VOICES | Interview with Don Berns.

In 2005, Dose had me profile several voice actors for a series called “behind the voices”. Most of my work went to waste because the profiles were cut down more than 90%.  For the purposes of this web series, I am including the longer interview content in full.

Who’s behind the voices?

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! No, wait, do. Much like the Great and Powerful OZ, the voiceover people at some of Canada’s biggest networks play a major role in how those stations are perceived, and I’m here to give you the skinny on who they are, what they do, and what they look like. They’re the people you’ve probably heard, even if you’ve never heard of them. And you get to see them here first. Now: Don Berns, 57, of Global TV (for the last year), where he’s known for the “Global’s got it” catch phrase.

Jen Selk for Dose: So tell me about how you got into the whole voice-over scene.

Don Berns, voice-actor.

Don Berns: I came to Canada 20 years ago to do radio. I’ve moved around to different stations, but I did voice-overs here in Canada before I actually moved here, back in the 1970s.

My first television voice gig was with Channel 47 in Toronto in 1986 or 1987. Then CBC, YTV, TSN, ESPN Classic Can, The Hockey Network, Bell ExpressVu, then Global where I am now.

What drew you to it?

The extra money you can make. I thought, ‘Hey wait a minute – I can record commercials and get paid!’ It’s better than doing record ops, where you have to go out and play crappy music for people. It became the perfect step for my career after I decided I didn’t want to do radio anymore.

Why did you want to leave radio?

I decided I didn’t want to do radio anymore because it has become a cookie cutter medium. No creativity. There was no room for my style anymore. My Top-40 adult-contemporary style is from another era, and I wasn’t about to adapt. I spent years developing my own style, and I wasn’t going to bend.

I always said that I when I didn’t like radio anymore, I’d get out.

I don’t think you’re alone in that.

Don Berns, famed radio personality.

No. Many of us guys who have been through radio’s golden or silver age, don’t want to be in it anymore. Radio is something you need to be passionate about. There aren’t a lot of people in radio who make a huge amount of money, either. Once you’ve lost passion for it because it’s become something you don’t like very much anymore, you need to get out.

“Global’s got it” is the thing I think about when I try to picture your voice in my head.

Yeah, “Global’s got it.” But they’re changing the imaging a bit. Some promos use “on Global” now. I think the first is more distinctive, but I’m just the hired help.

Do you make a lot of mistakes?

I don’t know about mistakes. Things I say, any number of things that didn’t get on the air, might be considered mistakes. My instinct when I screw something up – my instinct isn’t to stop and do it again – I just free associate.

There are lots of things I have trouble saying. “Community” for one thing. It’s a very difficult work to say when you’re trying to get through a 15-second promo. Sometimes I just trip all over my tongue.

At Global, they have room for different styles of delivery, but they’re going to stay away from anything really offensive, of course.

You said you’re the hired help, but you’re more than just a voice, right?

Most producers have never done voice-overs. They’ll read a script with a stopwatch to see if it fits, but they’re not reading in a way a voice-over guy would read. So sometimes you do need to clean up a script.

I was an English major in university, so … yeah. One of my biggest complaints was with radio copy. Why do you need a phone number? That’s a pet peeve.

Last thoughts?

Opinions are … you know. Everyone’s got one.

A version of this piece appeared in Dose on August 4, 2005. See clipping below. More from this series:

Behind the voices: Tony Daniels.

Behind the voices: Carl Armstrong.

Behind the voices: Tamara Plener.

Behind the voices: Lee Marshall.

2018: Though not mentioned in this piece, Don Berns was known, at least for part of his career, as “DJ Trance”, and was a beloved figure on the Toronto rave scene. He unfortunately passed away in March of 2015.

Published in Dose, August 4, 2005.