Biography
Dave Sebastian Williams: Dave started his life as a small child some 25 miles South of the Golden Gate Bridge, born in San Mateo, California. By 5 years of age he knew his way to San Jose, 35 miles further South and was raised in what he calls his hometown, East San Jose, CA. Shortly thereafter he ventured into a 4th grade music class setting himself on a path to becoming a drummer / percussionist. Growing up, music, sports and performing were always a big part of his life cementing the attributes of structure and perseverance and learning that teamwork is an essential discipline of life. Throughout High School, Dave played in numerous Rock and Soul Bands in the San Francisco Bay Area and enjoyed the proceeds of being a young all star baseball player, as well as lettering in Tennis. While in High School Dave also held down 25 hours-a-week as a grocery clerk for 3 different local Mom & Pop corner stores. During football season he was the Marching Band's Drum Major for Friday Night Lights and as many Holiday Parades. It was his junior year when following a standout performance in the high school's annual "Dance Band" event, "An Evening Of Tomorrow's Music", that Dave was presented with an in-person invite to join a USO Show Tour. He accepted and became the tour's youngest member, soon to be drumming, singing & dancing on a successful USO Show tour of France, Italy and Germany performing for our deserving service men and women. This USO tour kept Dave from attending all but the last 10 days of his Senior year's first semester. Upon return, he studied, took his Finals, passed and started his last semester of high school and graduated on time.
At the end of his Senior Summer he enrolled in a vocational school, William B. Ogden's Radio Operational Engineering School in Huntington Beach, CA for 12-16 weeks of study in preparation of taking the US Federal Communications Commission, First Class Radiotelephone Operators License test. Once completed, he passed the test and received his FCC License. His promising career as a musician took 2nd-Chair as Dave was now employable to radio stations across the US. He applied himself and chose to talk-up intros of Top-40 songs as a radio disc jockey. The ensuing 30 years of Radio Broadcasting ('68-'98) mainly in California he was on-the-air 5-6 days-a-week as he enjoyed over 20 station's On-Air Booths including the LA Market's 1190-KEZY, 93/KHJ, 102.7 KIIS FM, Ten-Q, 64 KFI and K-EARTH 101 to mention a few. During this SoCal period he was also sole owner of Sebastian Ads an advertising agency in Orange County California and Co-Founder and Partner in Studio West Productions, provider of music programming to radio stations around the world.
Once in Hollywood ('71), he studied Acting and worked hard to earn his AFTRA & SAG memberships. As an Actor, like many, Dave auditioned for hundreds and has appeared in numerous Films and Television programs. Most notable, as Surf Sam in the cult film The Hollywood Knights. His TV credits include Punky Brewster, Murphy Brown, Sisters, Picket Fences, Lois & Clark-Superman, Step by Step, Rules of Engagement, Monk and all episodes of the short lived FOX series Hard Ball to name a few. The daily syndicated game show Face The Music Starring Ron Ely hired him as the show's Announcer and to provide audience warm-up at their 5-shows-a-day tapings. In the fall of 1984, the National Basketball Association San Diego Clippers moved to Los Angeles and became the LA Clippers. After Announcing court-side for only 1 quarter of an out-of-town preseason / exhibition game, Dave was chosen to become the teams LA Sports Arena Announcer for their very first home game that inaugural LA season and he stayed employed with the NBA Clippers throughout their '90-'91 season. Dave was also the Musical Director/Supervisor for the network TV shows, Jam Bay-ABC and Friends & Lovers-NBC.
His lifelong drumming even put him on an Anaheim Stadium Center Field Concert Stage in September 1972 as guest drummer for The Haywoods, opening for the Osmonds. Opportunity knocked again and Dave answered as the drummer a couple-nights-a-week for a band wrangled by Lee Farrell, the Righteous Brothers Band stalwart and father to a young Will Farrell. Upon occasion Dave was the light-comedy opener for Righteous Brother Bill Medley at his solo concerts as well ... and years later ... he remembers many long evenings at Ringo's Sunset Plaza home, early in the Ms. Bach relationship era, where Dave actually sat at "The Ed Sullivan Show" set of drums and traded musical-8's with Mr. Starr on occasion.
The art of Voice Over Acting has always been a continuing theme in Dave's employment during and since his Radio career. Dave is one to always support fellow performers, especially during his tireless 18 years of Weekly VO workshops coaching some of today's most recognizable voice over industry professionals. Over the years the Union's of SAG, AFTRA and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences have invited Dave to help facilitate Actors with VO workshops, seminars, lectures and tutorial work-groups providing the nuances of Voice Acting.
From 1979-'81, as the Announcer for the TV game show Face The Music Starring Ron Ely, Dave found some free time to open a Post Production Recording Studio on the Sunset Strip. Over the years that one studio facility grew to three Studios, Dave & Dave Recording Studios in Toluca Lake near Universal Studios. With one of his former Commercial Agents, who later became his wife, Terri Turco Williams, they also published a VO Industry Directory. For over two decades their Voice Over Resource Guide (Newsstand and Online) has been a VO Industry standard for Los Angeles and with the Internet, branching out across the US.
Selling both businesses in 2018, Dave now enjoys Business-Ownership-Retirement yet still Voicing daily for clients world wide. He's been part of campaigns for Commercials, Promos, Narrations, Award Shows, Politicals & PACs, TV & Radio Imaging and pretty much any production, recorded or live, where the spoken word is needed. The main difference today is Dave's personal Voice Over Studio (right next to his drum room) is located in their home in the Palm Springs / Coachella Valley where he and Terri spend about 75% of their year.
