We had the pleasure of chatting with voice actor Josh Jargon all about his creative journey! Be sure to check it out to learn more about this inspiring creator! Perhaps you will find some inspiration!
1.What initially inspired you to become a creator, and how has that inspiration evolved throughout your creative journey?
Honestly I’ve been a creative my entire life, I’ve been acting in theatre and musical theatre from the ages of 6 until I was about 20, I’ve been a musician since around the same time and I’ve been making goofy stuff on the internet across a variety of channels since I was about 12! I love the freedom of being able to just create and share your passions with the world and that’s only evolved as my passions have evolved. I started out in theatre doing shows for small audiences and now I put content out that I’ve written, recorded and edited myself for the world to see, bring characters to life through voice acting and I get to share this passion with like-minded creators
2.Can you share a specific moment or experience that fueled your passion for your current creative project?
I made an entire video on my inspirations but to give you the short version, the moment that really fuelled my passion for voice acting, and subsequently YouTube, was a video by SungWon Cho/ProZD titled “How do you get into voice acting”. Its a great video that gives such a blunt, straightforward perspective on how to start voice acting, the challenges you will come up against, and that if you are not ready to face those challenges then you’re not ready to voice act. Watching that back in 2020 really just ignited a fuel inside me and I’ve been voice acting ever since, slowly evolving my space and getting better and better as time goes on!
3.What challenges have you encountered as an indie creator, and how have they shaped your approach to your work?
Honestly one of the biggest challenges is balancing creating and working full time. I would love to just do voice acting, music and YouTube full time…however rent is a thing that I have to pay! I’ve struggled a TON with trying to balance everything and ensure I don’t get burned out, mostly unsuccessfully! But recently I sat down and created a schedule, with a lot of help from my wife (shout out to her!), to ensure I have enough time to work on my passions but also maintain a healthy lifestyle. And so far it’s worked wonders! Needing to keep this balance has ensured that I only do things that I find creatively fulfilling, I don’t want to sit and make content or voice act in a project that I’m not passionate about, and its meant that everything I’ve made and everything I audition for I’m genuinely excited about!
4. Are there any particular creators who have significantly influenced your style or approach? How do you incorporate those influences into your own unique voice?
I genuinely think it would take too long to list them all! Especially when looking at both YouTube and voice acting. But off the top of my head I think Tomska, CDawgVA, Bryce Papenbrook, Steve Blum and the biggest influence recently would be Alejandro Saab. I think we naturally incorporate what we like into what we make or how we approach a character, a lot of the time it’s not a conscious thing but I’ve definitely noticed that my approach to content and auditioning definitely is influenced by people I admire.
5. How do you navigate the balance between staying true to your artistic vision and adapting to feedback from your audience or collaborators?
Surround yourself with creative people who you know will be honest about what you make. My biggest example of this would be Flappetap or Phillip Kraaijenhof. He has been one of my ride-or-dies as a creative and that is because he is so passionate about what he does and is genuinely so excited to see other people succeed. Without people like him, Lu Ka-Yun Dawkins, Tooxic99CD, Vikram Rajan and my absolute VO guardian angel, Renara Hawke, I would not be the creator I am today.
6.Can you recall a memorable success story or milestone in your indie creator journey that stands out as a turning point for you?
Definitely when I hit 100 subscribers on YouTube, mostly just because I couldn’t believe there were 100 people who actually believed in what I did! When you think about 100 people in a room all saying “Yeah we like this, keep doing it” it’s a mental thought! And I’m very aware that not all of those 100 people will watch everything I make, maybe not even any of it, but even if one or two people out of that 100 loved my stuff and it made them smile, that’s a win for me! It also reminded me of how many people had supported me while creating, my best friend IRL Phill, all my voice acting friends, my YouTube friends, they’d all given me so much support and love it was genuinely very humbling.
7.What role do setbacks or failures play in your creative process, and how do you overcome them to keep moving forward?
I still to this day CONSTANTLY compare myself to other voice actors. They say comparison is the thief of joy and honestly, facts. Now I’m not saying I’m against success, obviously, I want everyone to thrive and win in their lives! I’d be horrible if I thought anything else! It’s so hard not to compare yourself to people who look like they are absolutely killing it. It’s so important to remember that we only see a snapshot of their life. We don’t see how many auditions they had to put out to get one role, we don’t know what their life is like, there could be factors that make it easier or harder for them to do what they do. So I try to just focus on my own life, my own energy and keep pushing towards the things I want.
8. How do you manage your time and energy to sustain a consistent creative output while juggling other aspects of life?
As mentioned, the schedule has been massively helpful and also only making and auditioning for stuff I am passionate or excited about. I am so much more productive and excited working on stuff when I genuinely love what I’m doing, and it means that when I go to the other aspects of my life, that happiness pushes me through the less fun aspects of life and makes it easier to get through them!
9. Have you found any unexpected joys or rewards in the indie creator community, and how has it contributed to your overall experience?
As cliche as it sounds, its genuinely the friends I’ve made. We had a meetup in London back in November where I got to meet loads of new, amazing creators from the UK as well as getting to hang out with some of my friends I’ve known for a while. And MCM last May was incredible as well, I adore getting to see my friends and meet new great people. I’m a massive introvert so it’s been a huge step for me out of my comfort zone, but I’m endlessly glad that I did it
10. If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring creators, what would it be based on your own lessons learned?
Just start. Whatever you want to do, start making it! We all suck at the start, just start making stuff! That cartoon you wanna make? Start it! That game you wanna make? Start it! Wanna start voice acting or YouTube or drawing or music or anything? Just start, you’ll figure out the rest as you go and you’ll be surprised how much better you become the more you create.
11. What are your thoughts on All Ages of Geek? What are some things we should change/do? What are something you enjoy about our website?
I have only recently been introduced to All Ages of Geek and well….I’m hooked! I’ve spent ages on the site, sifting through the merchandise and I’ve just started listening to the podcast! I would love to see more collabs with other creators on YouTube from you guys, get a bunch of nerds together and make something chaotic!
12. Goals for 2024?
I mentioned this in a short video that I made, but it’s to just keep creating. Doesn’t matter what it is, just keep creating. I definitely have more ideas for stuff I wanna make but I just want to keep creating stuff that I love and am proud of!
Thanks a bunch for having me! 🙂
SUPPORT THE CREATOR:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JoshJargon
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoshJargon
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshjargon/
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