Ben Sorensen on Media, Voiceover, Broadcasting, Creativity & Meeting Taylor Swift | Nick Egan Times

So it's really wonderful to see that everyone's being super conscious, super safe, and trying really hard to make sure that we maintain the the vibrancy and the life of Melbourne City.

So I think that's that's one part of me. And the other part is also uh looking at the entrepreneurial side of the entertainment industry, uh producing and creating shows, doing the media and marketing, consulting, and working on the strategy side of things. So um basically, it sounds like I do a lot, don't really. It's just full utilization of asset and trying to keep my brain uh fed because it's super hungry for knowledge and experiences and things like that.

So that's my what I have learned to keep myself um from going stale, basically, is to do multiple things. You know, and a lot of people do that, you know. They'll have a day job and then they may have a football team that they're part of, or they might have, you know, a hobby or something or a passion of some sort outside of that, and that is designed to keep them nimble and to keep them mentally engaged and interested in things.

So, you know, the the only de the only difference with me is I've I've chosen to soullessly profit from both sides of it.

And, you know, to have uh such a small town or a small community to be part of, they were um uh it was challenging, but also very accepting at the same time. Um and I really think that that helped form a lot of my core values uh that I that I still hold to today. So yeah, uh growing up in a small town was was wonderful, and I recommend that uh as many parents get their kids out there and running around in the dirt and you know, hugging cows and doing all sorts of stuff.

It was literally a a an adventure away from a screen. Whereas now we all spend most of our time looking at a screen. Like we'll we have the you know um medium-sized internet uh that we ditch for the tiny internet, which is our phone, and sometimes we'll have a total break and go to the big internet, which is the TV in the lounge room. So um back then there was none of that.

I mean, we watched a little bit of TV in the afternoon, but most of it was adventuring and telling about you know stories about what we'd found or what we'd seen or what we've done. And you know, that's that's something that even now when I'm in the concrete jungle of Melbourne City, I still think fondly of. And I still have my holidays in either a uh farming towns or in you know in the forest or something that connects me with nature, because I think that's so important for that grounding.

I mean, you started this podcast for a similar reason to uncover some of these really engaging and interesting stories that are out there in the world, and you know, we share that passion, which I love. Um and that's what dra that's what I enjoy most about uh the video format. Uh I mean I I love audio.

I did a lot of work um in just audio only, uh, but I think video provides such a such an additional layer or an additional depth uh to being able to tell stories and really uh immerse people in whatever you're doing. It's also a lot more expensive.

I think there's such a uh a depth to the human condition that you know it's worthy of that exploration, whether it be for work or simply for your own edification.

And it looks like I'll be back doing that again this year too. So I'm very, very humbled and grateful to be able to do that and to travel with them. And overseas, um, you know, I I like to head to Ireland, uh, the Republic of Ireland. I think it's just such beautiful countryside there and some lovely people, and they get my sense of humor, which is kind of handy. And also Germany. Uh, I do a lot of time uh down in the the south of Germany, which is again lovely.

They don't get my sense of humour at all, but they're very kind, and we laugh lots anyway.

So uh we're putting that together and we'll be doing an announcement in con in conjunction with the Melbourne Comedy Festival uh in the next week or so. So keep an eye out on the socials and everything where we'll be flogging that. Uh and also uh outside of my venue that I'm working on, uh we're really fortunate here in Australia and also in Melbourne to have the world's second largest comedy festival just on our doorstep, just right there.

And I was just really, really stoked about it every year when you know the world's best comedians just sort of descend on Melbourne, and it's um such a wonderful melting pot of ideas and creativity and people that you know are just passionate about observing the human condition and talking about um you know those different styles of comedy and different cultures and how we make each other laugh and you know what that does to us as a as a culture and as a as a as a race of people.

And I just find that really fascinating. So uh, yes, so I'm doing that, the comedy festival thing, which is really great. Uh I've I'm doing some presenting work uh at the Australian Open, which is exciting, so you can have a sticky beak at that. That'll be online somewhere as well. And uh, yeah, doing some amazing work at the moment with a environmental organization called EcoForce Global. I'm very, very lucky to be working with them.

So uh their whole point uh of being is to reduce the uh carbon, atmospheric carbon levels through planting trees. And they have this amazing system where they actually guarantee the tree's gonna live, and if it doesn't, they'll replace it to make sure that it actually does absorb all that carbon from the atmosphere. So um I'm just really lucky to be working with some really great organizations and some wonderful festivals that align with some really good values.

And when you have those organizations with great values, you tend to find really good people there as well, and I'm very fortunate to have done that.

You might read a couple of times, but it's not you know super stuck in your head like it is when you when it's on air and it's been playing not back to back annoyingly for six months or twelve months. But um I'm really lucky to have done a whole heap of work in uh with music tours and and promotions, and I really, really love that work. Uh I did a whole heap of voiceovers for Boney M when they came out to Australia. I did the 50th anniversary for the uh the monkeys, which I love.

And uh, you know, look, I'm I'm pleased you're sitting down. I can see because you've got a camera thing, I can see you sitting down, so this is this is a big one. Peter Andre.

There's uh a couple of uh kids' educational resources which I'm also really passionate about, uh, that you'll find me voicing, you know, an alligator here and there or uh or a train. Uh I did the voice of Shane the Australian train in some of the Thomas the Tank Engine stuff, uh, or fan Thomas the Tank Engine fan stuff, and I went, oh, that doesn't count, it's not real. And then I checked out the numbers and I went, there's actually a really huge following for that.

And there's that's one of the w wonderful things about the doing the voiceover work is you're plugged into all of these great projects, and for me, I've just gone, I didn't even know half of this stuff existed. And then you you read for it and you check it out later, and you go, that's actually really good. Not so much my part, but collectively the project is really great and it's really interesting.

So I found a whole heap of uh really amazing creatives out there that have been putting together some really high-level stuff that I never ever would have known existed until they, you know, picked up the phone and said, Hey Benny, can you do this for me? Or, you know, do you want to have a crack at that? And I go, Yeah, alright, fair enough. So, yeah, voiceovers I really love, really, really love.

And uh they're one of the things that I can actually continue to do through lockdown, which made my life a little bit easier because I can still go to work.

And I think that when we when we look at some of those um those things, it's it's such a a great community to be part of uh when you're in a small town like Brisbane, which is where I started, uh where you can just sort of hop across and do some radio and then do some TV, do some live events and then do a whole heap of publishing. Uh I did a heap of writing for uh Life and Style magazine, Home Magazine and uh Insight magazine as well.

So you know, it's one of those things where you go, how can how can I communicate with an audience through many different ways and many different mediums, and that was that was one of the great things. And I've like like I said before, had some great opportunities to do some stuff on uh some very, very big networks.

And um one of the key takeaways that I had from that time was uh that Taylor Swift is a very kind human uh and also a very intelligent human as well, which is really wonderful. And she has a separate uh she has a separation between herself and Taylor Swift the brand. So uh when I in in jest earlier said Ben doesn't always talk about Ben in the third person.

When she's talking about herself, she'll talk about, you know, me, I and when she's talking about Taylor Swift the brand, she'll reference it in the third person to keep that separation so you don't feel like you're constantly owned by the rest of the world. So, you know, there was that and there was um uh you know, she was well her m her mum was very talkative and uh they have a uh had a very big passion for horses and equestrian stuff.

Um so you know, we ended up talking about that for a little bit. But yeah, it was just a really wonderful experience. And obviously, uh the theatrics of the Red Tour were just simply amazing. And even if we look at the consistency of Taylor Swift and her work, jeez, dropping two albums in a year. I mean, that's that's pretty impressive. And doing a lot of the other stuff. I feel I feel like there was that uh I mean we're obviously uh Taylor and I are very different, very different levels.

But um, you know, I can you can see and you can understand the need to stay stimulated and to stay interested and to stay engaged uh with the range of work and the range of quality work that Taylor's done, uh excluding Cats the movie, because that was shit.

Little Benny went to the States and I went, All right, let's do all of these press conference things. And I went, yeah, all right, fair enough. And CMO were really wonderful in you know, getting a media pass mark, it all happened and introducing me because new country didn't know anyone, and just Aussie guy with a big hat wandering around. And every press conference that I went, I actually wanted to go to more press conferences simply because every single one of them had a Dunkin Donuts table.

Every single one. So there was tea, coffee, water, bagels, bagels, uh, with four different types of cream cheese and a whole heap of these donuts. And I'm just going, I never want to leave. This is great. I don't think I bought a meal the time the whole time I was there. It's brilliant. So um the back back to the question.

So uh I was at uh LP Stadium, I think it's called LP Stadium in um uh in Nashville, and it's one of their smaller stadiums by American standards, which is just giant by Australian standards. So uh, you know, I deliberately went for a walk to the top, and I seriously understand why they call it the nosebleed section. So in the in the belly of this stadium is where they held the press conference for the uh just before the big CMA conference, uh the CMA concert that they had in there.

So anyway, I'm sitting down here, Luke Bryan comes in and you know, it's chatting and I'm eating a donut, going, oh yeah, this will be alright. Uh and then uh Keith Urban comes through. And being the only Australian in the room, uh Keith was answering questions from everyone and he picked up the Australian accent, and I had a wonderful conversation with him uh in the uh in the press conference there, and I thought, oh yeah, this is pretty cool.

Uh, you know, I got to chat to Keith Urban, that's really great. He he's such a witty, great fella. Uh, and that was just amazing. And I went, oh, this is really couldn't top that. Absolutely couldn't top that. So I polite polite little me, it does happen. Sometimes. Got to chat, had a chat with one of the uh you know organizers. I went, Oh, look, I'd really love to watch the show. Um, is there can I buy a ticket? Is there a seat for me?

And she's looked at my pass and gone, I don't know what you're talking about. Just walk up there and check it out. So here's me stand little little Ozzie Ben standing side stage watching um, you know, all of these great performers on the on the big stage there. And, you know, so I'm I'm standing here, just had a chat with Keith Urban there, and I look across, and there's Nicole Kidman standing on the other side. And Lenny Kravitz on stage, and I'm just going, that's pretty awesome.

You know, it's what it's it's those moments that you just go, it's not so much the interview, but it's just I find when people are on show, and you know, and that's totally okay to do that, it's this is who they are, but then in those quiet moments or those in-between moments, I think you see more more honesty about who they are. You know, so I mean that was wonderful.

Um, she was also uh again, I I I didn't talk to her, I just saw her from afar, not in a creepy way, but just other side of the stage. Um, and you know, it was it was lovely. Although, now that I'm talking about that, another great experience, um, Zach Brown band, who I met uh while I was in the States, came out to tour and they did some shows with Jason Moraz ages ago. At uh the Sydney Mile Music Bowl down here. Great venue, really, really awesome.

And they were the support act, they played, they did some cool stuff. Zach loves cooking, so he was cooking up his great food for everyone. Uh and I thought, okay, off. So I've had a chat with Zach, all good. On stage, side of the stage again, going, oh, Jason Moranes is on there. I just have a sticky beak, check it out side stage. Again, really awesome performer, really great live show. And I'm there looking, just sort of bopping along, going, yeah, this is this is pretty cool.

Look at all those people out there, look at what's happening here. And then I turn to the other side, and who should I see bopping along with me but Bruce Springsteen? Oh, wow. And I'm just going, holy crap. Yeah. You know, so it's those those little moments that stick in my memory that I just go, I am so happy with those moments. Um to have just those honest moments with uh or shared by uh some of those amazing humans. So yeah, there you go. Yeah, the moments that are also the donuts.

I really like the donuts.

That's amazing. So, yeah, so anyway, that was really cool. Uh, and incidentally, at that same function, uh, I was introducing and interviewing Malcolm Turnbull, who was then um Minister for Communication, or as Tony Abbott said, the man who created the internet, which is totally inaccurate because he didn't, and even if he did, the NBN doesn't work well enough to be considered as an achievement. Anyway, continue.

A lot of my ex extracurricular reading at the moment, Courtesy of the Good Place, is all about philosophy and psychology as well and how the two sort of intertwine. So I find that fascinating. And I'll and I'll read um I I do a fair bit of reading. Uh I like reading uh peer-reviewed journals to answer questions that I have. So when we talk about um, you know, anti-vaxxers and stuff like that out in the world, I go, oh, okay, cool.

So I wonder what's in the vaccines, or I wonder what the research is, or oh, everyone says this, so where's the research? Let me let me actually read the actual research. So I really enjoy doing that, and I find that I learn so much, and it gives me so much more uh respect for the scientific community. I'm not a scientist, but I really respect it, and I'm just really interested in so much of the great research they're doing.

Okay, so um you're tired. Okay, well just get an Uber home. Doesn't matter, you know? You want the upsize at Maca's, not a big deal. You want to go to a store and need new clothes, cool, just tap the card, doesn't matter. You know, there's a lot of freedom and a lot of relaxation or or or less stress rather that comes from that because you go, I know that all my basic needs are covered. You know, and I think that rather they used to say focus on what you love and the rest will happen.

And I think that that concept I probably would have told myself when I was 18, probably needs to evolve a bit. That yes, that's important, but it's also important to make sure that you've got uh your bread and butter covered.

You know, you've got a roof over your head and you've got your passive income coming through, and to work on that earlier because time is such a big factor when it comes to wealth, which is why we see a lot of intergenerational family wealth uh that grows way more than what most of us could do in a lifetime.

Not in a bad way, but just you know, if I could tell my younger self that it would be that have a healthy relationship with money and understand its its freedom and its power and how to acquire it ethically.