Michael Starr of the New York Post reports:
If the narrator of popular rock docuseries Breaking the Band sounds familiar, that’s because it’s former Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider — who’s parlayed his hard-rockin’ raspy pipes into a successful voiceover career.
“I’m blessed with a voice that people like hearing,” says Snider, 65, on the phone from Belize, where he and his wife own a home. “It’s my cadence, or whatever. Many times I’m in a store and someone will come around the aisle and say, ‘I knew it was you!’
“My [voiceover] agent, Lisa Marber, says ‘You’ve got that cigarette smoker/whiskey-drinker voice.’ I never smoke or drink,” he says, laughing. “Screaming all those years and torturing my vocal cords [with Twisted Sister] has given me that rasp, that husky voice, that people want for certain voiceovers…”
…Snider’s voiceover days date back to his first spot for the New York Lottery’s Quick Draw game in 1995. “It was a time when my career was not going well. I was broke,” says Snider, whose appearances on Howard Stern’s radio show (then on K-Rock) ignited the voiceover spark. “Twisted Sister had been over for a number of years and then grunge hit. As a performer I was looking for some other work and started to audition [for voiceovers]. That New York Lottery spot brought in tens of thousands of dollars for a regional ad and I was like, ‘Holy s–t! This is an amazing gig. And it’s been a consistent ever since…”
…Snider, 65, has narrated Breaking the Band since its 2018 premiere; starting June 8th, he can be heard in all his whiskey-voiced glory when Reelz will air four back-to-back episodes every Monday starting at 6 p.m…
…“It was the authenticity of having an actual rocker reading the copy, someone who really gets it, even though I’m learning something on every episode,” he says. “The company that produces the show is out of England and they wanted an American voice, someone who could also insert American colloquialisms. I guess I was the right guy for the job.”
Snider says “there are differences” in hearing about each band’s breakup despite the familiar overindulgences, etc. “The wretched excess of Fleetwood Mac, sending a plane to get pizza from another town while recording an album … this is how stupid, and I include myself in there, that we get,” he says. “But there are enough differences [in the bands’ stories] that keep it interesting and keep the audience intrigued.”
And, Snider says, a future Breaking the Band episode will … wait for it … chronicle the demise of Twisted Sister.
“So I’m gonna be reading copy about me breaking up my own band,” he says. “This is like … going back in time and seeing yourself in the past. I said to them, ‘Can I make comments while reading the copy?’ and they said, ‘You can try.’
“So I think you’re going to hear me going, ‘Wait a minute …’ and them cutting away from me.”