Today we’d like to introduce you to Robyn and Mike Needham.
Robyn and Mike, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Mike and I met while we were both working for Norwegian Cruise Lines. He was a musician on the ship playing trombone for the jazz sets and evening staged shows and I was on the cruise staff hosting trivia, pool games, karaoke, etc.
Our first date was actually in Costa Maya, Mexico. We bought chicken from this guy that was grilling it in front of his house and then ate it in his living room because it was raining outside. It was an adventure and we just had so much fun being together.
Mike had been working for the cruise lines for five years and I was just coming from working in South Korea for a children’s ESL theatre company. Prior to being overseas, I was performing at theme parks and different dinner theaters around Florida.
After about three months of dating, we planned to move to Texas so Mike could finish college and I actually went through an alternative certification program so I could teach. I’ve been teaching elementary theatre in Keller for seven years and Mike is the choir director at John Adams Middle School in Grand Prairie.
We started our company, The Needham House, in 2018. At first, we wrote elementary music programs and then that evolved to writing more advanced music for Mike’s choirs. Last year Mike began to study film scoring with the Berklee College of Music Online and has composed for a few local film projects. At the same time, I was building my voiceover business and now we are in full swing offering composition and voiceover services.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
No, not at all. It’s been a very hard road to be on. When we came to Texas we had nothing. We didn’t have jobs, I didn’t have a car, we had very little money and Mike needed to go back to college to finish his degree. It was kind of a mess but we started to make a plan. We have come a long, long way in those ten years.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I record voiceovers for commercials, eLearning projects, and explainer videos just to name a few. I work out of my home studio in Grapevine and you can find demos of my work on my website.
I’m also involved with the acting community and have worked on several local film projects over the past few years. I like playing the character roles that offer a bit of comedy relief to the script. I think that comes from my musical theatre background and just my interest in those stories.
Mike composes music for both live musicians and virtual settings. Much of his recent work is geared toward the education sector which, being a choir director, he’s quite passionate about. In November the Region 22 All-Region Treble Choir (under the direction of one of his music teachers from 30 years ago—really, 30 years!) performed his recent work “Spring Morning” with an enthusiastic reception from the singers and audience members alike.
That said, he equally loves working with virtual instruments in a digital audio workstation creating music for films, web series, and podcasts. He’s even recorded whistling for a film in Korea! He likens his virtual orchestrations to sculpting; a computer is not the same as an orchestra, and it takes a lot of craftsmanship to fashion a piece of music in an artful way. It’s especially rewarding for him to collaborate with directors in ways that bring their visions to life.
The Needham House originally grew out of our work together as composer and lyricist. As much as Mike loves to write music, he’s happy to turn over the lyrics to me and it’s still something I enjoy doing. Together we’ve written children’s choral music, an elementary musical, and a song we sent out to students in the 2019-2020 school year called “I’m Cheering You On.”
How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
We work with a variety of clients. If you’re a director, podcaster or looking for sheet music for your choir please take a look at our website and reach out to Mike directly. I work with video producers, eLearning developers and advertising agencies. I’d love to talk to you about being the voice behind your next great project!
Contact Info:
- Email: mike@theneedhamhouse.com and robyn@theneedhamhouse.com
- Website: (Composition) www.theneedhamhouse.com and (Voiceover) www.robynneedham.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theneedhamhouse
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCLNQocNJMpX-pyFPPUCbHA
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/mike-needham
