Coy Jandreau
Appearances
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
Let us light that bat signal. Let's dive in. Let's talk to Jason. Let's talk to Batman. I am sitting down with Bruce Wayne, Batman himself, Jason Spisak. You may also know him as Wally West. You may also know him as Joker in both Batman Hush the movie and Teen Titans Go. And here he absolutely crushes as one of my favorite characters of all time. Jason, how are you, man?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
It's a pretty one of one moment to get to become Batman in all senses of the word. Now, mediums is something I want to discuss because as a comic book person in this age of comic book, it's a golden age because we have so many different ways comics are being adapted. But this medium to me feels like a one of one new thing. And it is. 2025 don't get to live a lot of firsts in art.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
And so it's really special.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
What was it like adjusting your performance as someone who's done voice work in so many other mediums that are a little bit more, you know, storied? Like we've had video games for a while. We've had animation. This to me is something brand new. How do you adjust your performance to nail something that is brand new to the world?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
I feel like that is the experience I had with this. Having read the book so many times over so many years, I felt differently about the moment, not only with Gordon's infidelity, but also the fourth act of this in the fourth issue. It hit me stronger, the motorcycle moment. And that's crazy.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
and you're just on the edge of your seat because that music like puts you there and you're like, oh God, what's gonna happen? What was it like the first time after being in the booth, after all the development, after playing the different takes, hearing it as a completed experience for you to listen?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
I just realized an experience I had with this that I didn't put together. It's like when you're eating a really good meal and you're watching TV, how you won't taste it as much. Right. And when you actually sit and chew your food, to me, this was that for Gotham. Yes. I've read this so many times, but I was sitting and chewing my food.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
And I love that we get to experience a comic that is a direct experience that we have lived if we've read it. But this is also a great way for people that haven't read comics to discover the way the Batman is.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
And I want to sit down with people that listen to this and then ask them what they think Gordon looks like, what they think Bruce looks like. Yes, who haven't read the comics. Please, please, please.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
And that's so unique because we're comic people.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
wow, that is so interesting. And that's like being an artist, right? Like you get to interpret what the writer wrote. I would love to see that. And speaking of your work, the booth itself, man, that experience to me is like alchemy. Were there any memorable moments for you as a fan that gave you chills that got that? Like we, we, you said the glass slipper.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
What were some of the glass slipper moments from year one that you can remember?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
All right, Jason, you are well acquainted with this world as both a Batman fan and as the voice of Batman as an actor. But for you personally, what's it like to be Batman, man?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
I really like the confidence of the trust fall allegory but I also really like that you have a certainty of how you feel about Batman because that's so Batman like Batman would know how Batman conveys and that certainty is really I guess I'm in character though which is great I am Batman was there a moment that you as the voice of someone so iconic to an iconic story you got that oh my god I get to say this line were there any lines that feel so formative to your one that you were like now I'm externalizing this I'm adding my art to this
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
He doesn't know that's not him yet? Yes.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
You're so right. The irony of those guys being so similar but split. Yes.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
So I'm really looking forward to seeing the evolution further because of those things. The character only grows. And to me, Batman is like a, like an American James Bond. Like there's so many different ways and, and all of them are authentic. Like they're like, when I see a James Bond, I'm like, Oh, that's this level's being played. And this is this memorable element. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
Is that the most fun part of voicing Batman in the booth when you get to drop into that moment where it feels like you're full of such certainty of the moment? You've got that unbridled, not rage, but like control. Is that your favorite experience?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
And what do you think for you with your love of the character, with the investment, which I so appreciate making in the character, you've given him so many different colors. How do you now perceive him differently?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
Oh, I like that. Man, that's Batman.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
I got to end it there. I think the most Frank Miller line possible is bulletproof glass is still glass. That is a Batman year one quote, not from the book, but from DC high volume. Absolute pleasure, man. Thank you for caring about this character so much. It shows every moment of this. I think it's an amazing medium and an amazing experience. Thank you for what you brought to Batman.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
hi i'm coy jandro and welcome to dc high volume batman in these very special monthly episodes i'm going to be sitting down with the talent behind this first of its kind audio series as well as the comic creatives who brought us these stories that we're for the very first time directly adapting i As I said, I'm Koi Jandro. I love comic books. I read 50 to 70 comics a week.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
Let's keep things rolling. Let's bring out the executive producer without whom this show would not be possible, the heart of DC High Volume Batman, the one and only Mike Pallotta. I am sitting down with the executive producer of DC High Volume Batman, the great Mike Pallotta. How you doing today, man?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
I got to know, man. We've talked about Batman at length, but what is it about Batman that you connect most to?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
Do you remember your first entryway point to Batman in general, your first moment of like, I'm connecting with this character at whatever age it was?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
there's moments in these first four issues that I've waited my whole life as a Batman fan for that I've not gotten to fully experience in this way. The transformation elements and the voice work that is those. And you as an actor get to do firsts as Batman.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
It's really started affecting the last like five years, like the last five years where I've started feeling older than young Bruce. I'm like, oh yeah, time is passing.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
But yeah. When the Robins start getting like young in your mind, you're like, you're paternally protective. You're like, oh no, I'm, I'm the Bruce now.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
And the audio side of it, I love because it's a new way to be an entry point. You mentioned all of these like Terminator, Alien, all of these movies like kids of the 80s. We had that entryway point, but there's so much technology now. There's so many new entryway points to comic books.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
And I think living in this golden age of comics is such a gift to now look back and be like, oh, this is also how you can discover. What was your entryway point into audio storytelling that made you want to pair these two? Yeah.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
I love that we opened this conversation talking about Batman being something that is so flexible and versatile. And even in that experience, your direct experience is adapting a story, making it new, adapting a story, making it new, and now giving us the story of your one. And I think that's really something special, but I'm curious, what is an EP in this capacity on this show?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
Like what's it like to actually be kind of, you know, pulling strings with the character in the direct way?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
I've always seen the graying as symbolically the chipping away. There's a lot to the visual of Gordon.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
year one to me is one of the great gateways into comic books. It's one of the comics that I could say, Hey, you've never read a comic. I think you should try this one out. I think this might be for you. What do you think it is about your one that is so approachable? And in this medium, what do you think people are going to find that might not have ever read a comic?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
It is so bombastic. It is something that, this is so much more than a comic without visuals. Like there is an element of Gotham that I've never experienced until this. And that's so cool having experienced Gotham for 36 years. Like this is its own thing. What do you think it is about the audio medium that's specific to Batman that's so unique? Because for me, I've rediscovered Gotham in a new way.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
The moment in year one, issue three, where the motorcycle happens, I felt things I'd never felt before.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
I really like that. It is a singular medium experience because of what you're describing. Like, what are you excited for Ryder Dye comic fans to discover their moments that you think might read different in this medium?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
And agreeing with them, I think, is one of the most beautiful things is these are sound cues I've never considered. Was there any sound cue or theme that you were like, oh, wait, that is blank. I would never have thought of that sounding like that.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
It actually had me in a different level of anxiety than reading it because there's something about like picturing it because you're being fed so much adrenaline auditorily that like it gave me imagery that I was like, oh, and it was a really wonderful sensation.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
Well, my last question, so we don't end on a flying baby falling off a bridge is we're looking ahead to one of my favorite comics of all time. We're diving into the long Halloween and I adore how robust of a cast that is. Is there any moment you want to tease that you're excited for people to discover that a long time, long Halloween fans in this format?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
as the penguin which uh dude the street cred of having one of the greatest nerds of all time kevin smith not only does he write comics not only is he one of the greatest writer filmmaker actors of nerdery but i feel like he's the one that made me accept there were more me's out there like kevin smith's movie single-handedly told me it was going to be okay so the fact that he's the penguin that's just like that's a an aura boris of nerddom that i love to see
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
I travel doing comic cons for a living. I'm a comic consultant, a comic historian. I'm a comic book correspondent. I love this world. Whether you're a newcomer that has never read a comic in your life, or if you're a veteran like me that has Batman year one tattooed to the back of his mind, you can discover new things in these stories. And I can honestly say I have.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
That and other things.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
And if you've never read it, I'm jealous. This is quite the way to experience it. I think it's going to be an incredible murder mystery for you for the first time. And if you have read it as many times as I have, I'm so excited to be experiencing it in a new way. And it's like rediscovering an old friend or catching up after years away. It's so... So very special.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
So as a Batman fan, almost since birth like myself, thank you so much for the hard work and care you put into this and every other story. DC High Volume Batman is so special to me. So excited to talk about it. Thanks for joining me today, man.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
Well, that is all the time we have for this month's special edition of DC High Volume Batman. I would like to thank Batman himself for joining us. Jason Spisak, thank you so much, man. And the great Mike Pallotta, without whom none of this would be possible. I would also like to thank you, dear listener.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
Whether this was your first episode of DC High Volume Batman or you've been with us from the very beginning, thank you for listening. And likewise, whether you've ever read a comic in your life or you live and breathe Tales of the Dark Knight, thank you.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
for loving on comic books and being with us here today and in that same spirit of loving on comics check out dc universe infinite it is the online dc comic catalog where you can get literally tens of thousands of incredible stories including batman year one including the long halloween
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
and in that same spirit i wanted to give you guys some recommendations so if you like batman year one i highly recommend batman the knight it is chip sadarsky writing it an incredible writer and this artist carmine d john domonico is incredible on the pencils thank you for your incredible work this is a prequel story
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
Well, we often talk about how Batman is the true face and Bruce is the mask. But I feel like Batman's always presenting by that nature. Right. He's presenting as Bruce. He's presenting as Batman. What's really unique about this format is you get to be the true voice of Bruce in his own journey. And that's why I think the Joker similarities. I feel more because he's not doing a thing.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
that deals with training with Ra's al Ghul, that deals with the mental and physical fortitude of what it is to become Batman. It is truly sensational. I never thought anything would make me feel that year one, what it's like to train to be Batman energy in a comic. And then this came out and I was really blown away. Highly recommend The Knight.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
I would also recommend if you're enjoying year one, do check out year two, obviously immediately following the events of year one.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
of absolute powerhouse series that followed year one that i highly recommend lots of really iconic imagery that has lasted the the test of time lots of really impactful storytelling as well and then we've got the long halloween which i want to give some special love to an ongoing right now that is following the long halloween there is batman the long halloween the last halloween and this one uh is really bittersweet for me because
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
we lost the incredible tim sale and uh his art is irreplaceable his work is incredible and they had been working jeff loeb and tim sale had been working on a sequel to the long halloween so the story you're listening to right now on dc high volume was going to get a sequel and then we lost him sale and instead of letting that story go untold
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
a number of incredible all-time great artists jumped in with Jeff lobe and each artist does a single issue telling that story that Jeff and Tim wanted to tell and it continues on this incredible Legacy and it's called the last Halloween and you can get a number of issues out right now
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
And as always, if you want to check out the comics we talked about here today, please check out the DC Universe Infinite app. It is DC Comics' online comic book catalog filled with tens of thousands of comics. Also, be sure to check out your local comic book shop. And as ever, if you want to talk comics, if you want recommendations of comics, if you want to geek out about comics, hunt me down.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
I'm on YouTube and Instagram at Coyjandro. That's C-O-Y-J-A-N-D-R-E-A-U. If you can't tell, I love talking about comics and I would be honored to join you in those conversations. Go read some comics and hunt me down. Let's talk about them. Thank you so much for joining me. I've been Coyjandro. You've been awesome. We'll see you next time.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
Thank you for joining us in this special episode of DC High Volume Batman. Executive producers for Realm, Carly Migliore and Roshan Singh Sambi. Executive producers for DC, Mike Pallotta and Victor Diaz. Producer, Adam Baffa. Technical director, Insung Hwang. Engineers, Jason Gambrell and Echo Mountain. Hosted by me, Coy Jandro.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
Special thanks to Fred Greenhalgh, Kaelin West, Olivia D'Arienzo, Sam Ewing, and to Comic Books for Existing.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
And I feel like Batman's got a little madness always percolating. Joker obviously lets his out.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
Right, at all times.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
A hundred percent. And for the first time for me in so many moments. And that's why I'm wondering with that much expectation of this character being that iconic and you know, as a performer, you've got all these variations. How do you balance that equalizer of fan expectation, your own experience? How do you find your voice as someone with so many voices?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
And we've talked about the writers and the iconic level of these stories, especially lasted the test of time for a reason. But I often, when I hear a voice actor equate them to certain iconic artists, like when I hear your voice, there are certain bat artists that come to mind.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
Are there any artists that you have started to identify with that when you're speaking and when you're forming, do you have imagery in your mind's eye?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
I am so excited that we have covered Batman Year One. Batman has now been formed. He has emerged from the cave. We have seen that turmoil. We have seen what Jim Gordon has gone through. We have heard all of this in a powerful new way. And as of yesterday, we have literally just survived the explosion that will change the dense life forever, that will change Batman lore forever.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
That's really unique as an actor to get that opportunity to like, you're not reading someone's action. You're literally like, I'm standing this way, I'm being this way.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
I've always felt like the balance between Bruce and Batman was so tricky. And this sure is the example of everything we've talked about so far is extenuating that circumstance to the scale of six to nine to how many voices.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
How do you find that line in the sand in the image where you're playing the equalizer of your toolkit to know which one to play up?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
How has he heard him?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
And I think that's where there are pitfalls at times when people that aren't voice actors do a Batman. It has to be kind of a thing. Put me in the Batman voice. But to me, that's...
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
We are now into Batman The Long Halloween, which is incredible.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
I also really appreciate that. And I hadn't met you until today. I appreciate that you're Bruce Wayne. Isn't you as a normal civilian, there's affectation. Oh, like me as a person?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
in my opinion one of the best long form stories of all time so i am so honored to say that we have jason spezak the voice of batman himself we have bruce wayne in the studio today as well as a man who is so responsible for getting this show together the executive producer of dc high volume the great mike pilata is sitting down with us today and he is as big of a batman fan as i am or even bigger so i'm very excited to talk all things batman with him so without further ado
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
I like the idea that your day will affect your experience and which voice you might fall into at any point. It's true. But that Bruce, I feel like I really feel the energy in the Bruce as much as the Batman is the point I was trying to make is that there is the effort and work in Bruce because he's having to put in effort and work into what personality he's conveying because that's also a mask.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
I really like that point. I'd never considered the brevity as a strength for Batman, that mirroring a stoicism, but also because of the medium itself, art is such a stranglehold of the visual experience that you have to add that. That's interesting.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
Yeah. Aaron Sorkin is not out there just typing up. Right, right, right.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
And we see the responsibility grow because we meet you as such a young Bruce and an even younger Batman. We see Batman happen.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
And I felt personally, and this was one of the things I've been wondering since I heard it for the first time. There's modulation in your voice that I feel like plays with Batman finding his voice. And it's an affectation he puts on, as we've said, differently with different people. But it's almost like there are certain times he goes out to find Batman that he's also finding his voice.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Batman Actor Jason Spisak & DC's Mike Pallotta
So you can feel the levels being played, even in the story of like, not quite that. Like that's not quite that. So would you be putting those in in the day in the booth?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Sometimes the artist, but sometimes my own imagination. Are there things that you visualize differently when you're in the booth than when you listen? Do you have any like sense memory from like, oh, right, that happened.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Now, I love that this will be some people's first Commissioner Gordon. I love that that is a... new take that is from such a classic story. What if we're looking at just year one before we get to long Halloween, what would you love new listeners to take away from your gym?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
i've always had this theory and you would have a very strong perspective having embodied this man to me the thing that bonds batman and jim is that batman has a code and in my opinion batman doesn't kill but i also love that that is mirrored in commissioner gordon with his fellow cops and that bond of that one rule is what i always saw and that's why the rooftop between harvey dent jim gordon and batman means so much to me because that represents three men with a code and they all kind of see each other in that way
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Was that something you really wanted to establish from the beginning of that hard line he has? That way, as things get messier, you know what to fall back on?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Now we've talked a lot of DC high volume. I got to talk about the comics themselves. I'm such a comic book nerd. What did you love growing up about Batman that you still love? And is there anything that is different now having played someone in the world?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
So one of the craziest facts for me as a fan of this, one of the things that I was like, there's no way, like in the IMDb trivia of my mind, I heard that this is your first voiceover work of something like this, and you kept up with some seasoned vets, and you're a seasoned vet in other mediums, but what was it like and how is it possible this is your first voiceover work? It's insane.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
It's really special because it is a character that people know from the comics and know from all the media that's adapted it, but I feel like year one is kind of
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
I thought, all right, I guess it's going well. You know? There's not a note of novice in it. Was there any moment where it felt different not having everyone around you because you're traditionally on like a set? Like, was there anything you had to kind of reprogram?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
of a gordon story like i've always seen him as the lead of this story and it's such a powerful performance in there you brought something really unique because we don't get to see this gordon often was there anything you wanted to bring to this version you felt like was unique to year one
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
That is great Jim Gordon training. Like that, of any character, I'm like, of course, that would actually help.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Well, you fill the layers. Absolutely. So I'm fascinated by that process.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Yeah. And it's one of my favorite adaptations of all time.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
So where we are in the story right now, we have this moment where we have Dent and you approaching Bruce Wayne and we're starting to see trust kind of deteriorate. There's high stakes, high tension, high mystery. Can you tease anything for folks about where we're about to go next?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
I really love that there are people listening to this that haven't read The Long Halloween that are getting the mystery, like, unfurling in this way that feels so classic mystery novel. And it's so interesting to me to play a character that is part of the mystery. Was it fun to have that, like, Agatha Christie whodun element as part of the character?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Devouring it is such a different animal than living it. Like this comic is not one I could like month to month. I was lucky enough to be, it came out when it was completed. So I just poured through. It must've been interesting to have the element of time between recordings and to live in those beats and have all that as it fell apart.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Did you use the frames as like storyboards for your work?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
So I've listened to this three ways and I love talking to people about their experience of absorbing it. I listened to it as I'm multitasking, driving or doing something active because I think you use a different part of your brain for that. I also love listening to it. I've got these crazy Kef speakers that are floor standards that I just position myself like that. hi-fi ad. What was it? Maxell?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Yeah. Just like listening to high volume. And then I also love doing the multitasking of either a physical comic or using DC Universe Infinite and listening and going through. Do you have a listening favorite?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Yeah, I love that there's so much versatility with this work.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Thank you, man. I really, like I said, I love this character. That moment on the leap that clearly meant so much to you as well is something that I will always have is like, this is brand new and something I could recite, but I get to have it a new way. So thank you so much for that work.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Love talking to Jay Paulson. His raw emotionality is so apparent in all this work. I really love his connection to Jim Gordon and especially his note about his kids and how you could feel that with Jim Gordon and his kid in year one. That really meant a lot to me.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Speaking of a man who understands emotionality, who brings so much emotion to these characters, we've got Sam Ewing, the composer for all things DC high volume. Let's bring out Sam. We are sitting down with Sam Ewing. You've heard his music on The Walking Dead, on God of War Ragnarok. He's the composer on DC High Volume Batman. How you doing, man? I'm good. This is awesome. Thanks for having me.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
DC High Volume Batman has this incredible audio force to it. And I have to imagine when you find out you're doing something like Batman, what's your first thought making a story set in Gotham in the greater world of Batman?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Yeah, it's just so freaking cool. So coming in and getting the ground floor approach, like you get to build the foundation, especially because as you're saying, the music gets to be such a focal point of the experience. Were there core ideas or references that you knew day one? And were there any that developed over time? Yeah.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Where we last left off in the story, we had the paralleling moments between Harvey Dent and our, at this point, Captain Gordon, as well as the moment where Poison Ivy completely and absolutely corrupts Bruce Wayne because no man can resist Poison Ivy.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
There's a scale and a scope that is implied in Gothic. And that's interesting. Like Batman also has that, the gravitas of Batman feels like a church. Yeah, it totally. Yeah. That's a good point. And I hear that, and I also love that his characters feel like an orchestra. When you've got certain Batman characters, I've always loved the psychology of Batman, to me, feeling mirrored in his rogues.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
And to me, there are the goals of his villains mirroring who he'd be if he was a lesser man. So to me, if he'd gone to politics, Two-Face, if he'd gone to more of the fun side, Catwoman, that to them. But to me, the way you play these themes is that with the orchestra.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
So I'm wondering if there are certain characters you knew right away, strings, brass, like were there characters like, I think they sound like this. Oh man.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
You want it to be linear. So it is an immediate connotation. Like you're like, oh, that does sound like blank.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Did any theme or motif change or surprise you because you realized it actually felt more like another character? Like one that wasn't as linear, one that wasn't as direct. But say you're working on like a character, you know, going through infidelity and you're like, oh, that doesn't quite sound mischievous enough, but I might be able to save that for another thing. Yeah.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Was there anyone that got like shifted?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Hi, I'm Koi Jandro and welcome to DC High Volume Batman. In this monthly companion series, we sit down with the cast and crew and beyond for DC high-volume Batman.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Joker and I was like oh my god like I didn't even think of that so cool that's so fun because of the Joker's inherent nature to just like impulsively intrude in story yeah like that the Joker theme also happened at you I know like the Joker does it's that's that's a good point that's really fun I like that I know I know and sometimes when you're just
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Yeah, you're absolutely right. I got a lot to say in this thing. And it's so powerful because the POV is not just the human element, but arguably the readers seeing Batman manifest. Like we get to experience you discovering this vigilante running around a city. And like you said, you've got so much going on in your own worldview.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
I liked you had to externalize it and then get another perspective to see what it was actually going to end up being. That's really unique. That's a lot of fun. I know. Now, this is a really unique medium that is you mentioned earlier how sometimes in projects, music tends to feel like it's going to drift to the background or it can't be in the foreground.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
And this is so foreground, so music forward, which I love, like the soundscape here, the the musical soundscape versus the production design versus the voice work, like all of them are the leads. Was there anything in this medium that you found challenging because you became a leading part of the front of the experience?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Has how you see Gordon changed after playing him since you were so familiar as a child?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
And it's super cinematic like that. That's so much scope. Again, the grandiose like Batman. There's so much energy. Yeah. Big there. So I went through this each issue of year one a different way because I wanted to experiment. So sure. I listened to it with like four foot calf speakers. And then I dove in, which I loved. That was that was a thing, man.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
As a vinyl head, I was like, what is this going to do? And then I sat down in my car because I wanted to see what it was like with like different audio arrangement. And then I sat down with some nice Harman Kardon headphones. And then the last time I did it with the pages.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
So issue four for me was really cool because that was the first time I added the visual and the entire motorcycle sequence, which I could I could describe from memory was new again. Wow. And so for me, it is a repeat viewing experience. But I'd love to know for you, is there a moment for me at the motorcycle me go in like this is a gift because I got to relive my childhood. Yeah.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Is there a moment or scene for you as the person on the other side of that creative process that really stood out as like Eureka? This is the the strength of this medium.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
It's so interesting how flippantly you're like, you know, you just do this and this. And in my head, I'm like, I can't even read music, man. Like, I love that you're just like, and then you just make it big. And I can't even I like listening to music because it's alchemy to me. Like, it doesn't even make sense.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
But as we get older, we get self-conscious and we wouldn't be able to do that. And music, you stay in that childlike wonder and you can make art from knowing that instinct.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
As someone that reads comics, I got the childlike wonder of the storytelling. But I go, I... Scared piano. So thank you. Now the year one and long Halloween, they mean the world to me and I can hear now new elements because of them, because of what you've done.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Were there any other comics that influenced your take on Batman that you think helped inform the overall zeitgeist of Batman bringing that to these stories?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
know well-rounded human being with his with all those with everything that goes along with that it's interesting as you as you know anyone ages and these characters that have been around since before we were born the adults become our peers and you're uniquely poised to have now embodied one of those do you read the comics differently now also having played him like is it not just picking it up like oh this guy's my age or older but it's also like i've been in his head i can get this perspective
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
No, that totally answers my question. And I never would have considered the, it can't be cacophonous. Like you can't have those things conflict. And in a comic, you don't have that concern because you're controlling the pace. I can say when I turn the page, whereas you don't have the option of that, which is interesting. Now in this experience, it's a series of voice actor, sound design, score.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
We've talked about all those elements, but this is so collaborative, you know, working with DC, working with Realm, working with these different teams.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Can you tell me about any moment where the collaborative nature inspired something you might not have expected? Like where a note or something came in and you're like, oh, well, that recontextualizes this.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Yeah, that's pretty perfect.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
And last question for you before we wrap out, because I, in dealing with comics, often get to have that unique perspective of Easter eggs and looking closely for comic moments in other mediums. But uniquely with this, there's auditory cues and moments, and I don't often get to celebrate audio Easter eggs.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
So for people that want to listen more closely or want to be slightly ahead of things, is there anything you can tease in what we've had so far with year one, what we have upcoming, whether it's the beginning, middle, or end of Long Halloween? Are there any Easter eggs or things to listen for more attentively?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
So I'll just, I'll say that. That is a very fun use of mystery in the medium. I'm so excited to hear it myself. I haven't yet. Very excited. Thank you for your work, man. I can tell you love these characters like I do and you use your alchemy for them. So I appreciate it. Yeah, man. Pleasure is all mine. Thanks.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
would like to thank jay paulson and sam ewing for joining me today two passionate absolute powerhouse creators i love the emotionality and heart they bring to this work i would also like to thank you dear viewer for watching this show it means the world to me you're joining me for interviews with all these talented folk responsible for dc high volume batman
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
I, while talking about all of these comics, want to recommend you some comics directly. First up, The Long Halloween has a sequel that is coming out monthly right now. Batman, The Long Halloween, The Last Halloween is honoring Tim Sale, the artist behind The Long Halloween, who we lost very, very quickly.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
uh suddenly a couple years ago and it's an artist i love very dearly and the comic almost never existed uh jeff loeb and tim sale had conceived it and instead of letting it sit in a shelf a number of artists have picked up each individually doing an issue to honor tim sale we just had issue 7 come out that is dave johnson and dave stewart and it's just so special to to do a comic in this way and it's also fantastic and if you're loving long halloween i highly recommend you check out
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
batman the long halloween the last halloween also want to recommend to you batman hush to me this is a beautiful comic that's in the vein of long halloween it's like a not a spiritual sequel but something in that direction where you get the mystery you get the intrigue you get the whodunit but with jim lee on art and that is such a good time always highly recommend hush
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
It is such a great book, which also right now, coincidentally, has a sequel currently coming out monthly, Batman Hush 2. And you, dear viewer, can check out any of those at your local comic shop, as well as on the DC Universe Infinite app, which is DC's online comic catalog. There are tens of thousands of comics available there.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
And if you ever want more recommendations, you can hunt me down on social media. I'm at Coyjandro on Instagram and YouTube. And at far too many cons, always ask me comic questions. I'd love to give you recommendations.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
and once again in case you don't know how much i appreciate you thank you for watching the show it truly means the world go read some comics go listen to some high volume we'll see you next time Thank you for joining us in this special episode of DC High Volume Batman. Executive producers for Realm, Carly Migliore and Roshan Singh Sambi. Executive producers for DC, Mike Pallotta and Victor Diaz.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Producer, Adam Baffa. Technical director, Insung Hwang. Engineers, Jason Gambrell and Echo Mountain. Hosted by me, Coy Jandro. Special thanks to Fred Greenhalgh, Kaelin West, Olivia DeRienzo, Sam Ewing, and to Comic Books for Existing.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
In that same vein, he is a more inexperienced Gordon than you usually see him grizzled already as the commissioner. He's got the light and he's on the roof and you're having to play a very different, less seasoned, but still badass. Right. What levels did you try to find in that? Oh, I know he lands here. And especially in pop culture, how do I find the A to get to the TUV?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Now, today on this show, I am honored to welcome Captain Gordon himself, Jay Paulson, as well as the composer for DC High Volume Batman, the one and only Sam Ewing. But first, I want to bring out a man who has taught me more about Jim Gordon than I ever knew. I didn't know. I'm learning all new things about characters I've loved my whole life. I want to bring out the one and only Jay Paulson.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Was there a freedom in that for you? Absolutely.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Now, at this point in listening, we're early, early into Long Halloween. What's it been like as an actor to know as things develop, certain moments happen, but also need to feel that surprise of certain things happen and also the evolution of the character. But The Long Halloween, there's such a mystery element. There's such a journey you have to go on.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
is it hard to film out of order and find your way into certain moments?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
You literally got to get in the head of your character.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
You got to do like the actor's method, like you got to process and then externalize twice. Essentially, yeah. Did you have a different voice as you developed the internal that you were surprised the external change? Like, was there an aha moment of like, I have found Jim through the process of finding Jim?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
That's really interesting because I imagine with like screen-based mediums, you've got a different, one, the lack of chronology, but you've also got a little less freedom of just consciousness because you know your face that you're pulling is going to be on camera.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Was there any thing you found in doing something in voiceover that you're going to bring to the next project because there was a different uniqueness to that freedom?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Were there moments on relying, you're talking about the minutia and how, you know, you've got every little bit that we're hearing, but were there moments that influenced how you performed, Gordon, because you knew how small these little changes would be?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
We're sitting down with Jay Paulson. You know him from Mad Men, from Rust Creek, from Catch-22. He is our Jim, not yet Commissioner Gordon. How are you, man?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Like, is there anything that you did differently since you knew there wasn't a visual element to your performance that you might've done differently with just voice?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
In life, I always find there's interesting moments when you're like, oh, this is a new chapter. Like, ah, I've moved. Were there any of those where you're like, this isn't year one anymore?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
You were, Gordon. You were like, this is office. You know, yeah.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Now, this character is not only our eyeline, but he's also one of the few people that believes in Batman earlier on than most. He's such a unique position in Gotham, because I think without Gordon, the vigilante becomes a pure nuisance. Like we need Gordon kind of vouching as an audience. How do you personally perceive the Batman as a comic fan? And how do you think Gordon perceives Batman?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
I'm so excited to talk about this character. I was telling you before, this is one of the roles that immediately leapt out to me. It is so iconic. It is so big and robust, but it's also a character that is our eyeline. He's the human element in this increasingly larger-than-life series of characters. I have to know for you, what was your personal entry point into this world and into this character?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Yeah. I've loved that Gordon, to me, he's been portrayed so differently, so many different ways through so many different mediums. And it feels like there's always a new way to find Gordon. But your take is so specifically 20s, like it feels like the 1920s to me in the 2020s, but it's also so new and fresh.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Was there any, other than the Chicago, was there any slang or intonation or anything that you were looking for to make it specific to a radio drama? Because that to me feels so specific to this whole experience.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Right. Oh, I love that example. That's exactly what I was curious about.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Were there moments in the booth that you felt that that click into someone else? I know with acting, there are some times where I used to act and I remember being like, oh, the character happened. And were there moments that you got to remember yourself as a kid reading Commissioner Gordon going like this is an out of body experience? I'm Gordon right now.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
I love that you bring up the James Bowman because I have mentioned it and you didn't know this, but I've mentioned it every single time I've recorded talking about this show. The moment of the leap is to me the thing where I went, oh no, I have to be a part of this. Like I, in some way I must be involved because that to me somehow transcended a comic that I've loved for 30 years.
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
Now I got to experience it completed. I went in and I got to hear it all done. You've been there from the whole journey. How has it been hearing these episodes? Like you had all imagination for a lot of the score and the sound effects. What's it been like to actually experience the art completed?
DC High Volume: Batman
Interviews with Gordon Actor Jay Paulson & Composer Sam Ewing
oh, Jay Paulson's here. What a concept. So I love that for me, it is like being on a set. You've got this visual experience, or maybe you're using a green screen, or maybe you've got a blue screen. You've still got some visual cues, but for you, you're in a booth. You've got nothing except for the imagination. And to me, that's the experience of listening to it. I'm having mind's eye visuals of