About Bill Kates

On the subject of Bill Kates’s cornucopia of award- winning audio skills and voices, Phil Proctor of The Firesign Theatre said “I think he’s enchanted.” Which helps explain how the man Lee Abrams calls “one of the best sound people on the planet” manages to give voice to and produce diverse projects. Bill has produced original voice recordings with diverse talents, from David Bowie to Robert Duvall. His sound design has graced the 2012 hit Star Wars Arcade iPhone game and major motion pictures.

With early training in acting and music, Bill’s career took off in 1988, when he left Boston’s legendary WBCN with an Armstrong Award under his belt and 12 years on the air, to direct production for New York City’s K-Rock. Once ensconced at the home base of Howard Stern, this “producer’s producer” was key to the sound that kept K-Rock at the top of the charts for more than 8 years, and drove him to outside projects with people like U2 (“Zoo Radio”), Terry Gilliam (“The Fisher King”), and Neil Young (“Year of the Horse”). John Lennon’s producer, Jack Douglas, sought out Bill’s musically minded ear to co-write, co-direct and co-produce his “Mob Story” Hip-Hopera.

Kates moved from K-Rock to Public radio for a few years, then found his way to the stewardship of XM Satellite Radio’s New York production studios in 2001. As XM’s Senior Director of Production in the city, Bill oversaw the sound of XM’s ground-breaking comedy channels, as well as making the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s channels swing with his unique “retro” style jingles. Oh yeah, did we mention he also does jingles?

Now, in Hollywood, California with his own “Soundpup” studio and dozens of happy clients around the world, Bill Kates’s familiar voice is treasured as “ridiculously flexible”, and the most common thing he hears from those new to his work is “wait, THAT’S him, too?”. His youthful yet classically trained voice is ageless, his production skills without parallel, and his imagination and energy remain boundless.