I was hanging out with one of my friends here, she, who's a, a local, um, singer songwriter. And she said, um, ‘have you found a job yet?’ I said, ‘no, uh, but I'm getting kind of desperate because, you know, these monthly interest payments, like, there's only a month and a half and then I won't have any money. Like, I need to figure something out fast.’ And she says, ‘well, you, you sound kind of artsy. You have like this artistic side of your brain, I think, and you have really good control over your voice. Have you ever considered voice overs?’ And I said, ‘not professionally, no.’ Um, so then I went home, I was all excited. I started researching online. I said, what is this? How do I get into it? Uh, I saw Voices.com was listed as, you know, one of the biggest casting agencies in the world. So I said, okay, that's my goal. I need to, I need to make it with Voices and then it'll be I, I'll consider myself a success. So I, uh, I built a little quote unquote booth out of a, uh, washing machine box at the time is how it all and, uh, started auditioning. Uh, I bought a microphone the very next day. I said, I have 30 days to return it. If this doesn't work. You know, it's no not a big financial strain, I guess. Um, and I started auditioning. It, uh, didn't get very far. I guess in those first couple weeks things were more of a, it was more of a learning process, right? I would go back and I would listen to what I recorded and see how does this sound, how does it sound compared to other people trying to get any feedback I could. Um, I was reaching out to a couple different platforms at the time, just trying to get out there and all the experience I could.

Uh, and around two weeks into it, again, mind you, we're in a studio apartment. So my sister, whenever she'd be home, if I had to record something, I'd say, 'okay, Catherine, you have to, you have to stop moving, don't make any noise.' And I'd record something and then I'd say, 'okay, you could go back to doing your thing.' So two weeks in Catherine approaches me and says, ‘Anatol you know, I love you, but at some point we can't continue doing this.’ Yeah. So I don't know if this is gonna work or not, but, you know, I'm just letting you know. I said, sure, Catherine, it's gonna work. That was on a Thursday. And then Monday, November 1st was when I got my first job with Voices.com and I was super excited. And then a couple days later I got booked for another live directed session for the following week.

And then things just kept coming and coming and coming. And I said, oh my gosh, this is great. And I was super excited and so I just started creating or building the business at that point. I moved back to Newfoundland actually, uh, to build a, a better booth, let's say. And uh, and things just took off. And, uh, you know, I'm, I'm grateful every day, uh, honestly, about those beginnings and how things worked out. And I wouldn't really be here as a physician if it wasn't for Voices. So, oh, I owe you guys a lot.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:
Wow. Well, you were doing voice over as you were going through your medical training and it was just a, like, that's the most amazing thing to me to think that, that someone could be doing something just so difficult ‘cause becoming a doctor is, is not like, you know, it's, it's hard, it isn't like every other career profession you might go into there's so many long hours. You've got these labs, you have residencies here and there mm-hmm. Like I remember you traveling from one end of the continent to the other, at least, you know, parts of, uh, Canada and then into us. And as you had mentioned earlier, you had started in the Caribbean and just, it's pretty wild how all of this kind of turns out. And you've been wonderful to, to kind of know your story, to see how far you've come and get so humble. Um, so basically, you know, becoming a medical doctor, all of that, like, it must make you think differently about how you use your instrument. Like I'm just thinking, you know, all the anatomy, you know, like if someone is sick, if you have this, this is what you do. And how, how do you think differently about being a voice actor because you have the knowledge?

Anatol Silotch:
That's an interesting question. I think, um, I think it's almost, uh, not backwards, but definitely there's an understanding of, you know, the voice and the anatomy behind it. But I don't think it, it really contributed a whole lot, uh, to actually understanding how things work because, you know, it's just not part of, I guess the training of, of an MD and you know, how the voice works. A speech language pathologist may, may have a little bit, uh, or a lot more training I would say, in terms of, you know, how to use the voice and, and helping with exercises and things like that. Um, but for me, you know, I remember even a couple months into it and my dad approached me and says, you know, Anatol, you know, this is not what you were trained to do. And he is like, I know you're having fun. I'm like, ‘I know dad, but you know, it's, it's working and, you know, it's, it's allowing me to, to continue, uh, you know, down the medical path.’ So I would argue that maybe it didn't really help a whole lot. Uh, it was probably backwards, like I said, in that I think the voice acting actually helped the medical career.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:
Ah, yes, yes. That's, that's funny how that happens. And, um, being a doctor, you must know all kinds of jargon you must have, like the medical narration are surely those are the easiest things that you come across when you do voice overs. But, but tell me, anal like, are we gonna dispel a myth here today? Like, you know, can doctors actually read the pharmaceutical and medical narration?

Anatol Silotch:
Um, yeah, I think there's definitely some myths that exist. Uh, probably like with anything, right? Uh, I think there's a great quote is the, the mind the eyes don't see what the mind doesn't understand or doesn't know mm-hmm. Um, and for us as, as trained physicians, I mean, we don't really get training in terms of pronunciation of things. Um, so yeah, there's tons of jargon and, you know, in the day-to-day, and of course, you know, my goal, and I think a global goal should be to limit that jargon as much as possible when we're, you know, having a chat with a patient or someone who's not, you know, trained in that kind of stuff because it is certainly a different language. Um, but in terms of, you know, drugs and, and the naming, uh, the nomenclature of all these things, we don't really get trained on that.

So I think it's just as potentially difficult for a patient and a doctor, um, the first time around hearing a drug name because it's, it's completely new to, to us both potentially. Um, I think for me, I, I got lucky in that being a polyglot and, and having a few languages under my belt and my mother tongue is Moldavian, so it's Latin based, and then French and Spanish, also, that Latin mix, uh, I think it helps me kind of understand the, the roots of the words better and where the, you know, the emphasis should be on certain words. Um, but, but if you, if you knew Latin and uh, and Greek, I think it would have a, a great headstart.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:
Wow. Hey everybody I know, I don't know if they teach Latin in high school anymore. I know like years, like 30 years ago they did, not that I took it or anything that I certainly wasn't in high school 30 years ago. But, um, they used to teach those subjects where you could learn Latin because it is the root of so many of our words, um, in the world today. So I'm glad that you've mentioned that you speak so many languages and surely that's helped you as well and your accent work when you were just, you're speaking as your father just a little earlier, but I, I've heard you do other accents too, so it's really exciting. Um, and as we're, we're talking here just about being a doctor and then all that goes with it during your training, you actually got to take part in what is called a standardized patient program. And, um, not everyone listening knows what that is. So could you explain what the program is and, and how you went through it as a student involved in it, but, but also just what the lab work was like for you and, and the actors, all those people.

Anatol Silotch:
Well, so, um, a standardized patient is essentially a, a hired actor. So they're coming into essentially play the role of a, a sick patient or someone who has some kind of script or story that they have to, you know, then act out as the patient. So going through training, you know, you'll have these scenarios where you'll, you'll go to a, a simulation lab or something. It could be, you know, a real quote unquote patient, uh, or a standardized patient, an actor in this case, um, who's coming in with a, an ailment or a concern. Back in my day, they've, they've changed this. Uh, it's not the same anymore, but we had a, an exam actually in medical school where, um, you know, you had basically a dozen scenarios, a dozen standardized patients. You would go from room to room, you would interview the patients, perform a physical exam, hop out of the room, write a note, write orders, and then go from there.

And I think it was really awesome. And I think I really appreciated these people at that time, you know, of just how in character they could, they could, they could be. I remember one, one particular patient, you know, was pretending to have appendicitis and I mean, he sold it like there was no tomorrow. I mean, it was beautiful. I was, you know, practically laughing inside my head, but keeping a straight face because, you know, I knew I had to, but he just did so well. Um, and then, you know, I, I started the voice acting and then I, I enjoy acting things out anyways. And so I think with that, uh, when I was in residency and we had to do standardized things, you know, I always found myself volunteering or, or wanting to play the role of someone because it was, I usually actually, uh, tried to volunteer for the patient parts ‘cause they were way more fun and you could just really act things out. So it was a lot of fun.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:
Wow. Yeah. I, I could just only imagine like, ‘cause I know some actors who are standardized patients and and they go in and of course it's a job, you get paid. So any actors are wondering about this, like, you get paid. So, um, but you know, it's, it's one thing to kind of see these standardized patients and do acting and fun stuff like that. And, and then a whole other kind of kit and caboodle when you think about, um, you know, how, how is this, like, what it's like in real life. So, uh, I was just thinking about how the actors, they probably gained inspiration by looking at, you know, looking up a disease or a symptom and like, what are all the related symptoms that I can

Anatol Silotch:
Yeah.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:
you know, pretend to do or uh, you know, appendicitis. Well, you're probably holding, you know, your side where the appendix would appendix would be, uh, I'm imagine there's all kinds of ways to learn these things, but just that this came to me as a, a thought, a fleeting thought, but just thinking back to episodes of say ER, you know, like George Clooney on that show or House and, and for those who are younger, the Grey's Anatomy show, uh, now how true to life, since you're in the doctor, I know that you've been in the ER you've been in all these places, how like actually true to life are these scenarios that you see played on on TV versus what we actually have happened in the ER? Like are they close? Are they like, oh my gosh, this is totally for the, the drama? Like how, how far apart?

Anatol Silotch:
I think it's a bit of both for sure. Um, you know, a lot of things carry over and uh, you know, I think back to, to Grey's Anatomy when I was watching that many years ago, and, you know, thinking about, you know, it's true in terms of though they were surgical residents, and that's not my profession, but, you know, the hours or the work involved and things like that, you know, there's things that definitely are true to life. And then, I mean, even the other day, actually, I, I caught my uncle, he was watching some kind of show and you know, someone loses a pulse and they start, they get the defibrillator pads out, they stick 'em onto the patient or the person at this point, you know, they're shocking him, increasing the voltage, doing all these things. And I was, you know, nearly roaring and laughter at the time, just how like far fetched the attempts of resuscitation were to an average person.

Sure. It was probably, you know, a big high stress moment. I was finding it funny because it just wasn't very accurate at all in terms of how you'd actually go through the protocol of trying to, you know, resuscitate someone. Um, so I think there's, there's that component of drama that, you know, they have to add to make it more interesting for, for people. And that's suspense where, you know, it's, it's like anything, right? You know, they, they're shouting out 120 jewels, 200 jewels, 300 jewels, you know, oh, we got 'em. And just building up all that that, that energy and excitement for the, uh, for the audience watching. So it's and hit and miss.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:
Right. Oh my gosh. I was gonna say ‘cause like art does not always imitate life, obviously, you know, sometimes it does. Uh, and in the rare case, you know, life will imitate art and, um, but you know, just it's, it's interesting because you've had this, this kind of creative side of you and I know there are a lot of people, uh, even people who were in the music faculty when I was there and, um, they would be like, you know, well I've got one foot in my recital hall and I've got the other foot in like, you know, becoming a doctor and, and whatever, you know, that the, in my labs and, and it's, it's interesting ‘cause there is really a creative element I find to a lot of people who, who seek, um, professions like in the sciences and, and just also able to have that rational side too. But, but how do you find that mix, Anatol? How, how does that work for you? The kind of having that artistic side where anything is possible and then, um, you know, maybe more of the scientific aspect where, where you are more measured?

Anatol Silotch:
I think the more experience you bring to the table, the more you can connect with your patients, um, at the end of the day, you know, like people ask me sometimes, would you, would you do the same thing over again? And I always tell them I would, I wouldn't want to relive a lot of the things I went through, but I'm so happy and, and humble about where I am and, and how this journey has shaped me. So having that artistic side of things and maybe being aloof or, you know, seeing things from a different perspective, I, I think that it's just an extra thing in your, uh, an extra tool in your belt to be able to connect with maybe people who are more artsy as well. Um, you know, so having these different, basically personas kind of like a voice actor would in their, in their toolkit, um, I think that's very helpful because, you know, when it comes to medicine, there's so, such a wide range of scenarios that you can be put in where it's from, you know, very, very happy to potentially devastating scenarios and, you know, being able to essentially get in that role, you're empathetic and, and empathizing and naturally feeling things.

Um, but also sometimes, you know, before even going into a room, for example, you know, it might be a difficult conversation or something and you're kind of, you know, taking a moment to almost get into character because you know, you know, you have to set the stage, uh, to use the expression before you even start some of these interviews or conversations. And I think it's, it kind of helps to, to have a little bit of the artistic side so you can do that.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:
Yeah, absolutely. And I know earlier you were saying about how, um, as a, a general physician or a more of a medical doctor as opposed to say an ENT, an ear, nose, throat doc, um, there are certain things about your voice that, uh, you would actually go to someone else to see. So, um, if you could build a dream team for a voice actor or, you know, any kind of actor, singer, performer, dancer, you name it, um, who would be on that team and why?

Anatol Silotch:
That's a super fun question. Um, the ultimate medical dream team. So for a voice over actor, I would say SLP, the speech language pathologist definitely has to be somewhere up there at the top. Reason being, they're very trained in basically everything in, in that area that we're using and focusing on here. Um, in terms of, um, speech and breathing and being able to express words, um, the mechanics behind things, even swallowing, I mean, everything that goes into and out of, um, your mouth in a sense. Just having such an amazing training for that. Uh, I, we talked about jargon. I mean, even reading some SLP notes sometimes in the hospital. I'm, I'm thinking what does that mean? Uh, because they're just so amazingly, uh, talented at, at what they do. Um, so that would be up there. Uh, I would say occupational therapy would be great, um, from a perspective of, you know, there's a lot of sitting down as we are right now, uh, in voice over acting, I guess.

Um, obviously there's some standing too, but, uh, with, with OT or occupational therapy, being able to find, you know, the ergonomics of what's the right setup for you, you know, from desk height to your chair that you're sitting on and all the things that interplay, uh, with editing and all this stuff. I mean, I think OT would be huge. Um, having a general physician I think would be important because keeping yourself in a general well or optimized state of health is obviously gonna be carrying over into your day-to-day work. Um, and I think maybe I'd add a, like a behavioral therapist of some kind in there, um, one just to make sure that, you know, you're optimal in your, in your mental, mental thinking. And two, uh, as I read when I first was getting into voice overs, there's a lot of times you'll hear no, or you might not hear no, but it's going to be a no. Um, and that's okay. And I think, uh, learning that early on is, is a really important thing, uh, in order to succeed, really, because you, you know that you're gonna expect a lot of nos in this profession and, uh, and that's fine. You just have to push through it and, and persevere.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:
Right. So would you say getting a speech language pathologist should just be something everyone does because why not? Like, it's kind of the step before you have to see an ear, nose, throat doc, because once you see them, maybe there's a little something going on already, right? Like, what are, like you, so you get an SLP and, uh, but what are some warning signs? Perhaps you can help us with this. What are some signs that your voice is, um, you know, becoming tired or, or whatever else, any symptoms that you can share, um, that would help us to know when to go see the doctor.

Anatol Silotch:
So an SLP, I probably wouldn't just jump and get one unless things were going wrong or astray. Um, I think a voice coach or, or someone who's trained in this profession, I think would be a great place to start if you started noticing things though that they're, that were off from your normal day-to-day, you know, all of a sudden my voice, I mean, sure we all get a sore throat or something like that, right? But, you know, things are, are changing. It's not the same as it used to be. This soreness isn't going away or it's actually, you know, painful to, to swallow or I'm short of breath, or I'm having chest pain, or I can't breathe properly, or I'm finding myself out of breath before I even finish the, the, the lines of this script. You know, things that are out of the ordinary.

I think, um, as I say to most of my patients, you know, you know yourself way better than I do, so what feels wrong to you? And you know, when there's enough of these little things, okay, I think now it's time to see a doctor and, and let's put all these pieces together and see if we can figure out what it might be. Is this just a common, you know, cold or hey, you've had a fever of, you know, 101 for three days now. Is there something else that's brewing inside of you? You know, maybe we need a little more investigation to, to figure out, you know, do we need antibiotics or something like that.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:
Yeah, very good. Like, we need to think about our own body and have a baseline for what we know is normal. And some of us could go for such a long time of it being not normal, you know, abnormal that the abnormal becomes normal and then all of a sudden someone says, oh my gosh, what happened to you? You've lost your upper range. You can't get through a sentence. You can't. And like, oh man. So yeah, like keeping tabs with either, you know, coaching, as you were mentioning with a a, a voiceover coach or a singing coach, they often catch these things as well. Um, and I know ENTs can refer out to SLPs, I hate easing acronyms, but ear, nose throughout. So an otolaryngologist of some kind, or speech language pathologist, think over in, uh, New Zealand, they call 'em a speech path.

Ha. Like I just heard those. Like, ooh, new jargon, new jargon for us. Um, but you know, like you need to have a team of people who can help support you. And especially that, that cognitive side of, of just understanding like, you get a lot of rejection and voice over or it's, it's hard, you know, working alone, there's some isolation and whatnot, right? So making sure that you have a support system is very important. So thank you for sharing. Who would be on that team? If, if I could add someone on my team? Might, I'd add a massage therapist, and a, a chiropractor, and just some people who can help keep your body in alignment, especially if you start to move around a lot. And as you said, being like stagnant or, or like sitting for a long time sedentary. Cause there's our word, right?

Anatol Silotch:
Right?

Stephanie Ciccarelli:
Uh, like the word bird with Fred Penner, he got sedentary to be the word of the day. Um, you know, I, I think that that is so cool that, that there are a great number of professions that are actually very well equipped to support the performer. And, um, someone was telling me the other day that there's actually a wing in a hospital in Toronto where they have an artist's wing. So people can, and I'll explore that more in a, for a future episode, but yeah, where all these people, artistic people can go in and, and have different treatments and, and yeah, it's very, very interesting. But, uh, yeah, I, I think that, that, this has just been such a great conversation. I'm just so happy that you could join us today, Anatol, and I'm, I'm so pleased that you're doing well. And so if, you know, if anyone would like to reach out to you or learn more about what you're up to, what's the best way that they can do that?

Anatol Silotch:
Yeah, absolutely. Um, I mean, my voice over website I think would probably be the easiest way. Uh, DoctorSays.ca, um, nice and simple, just what the doctor ordered, as I say, um, I mean, you can reach out there. There's a, there's a box to actually reach out to me as well. Um, it's probably the place I wouldn't want you coming to chat with me at the hospital. It's probably not the, the right state of, of health so.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:
No, no, I think that, yeah,

Anatol Silotch:
Let's keep it healthy

Stephanie Ciccarelli:
I, I, I like where you're going with that. That's very good. Well, thank you again for being here, Anatol and, um, looking forward to hearing all about what you get up to next.

Anatol Silotch:
Thanks so much, Stephanie.

Stephanie Ciccarelli:
And that's the way we saw the world through the lens of voice over this week. Thank you for listening and spending your valuable time with us here. Vox Talk is only as good of a show because you give us some great ideas, refer people you wanna hear from and, and help us to, to just keep doing what we're doing. So thank you very much for that today. You had the great pleasure of hearing from Dr. Anatol Silotch, and he can be found at doctorsays.ca. That's right, doctorsays.ca. So for everyone here at Voices, I'm Stephanie Ciccarelli. Vox Talk is produced by Geoff Bremner. You've been listening to Vox Talk. Thank you again for tuning in, and we'll see you next week.