Morpeth resident Chris gives a voice to his international success story
A voiceover artist from Morpeth has opened up about his journey from bedroom radio to international recognition.
While other children were playing outside, Chris Kendall was wiring together old electronics, studying books on radio transmission and broadcasting makeshift shows from his bedroom.
He said: “I used to record fake weather reports and play songs off my mum’s stereo, just to feel like I had an audience.
“I had no idea it would one day become my career.”
By his teenage years, Chris was designing fully planned radio studios on paper and lobbying his school to support a student-run station. Eventually, he brought that vision to life outside of the classroom.
After teaching 15 friends everything he knew about radio, Chris successfully led a team that won the prestigious Prince’s Trust Millennium Award in 2003.
With the funding, he launched HitMix 49 – a legally licensed 30-day FM station run by young people for their community in Whitley Bay – receiving more than 60,000 listeners and even outperforming local commercial stations.
Chris went on to help launch local radio stations, earned qualifications in media production and worked behind the scenes in radio engineering. But it was his natural voice that opened the door to national success.
Switching focus to the emerging voiceover industry, he explained: “I started a Facebook group called Voice Artists United in 2009, just to connect with other aspiring artists.
“I didn’t expect it to grow to thousands of members – or to accidentally kick-start my own career in the process.”
Today, he is one of Europe’s most in-demand voiceover artists. His voice can be heard across major advertising campaigns, TV and radio commercials, corporate training content and national broadcasters.
He has lent his voice to projects for brands such as Google, Amazon, BBC, Dulux and Dr Pepper, bringing messages to life with clarity and credibility.
With a professional broadcast quality home studio and clients across the globe, Chris is also mentoring young talent entering the voiceover world and supporting grassroots media projects in the North East. He is currently donating time to help community radio station Radio Northumberland.
He added: “My voice has taken me into studios I used to dream about. But I never forget the kid sitting in his bedroom with a cheap mic and a head full of ideas.”