056 - Bonnie Gordon

[00:00:02] 5 Year Mission The Podcast Episode 56 This episode of 5 year mission the podcast is brought to you by Fansets, your home for all things pop culture pin related. Head over to fansets.com and see all that they have to offer.

[00:00:23] And also stay tuned at the end of the episode for a very special offer from us here at 5 year mission. It appears to be working. So we'll just hope. Open fear. Let me see your notes. I'm going to check over there every once in a while.

[00:00:36] And let me see them. No. So that I'm not asking questions before you get a chance. No. Wow, Chris. I thought we were friends. By now you figured out that this is the 5 year mission the podcast. Welcome to 5 year mission the podcast.

[00:01:05] The only podcast hosted by a band called 5 year mission I am one of your hosts, Andy Farke. And I'm the other one. That's who? Chris Bergen. We are sitting in a lovely East side Indianapolis not going to say undisclosed location sitting

[00:01:21] across from us that you just heard giggle at that. We have the wonderful the talent of the lovely Bonnie Gordon with us today. That's me. It's you. Hello everyone. Hi. Already singing? Oh shoot. Oh. I hope there's lots of sing songs. Cut it in post.

[00:01:37] Don't blow your wands so early, Bonnie. Sorry. Sorry. Yes, I do that. Hi everybody. I'm Bonnie Gordon. Yeah. Well, I'm glad we finally got to sit down with you. Right. I just had to fly across the country to make this happen.

[00:01:51] Only halfway across the country though at least. Well, I don't know maps. It wasn't coast to coast. We're smack dab in the middle of everything. We're right of center. I mean, you're like... Just center? Yeah. Just like our politics here in Indiana. Yeah, right.

[00:02:05] Oh, I'm in East Indianapolis so from the west of the east. That's right. Further east than where I was in Los Angeles. Very true. You. As Bonnie comes to us from Los Angeles, we actually met you in Chicago. That's right. Yeah. What was it? March? Something like that.

[00:02:22] Well, honestly, I met you guys years ago at Star Trek Las Vegas but you don't remember me. It's fine. I was a... Dean? I was just walking by and I was like, oh, and I tried to talk to you guys all ignored me. I'm just kidding. I'm kidding.

[00:02:36] But no, I didn't meet you guys years ago but again, it was so long ago. We're just premadonnes. I just thought it was really fun. You just can't talk to us. And maybe you two weren't at the table at the time. That's true.

[00:02:47] You blame it on the other members. That's fair. Mike was probably there. Yeah, I actually know. Yeah, I'm good with that. It was definitely him. It was Mike. I'm like the social butterfly at conventions that has to go around and talk to all the other people there.

[00:02:58] So I don't let them come to me like some bottom line. I didn't have a table or anything. I was just there as like a Star Trek fan. This was before Prodigy, before everything. So I was just kind of like wee. Just by the seat of your pants.

[00:03:11] Yeah, wee. We'll get to Prodigy but not yet. Sorry, oh gosh. That's okay. Cut it in post. I think that probably... Well, I hesitate to say that's what you would be best known for because you've done so much. Maybe in the Star Trek realm. Currently. Currently. Exactly.

[00:03:30] But no, I feel... Yeah, yeah. I'm known for other things. Let's go back because I did look at the Wikipedia page. I haven't written on my own Wikipedia page so I'm concerned. Oh, it's on there. I can look.

[00:03:45] I am guessing though that there are some just kind of the general gist is there and what I didn't realize is how much that you've done. I mean... It might be all lies. This is a whole Bonnie Gordon, this is your life thing now.

[00:03:59] Genesis, a star was born. Let's start. You began in Louisiana, correct? I did. That is correct. From Louisiana. Born and raised. And this may or may not be true but I hear tell that your grandfather was portrayed in Band of Brothers. He was.

[00:04:18] He was part of the 501st... Wait, it's 501st. It's 501st. It's 501st. It's the one with the Star Wars. Wow. He was a stormtrooper. Yeah, my grandfather was a stormtrooper. Warp Warp 2. You're mixing Star Wars and Tom Hanks vehicles now. Oh, he was in the... Oh my gosh.

[00:04:38] He was in the Band of Brothers. Oh my goodness. But I do that sometimes. Numbers are hard. I know. I know. He was in the Airborne of the Band of Brothers. And so in the movie, and in the... He's a big part of the books.

[00:04:54] And in the movie they had an actor, Ben Kaplan, playing him. So it's really interesting that a British man played my Cajun slash Mississippian grandfather. I was like, that's a choice. But he did a great job. He had stealing jobs from American Cajuns.

[00:05:10] Yeah, from a hard working Cajun. Now, was that your first at that time, was that the most entertainment adjacent that you'd been? No, so growing up I loved music. I discovered theater and music and became a little theater bug. Were you a theater nerd? I was.

[00:05:29] Because I totally get that. I totally was. And I was a musical theater major in college and an opera minor as well. Oh, okay. And that's when you were... At Northwestern State University, correct? That's right. NSU, shout out to...

[00:05:46] Whenever I say I went to Northwestern people are like, ooh, in Chicago? I'm like, no, the one in Nacotish, Louisiana. So maybe not so well known but still has a lot of heart. Still, yeah. Now from there you went to Disney, right? Orlando. I went to...

[00:06:01] Hurricane Katrina happened. I guess my Wikipedia is pretty accurate. Oh, there you go. This is where we're getting it. Yeah, so Katrina happened and I decided to fly away literally to a different location from Louisiana and... No, it was the Hurricane.

[00:06:16] Did that instigate that or is that something that you'd already been... I always wanted to leave Louisiana, not that I don't love my home. But again, I wanted to pursue a career in the arts and my original plan was to go to

[00:06:29] school in New York City and I also applied to Boulder, Colorado University of Boulder. And I got in. I got into NYU, I got into Boulder but I couldn't afford either so I ended up staying in Louisiana because it was free and cheap and home. State school. Exactly.

[00:06:45] And but after Katrina I kind of took it as, you know, this is kind of a sign. They were pulling so much funds from anywhere they could to help rebuild the state. And the first thing to go with a lot of education funding was the arts.

[00:06:58] And so as we were seeing budget cuts, you know, and all the colleges from New Orleans, they were busing all the students to all the other schools all over Louisiana and Texas. And some of our classes tripled overnight because there were just bus loads of college kids now

[00:07:17] in our classes. So it got to the point where I felt like no matter what, I wasn't going to be getting the educational experience that I wanted to and also it was a great excuse to go play in a theme park. Come on.

[00:07:34] I mean, you know, of course I'm gonna... You know. Oh, Mickey Mouse was like, he will take you. So you an entertainer there? Um, I... Cast member. Cast member. I was a cast member. But they're all cast members, right? That's true. Yeah.

[00:07:48] I was a tour guide at the Backlot Tour. So it was kind of is still in the entertainment realm. I had a 45 minute script that I had to do and that I sometimes followed. I thought my tour was pretty entertaining. Why does that not surprise me about you?

[00:08:01] Oh man, what was some of the stuff I would do? I loved to incorporate music into my tour, which was a big no-no for them. But you know, I would do stuff like, you know, it's a tour of props and a tour of spills.

[00:08:15] It's a tour of costumes and cars on wheels. There's so much that we show that you won't want to go. It's a long tour after all. Everybody! Like the whole tram. It's a long tour anyway. Oh my God. Love it.

[00:08:28] And now I don't work there anymore so they can't fire me now. That's true. Haha. I loved working there. You know, I would spend all my days off in the parks playing and I'd go to Universal. That's what I've heard. I was young. I was like 18, 19 years old.

[00:08:45] Oh, perfect age for that. So for me, I didn't realize I was getting pennies on the dime for a wage. I had no idea what a living wage was. I was just like, oh a check. Wow! Oh, I can eat food.

[00:09:00] I also got cast on a show outside of Disney and that kind of like jump started my career career. Was that just like a musical that you were doing outside? Was that it? It was Tony and Tina's wedding. Yeah, so... Look at you and your research Chris.

[00:09:15] I know, I'm so impressed. I feel like I'm being interrogated right now. Every time I saw Tony and Tina, and I don't know if you remember but there was this Escape from Witch Mountain movie. Oh yeah, I remember Escape from Witch Mountain.

[00:09:26] And I was a kid and it was Tony and Tia. And they were just like these little witch kids. And so every time I saw it, I'm like, is that... Is this a witch children?

[00:09:34] Yeah, they turned into a theatrical play or a big family wedding with the aliens and everything. Like why did they change her name? Copyright. Anyway, so you did the mouse and then Tina's wedding. It's a show that's been going on for so long.

[00:09:47] I mean, I'm feeling a lot of the locations have closed since COVID because it's a show where you know, families style eating and whatnot. It was in New York City for many years. I think it was like one of the...

[00:10:00] It's the longest off-broadway dinner theater show in New York. They had a location in Vegas as well. And then so I was in part of the original Cast in the Orlando show. And did that for a while and then, yeah.

[00:10:18] And then I ended up later, well, skipping a step but I ended up later in Vegas doing that show as well. Is that step the traveling with the Romani show? Yes. Okay. I shouldn't write a book. Honestly, I feel like my...

[00:10:33] Wow, my life is actually kind of interesting. What kind of jobs are funny, Jordan? When you play it back for me, I'm actually kind of cool. Yeah, I told you I was looking at all this and I'm like, that's really cool. This is amazing. I can't believe...

[00:10:44] I'm excited to talk to Bonnie. For like three to four months of my life, I went on tour with this Romanian horse trick riding show where the first half of the show, we traveled to Rennfers all over the world. The first half of the show was...

[00:11:02] They were all dressed as knights and it was a competition where they had like the different... They had like the jousting, sword fighting, different games. The weird rope things. They'd have to get their lance through the hoops. Through the rings, yeah. Yeah, all that stuff. Okay.

[00:11:17] And I was their emcee. Oh. And so I got to create a character. I got to improv. It was just me being a winch. Actually, I believe Wikipedia calls you a barker. I guess. It makes sense. Like a carnival barker. I would say like an emcee.

[00:11:30] I like the emcee. Yeah. It just struck me more official. It was me. But no, I was more of a... I was ladyfacial. Like I'm a real lady-arist. I did this whole thing. Oh, so cocky. I was like, come here, babe, some poppies. Let's go.

[00:11:47] And we do the whole show and then the other guys would yell at me and make fun of me. It was like me versus the boys type of thing. So while they're like riding past me, I'd be like, why don't you go slip into something more comfortable, sir?

[00:12:02] Like a coma! You know, stuff like that. It was fun. Just roasting them as they were jousting. I'd be like, ladies and gentlemen, the hardest part of this next trick is the ground. Stuff like that. It was a lot of fun. I came up with really funny insults.

[00:12:17] I looked up medieval insults. Oh, old English one-liners. Yeah, old English one-liners. So I had a lot of fun playing Lady Thistle and then the second half of the show was their beautiful trick riding show where they're blowing fire and doing acrobatic tricks on the back

[00:12:33] of the horses which I held the machetes and held the fire but didn't do anything else besides that. Machete handler and MC. Yeah. It was like, oh, you know, I MC the show, hold the machetes, typical Tuesday. Whatever.

[00:12:48] So it was a lot of fun but I only did that for a short while and I was thinking about going back to Orlando but didn't know if I wanted to go back to, you know, theme park life down there. To Florida in general.

[00:13:00] And luckily one of the producers of Raphael, the producer of 2018 is Wedding said, hey, the Vegas cast, we just had a few people leave. I can literally drop you in full time. Yeah. The two girls that are leaving played the parts.

[00:13:16] I was trained in multiple parts, three or four parts so I could just jump in full time, do it five, six days a week and I was like, yeah. Hey, new home. So I moved to Vegas.

[00:13:26] I had just turned 21, driving across the country to Vegas on a little bitty car, a little Toyota Echo, had an air mattress and a lamp. That was like my, I was, man. Living the dream. Living the dream. An air mattress, a lamp and a wish and a smile.

[00:13:41] That's right. Now see, now you're in Vegas. Yeah. You're doing the show. Doing the show. So at what point do you start doing Star Trek? The experience. Yeah, so that I get to Vegas in 07. So then I, yeah, I was doing Tony and Tina's wedding there.

[00:13:57] I was singing at the Roxas Diner for a short time. I was singing with a few bands as well. There's a shout out to my ladies, Killian's Angels. It was an Irish female rock band. They were amazing. They just fell out there rocking and rolling. Wow.

[00:14:13] I was their baby. They let me come in and I just like started, I just kind of forced my way into the band. Come in young pup. Let us show you the world.

[00:14:20] Yeah, I like ran up to the stage and I'm like, I know a song in Daelik. I used to sing back in New Orleans when I was like 16, 17 years old. I used to sing in an Irish pub and like a bowl.

[00:14:30] I was singing in bars way before I should have. And that was what led me to how I am today. What you see is what you get. Seem appropriate music at the Irish bars or was it more like a...

[00:14:44] So I was part of a show called Celtic Christmas. I was doing stuff like that but I'm singing drinking songs and all these things as a child. I just didn't get old enough.

[00:14:54] And I also speak a little Gaelic and can sing in Gaelic so there was a song called Erringron Macri I would sing and I got up and sang it in Vegas with Killian's Angels one night and they were just like, oh, this is interesting.

[00:15:10] And then I was like, I also sing proud Mary. And then we start that song and then they just let me be a part of the band or I wouldn't leave. Right.

[00:15:19] So it's kind of how I feel with me just like one day just crashing your guys' band. I'll just be like, hey guys, let me sing a cover with you. It's bad to happen. And then I just never leave and then I'm your token... Well, our official mascot.

[00:15:29] I'm your token nurse chapel in the background. That's right. We've already had it. We've already harassed you about maybe recording with us for an next album. All in? We have to figure out what we're doing. Yeah, we're still fleshing things out. We were talking about it.

[00:15:44] Oh, I know. I'm excited. I'm ready. I'm ready to jump in. So you've always had this music in your heart? Yes. So to speak. Well, music's always been a huge part of who I am and I love singing. I love performing.

[00:16:01] So but I was always so afraid to like, I mean jumping ahead, but I was always so afraid to perform my own music, my own like original music. Right. But yeah, Vegas was great.

[00:16:14] I sang with a few bands, loved doing that and then yes, I got cast in Star Trek The Experience. What a fun job. Shout out to my old buddies over there. Man, when that thing closed down, I'd never seen so many Klingons cry. That's what we've heard.

[00:16:30] Seriously, that was such an amazing, amazing place and what a cool thing to have. I wish they brought it back. When was that when you were there? Oh, 2008, 2007, 2008. I was only in Vegas for a short time. Now what was your character at The Experience?

[00:16:50] So I remember, I do remember one of the names of the characters was Ensign Thomas. I was on the track, like we were like a rotating cast so we could get trained in all these different, you know. Like whoever shows up for that day or shift. Exactly.

[00:17:03] Yeah, well you get trained, you know, you're being like rotated around and then like when you get to a certain role, then you get, you know, you get a break for lunch, you know, something like that. So yeah, it's really bizarre.

[00:17:15] But I remember I would always almost have Ensign pips because I looked really young and like there's no way I could pull off, you know, Commander. You're no Admiral at that point. Yeah, exactly. You're no Lieutenant Commander. That's the fastest-rising Admiral we've ever seen. Yeah.

[00:17:30] But that would be always the thing, I'd have to make sure that I had like the right pips on, you'd have to, you know, because wait, I'm Ensign Thomas this time, I'm this person, I'm that. So you'd have to like remember who you are, where you start.

[00:17:40] As of 2 p.m., what's my rank? Yeah, exactly. I'm a pip show. So you weren't in Vegas very long? I was not. I was part of the closing cast of Experience at the start of the talk. Okay, yeah, that's what I heard. That's what made me a Trekkie.

[00:17:54] So I... Okay, that's where I was going to go next with that. B.S. my way through that audition. So well, you know, because they want to make sure you can improv. If something goes wrong, you have to know your stuff. You're able to banter it.

[00:18:09] Forks is all about, you know, improvising with the diners and whatnot as an alien. So during the audition, they really, you know, press your improv skills. And I... Okay. Luckily for me, I knew enough of Star Trek to... Because I was a nerd. Yeah. Fantasy sci-fi love.

[00:18:29] So I knew enough, but it was a lot of like asking me a question and I was like, that would break the prime directive. They're like, Bonnie? I'm like, I'm sorry, I can't disclose this information. You know, and I would just do that. And then...

[00:18:43] But once I got through the audition, they were like, okay, maybe start watching some. So you can answer things other than that. Okay, so now what was your... After that audition, what was your jump off point that anybody like... Next year.

[00:18:57] The reason being is I was mostly going to be on the Klingon encounter side of... Or the Klingon experience had two sides to it. Track or whatever, yeah. Yeah, the Klingon side and the Borg experience. Okay, okay. The Borg 4D.

[00:19:13] And they were starting me on the Klingon side. Basically, they were putting me in the next gen spandex instead of a DS9 Voyager type costume. Yeah, the ones that were a little bit more forgiving. Yes. They put me in the not so forgiving ones.

[00:19:27] So I was like, okay, I'll wear this. And I knew that I should start watching next gen because I would be communicating on the screen with Commander Riker, Trio of Hordes. Like I wanted to be familiar with those characters. And so I just dived in, started watching it.

[00:19:42] It was great. And then I think I became a real hardcore truckie when I started rewatching everything. I wanted to... You know, I was like, you know what? I want to start from the beginning. And that was a little bit later after the experience.

[00:19:56] But I went straight to original series, animated series. Maybe could have skipped that one a little bit. I'm the only one that likes the anime series. I don't mind it. There's some great things. Exactly. That's my opinion.

[00:20:09] I don't mind it, but it's nothing that I would like sit down and rewatch. Yeah. I don't think I'm going to rewatch any anytime soon. Maybe like one or two episodes. The glommers at least. I do like that they have Kizinti in it.

[00:20:20] For some reason I have a soft spot because of D. Maybe because I'm a cat person. Exactly. I think it's my... The main reason why I like it is because it has that look and feel of those old cartoons. The old cartoon. Yeah, I just...

[00:20:34] I won't accept that answer. Yeah, I enjoy that. It's not one that I would frequent, I don't think. But I do enjoy it. I do all the different actors playing all the characters. Yes. They're just like, they're trying to change their voice a little bit. Yeah.

[00:20:49] That's not who you are. There's like five characters that sound just like a hurrah. That's great. They did a great job. You're not fooling anyone to show. Love Mets Jin got to Voyager and fell in love with Janeway.

[00:21:02] She's my favorite captain even though Picard has a close right behind. Well, that was your first captain though so yeah. Yeah, Picard was my first captain. You never forget your first doctor, you never forget your first captain. Exactly. That was my first.

[00:21:18] But Janeway immediately, as soon as she started drinking coffee I was like, oh this is my... This is my captain. She and I can hang. And then I loved DS9 so yeah, I just love it all. And now all this new track we have.

[00:21:32] Oh gosh, what a time to be a trackie. Exactly. There's something new constantly. Like we just finished up Strange New Worlds. We just finished up Third Season of Lower Decks which is by far my favorite right now. It was great. Oh my goodness, yes.

[00:21:51] And then now we're going to get a crossover episode with Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks which I'm really waiting to see how they're going to pull that off and in what context? I'm very curious too. But like yeah. But now, since we're talking about new track, Prodigy.

[00:22:10] What's that? I know. We're just going to skip a few steps. Straight to the juicy stuff. Since we're already on track right now. We're past, we're past. We'll start drinking experience once it closed down. That's when I decided to move to California. So you moved to LA?

[00:22:26] I moved to LA and that's when things really just kind of jump started for me in both career and life. Right. Yeah. Did you start out with... Did you start out doing a lot of voice acting?

[00:22:39] And I know we haven't really gotten to the music yet and I definitely want to touch on that. We're definitely going to get that. Yeah. But we'll circle back to the music but as far as your career going toward acting and voice acting,

[00:22:51] where did you begin once you got out to LA? In LA, so I got to LA. I moved to LA mostly because I got accepted into the second city in Probs Conservatory. I auditioned on a whim.

[00:23:03] I walked into an open call and got shot straight to the conservatory. Oh wow. All the intro classes skipped and I was like, oh wow. So I was like, I guess I'm moving to LA now to be in second city.

[00:23:17] That didn't last very long because I would try and juggle the classes but I was also trying to do theater out in LA. And once I would book something like a show, I would be in rehearsals and this and that and I'd miss my classes.

[00:23:29] They'd want me to take the classes over instead of like making them up. So it just got to the point where I couldn't juggle the second city anymore.

[00:23:38] But was doing a lot of theater out in LA and did a 1920s radio play, a serial radio's play called Tales of the Extraordinary. And it was a live theater production. We recorded it live in front of an audience and the audience would do the sound effects.

[00:23:53] It was a lot of fun. That's cool. And the people in that show were famous voiceover actors like Matt Mercer, Allison Jaffe, Michael Coleman, Kyle Abert. So it was almost like giants in the voiceover world. And then me, you know?

[00:24:08] And I'm kind of like doop-de-deal and there's Maude. And then they're just like, you know, Bonnie should really get into voiceover and it's like what's that? They pay you to do this?

[00:24:18] And they kind of held my hand and gave me a push, like a little jump start by getting me in touch with some of these little indie game studios that needed casting for things. That's kind of, that jump started my voiceover career.

[00:24:31] So I really have like Taliesin and Mercer to think. Wow. Helping me get my foot in the door. Yeah, what is, what a step in. Right? Yeah. I mean this was before Critical Role. This was before everything. 2008, 2009.

[00:24:47] So you know now like I barely ever get to see them. They're amazing people. We still keep in touch. They're great friends but they're so busy and they're just so high on this mountain. Yeah. I'm looking down from, wait I'm looking up. You're looking up.

[00:25:04] They're probably looking somewhere else. Do you need to stand for perspective to get this right? Yeah. Levels are hard. Here, here, my hand is the mountain. Oh, hello. I see you. But no they're wonderful, wonderful people and they deserve every, every bit of success that they've had.

[00:25:22] Yeah, they're definitely up there on the voiceover Mount Rushmore. So yeah. So they were the ones who kind of gave me a little nudge and got my foot in the door in the voiceover community. So I owe them everything really. Yeah.

[00:25:35] Because I don't think I would ever even have pursued voiceover if it hadn't been for them saying, you know this is a job right? Yeah right. Oh my goodness. It's a what? Oh. I could make money talking into other people's words into a microphone.

[00:25:48] People pay money for me to do this? Oh my goodness, oh my goodness. That is weird. What was your, so what was your first gig, your first voiceover gig? Oh gosh. Oh gosh. Oh quiz time. Oh it was a video game. It was like a villain. Oh wow.

[00:26:07] The character's name was Prunetti. I do remember that. Prunetti. She was a demon, like a villain. And then there was another one that I was a bunch of demons in called Demon Gaze. Demon Gaze. Two of them. Demon Gaze.

[00:26:21] So these were all little indie games for PS Vita and stuff like that. I think the, but what I think really pushed me into the VO world where I was actually starting to become known as a voiceover actor was booking Street Fighter.

[00:26:35] That was the voice of Rainbow Meika on Street Fighter. And that, because it's such a big, has such a big following and such a well known game and like franchise really. I just kind of fell into it when it came to the convention circuit.

[00:26:56] It was such a great door to get into working conventions and meeting fans and doing signings and whatnot. Did doing that voice open other doors? Absolutely. I mean, as soon as you have something like that under your belt, then on your

[00:27:15] resume it kind of helps the other studios to take notice in you. Whenever I audition for something and they see that I've done that, they're like, oh, well now we have the voice of Rainbow Meika on this project.

[00:27:27] So every project helps with the next project in my opinion. And that's why I try not to say no to too many things. You never know what the next, even if it's a small project. Yeah, what the stepping stone maybe.

[00:27:42] Or a small project that I help a friend make. You never know like three years later when they're working on something big where they're like, you know what? I remember when Bonnie did this, let's call her in. She'd be great for that.

[00:27:52] So I'm a big believer in high tides, risel ships. And I hope, I know in this industry sometimes it's not the case. But I try and live by that motto and I know a lot of my friends in the creative world do too.

[00:28:05] So you're starting to get voice over gigs and it's going well. It's going well. At what point do you see, do you go for the prodigy gig? Or do you, because I know that you've told us this story a little bit where

[00:28:20] you weren't originally, I mean originally you were just doing scratch vocals for Gwen and Janeway. When I saw that they were going to be doing, animated Star Trek series, I pulled every string in my power. Because I didn't have a voice over agent at the time. Oh, okay.

[00:28:42] I've booked all my voiceovers myself or like through word of mouth up until 2020. Wow. So during COVID is when I got a voiceover agent. After I had booked Star Trek is when I got a voiceover agent. I was like, okay now you want me. Yeah, thanks guys.

[00:28:58] But yeah, I've been doing voiceover since I was a little boy. But yeah, I've booked everything myself since then. And I did have a commercial and theatrical agent. I'm with Media Artists Group.

[00:29:10] And I told my agent, I was like, all right, there's, I know you guys don't do, you don't have a voiceover department. But I know you sometimes get breakdowns when they want like bigger names for this. I have a feeling this project will want bigger names for this.

[00:29:23] So you will get these breakdowns and you will submit me. Like I was trying to use my mind powers. If you know what's good for you. Yeah, yeah. If you build it, they will come. If you submit me, I will book.

[00:29:34] So I begged them to find the breakdowns. I also slipped into the DMs. Please anyone listening do not do this. I regret this I think the most. I slid into the DMs of not only Mike McMahan from the Redex, but the Hageman Brothers.

[00:29:52] And they were just so confused. They're like, who is this person? And I was like, I swear I'm a professional. I do voiceovers. I'm not just a crazy fan, but I am a crazy fan. And I was just kind of rambled like a three page paragraph of

[00:30:07] just like would love to audition, you know, trying to promote myself and they were just like, we don't make these decisions. Also, they're like, you know, they were probably just like, Oh no. How did you get this number? Exactly. Exactly. I was sliding into those DMs.

[00:30:24] Don't do this anyone. Don't do it. It didn't that didn't work. It makes you feel better. Right. But I did get an audition through my agent submitted for Gwyn and got all the way to the end of the casting process

[00:30:36] where it was down to like the last few people. And so they brought me in for a call back into Nickelodeon. This was in 2019. And that's a long it takes. It's a long process. So I go into Nickelodeon with.

[00:30:50] So yeah, I go into Nickelodeon wearing a like full red dress that looks like kind of Star Trek. It's not an actual costume because I want to look that nutty. I made it with a comb badge, a Star Trek messenger bag and space print boots.

[00:31:08] And I walk into this callback and they're I can already tell they were like, Oh no, we know what she's here for. And I walk in and the Hageman brothers are in the call back as well. Like it's, you know, some of the producers, the directors,

[00:31:22] you know, casting people. It's like quite a few people on the other side of the glass and I walk in and they were like, it's Bonnie from Twitter. They were like, you made it here. I was like, I did.

[00:31:34] I don't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. They're like, Oh, it's that. It was memorable at least. It was memorable. And the fact that I was obviously a Trekkie, I obviously knew like I prepared for that callback. I wanted it so badly.

[00:31:50] And if you remember in the pilot, Gwen speaks a lot of different like languages and does different things like that. So I like had everything written out phonetically in my, you know, I was like, I was ready. I was so ready to get it all correct.

[00:32:05] And nail this. I'm going to nail this. And I did, I did, I did do pretty well and they wanted me to come in to do scratch for Gwen because they wanted, I think a bigger name for the lead role.

[00:32:18] So they had me come do the scratch for her until they could find someone to fit what they were looking for. And it was such a fun process. I got to do, I think up to eight episodes as Gwen. Oh wow.

[00:32:30] And this was all right around COVID lockdown too. And then they also started calling me in to do the scratch voice for Janeway. That was when I was like, oh my goodness. I was like, um, that was, I think the most fun because again, she's my favorite captain.

[00:32:47] Yeah. So they were like, how's your Janeway? And I was like, what do you mean? How's my Janeway? I'll do what I can and it won't be perfect, but I'll get the cadence right. And I don't think Jane, I don't think Kate Milgrew likes my Jane. She doesn't?

[00:33:02] Oh my God. I think I met her in Chicago. We were all at dinner and we're all sitting around and she looks at me and goes, I hear you do my voice. And I go, oh no, no, I do your, yeah. I was like, no, no, please.

[00:33:20] I don't want to go a whole again. I don't want to do it. But of course they were like, do it Bonnie, do it. Okay. So I did her voice a little bit. She's like, let me hear it. Do it.

[00:33:30] And I do it and she goes, I don't sound like that. And I was like, no, no, ma'am, you don't. She goes, you sound like Catherine Hepburn. I don't sound like that. I played her on Broadway, you know. And then she turns and starts talking about something else.

[00:33:44] And I'm like looking for any like side that I've now fired or But it turned out, it turned out, but I think she was just, I think she was just pulling my leg and giving her time. I'm like, look, I know I don't do your voice perfect.

[00:33:57] No one can. She's a goddess. She's a queen. Listening to her tell a story is like someone holding court. She's just unbelievable. Just warm butter. I just love her so much. But again, I also didn't, I was like, please, please don't be pissed.

[00:34:12] Well, it's got to be weird hearing someone do a version of your voice. And you know it's an exaggerated version. And you know what I'm doing is nowhere near what she actually does sound like. It's a mimicry. It's an impression. Exactly. And impressions are oftentimes exaggerated. Exactly.

[00:34:30] So anyway, now that story is over. So anyway, now that story is now officially on a recording device. Gotcha. Gotcha. Yeah, I'm sorry Kate Milker. I love you. Being a part of that process was really special because you know,

[00:34:46] now whenever we're coming in and just doing our parts like with the ship computer and whatnot, I only get like the scenes that I'm in or like the pickups that I need to do. But back when I was doing the scratch, they would send me the full script.

[00:34:58] I would just be waiting to refreshing my inbox like multiple times a day to see when the next script would come because they were, I mean, if you're watching it, it's so good. The storytelling, everything. I mean spoilers but episode six of the Kobayashi Maru episode that

[00:35:16] Aaron Wolke wrote. Can you imagine being the ship? So as the ship computer, you know, I get this episode and I'm going to have to go in and record and as a Trekkie, can you imagine me getting to say like science officer Spock, communications officer

[00:35:33] Uhura, chief of security, Odo. And I'm like after every take, I go, I was screaming and they're like Bonnie, Bonnie, I know, I would just squeal. I turned the page and go, what? Because I got to record a whole bunch of other people.

[00:35:46] They didn't know who they were going to get the rights to. Who are going to get audio from the archive. So they just, just in case they just had me like just nail out everybody.

[00:35:57] I was just like, I was like, this is my, this is my dream fanfic. This is what I want. This is my suicide squad. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So no, no, no, I know trust me, I have severe imposter syndrome. Oh no, we do, we do too.

[00:36:16] My confidence is a pure optical illusion. Speaking of, I work at the magic castle. That's when I moved to LA that was my first job there. Okay, that's where, that's where I wanted to head next with this.

[00:36:26] With a lot of your performing because I've seen you do the magic castle stuff. And now I want to know if nobody has looked this up on YouTube yet and they need to immediately. How did performing with Jeff Goldblum come about? Wow.

[00:36:42] Because as soon as I saw that I immediately went to every single person that I was at work with and going, my friend, buddy is on stage with Goldblum right now. I might have peed my pants that night.

[00:36:54] That was all thanks and sadly he passed away a few months ago, but that was all thanks to my friend Q4TA. We met Q in Chicago. Yeah, dear, dear friend of mine who is, was a master of pulling strings of himself and you know,

[00:37:09] would make opportunities for his friends. If he believed in you, he would do everything in his power to help you get to where he thinks you should be. Wow. And we were there, he had, this was years ago, he had won some kind of charity to,

[00:37:26] and the winning thing was to be able to sing with Jeff Goldblum's jazz band. Oh my God. And finally, even then COVID hit and so obviously got pushed and then whenever everything's opened back up again, he wrote them saying, I don't want to sing with his band.

[00:37:43] I want to pass this on and give this to someone who should sing with the band. Okay. And so that was all, that was all him. And I get there, so we didn't know what song

[00:37:53] I was going to do, we didn't know what key it was going to be. We had no rehearsal, Jeff Goldblum had no idea who I was and if I could sing at all. Right. This was just like, oh, this lady won a charity. You know, like.

[00:38:04] This could be a nightmare, this could be wonderful. Like for all they know, I could have been a make-a-wish. You know, like this was that level. They had no idea who I was. When you wish upon a star.

[00:38:15] So I get up there and we decide ahead of time, like right before, that it was going to be bewitched, bothered and bewildered. And I don't know what key it's going to be and I don't know anything. And then I turn to the saxophone player.

[00:38:31] I think it was one of the guys up there that looked like he was kind of like the musical director. In charge. In charge. And I was like, so how is it? First chorus, first bridge chorus. And Jeff overheard me was like, you're doing the verses?

[00:38:44] And I'm like, yeah. And he goes, oh, oh, she knows the verse. So either that was like fear in his voice or excitement. Or if he was impressed, yeah. That I knew the verses but also that he's like, oh no, the song is longer.

[00:38:56] That means if she can't sing, we're all in trouble. Right. And it was such a cool feeling. Like singing the first phrase, there's pictures of his face and video of his reaction. He was just like, he didn't even play the piano for the entire first intro.

[00:39:13] He was just staring and doing his face. Yeah, he was doing the golden face. The golden face, yeah. And doing his arms. And it was such an amazing opportunity and such an amazing feeling. And then the audience reaction too.

[00:39:27] The minute I start singing, they all just started going crazy. This is actually a thing. And they're like, oh good, she's not some random person off the street. I mean, I was. Well, yeah, not anymore. It was such an incredible. Oh, that had been so surreal.

[00:39:43] It's probably one of my favorite memories. Yeah, which is why I had to ask about that because I mean, both of my kids are obsessed with Goldblum. Who isn't? I don't trust anyone who doesn't like Goldblum. As is most of the world anymore.

[00:39:55] But yeah, I could not imagine the fear and butterflies going up to perform with Goldblum. Fun fact too, I met him before. And I told him this on stage. Like after I sang, we've actually met before but I looked a little different

[00:40:08] and he was like even more confused. He came to the Magic Castle during the holiday season. I'm the Mrs. Claus at the Magic Castle. Oh. So he came in with his family one year during one of the brunches when I was Mrs. Claus

[00:40:23] and of course I was just like, oh my gosh. So Mrs. Claus, you know, I shuffle up there with Santa, we're all talking and I'm like, Mr. Goldblum. You know, he said something like, oh, Mrs. Claus, am I the naughty or the nice-less?

[00:40:36] I was like, oh you're on my specialist, dear, don't you worry. And I always get the question without fail every year, like Mrs. Claus, do you, do the naughty children, do they get, you know, coal or am I getting coal in my stocking, you know?

[00:40:53] I think he said something like that and I'm like, oh no, dear, coal is a natural resource now. We can't afford that. All the naughty children get nickel-back CDs. And he thought that was funny and that was it, but I kept going like,

[00:41:08] oh Mr. Gulp, you're on my list. Like you're on my list. Yeah, Mrs. Claus, I'm channeling myself now so I got to tell him that story. I'm breaking character but you don't realize this. Yeah, you have no idea what's happening in my hiding behind this.

[00:41:22] Oh, the naughty things I'm thinking right now. Yeah, so he loved that. I got to tell him in person like, oh, I met you. Oh man. I met you a few years ago. I was dressed like an old lady and his face was like, what?

[00:41:33] And I was like, let me explain. Let me explain. There's more to it. Yeah, let me explain. No too long. Let me sum up. I love the magic castle. It's so funny doing voiceovers and music. You know, people don't sometimes realize

[00:41:49] the magic community is also a huge part of my life. Like I know way too many magicians. It's a little embarrassing. When I go to Vegas and I'm just like, oh, it's like seeing all my friends on posters. Who's performing where? Yeah, exactly.

[00:42:04] And any time I go to Vegas with friends everyone's like let's go see a magic show and I'm like, okay, you guys, I see magic every night. Enough magic, guys. I'm up to here with magic. You get cut in half. You get cut in half.

[00:42:16] I'm sick of it. Everybody has quarters behind their ears. Everybody has swords in their bodies. I'm done. Pick a card, any card. I don't want to pick anything. I want to pick a way out of here. Yeah, but I love magic. I love the magic community.

[00:42:31] I love the magic castle. It's like a second home to me. Now did you have like an inn at the magic castle? I had an inn in the sense that I could get in as a guest because in order to get in the castle

[00:42:43] you have to be a member or a guest of a member. And I knew enough magicians vaguely through living in Vegas that I was able to get in as a guest. And I fell in love with it. And I kept showing up anytime I could

[00:42:55] and I would ask the front desk, are you hiring? Are you hiring? And they got so sick of me asking, they finally caved and said yes. Or I just had good timing. The one day after like three months of us. Someone got fired, she's here.

[00:43:10] I've been there 14 years now. Wow, I didn't realize it was actually that long. No. It was supposed to be like, I'll just work here a year or two to start out my career in Hollywood. 14 years later I'm like, I'm still here. See you at the company party.

[00:43:27] I'm part of the wood now. Bonnie is just decor now. Yeah, actually that's not too far off from what I do. No, I'm just kidding. When I do go to the castle and walk in, the members, they all treat me like family.

[00:43:42] Everyone there is just, it's so wonderful. I love that place. Anyway, I gush. Did you miss anything on your list there, Chris? I know, I'm trying to fill in the blanks. I feel like we would be remiss if we didn't talk about your music. Oh right. Because...

[00:44:00] Isn't this a music podcast? No, I was waiting. Oh well, 50-50. I knew that you did music, but I wasn't really that familiar with it until recently I started listening to some of your stuff. To research. Oh yes.

[00:44:13] And I will say that it takes a particular person to be able to pull off a good parody. Weird Al being one. Yes, Weird Al is a huge inspiration. He's the god of the parodies. I always walk in this situation where I'm listening to a parody with

[00:44:28] a certain level of skepticism. Hesitance. Yeah, there's some... I don't use the word lazy, but there's some lazy parodies out there. Yes. Where you can... Yours not included. Thank you. I have very much enjoyed them. I was listening to... What was it today?

[00:44:45] Spider-Man, which was a lot of fun. That's a fun one. Well, Library Bards. Are you still doing Library Bards or is this... Yeah, so well Xander Jean Aray is my band partner. A lot of people know him from TBS's King of the Nerds

[00:45:00] and a lot of the TTRPG realm of Twitch, Relics and Rarities, Dungeons and Dragons, all that stuff. TTRPG being... Table top role-playing games. There we go. That's also actually stuff that I do too, but that's a whole other podcast conversation. Yes, yeah. That's this one.

[00:45:15] Yeah, that's my life too. I'm wearing... You can't see it, obviously listeners, but I'm wearing a necklace made of dice right now. It's wonderful. I've been eyeballing it all. You keep touching it and I'm like, that's such a cool necklace. This is how I make life decisions.

[00:45:29] I go to the store and I'm like, oh should I buy milk today? And then I roll a d20 and I'm just like, no, I'm not doing milk today. I'm going back for the candy bars.

[00:45:42] With parody and comedy music, Zander and I, so he was on a show called King of the Nerds. I was on a show that was another stuff we skipped called The Quest. It was a fantasy reality show in ABC. That was amazing. I remember that show.

[00:45:56] It was shot in Austria, Legend of Castle. What? I don't remember that. It was on typical Tuesday. Save the Queen. No big deal. We were both on these nerdy reality shows and we were friends.

[00:46:07] So we started doing a little bit of panels at conventions of behind the scenes of a nerdy reality show. We knew that shtick wouldn't last very long, so how do we keep booking conventions? But something that's ours. That's our project that ABC and TBS will come after us.

[00:46:26] They won't be doing it. That's how the library bars got created. We both sing, we both love music, we both love comedy. And we were like this is a perfect way to share our love for the nerdy fandoms that we enjoy with others.

[00:46:41] So the music and the arrangements, is that a total collaboration or does one person do one thing and somebody else do another? Yeah, so with writing the lyrics, Zander and I, we were really passionate about. For example, the Princess Bride song, I wrote that one by myself.

[00:47:01] Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Zander is a huge Power Ranger fan, he wrote that one. He also wrote the Sailor Moon song. And then a lot of the other ones will come up with ideas for.

[00:47:11] For example, I'll start writing, I think I started writing the Sailor Moon, not Sailor Moon, the Spider-Man parody. And then I got stuck on a certain part and then I would pass it on to Zander and let fresh eyes take it and then I'd move on to another.

[00:47:25] So it just worked out, we both like to be witty and funny and come up with ideas together. So it's a huge collaboration. As for the music, we would hire musicians to make the tracks for us.

[00:47:41] There's a few that we use, our friend Sam is one as well as we used Breakmaster Cylinder for our Princesses Captive song. Oh that's kind of an 8-bit 16-bit? Yeah, yeah. And then, oh gosh, I don't want to mess up anyone's names.

[00:47:59] Oh wait, there's some incredible, look at the back of our albums. There's some incredible people who have made our tracks that we collaborate with quite a bit. So we get those made and then we go in and record and we try and get as much done as possible.

[00:48:19] It's kind of chaos when we record. And we wanted to keep doing it, obviously with COVID we went on hiatus. And then when things started opening up again, I started doing comms again.

[00:48:30] But Zander kind of wanted to focus more on his solo career of doing more things with Twitch and the TTRPG community. And because he streams so much, it's difficult for him to travel. Because the minute he's away from, you know, taking away from the Twitch streams,

[00:48:49] he's going to lose revenue, lose viewers. So it just made sense for me to start doing Library Bards solo for now. We're not saying that that's how it's going to be forever. It's just more of I'm working on more solo music as well.

[00:49:02] So it made sense for me to take my solo music and Library Bards and kind of create my own solo act at conventions for it. So your solo music is that all original music? I am so excited about it. Let me talk about what you album is.

[00:49:17] We were just about to hit this. We're going to close with a banger. So my solo album has been so long. For those listening that like held at the Kickstarter and have been waiting for it, I am so sorry.

[00:49:30] It is I had no idea the amount of time because I'm doing it all by myself. Not just the writing and the music and this but everything. The studio, the studio rentals, the instrumental hiring of all the musicians, the getting the mechanical licensing basically everything by myself.

[00:49:52] It just was so overwhelming and it took me a lot longer than I thought I could. And also I'm a perfectionist, which is never a good thing. And because it was a lot of my original music that I was sharing with the world for the first time.

[00:50:06] It's my baby. So I wanted it to be perfect and it's getting close to being perfect. The CD itself is called Con Artist. We talked about this in the title. The title song Con Artist is a love song that you think I'm singing about a criminal.

[00:50:23] But if you listen closely to the lyrics they all have double meanings to be actually about an artist at Comic-Con, an artist alley. A lot of quick drawn son of a gun references.

[00:50:33] You're the next one to be framed. He has a weapon full of lead but it's a pencil. Things like that. Even though it's not a parody I still like to keep it a little tongue in cheek. And also it's clever. I like play a verse.

[00:50:49] The word play, yeah. People can listen to the song, think it's about this and then they find out the twist, listen to it again and it's a whole other song now. Yeah it's a whole new viewpoint from the beginning. You're like, oh that's funny. I get it now.

[00:51:06] Oh she's not trying to commit crime. She just wants her portrait done. Oh it makes more sense. So you have collaborators for music on this as well? I do. I am so lucky that I found the musicians that I have. So I work with such talented musicians.

[00:51:26] I sing with a few bands in the Los Angeles area already. I sing with a meatloaf tribute band. And I was able to pull the bass player and the drummer from that. And the bass player also does a lot of arrangements so he arranged some of the songs.

[00:51:40] One of my dear friends in LA who is also a music mentor to me. I've worked in a lot of shows with. He's a musical director. Works with Richard Sherman a lot from the Sherman Brothers.

[00:51:51] But his name is Richard Allen and he's probably one of the most talented pianists I've ever met and is also an arranger. And he's worked with me very closely with all the songs as well. And I'm just blown away.

[00:52:05] Here's the thing. I wanted this album to be super special. With Library Bards we used orchestrated tracks. With this album it is all live musicians. And I'm talking like violin, mandolin, harp, a horn section. I went a little overboard. I'm not saying every song has all of that.

[00:52:23] That would be a little much. Obviously I also wanted to showcase my natural singing voice. A lot of people know me as a comedy musician that does parody for a lot of pop and rock music.

[00:52:38] But this album kind of leans a little bit more towards blues and jazz. Which I'm a huge fan of especially being from Louisiana. And loving the old standards like singing with Jeff Goldblum's jazz band. That's the kind of music I love to sing.

[00:52:54] So it is still nerdy for all you listening. It's still very nerdy. It's half covers, half originals. And the covers include stuff like a jazzy version of it's not easy being green from the Muppets. Why don't you do write Jessica Rabbit song from the frame draw to rabbit?

[00:53:11] There's a bossa nova medley of the original series theme and the enterprise theme. Because everyone needs a little bossa nova. Are you using the weird lyrics from 2S? 2S oh my god. I performed it at this convention.

[00:53:28] I performed it Friday night and I think a lot of people are like oh those are the words. She's saying words. There's words now. And let's see the theme to the Lassie unicorn. Oh wow. I did some deep cut.

[00:53:44] Oh gosh I'm trying to think of what else is on there. Oh Storybook Love, the song from The Princess Bride. Oh nice. And so I wanted to show, I wanted to make this album all the covers are fandoms that have made me who I am.

[00:53:59] So it's Princess Bride. It's like the old 80s animation like Lassie Unicorn. It's Star Trek. It's the Muppets. So I was pulling from everything that I love and hold dear. And then my original music is a little bit more personal.

[00:54:14] I have a song about a friend who died called Jakosa. It's about my friend Jakosa who passed away not two months ago. And then I have a song called Four Letters. It's about ADHD and living with ADHD. It's a blues rock song. It's pretty fun.

[00:54:29] And then I have a song that I love called Enough and it's about imposter syndrome. It's a song I wrote to my younger self. And I feel like so many people out there in any industry but I think especially in entertainment feel like they're never talented enough.

[00:54:48] Oh, I don't sing well enough. I'm not pretty enough. I'm not this. I'm not that. And with the rejection that we get every day in this industry, I wanted to kind of write a song to remind myself and my younger self as a child that like,

[00:55:03] you know, you are enough. Like all that's all in your head. And so hopefully when people hear it, they also kind of feel that feeling of being enough as well. Yeah, that's awesome. This album sounds amazing. Thank you. I want it right now. It's coming. I swear.

[00:55:23] I'm hoping like, don't, don't, I don't know when this is coming out but... Next week. Okay. I am hoping crossing my fingers that it'll be out digitally by the holidays. Okay. It's being mixed right now. So imminent. We're getting so close but again, it might not be.

[00:55:39] I don't want to, you know, I can't promise that's a lot of work for my poor mixer to do. You know, anyone listening to this has to deal with those of us and so... Our mixing and recording woes. They know how long it takes to do this stuff.

[00:55:57] Yeah, it's a lot of work. It's a big, a very tedious... Well then, day jobs on top of that too. Yeah, yeah. Exactly, exactly. And that's in with COVID it really put a damper on. You know, I had to be very careful.

[00:56:10] Like I couldn't have all the band at once. We had to separate everything because LA has very strict studio rules and also, you know, I couldn't afford to get a giant studio where like, let me put the horn section in this corner.

[00:56:25] And then, you know, like, I've been like, oh yeah, it's $1 million. You'll be on a studio free. Yeah, like capital records. Let's go. So I had to, you know, we had to get a smaller studio and like we could only fit a few people

[00:56:35] in at a time and due to COVID we had to make sure everything was safe and spaced out. And because we recorded this, you know, early this year, like a lot of the music February, March, April.

[00:56:46] So there was still that, you know, still a little bit more stricter rules before the summer, before these new COVID variant shots came. Oh yeah, yeah. The booster, before the boosters. So yeah, I'm just so grateful for everyone who's worked on it and I'm so grateful for

[00:57:02] everyone waiting for it. I know my Kickstarter backers are like twiddling their thumbs in the corner going, okay. And I have a Patreon right now and they're, you know, they're eagerly waiting for it as well.

[00:57:15] So I'm going to start, you know, putting in as much little sneak peeks as possible in updates and I might release one or two as a single if I can't get the full album ready by the holidays. A sneak peek at least.

[00:57:26] The four letters song ADHD is pretty much done. So I might release that as a single for Christmas. All right. Was that your first choice as to like this is going to be the single? No, I honestly thought Con Artist would be.

[00:57:39] But Con Artist is a beast of a song. That's the one where it's like, you know, it's like piano, drums, bass, guitar, and then we're like violin and then we're like strings and then we're doing

[00:57:50] this and it gets big and it builds and builds and builds and builds. And then I just let the band go crazy at the end and they're just like, they're rocking out for a good minute or two where I'm just going like, wow.

[00:58:02] It's such a fun song and it gets so, it starts out so intimate and like sultry and like sexy, like singing about a Con Artist and then it just builds, builds, builds, builds, builds, key change, builds, builds, builds. You know?

[00:58:15] So it's such a beast of a song that I do want to release it but that one's going to probably, I don't even know how long that's going to be to mix because that one's all over the place. That's a lot of layers to mix.

[00:58:24] It's a lot of layers. You know what this song needs? Chimes. You know what this song needs? A string section. You know what this song needs? More violin, live violin. Oh my God. Probably needs Caldwell. Always. Probably. Always. More percussion. Yeah, right. Thank you.

[00:58:43] But no, I'm just so excited for it. I really am. I love that. I'll share, once we turn this off while we're packing up, I'll share some of the music. Sorry viewers. Our listeners, you can't see me. Insider information. For you staring at your speakers, viewers I guess.

[00:58:59] So I think what I want to know, we've been going for a while now. Yeah, sorry. No, this is great. No, but what I really like to know. You get two episodes worth for me. Right. What's your aspiration? Like what do you want?

[00:59:16] What do you want to do? Like where do you want this all to take you? What do you want to do with your life, Gordon? Oh, dear. My answer to this is always the same. I just want to make a comfortable living doing what I love.

[00:59:29] Sadly, I am not there yet. A lot of people, they have like a warped vision of what living in Hollywood is like. They think like, oh, you do voices on Star Trek. You do this, you do that. And I'm still living paycheck to paycheck.

[00:59:41] I'm still paying off medical debt and this and that. You know, at the end of the day going like, oh, maybe I should, maybe I will eat a Linguine and say, you know, like, because I can't afford it.

[00:59:52] You know, people don't realize I have like four jobs just to get by, which I'm not complaining. I'm so grateful for everything that I have and so grateful for the life that I have and all the travel I'm able to do with the conventions.

[01:00:06] But I think a lot of people, you know, with social media, they get this obscured view of what it's like because, you know, they see me traveling and doing this and that. And they don't realize like I'm lucky if I break even sometimes with doing the Con Circuit.

[01:00:20] But with that being said, like, I feel like I'm only just like one or two opportunities away for being where I want to be. I would love to, I mean, knock on wood. If anyone's listening out there who was the power,

[01:00:36] the powers that be, I would love to be able to do a live action role on a Star Trek show. Oh, yeah. So many people have been so kind with loving my computer voice saying that, oh, you're like the next major barret.

[01:00:49] And I'm like, yes, now let's actually make that true. You know, how many roles did she play? Exactly. Mama Troy is still one of my favorite roles. Oh, Loxana. Yeah, she's, it's one of my favorite roles and I, to play a role like that or just anything.

[01:01:06] Honestly, I just would love to do more on-camera stuff because so many people see me as like a voiceover actor and don't see me as like an actual actress that I'd love to, you know, get my feet wet and more on-camera.

[01:01:20] Let me show you what I can do the world. Excuse me! Coming along. Funny coming through. Yeah, come up and see me sometime except I'm on the top floor and you're, yeah. But no, I want to, I'd love to do more music now that I'm,

[01:01:35] now that I, this first album, now that I've figured out all the things that I've done wrong, I want to go back and like, okay, now I know. Now I can learn from these mistakes and like make it, the next one will be so much more easier.

[01:01:49] More easy? Sure. Sure, whichever. Grammar. Fine. And... Do you have a song about that? I do. I do. I do. And then I'm actually pitching a bunch of my own shows right now. I came up with a bunch of different concepts. I got really bored during COVID.

[01:02:07] Came up with a bunch of different, like TV show ideas and I'm currently in the process of pitching those. So I'm hoping one of these noodles that I throw at the wall sticks and something comes of it. I'd love to keep doing music.

[01:02:21] I'd love to keep sharing my love of nerdy things with fans and basically doing what I'm doing now, but on a grander scale. Yeah. I love your ambition. Thank you. It sounds like you're just trying to do everything you want to do and I think that's great.

[01:02:39] You're on the right track for it. It's so exhausting. Y'all, the hustle is real. I'm going to be 37 in a few months and I'm just like, oh man, maybe I should... Like isn't this the time when I'm supposed to have things figured out? Oh well. Oh well.

[01:02:52] I'm 45 and I barely have it figured out. Yeah. Thanks for giving me hope. Yeah. Just saying. I'll eventually figure it out, but sometimes it takes a little bit longer. I think when I hit 42, I think that's the golden year, right? All the life's answers are answered. Sure.

[01:03:11] The meaning of life, 42, anyone? I got you. We got you. We get it. You grab a towel and go. Yeah. Well, Bonnie, we love you. I love you too. And we're pulling for you. Thank you. Get that alible mouth, kid.

[01:03:27] Well, that will be coming out soon, but until then where can people follow you? You can follow me all over social media at BonnieBelgee. That's Instagram, TikTok, Twitter for as long as that survives. I guess Hive, I'm on that. I don't even know Facebook. Oh gosh, everywhere.

[01:03:47] Oh, Patreon. I have a website now. BonnieGordon.com. Easy to find. And then of course, Library Bards is everywhere as well at Library Bards if you want to check out that. I have a YouTube channel, both Library Bards and Personal.

[01:04:03] I'm going to be starting to do a lot more content. My goal is to do a lot more content for both my Patreon and also just getting more music out there, more videos. Just keep going.

[01:04:18] I might have to wait until after December because now I'm getting into Mrs. Claw season, so I'll be dressing up like an old lady. I don't know, you just might see a lot of those videos for a while. Most of my TikTok is me as Mrs. Claw's.

[01:04:31] That'll be fine. You can incorporate other characters dressed up as Mrs. Claw's. Like an undercover Mrs. Claw type thing. Mrs. Claw's mashup. I like it. I'm for it. Okay, I'll get right on that. I'll go ahead and steal my ideas. Just one more thing for Bonnie to do.

[01:04:48] Yeah, let me just add that to my docket. For that. You guys are so wonderful. And yes, I can't wait to crash a five-year mission. We're going to make that happen here. It's going to be fantastic. We definitely are.

[01:05:01] We have a lot of songs right now that we're just trying to piece together and get to the point where we can say, Okay, now, we need to make sure the vocals just stay in here. I get it.

[01:05:12] Doing this album, doing the Library Birds albums were so different than what I'm doing now. And you guys are a full band that you have to go in and record everything, make sure everything is tight and ready to go.

[01:05:23] Doing this album has been so eye-opening to how things work in music. I'm like, oh, so this is how it's done. Usually we just kind of throw it together. Here you do this. Yeah. Trust me, we've self-recorded and mixed all of our own albums so far.

[01:05:45] It's just like, is it done yet? It's very rewarding when you get that box of CDs. Yeah. I can only imagine. That's what I'm excited about. And then by the end, you're done.

[01:05:55] Here's the fourth variation of this mix of the same exact song that you need to listen to. I turned the bass up by .75. Yep. Okay. The last thing is it's just me right now. So I'm listening to it going like, oh man, and I'm trying to give notes,

[01:06:11] but I'm so close to it that, and I'm such a perfectionist. I'm like, all right, this one note with the, the poor guy mixing is like Bonnie. And I'm like, just do it again. I'm sorry. Don't hate me, please. I'm so sorry. We know what that's like.

[01:06:26] Oh, trust me. Yeah. Dear. Anyway. Thank you so much. Thank you all so much for having me. You guys are just such a delight. And I love, I love the whole Trek geeks family and just everyone's just so wonderful.

[01:06:40] I'm actually amazed that Bill and Dan didn't snag you for an interview while you were right there. And we beat them to the punch on this one. Ha ha! Oh they're coming for me. Hey, do you like five year mission? And do you like getting exclusive content?

[01:07:14] You should head over to Patreon right now and visit five year mission. Because we've got all the exclusive content you're not getting on any other social media. There's videos, pictures. Sometimes we post news there before we post it anywhere else.

[01:07:27] Behind the scenes of us working on albums and podcasts. And sometimes just pictures of us goofing off that we don't put anywhere else. Only on Patreon. And there are many options to choose from.

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[01:08:05] Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah. Blah. Blah blah blah. For more information on the podcast. One PM Eastern on the 14th of January at TrekTalks.net. Live long and mark your calendars again, TrekTalks.net.

[01:10:42] Thank you for listening to this episode of Five Year Mission Podcast. If any of you are interested in listening to more of our music, you can check us out on YouTube or Spotify or iTunes or pretty much anywhere that you can listen to music.

[01:11:06] Just search for five year mission and we should be the first thing that comes up. If you would like to contact us in regards to the podcast or anything else that you want to talk to us about, you can email us at fiveyearmissionbandatgmail.com.

[01:11:17] And for more information about the band, you can go to fiveyearmission.net. And also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Five year mission, the podcast is a production of Coconut Media Works. Executive producers Bill Smith and Dan Davidson. For more great Star Trek discussion,

[01:11:32] discover the other shows of the Trek Geeks podcast network at TrekGeeks.com or find us in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast app.