Sr. audio mixing engineer Greg Geitzenauer, who’s played a key role in the finishing of assorted award-winning TV spots and ad campaigns, has joined the music and sound company Grey Ghost.
In addition to bringing aboard Geitzenauer, who joins from Rumble, Grey Ghost has tapped Laurel Turek as producer. Furthermore the studio has unveiled two new audio post suites, which will allow it to better serve its agency clients and offer a wider range of services beyond original music composition, music supervision and sound design.
“In order to make the most of our new studios, we needed a really accomplished mixer,” said Brack Herfurth, Grey Ghost’s founder and creative director. “That’s why we’re thrilled to have Greg become part of our team. He brings a level of professionalism and experience that’s highly valued. And bringing on Laurel is a great plus as well; she knows the market, she knows our clients and she’s the perfect complement to Greg’s deep connections and knowledge.”
Geitzenauer says he joined Grey Ghost to be part of Herfurth’s building process. “They’re an upstart with a lot of momentum, and I like that,” he said. “What Brack is doing here holds tremendous potential. There’s lots of energy, lots of fuel that can be ignited. We shared clients, and they all held both Brack and Grey Ghost in high regard.”
Geitzenauer’s audio career began in Los Angeles, where he moved after graduating from Full Sail University to take an internship at Track Record. During his time there he advanced to assistant, then freelance first engineer. The studio had mixed tracks for bands like Jane’s Addiction and the Red Hot Chili Peppers; when a second engineer was needed to work a mix session with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, Geitzenauer was handed the assignment. He went on to record and mix for other hip hop stars such as Tupac and Warren G.
As he became more focused on mixing for video, he joined 4MC in Burbank as a stage recordist and sound editor. While there he worked on audio for a variety of network TV series and some independent features before relocating to Minneapolis in 2000 to join Babble-On Studios, where he mixed commercials for the city’s agency community, among other projects. Ads he’s mixed have won awards at the Radio Mercury Awards and the One Show, as well as the Best in Show at the local Minneapolis Ad Fed Show. He’s also mixed two Grammy-nominated singles.
Turek joins Grey Ghost from the mix and recording studio SisterBoss. Prior to that she was with BWN Music, both of which are based in Minneapolis. “I believe that sound is touch at a distance, and I love how the right music can elevate any creative project,” she said.
Herfurth launched Grey Ghost in 2014 after spending six years at such local music and audio houses as Modern Music and Egg Music. He opened the studio, he said, based on his observation that a better product could be delivered, with more resources devoted to the composers, by working with freelance talents rather than having a roster of them on staff.
“Staff composers are very talented musicians and producers, but they don’t always excel in every facet of music thrown at them,” he explained. “If the in-house composers fall short, freelance composers are usually tapped to fill in the gaps. In my experience, the freelancers create very rich and memorable music. Since many of my friends are freelance composers, I wanted to create a company that would allow me to work directly with them. Utilizing our roster of freelance talents provides our clients with unique music opportunities for each project.”
A year after launching Grey Ghost, Herfurth moved into the offices of Ditch Edit, which allowed him to collaborate more closely with Ditch’s editors and artists while also providing an independent base to partner with other area post studios. Demand for additional services from Grey Ghost’s clients, such as recording, mixing and sound design, sent him looking for a larger space. As it happened, he was able to expand into an adjacent suite at Ditch.
Herfurth said Grey Ghost now mixes spots for which it doesn’t provide any music or sound design, “and that was my goal in expanding the studio, recruiting Greg and adding Laurel,” he said.
