Meet Roch Bordenave

Today we’d like to introduce you to Roch Bordenave.

Hi Roch, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’m going to come right out and say it. I believe I’m the world’s only Voice Acting, Disc Golfing Valve Trombonist. And balancing these three passions is the name of the game for me.

My first love was music – something I only discovered by default. When I was a young boy, say 10-11 years old, everyone used to comment on my voice and how deep it was for my age. As embarrassing as it was to have that horrifying spotlight on me all the time, honestly, it also felt like a kind of superpower….something no one else had.

My folks decided that it would be best to use that superpower – so they enlisted the services of a singing teacher. In time, I was singing along to Mario Lanza and Tennessee Ernie Ford records while my friends were out in the streets riding bikes and being kids. “You load 16 tons and what do you get?” Yeah. An hour a day of this with my mom listening to make sure I was doing my ‘homework’. Honestly, it felt a lot like punishment..my only crime was being born with this voice. There was a silver lining though. The singing teacher was an interesting fellow. He was also a Dixieland jazz drummer with a drum set in his studio. Before each lesson, I’d beg him to play a drum solo. Something about that drumming really got my blood pumping. Like instantly. I never did become a famous child singer – “The Kid With The Unbelievably Low Voice…AT AGE 11!” – yeah, that didn’t work out. But it did plant a seed that would germinate some years later.

Fast forward to middle school. Hale Jr. High in Woodland Hills. I’m guessing I was one of the millions of kids across the country in the 70s that was introduced to music through Beginning ________ (brass, percussion, painting, singing, strings, etc.) classes in public school. The electives system said you had to have either a shop class and/or a foreign language class and/or a class in the arts, pick two. I wasn’t keen on horticulture, wood, or metal shop, so music it was. I figured this was my chance to actually be a drummer, so Beginning Brass and Percussion it was! The first day, all the kids are there in the music room (with fantastic trombonist and musician Ted Dechter at the helm) then came the “Sorting Hat” scenario like the one in Harry Potter…we each had to choose an instrument to play (or be chosen by one!). When it was finally my turn, I excitedly made my desire to play drums known – but it was too late – there were already too many of them! I would be relegated to playing a stupid brass instrument. Totally deflated, dreams crushed, I half-heartedly said; “Okay, French Horn, I guess.” to which Mr. Dechter replied; “We already have three French Horn players, we need trombonists.” He pointed to a smelly dented trombone in a beat-up old case on the wall…”That’s yours for the semester. Take care of it.” And that’s how music found me.

Had someone told me then that I’d eventually go on to become a professional trombonist and tour the world with greats like Mel Tormé and his jazz orchestra, Martha Reeves, Eddie Kendricks & David Ruffin of The Temptations, Otis Day & The Knights, Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels, Gladys Knight, Maureen McGovern (who was an amazing jazz singer!) and more, I’d have told them they lost their mind. But that is indeed how it went down. It was a solid decade-long run as a touring musician, playing with some great cats. I can profess that the 80s truly rocked!

Back at the beginning of my 80s journey, I met one of the greatest trombonists in history. The legendary Richard “Slyde” Hyde. The story is, my dad was an accountant for Jack Haley (The Tin Woodsman in the Wizard of Oz). He had his little office on Robertson in Beverly Hills, close to Jack and his wife Florence’s sprawling 50s pad. (Rolls Royces, and a driver waiting, under the carport.) At some point during my dad’s long career there, he introduced me to Jack’s grandson, Barry Bregman. Barry had some involvement or other with the groups TOTO and CHICAGO at the time. Barry and I became fast friends and, at one point, he tells me; “Roch, you need to meet Slyde Hyde. He is THE MAN in town. Go to Stein On Vine and hit “the backroom”…there’s a little hang that happens there with all the guys after rehearsals at The Union across the street. You can’t miss Slyde…he’s a big ol’ bear of a man with a huge laugh and he’s always at the center of a crowd telling jokes.” So, I go there. I must’ve spoken the right little magic words, as I was allowed access to the private soiree happening behind that main door. I walk in and sure enough, there was the big man with the big laugh. I walked up to him, introduced myself, and said; “Mr. Hyde…” Slyde interrupts: “Please, call me SLYYYYYDE!”… Me: ”Uh, Slyde…I’m a huge fan of your work – I’d like to be your student.” He ponders this for a second, smiles, then writes his number down on a piece of paper and hands it to me. “Call me. I like your direct approach. I don’t have any students, but you can be my first.” Talk about blown away! It was that fortuitous meeting of Slyde, his beautiful singer/wife Yolee, and their son Josh, that changed my life and would eventually open the door to all of those experiences I mentioned above.

Slyde, being perhaps one of the very most unconventional cats in the industry, when I showed up for my first lesson, taking my horn out of the case, he says; “You won’t need that.” and proceeded to take me through a series of complex breathing exercises followed by a casual sit in their jazz living room by their massive album collection (most of which, Slyde actually played on / recorded: SUPERTRAMP, MICHAEL MELVOIN, STEELY DAN, TOM SCOTT and on and on and on…) and he puts on Miles Davis’ SKETCHES OF SPAIN. He says to me; “Your homework…is to listen to this record a thousand times.” That was my first lesson with Slyde. And that’s where my magical music journey really began.

After my 80s run, I hit a wall. I was renting an apartment in Long Beach with my fiancee at the time, playing gigs and recording sessions around town, doing some cruise ship fill-in gigs and tour dates when, out of the blue, I get a call from a trumpeter I brought on to play with Eddie & David for a run at The Sands in Vegas, Bob Clark. Bob was a monster lead trumpeter. Any section with him in it was extraordinary. That guy made me a better rock horn section player, period. Anyhow, Bob tells me he’s good friends with Duff McKagan. Yeah, that Duff McKagan – bassist with Guns ‘N Roses. He tells me they’re launching a world tour and Duff asked him to put a horn section together so Bob asked me if I wanted to go along on this incredible ride. My world was rocked off-axis…you can’t imagine the excitement. So, I go through the motions of canceling and finding subs for various gigs I was doing around L.A. – only to find out, about two weeks before we were supposed to take off for Europe, that Axl and the boys had decided on an all-female horn section. Just like that, it was over. Around that same time, I had another tour canceled, this one to Japan with Eddie Kendricks…budget issues. Suddenly, in an instant, I literally had no work.

One day amidst my droopy quasi-depression, I stumbled over the weekly PennySaver periodical on my doormat. I open it and there on the 2nd page is an ad from the Academy Of Radio Broadcasting; “YOU COULD HAVE A CAREER IN RADIO!” I swear, it was literally a 5-minute decision and I was on the phone, setting up an audition, securing a grant, and heading off to a 6-month radio freaking broadcast course in Huntington Beach. The bottom line was I was angry. Indignant. Crushed by the music business that I loved so much. And I just couldn’t imagine how I was going to live a life like the one that burned me so badly; planning a money-making tour one moment – raising a family – only to discover “plans changed” and it all fizzled out in a nanosecond. Next thing you know, you can’t make rent. Pressure builds. You’re eating boxed mac ’n cheese and cans of tuna. Your fiancee breaks it off. Depression ensues. You’re looking for a day job. Life…sucks. Those are all hypotheticals, but they seemed all too real to me. So radio and voicework it would be.

My logic was, of course, laughable. I mean why on earth did I think RADIO would be a better career over one I’d already established myself in for over a decade? I really can’t answer that. Maybe it went back to my dear mentor Slyde who’d say; “Son, you need to do voice work! You’ve got a gift.” So, yeah, there was a lot of that in my decision.

I finished broadcast school. I was on a tour with Mel Torme and I got a call from a radio station in Vail, Co. They needed an overnight guy. There it was…my start in radio! The Vail Valley’s KQMT would become my home for a spell, followed by The Mountain – the world’s first satellite-delivered radio network, where I held down the midday slot. One gig leads to another and eventually, I found myself in South Florida, producing morning shows, working as a program director, and honing my craft as an audio production ace. I worked in classic rock, adult contemporary, news talk, soft rock, country, sports, you name it. All the while, I’d begun doing commercial voice-over – some in Vail Valley for the local TV station, then morphing to work with J. Walter Thompson, voicing Ford commercials throughout the midwest. I had an agent, I was bangin’ it as a VO guy for sports, automotive, a bustling performing arts center in West Palm Beach, and growing my business. In time, I knew I’d be able to walk away from my corporate radio gif and take a shot at the real world of voice acting. I did.

I began that in earnest in 1997 and have been steadily at it ever since. You can hear my voice on The NFL on SiriusXM (19 years running) and their Fantasy Sports channel as well. I do pre-recorded stadium announcing pieces for the Pro Bull Riders Tour (15 years), training videos for the U.S. Department of Energy, the Dept. of Defense, Indy Motor Speedway, The National Walleye Tour, The Texas Team Trail, Microsoft, and a bunch more. I’m also an in-demand corporate live announcer, acting as the VOG (Voice of God – industry term) for big companies like Aramark, NuSkin, Citibank, SHOP.COM, and more.

A decade ago, I moved back to Los Angeles. My jazz chops were in great shape. I was playing competitive disc golf.

And I was working steadily as a voice guy. And that is my life to this very day. I actually made it to the World Championships of disc golf in Illinois this summer. I just missed the final cut by one slot – but it was a blast being out there on the world’s biggest stage. Given my other two passions, who knew that would happen in this one?!

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
The career paths I’ve chosen; music and voice acting, have got to be two of the most rejection-laden gigs in the known universe. I mean, practically every day includes auditions for something, the majority of which, I don’t get.

That’s the business…putting it out there and seeing what sticks. Throwing my hat in the ring for live announcing gigs. Or, in the jazz world, pitching a club, restaurant, or venue, only to get the “no thanks” – or the incredibly maddening No Reply At All! – after your heartfelt pitch. Rejection, rejection, rejection. Once I learned to embrace that as part of the routine, life became easier.

I’ve mentioned my soul-crushing experiences in music. Those happened on the radio as well. Being fired from this on-air gig or another…happens all the time to all of us. You’re on air one day and gone the next. Ha, one time, I was the producer for the great Robert Murphy (The Loop, Chicago) and the Murphy In The Morning Show, working MO-FR – literally waking up at 3 AM every weekday to help put together the day’s show. Then, some brilliant program director decides he’s going to have me cover air shifts over Thanksgiving weekend, despite the fact that our morning show had the long weekend off. I had family plans and I was livid. I told my boss that I wasn’t working that weekend, period. He fired me on the spot. There I was, heading into Thanksgiving weekend, and had just lost our family’s only source of income. I told Robert Murphy and he said; “Roch, he can’t fire you. Because he can’t fire me.” I will never forget that. There are good souls out there and Murph is certainly one of them.

Another time, I’d left a station to take a better gig as a Program Director. Management at the station I left felt snubbed. Of course, as fate would have it, 5 months into my exciting new gig, a new owner came in, fired everyone and I was out of a job. New baby, new apartment rental lease, all of it. I had to suck it up and reach back to the old radio group. That was fun. They offered me a job – working on the only country station in America that carried Howard Stern’s show on syndication. WCLB. My shift was the one right after Howard’s. Imagine…a country station…running Howard! He brought a huge morning audience for that station – but that audience sure wasn’t comprised of country listeners. Not by a long shot. So, right after Howard’s show, I’d hit the airwaves. Howard listeners, gone. Country listeners/ non-Howard audience, who knows where. The outcome was predictable. My daypart had the lowest ratings of any daypart or station in South Florida. HA! It was horrifyingly bad and yet so satisfying from a comedic standpoint.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
In the voice-over world, the thing that sets me apart is my voice. Yes, it’s deep. But it also has a certain presence. And, having learned how to hone the ACTOR part along with the VOICE part “voice actor”, I have enjoyed a solid career and still do to this day. And as a live announcer, I have the ability to read the crowd – feel their energy, and anticipate the evolving big picture as it’s happening at the moment. Giving back that same energy they’re bringing.

It’s an absolute thrill ride to be in the moment in that environment, surrounded by the very BEST producers and pros in music, sound, lighting, show-running, and tech. Being able to feel all that and voice it to the rafters with the right energy is also a rare art form. These shows are the ones with insane lighting, incredible music, pyrotechnics, and more. Then you hear that voice booming from the rafters: “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN…GIVE IT UP…FOR GWEN STEFANI!!” kind of thing. I just came off a show last month with Eva Longoria and Jamie Foxx. I’ve worked with Hans Zimmer and his orchestra, Gwen, Maroon 5, Ron Howard, and many of our world’s biggest stars, headlining these spectacular corporate celebrations.

And in music – it’s that same thing but on a smaller scale. Scaled down to the jazz clubs and venues here in L.A. that host our killer Steely Dan Tribute – The Doctor Wu Band. Places like Herb Alpert’s Vibrato, Vitello’s in Studio City…Doctor Wu is an 11-piece ensemble, that recreates the music of Steely Dan live on stage. It’s an absolute thrill to play that music with our musicians that are so darn good. It’s an incomparable thrill every time I walk on stage with them.

In the music world, what sets me apart, is my valve trombone work. I take it pretty seriously and I can say from experience that there aren’t many of us out there. It’s a very unique instrument. I’ve studied with and met a couple of the greats; Bob Brookmeyer and Robb McConnell, but as far as Famous Valve Trombonists go, you can literally count them on one hand. No kidding. Last year, Chrissie Hynde released a record called VALVE BONE WOE. An entire studio album. You can imagine my elation, right?! Finally, some recognition for the VALVE BONE! The album is incredible. Chrissie sings jazz as only she can. It’s an amazing feat. From what I learned, it was a tribute to the great Bob Brookmeyer following his death. It moved me, to say the least, and I’m sure it will be largely looked over and almost not even noticed. By anyone save me. I mean look how obscure this is! And this…is my world, HA!

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I’m as easy to work with as I am to love. (grin) It’s as simple as giving my agent a call or email or text or smoke signal, telling him what you’re hoping to do and when you’re hoping to do it, and – boom – we’re booked and you’re working with The Roch. You can direct me to a live session or you can email to me your copy and ideas and I can take those words off of those pages and turn them into something captivating. That’s the business – and I know it really well.

So does my agent, Kenjamin Franklin with RadioActive Talent INC: ken@radiotv.com

And if you want to support my work as a musician, I’d love to have you come to a show! You can hear one of the groups I work with in life and in person. My dear friends Paul Mesches and Mary Crescenzo and I have a jazz trio called MC3 that’s around town. And our Steely Dan Tribute ~ The Doctor Wu Band. You can find our upcoming dates on our website at www.doctorwuband.com.

Contact Info:

• Email: rochthis@gmail.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008591024500
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh15AHuMyHaTqL7IPnjx0Bw
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=zKTXv_AvchRhFQ7iwUgqvA
• Other: www.doctorwuband.com

Image Credits
Lori Rand and Roch Bordenave