Mr. Downes was perhaps the person I was looking forward to the most this year. No stranger to Chicago, you can hear Downes on 97.1 The Drive, where he displays his vast knowledge and respect for rock music. For those unaware, Steve Downes is the voice of Master Chief of Halo, so he’s forever immortal. He also has a ton of commercial experience, you’d be amazed where you might hear his voice if you really listen.
He walked into the room, sun glasses on and sporting a leather jacket. After introducing himself he asked “So what do you guys do?” To which I replied jokingly without missing a beat “stalk you.” He gave a little smile and the session began.
Some upcoming projects include some voice work for a PC game. It’s been known that Downes has a background in music. As he stated, he was a “frustrated drummer” and eventually the band broke up. I asked him how he adjusted to the transition from music fans to geek fans. He replied with “it was an education.” The most interesting thing to me is that he didn’t start doing cons until after the release of Halo 3. His first convention was three years ago in Miami during Halloween, that was probably a little jarring to say the least. He credited Vic Mignogna with helping him understand what role he has at these events. This cracks me up as the two couldn’t be more opposite in personality. When asked if he identifies with Spartan John 117 Downes said “I don’t carry him around,” also adding that he didn’t think it would be psychologically healthy to do so.
Well, good to see you Mr. Downes, I'll be excited to running back into Master Chief this fall.
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