Ben Marcus Rules

Years ago my fiance Joanne and I had tickets to the Chris Isaak show at the Greek in Berkeley. We were on the sand dunes at Ocean Beach in San Francisco and we saw Chris but he couldn’t even talk. I said “Hey pal, we have tickets, you gonna make it?” He nodded with pained eyes that he would. And then he did and he put on a great show - full-throated, running all over the gaffe. From raspy to rocking - croaking to crooning -  in a week.

Did you have anything to do with Chris Isaak’s vocal rehab? It was semi-miraculous.

I didn’t rehab Chris but I love his voice 

But that is what you do. Singers - and actors - come to you with wrecked vocal cords - their shows, tours, albums, careers, lives hanging by a thread - and you fix them. And apparently you are very good at that. A career-saver.

This is indeed what I do 🙂

I come from a musical family and in my experience, musical talent is hereditary/ancestral. My grandmother is Romanian/ Transylvanian (so is Perry Farrell, so that’s where the music comes from). She played the theater organ for silent movies. My dad played clarinet, saxophone and piano. My brother played trombone with Ray Charles for many years and his son Max composes orchestral, choir and church music. My younger brother Michael plays bass and was at Berkeley High School when they had the best jazz program in the country. He won a scholarship to New England Conservatory. I didn’t get any musical talent at all.

The funny thing is no one in my family on either side can sing or plays and instrument. I cannot figure out where my talent to sing came from. My father loved to sing and was musical but never a musician. He was an aerospace engineer who LOVED music.

In my experience, the Irish and Brazilians are the most musical people I’ve ever personally seen. What is your opinion on the most musical people as a nation?

Well as I was raised in Surrey, England in the 70’s I’m partial to Brit Bands :) I think they have some of the most talented artists.

So you are an English-type?

I was born in Glendale, California but we moved to England when I was a baby. We lived there till 1980. I had vibrato when I was a toddler and have been singing since the age of 6. I started playing guitar and singing at school in England and was discovered by my music teacher in grade school in 1980 when I returned to Huntington Beach, California where I went on to sing all the leading roles in the musical through high school.

I was Crystal in Little Shop of Horrors,  Maria in The Sound of Music and Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes (we won the Macy Award for best musical/vocalist although it was meant for colleges we made it as a high school production and won.) I was in operas at Long Beach Civic Light opera in support roles in college. I did Vox Lumiere - a rock opera - and performed at the Ford Theater in Los Angeles.

My younger brother played bass for Berkeley High when they had the best jazz program in the country. I was working in my hot dog wagon listening to the Monterey Jazz Festival when he won a scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music.

I received a music scholarship to Chapman University. I auditioned for the Chamber Singers as a freshman and made it. I was the only freshman to make the choir in its history. In the Chamber Singers I performed with them on tours across California each year. We had many concerts and I sang Mozart’s Requiem with the LA Honor Choir conducted by Dr Willliam Hall. We also made an acapella album in four-part harmony for Ned Rorem’s work. Produced and recorded in a church for the acoustics. Was a life changing experience.

Did you graduate with a degree in music?

I graduated with a BFA in Broadcast journalism of all things so it came in handy writing this book. I was in all the Chapman choirs and studied vocal performance with voice lessons etc… but I did not go for a full vocal performance degree as (ironically) at the time I didn’t see myself teaching.

I went into the music industry straight out of college and ended up working for Madonna's record label “Maverick” in the 90’s. I Learned a lot about the music biz. I had to take a break from singing on and off as I had vocal nodes. They first appeared when I was 17. No one seemed to be able to help me. I dove into as many vocal pathology books as I could, lived in Japan for a summer (then went back three times). I learned to cure myself, took my knowledge of singing and the anatomy and spent time with the top ENT’s in Los Angeles and learned how to rehab and others alike. My sights of being a contemporary singing star ended at 28 for good as I knew I was meant to teach and heal singers and anyone that had vocal issues. If I was going to abandon a career I had wanted my entire life, then I was going to be one of the most sought after teachers in the world. This was my goal at 28 and here I am now. 

Where you are now is detailed nicely nicely in your book. It’s an entertaining, interesting read. Can you give examples of singers who came to you in dire straits - tours postponed, studio time canceled -  and you coached/nursed them back to health?

I’ve had many but cannot name them of course. Some of these stories are in the book.

I like the story of the country singer who came to you with a big wad of dip in his cheek. You asked him to remove the dip before you got to work.

What is your vocal range?

I don't think about vocal range, I deal with placement. So a piece of music to me isn't high, it's just different and it’s richer. If it’s a lower piece of work (my vocal cords are thicker at the bottom of my register or the tomes are thinner and higher asd they stretch out longer to reach the notes) I guess you could say I can sing alto or soprano because I am trained to hit any note without tension.

What other singing have you done? Jazz? Rap? Rock and roll? Were you with bands?

I was in a band in High School.  We used to play at The Red Onion in Marina Del Rey and was approached by a record label when I was 18 but I still had vocal nodes so that fizzled away. I sang at church, led all the masses and sang weddings for a living throughout college.

Do you play instrument(s)?

A little piano and guitar.

Your bio says, “Valerie’s worked alongside the world’s top ear, nose, and throat surgeons to develop a methodology to rehabilitate singers at warp speed from vocal misuse and trauma.” 

Can you think of singers/actors whose careers just ended because of vocal cord damage? My brothers used to protect their fingers all the time.

I have had a few students that did not take my advice and ended up hemorrhaging with a permanent scar on their cords. They can sing and write around it but their career was never the same.

I’ve heard about auto-tune but don’t really know what that is all about. How much has technology effected what you do?

Social media has changed everything - sometimes not for the better.

Tik Tok stars getting management and some cases record deals ONLY because they have a song that went viral. They have no experience, sub-par voices and I m left scrambling to get them up to speed where back in the day these artists were performing for years in mall clubs and honing their craft. They ave never been on stage, used “in ears” they don’t play an instrument (not always but often) they cant even keep  sometimes keep pitch. Its really starting from scratch, building these artists at WARP speed not to hurt themselves physically and mentally.

Some of these artists are damaged. Some physically, some emotionally and/or both. I’m left picking up the pieces and dealing with the artist 360. Anatomically training them, vocal producing live shows, working with their producers recording their records and mental health-therapy is you will.

Many of my A list clients that have incredible talent face the same demons… It’s all very taxing and takes a certain kind of a teacher, person an talent to deal with all this aspects effectively and professionally.

You do voice rehab not just for singers, but for actors like Jeff Bridges, Vinny Jones, Sissy Spacek, Dennis Quaid, Andy Garcia and announcers like Joe Buck. I guess they have to worry about their vocals as well.

Have you ever seen an artist destroy their voice not singing but just doing an acting role? I wondered if Gillian Anderson wrecked her voice doing the throaty growl of Margaret Thatcher in The Crown.

These roles are dangerous for actors as they leave the job taking that role with them and it’s too much pressure on their voice and natural tone to sustain. It ends up giving them many issues.

Dennis Haysbert. The voice of All State. Glass-shattering baritone. 

Dennis has a wonderful speaking voice and can also sing well. I like working with him on the TV show “Lucifer.”

I think the original West Side Story is a masterpiece but I was really impressed with Steven Spielberg’s remake. He had to find artists who could sing, dance and act and they don’t exactly grow on trees.

Did you work with any of them?

Noone from WSS :)

What other shows? I guess what I’m trying to say is: “What have you done lately?”

I don’t perform anymore not because I don’t want to but because my studio is packed with singers and artists that I train. It would be impossible to be a mom of  twin teenage boys, work and do a show. I would need three of me. I have had many producers ask me to come sing in their studio so perhaps I will make time to do that but I am always so busy it seems impossible - but never say never.

How much time do you spend in recording studios and on TV and movie sets?

Depends on the month but usually about a quarter of the month is dedicated to shows, rehearsals and studio time with artists.

You clearly have had a lot of success with some highest-profile people. Is your dance card full or are you taking on new students?

I'm always taking new students as it's sometimes a revolving door. I have a few teachers that I train up that work for me to help with developing artists and take the overflow.

Do people have to audition for you to determine whether you will work with them?

Well I’ll take anyone that has a willing spirit and can carry a tune but yes these days if it's too much work from bottom up I will give them to one of my teachers.

Everyone out there wants to be a pro athlete or actor or singer or pro anything. With all the America’s Got Talent and X Factor shows and all that, there must be tremendous demand for what you do?

There is a demand for GREAT voice teachers not vocal coaches. We are not the same. Most coaches give tips or performance coach but they don’t all know the in’s and outs of specific anatomical training. Every singer is different.

Have you ever worked with someone who went on one of those talent shows?

I’ve worked with many of them. I train them alongside the show privately. Those shows work their people to death LOL. Not my thing… I would rather teach my separate students and see them shine.

How often do you work with a client? How many times a week or month and hours per session?

Usually once a week for 30 min or an hour if it’s needed.

Okay I looked at your client list: Sia, Sam Smith, Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus, Mel B, Joe Jonas, Shakira, Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne and Emmylou Harris are some of the names a Boomer recognizes but there are dozens of others.

In your book you are very discreet and use musical symbols like ♭ ♯ to hide the identities of musicians you have worked with. That’s clever and mysterious but still educational. Fun to try and guess who you are talking about.

I became aware of you because of 🦇 but I guess we can’t talk about that person. I’m curious where that million-dollar voice came from. How much of it is natural and how much of it is polished by you. Because 🦇’ latest song is operatic. That voice gives me chills. And I saw a video of 🦇 performing with ♭ and that voice was way off and not up to snuff.

You might not want to name names, but of all the people you worked with, who has impressed you with just raw, natural talent?

Olivia Rodrigo and Sam Smith, Avril Lavigne, Gary La Vox (Rascal Flatts), Reeve Carney (Spiderman, Hadestown, Penny Dreadful) are the ones that came to mind at the top but there are many more… These  are def at the top

Okay I just re-listened to Sam Smith. He’s got pipes. Same with🦇. There’s a lot of whiny singing out there, but she’s not one of them. Her notes give me chills.

And who has impressed you by ascending from not really talented to spectacular?

I would change “not really talented” to “raw” or “new,” but Noah Cyrus, Drew Taggart (Chainsmokers), Rupert Friend (Actor), Kelvin Harrsion Jr (Actor), Tai Verdes, Christina Perri.

Can you tell me who your top five or ten favorite singers are?

That I train or just in general??

Train, then general?

That I train: Sam Smith, OR, Luke Hemmings, Brendon Uri, Noah Cyrus, Bishop Briggs, Avril Lavigne, Nicholas Petricca (Walk The Moon), Judith Hill, Reeve Carney, Christina Perri, Emmylou Harris, (That's more than you asked for but…)

No problemo. In general, favorite singers?

In general - the list is so big: Sam Smith, Luke Hemmings, George Michael, Phil Collins, Steve Perry (back in the day), Gary Le Vox, Tori Amos, Alanis Morisette because she’s interesting. Most from the 80’s and some 90’s but too many to list haha…

I also have a list in my head of the top female artists, and the math is writing + composing + playing an instrument + performing + dancing. Joni Mitchell is my #1 but also in there are Madonna, Chrissie Hynde, Bjork, Norah Jones. I really like Beyonce. Who would be on your list?

New writers = Emily Warren, Amy Allen (I train them both). Sia, Madonna. 

For more information on Valerie Morehouse:

Valerie@valeriemorehouse.com - email

Valeriemorehouse.com - website

Officialvalmorehouse - Instagram