Like Winning The Lottery: An Interview with Voice Actor & Musician Paul Dateh

Paul Dateh is an actor, singer, songwriter, and voice actor. He is probably best known to A-to-J readers as the voice of Wakana Gojo from My Dress-Up Darling. Other than that role though, he's an accomplished musician who went viral with the video "Hip Hop Violin", and whose work can be heard on Miley Cyrus' albums "Younger Now" and "Bangerz". He also recently released his third album, "Healing". We were lucky enough to catch up to him recently at San Diego Anime Con and discussed his start in voice acting, his other projects, and the differences between creating music and voice work. Fans of Paul, or those who are learning about him for the first time, will want to read on and check out all the links at the end!

A-to-J: Thank you for the interview! Could you please introduce yourself?
Paul: Hello, my name is Paul Dateh. Thank you for having me.

A-to-J: Thank you so much, Paul. Glad to have you here. What motivated you to do voice work or voice acting?
Paul: I’ve always been interested, and I finally got a chance to try it, so I’m really happy to be here.
A-to-J: That’s cool. So, you would say you wanted to broaden your horizons; try to expand your scope?
Paul: Yeah.

A-to-J: Were you doing more acting work or behind the scenes work in the entertainment industry before getting into voice acting?
Paul: Yes. I’m originally a musician. I’ve been a musician for most of my life and I’ve done a lot of different work in the entertainment industry as a PA for commercials, audio engineer for theater, and now I get to be on the acting side as talent so I’m excited to be here.

A-to-J: That’s great and it’s great getting to meet you. I got more familiar with you when I heard you as Wakana Gojo in My Dress-Up Darling. I wish I could pronounce the Japanese title better as I feel like it fits more for Gojo’s character in the original Japanese title. 
Paul: Yeah, Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru.
A-to-J: How was your audition for that? Was there any particular character you wanted outside of Gojo? How did that work out?
Paul: I didn’t know what to expect. It was an open call audition so I just submitted for…. The only role to audition for was Wakana so I just submitted thinking: “Hey, at least you’ll get to hear my voice. This is my first time auditioning, so if I get called in for a bit part with just a couple lines I’d be happy. Like that’s the start of my career.” But, when I got called in, they told me I was gonna be Wakana so I was like: “Oh! Okay.”
A-to-J: Oh, wow!
Paul: We really hit the ground running with the very first thing so it’s been magical. It’s been a beautiful experience.

A-to-J: That’s incredible! I’ve heard a little bit here and there about how different people approach their auditions which is why I asked. Sometimes, I hear that there’s people that go in for very specific characters, and then they get a different character all together. How many projects would you say you’ve auditioned for related to anime that you’ve gotten into? This one is also a mouthful of a title in Japanese, but I know it’s the zombie anime that’s currently on Netflix. 
Paul: Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead. I’m not part of the anime; I’m part of the live-action film for that.
A-to-J: You were part of the live-action film for that?
Paul: In the dub. I’m very fortunate to voice Akira Tendo in the live-action version of Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead.

A-to-J: In terms of your work as a musician, is there any particular project that you’re really proud to have been with, or that you know is really popular that you’ve contributed to?
Paul: As a musician or even as a voice actor or in general?
A-to-J: Yes, as a musician or in general.
Paul: Sure. Honestly, the first job I ever got booked for was My Dress-Up Darling so that’s a really special event. It’s like winning the lottery. Everyone only gets one first time, and I’m so lucky that it’s an incredible first time. It’s a really big highlight moment for me, and it inspires me to keep going, keep trying because I’m just lucky to have a job voicing an amazing character like this on an amazing show with a great team of people. Emily Fajardo, our director, is a genius and AmaLee is amazing. It’s just wonderful, and I would love to keep going.

A-to-J: I feel like you also bring a real wholesomeness to the character himself. Do you feel that there’s any difference when you’re getting ready for a character, like when you’re in the sound booth versus when you’ve done work as a musician?
Paul: Sure. Overall, I think my commitment to doing the best I can is the same, but of course the skill set is different so rewiring the things that I know to help me in acting has been what I’ve been practicing and really working on. Thankfully, because of music I have good instincts, emotional instincts to inform the character choices, but learning the actual skills to refine them and to really dial things in is something I’ve wanted to improve on. I’ve had some great teachers that have taught me a lot of really amazing techniques. So I’d like to say that I’m even better than I was on my first day. I mean, I hope so. I better be.  
Yeah, I’m really excited. I hope there’s a season two for our show [Editor’s Note: A continuation of the anime was announced in September 2022. No word on what form that takes as of writing.] because I’d really love to show how much more I’ve learned, and I love that I have that in common with Gojo because he was really feeling nervous and hesitant about whether or not he was good at making outfits for Marin. I was also feeling nervous if I was doing a good job for the show. Thankfully, people that watched the show have been incredibly and really encouraging and supportive. I feel very much like Gojo, where everyone is like Marin taking my hand and pulling me into this wonderful community. I feel so welcome. It’s been an amazing experience. I want to keep getting better so I can share that with everybody.

A-to-J: That’s so incredible. Just on some closing thoughts, do you watch a lot of anime?
Paul: I try but there’s so much out there.
A-to-J: I agree. There’s so many shows that even I find it hard to keep up.
Paul: If I have time to watch a show, I want to be able to dedicate my full attention to it because so many people work hard on these things. So I’ve been trying, when I have a vacation coming up, I have a list of shows that I really want to watch and maybe rewatch too, so we’ll see. There’re so many good ones out there but the last one I did get to see the full season was Ranking of Kings.
A-to-J: Oh, I’ve heard about that one.
Paul: Every episode made me cry. That show is so beautiful. It’s beautifully animated. The voice acting is spectacular both in English and in Japanese so it’s worth watching everything twice. I’m definitely Team Subs and Dubs.

A-to-J: Is there any other show that you’re watching that you’d like to become a part of it if there’s more of it to watch?
Paul: I don’t want to be that brave yet. I’m just happy to be here and any team that wants me to be a part of their operation, I would be honored.
A-to-J: You are so humble and amazing. [Paul laughs] Thank you again, Paul.
Paul: Thank you for having me.
A-to-J: Do you have any social media that you would like people to follow you at?  
Paul: Yes, please. @PaulDateh on all the socials. I also have a new album because I’m still a musician so I have a new album that I just put out a month ago. It’s called Healing. I really hope you like it.  
A-to-J: We’ll try to have all that linked up in the description below. [And above!] Healing? We could all use healing. [Paul laughs] Thank you again.

We'd like to thank Paul Dateh for the interview and we strongly encourage everyone to check him out via the links below, especially his latest album "Healing". As always, keep an eye out for more from Paul in the future! Also, special thanks to San Diego Anime Con for this opportunity!

For More Information on Paul Dateh:
Website: https://pauldateh.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/pauldateh
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pauldateh
X: https://twitter.com/pauldateh
New Album "Healing": https://open.spotify.com/album/7snh9MThrhM4k8YxH4YeHi

The above interview was conducted by Josh Cruz. Transcription and editing by Jeffery Kelly.