Gray Gleason

NATIVE SOUNDING ACCENTS USA - NEW YORK, HAWAIIAN, JERSEY, MASSACHUSETTS, NEW ENGLAND - SOUTHERN GENTLEMAN AND SOUTHERN 'CRACKER' REDNECK, HAWAII LOCAL, CALIFORNIA "VALLEY" - TEXAS - OUT WEST PROSPECTOR TYPE. CLASSIC HUMPHREY BOGART DETECTIVE - AND A GREAT SANTA CLAUS. HAWAIIAN, POLYNESIAN, AND "HAWAII PIDGIN" ACCENTS MEXICAN (SPEAKS SPANISH) - "TEXICAN" - ARGENTINIAN. CHINESE AND JAPANESE ACCENTS - EAST INDIAN, BENGALI... AUSTRALIAN, BRITISH (3 OR 4 DIFFERENT ONES), COCKNEY. CARTOON SOUNDING ACCENTS (NOT NATIVE, BUT A BIT 'OVER THE TOP' - GOOD FOR FUN STUFF). RUSSIAN (LIKE BORIS BADINOV). MEXICAN - SPEEDY GONZALEZ. GERMAN, ITALIAN, FRENCH, EAST INDIAN, IRISH, SCOTCH, CANADIAN *(GREAT WHITE NORTH) - JAPANESE, CHINESE, WESTERN COWBOY, ED WINN (REMEMBER THE "MAD HATTER" IN ALICE IN WONDERLAND?) - MILITARY (GEORGE C SCOTT) - AND MANY MORE...

IN MORE THAN 30 YEARS OF VOICE WORK AND VOICE ACTING, DIRECTING AND PRODUCING, GRAY HAS WORKED WITH AND FOR SOME THE LARGEST AD AGENCIES IN THE WORLD - MC CANN ERICSON, LEO BURNET, OGILVY AND MATHER, SAACHI, DENTSU, Y AND R, JWT, BBDO, AND MANY MANY MORE. A FEW OF HIS EFFORTS HAVE BEEN NOMINATED FOR CLIO AWARDS - AND HE'S EVEN WON AN RAB AWARD AND A FEW OTHER LOCAL AND NATIONAL AWARDS - THE POINT BEING THAT AT LEAST SOMEONE THOUGHT IT WAS PRETTY GOOD STUFF. HAVING SPENT ABOUT 20 YEARS WORKING IN RADIO, AUDIO PRODUCTION, AND ADVERTISING, IN THE UNITED STATES, GRAY DID VOICE WORK FOR SUCH CLIENTS AS BANK OF HAWAII, FORD MOTORS, HAWAIIAN AIRLINES, UNITED AIRLINES, BANK OF AMERICA, STANDARD OIL OF CALIFORNIA, TEXACO, SEARS, CHRYSLER, COKE, AND MANY OTHERS. THAT'S WHERE HE LEARNED THE 'SECRET CODES' OF AUDIO AND VOICE DIRECTION ("CAN YOU SLOW IT DOWN AND WARM IT UP A BIT - AND SHAVE ABOUT 2 SECONDS OFF THE READ") YES! LEARNING THE SUBTLETIES OF THESE OFTEN CONTRADICTORY DIRECTIONS IS PARAMOUNT IF ONE WANTS TO BE CALLED BACK - ESPECIALLY BY AN AGENCY. IN ASIA, OVER THE LAST 15 YEARS, HE'S DONE TRADE SHOW AND SALES VIDEOS, PRODUCT ROLL-OUTS, RADIO AND TELEVISION COMMERCIALS, AND EVEN LAPTOP MAINTENANCE VOICE-OVERS FOR SUCH CLIENTS AS ACER, ASUS, HEWLET PACKARD, TOSHIBA, SIEMANS SHIPPING, NOKIA, FRIDAYS RESTAURANTS, HARD ROCK CAFE, MOTOROLA, INTEL, PCI PAINTS, DUTCH BOY PAINTS, CHEVROLET, FORD, NISSAN, TOYOTA, CADILLAC, MITSUBISHI, CHRYSLER, MERCEDES, SYM, KYMCO, AND YAMAHA MOTORS. HSBC BANK, UNITED AIRLINES, PHILIPPINE AIRLINES, CHINA TRUST BANK. HE'S ALSO DONE NARRATION FOR PARADISE TELEVISION IN HAWAII, JASON'S MARKETPLACE, WELCOME SUPERMARKETS (ASIA'S LARGEST), WATSONS DRUGS, COSTCO, AND EVEN THE GOVERNMENT OF TAIWAN (PLAYED IN THE USA - THEIR BID TO JOIN THE U.N.) AS A SIDE NOTE, GRAY ALSO TAUGHT, COACHED, AND DIRECTED VOICE WORK FOR THE SCREEN ACTOR'S GUILD (HE WAS ONCE A MEMBER) AND PRIVATE CLASSES WHILE LIVING IN THE STATES. ALTHOUGH HE GOT INTO RADIO RIGHT OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL, GRAY DIDN'T REALLY BEGIN WORKING AS A VOICE ARTIST FOR ABOUT 10 YEARS. HE SAYS, "IT TOOK ME THAT LONG TO UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A STYLIZED "RADIO" READ - WHICH CAME EASILY TO ME - AND A WARM, HONEST, "CONVERSATIONAL" READ." MANY YEARS AGO, GRAY BEGAN WORKING AT A SMALL RADIO STATION IN HAWAII, THEN MOVED TO CALIFORNIA, WHERE HE WORKED WITH KMET AND KPPC IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (LOS ANGELES AND PASADENA) Two of the nation's pioneers in "underground rock" radio - AFTER A NUMBER OF YEARS IN CALIFORNIA RADIO/AUDIO PRODUCTION, HE FOUND HIMSELF BACK IN HAWAII RUNNING THE SOUND STUDIO FOR ONE OF HONOLULU'S TOP VIDEO PRODUCTION COMPANIES (QDD). AT THAT TIME, THE DIGITAL AGE WAS JUST DAWNING, AND GRAY HAD TO LEARN TO DO AUDIO FOR VIDEO USING TAPE RECORDERS AND (EVENTUALLY) SMPTE TIME CODE, EDITING WAS DONE WITH A RAZOR BLADE, AND MULTI-TRACK RECORDING WAS - WELL, DIFFERENT, VERY DIFFERENT THAN IT IS TODAY. IN 1992, AFTER WORKING WITH BOTH TOP AGENCIES, AND COACHING AND DIRECTING VOICE TALENT FOR OVER 12 YEARS, HE DECIDED THAT ASIA WAS "CALLING ME" - AND HE TOOK A JOB AS CREATIVE/PRODUCTION DIRECTOR AT ICRT RADIO, ONE OF ASIA'S LARGEST PRIVATE RADIO STATIONS. THERE, AS A SIDELINE, GRAY DID VOICE WORK FOR SOME OF ASIA'S - AND EUROPE'S - BIGGEST COMPANIES. EVERYTHING FROM NARRATING VIDEO PRESENTATIONS TO CHARACTERS AND TAG ANNOUNCEERS ON REGIONAL TV ADS THAT WOULD PLAY ALL OVER THE GREATER CHINA AREA. IN HIS CAPACITY AS IMAGING AND PRODUCTION DIRECTOR, HE DEVELOPED AND WROTE, VOICED, AND PRODUCED THE IMAGING FOR THE STATION FOR 15 YEARS. ICRT IS TAIWAN'S ONLY ENGLISH RADIO STATION, AND HAS AN ESTIMATED AUDIENCE OF NEARLY 500,000 IN A RADIO MARKET OF ABOUT 10 MILLION (ALL CHINESE SPEAKERS!) - AND THEY HAVE FIRMLY OWNED A TOP 5 POSITION IN THE RATINGS THE ENTIRE TIME GRAY WAS THERE. IN ADDITION TO THESE PROJECTS, HE ALSO WORKED WITH THE MONTANA TRADE OFFICE, THE BRITISH EMBASSY, AND THE MALAYSIAN AND THAILAND TOURISM OFFICES - PRODUCING "PODCASTS" WHICH THEY HAVE PUT ON THEIR WEB-SITES. GRAY BELATEDLY TOOK SOME ONLINE COLLEGE COURSES WHILE IN ASIA, AND IN 1999 RECEIVED HIS DIPLOMA (IN BROADCAST COMMUNICATIONS) FROM TRINITY COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY. SINCE LEAVING ICRT, GRAY ENJOYS A KIND OF "SEMI RETIREMENT - BUT TO KEEP BUSY, HE'S BUILT HIS OWN STUDIO - WHERE HE STILL DOES WORK FOR A NUMBER OF CLIENTS, INCLUDING A MAUI TV STATION, ICRT IN TAIWAN, TV STATIONS IN THE STATES, A RADIO STATION IN BANGKOK, THAILAND, AND A COMPUTER GAMING COMPANY IN SHANGHAI CHINA. I HAVE A CUSTOM-MADE DESK TOP COMPUTER THAT WAS PUT TOGETHER WITH AUDIO IN MIND. NO I DON'T USE PRO-TOOLS! MY PREFERRED AUDIO SOFTWARE IS SONY VEGAS AND SOUND FORGE - ALTHOUGH I CAN DIG UP ADOBE AUDITION IN CASE I NEED IT. IN ADDITION TO THIS, I ALSO HAVE MY "STUDIO ON THE GO". A FABULOUS ASUS LAPTOP WITH AN OUTBOARD SOUND CARD, AND MIXER. I CAN PUT EVERYTHING INTO A SMALL SUITCASE, AND BE READY TO RECORD, 24 BIT, 48 KHZ ANYTIME, ANYWHERE AT THE DROP OF A HAT! HAVE STUDIO - WILL TRAVEL. . . I USE SHURE, AUDIO TECHNICA, SONY AND AKG MICROPHONES, AND I CAN DELIVER TOP-NOTCH BROADCAST AUDIO TO YOUR COMPUTER IN A FLASH, USING YOUSENDIT.COM, EMAIL, OR FTP. IF YOU WANT TO LISTEN IN, I'LL SKYPE YOU (AT MY EXPENSE) AND YOU CAN LISTEN IN WHILE I RECORD YOUR PROJECT - SO YOU'RE SURE TO GET EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT. ACCORDING TO HIS WIFE, GRAY'S REALLY A NICE GUY, TOO! HEY - WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT?