GROOVE GUILD
ETHAN JOHNSON
Composer / Producer / Guitar Player
Ethan Johnson is a music producer, songwriter, and guitarist from NY, working in LA. As a guitarist, he’s performed on notable internet performance series, NPR Tiny Desk. Additionally, Ethan has produced music for artists such as Audrey Nuna, Trevor Spitta, 3ee, and many others. After his recent move to LA, Ethan has opened a studio in North Hollywood and is focusing on his production duo, 2DUMB, with popular hip-hop producer Babbis (Rich the Kid, Armani White). 2DUMB has an
exciting year ahead with lots of music coming out from artists such as 3ee, Ella Rosa, Trevor Spitta, Celine Wanyi, and many more.
BRIAN LANGMAN
Senior Audio Mixer / Sound Designer
at MCM Creative
Brian Langman is a prolific sound designer and re-recording mixer with over two decades of creative audio post experience. His repertoire boasts an impressive body of work including feature films, documentaries, television, theatrical productions and speciality museum installations. After graduating from NYU Brian spent the next four years as chief sound engineer at Cynergy Communications Inc. in NYC.
In 2015, Brian joined forces with ProMediaNYC, a post production facility in the heart of New York City that provides the complete post production package for sound design, mixing, total picture finishing, titling, and color correction.
His credit list covers everything from large studio features for directors like Lasse Halstrom, Tony Gilroy, and Harold Ramis, to indie features like “Secretary” and the Sundance winner “The Believer”. Other notable film projects include “Drumline” for Charles Stone, the documentary “Brothers Keeper” for Joe Berlinger, “Analyze That” for Harold Raymus and “The Hoax” for Lasse Hallström. Recently, Brian has done work for Google, and Bank of America.
Brian also has a long standing creative relationship with The American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium, having created sound design work for multiple planetarium shows, including the planetarium’s newest show, “Encounters in the Milky Way.”
Supervision
Music supervision aligns creative vision with real-world constraints. Groove Guild collaborates with teams from initial spark to final selection, guiding iconic syncs like the first commercial use of Simon & Garfunkel’s "The Sound of Silence," a rare David Bowie demo, and The Beatles’ "Let It Be." Once chosen, we navigate the complex rights, relationships, and clearances to bring the work to life.
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Special Projects
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BECCA STEVENS
Singer/Songwriter
Twice GRAMMY-nominated singer/songwriter Becca Stevens blends her Appalachian and classical roots with jazz, folk, pop, and world music influences, creating a genre-defying sound marked by luminous vocals and mastery of multiple string instruments.
Since founding the Becca Stevens Band in 2006, she’s toured internationally and collaborated with artists including David Crosby (as a member of his Lighthouse Band), Jacob Collier, Michael League, Taylor Eigsti, and the Secret Trio. Her work with Attacca Quartet and violist Nathan Schram earned her a 2023 GRAMMY nomination, and she’s appeared on projects with Brad Mehldau, Chris Thile, Gretchen Parlato, Laura Mvula, and others.
Her latest album, Maple to Paper (GroundUP, 2024), is a raw and intimate collection recorded live without overdubs, reflecting on grief and transformation with stripped-down guitar and vocal performances, mixed by longtime collaborator Nic Hard.
In 2024, Stevens made her Broadway debut in ILLINOISE, the Sufjan Stevens-inspired musical by Justin Peck and Jackie Sibblies Drury. She is currently touring across Asia, Europe, and the U.S., continuing her path as an adventurous, emotionally resonant artist and storyteller.
BERNIE WILLIAMS
Musician/Professional Baseball Player
Bernabé Williams Figueroa Jr. (born September 13, 1968) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player and current musician. He played his entire 16-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the New York Yankees from 1991 through 2006.
A center fielder, Williams was a member of four World Series championship teams with the Yankees. He ended his career with a .297 batting average, 287 home runs, 1,257 runs batted in (RBI), 1,366 runs scored, 449 doubles, and a .990 fielding percentage. He was a five-time All-Star and won four Gold Glove Awards, a Silver Slugger Award, the American League (AL) batting title in 1998, and the 1996 AL Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award. Known for his consistency and postseason heroics, Williams is one of the most beloved Yankees.
The team honored him by retiring his uniform number 51 and dedicating a plaque to him in Monument Park in May 2015. Williams is widely regarded as one of the greatest switch-hitting center fielders in history. Williams is also a classically trained guitarist. Following his retirement from baseball, he has released two jazz albums. He was nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2009.
REINHARD DENKE
Reinhard Denke, a graduate of USC Cinema School, is a thirty-year veteran of the music/sound design industry. He’s founded three pivotal music post-production houses – Primal Scream, stimmüng and Sound Industries. Denke has worked with Robert Miller since 2003 when they began their twenty-two-year creative collaboration. Denke has won numerous AICP awards for excellence in sound design as well as Clios.
Music for brands,
film and culture.
At its core, Groove Guild is built around three disciplines: music supervision, original composition, and music strategy. The work ranges from securing some of the world's most iconic music for the most recognizable brands in advertising to award-winning original composition across advertising and film. Underpinning all of it is a depth of expertise, strong relationships, and a high level of trust across the music and creative industries that can only be earned over time.
Al Risi founded Groove Guild in 2013 after a career spent at major and independent labels, in music publishing, in artist management, and at leading music houses. That range of experience sharpened his creative instinct and his ability to navigate the deals and relationships that make ambitious ideas possible for many Fortune 500 brands in some of their biggest moments.
It makes him equally comfortable in a creative conversation or a nuanced negotiation.
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