For those of you who are AJHS podcast fans, and those of you who are about to be, the fine audio quality and production design can be largely attributed to virtuoso sound designer Marshall Grupp, co-founder of NYC’s audio production house Sound Lounge. The process of producing narrative history and biography podcasts can be long but thanks to Marshall and his team, never arduous (but we don’t know if they would say the same about us – as Marshall says, “Rebeca is very picky about her music.”) We have had a blast getting to know Marshall over the past few years, and we thought that the AJHS community would be jazzed to learn more about the man who makes our stories resonate. AJHS Senior Manager of Programs and Digital Media Rebeca Miller sat down with Marshall in August 2026 for a quick chat before a mix session of our latest show, All We Have Standing Between Us.
Rebeca: Please state your name for the record.
Marshall: My name is Marshall Stuart Grubb.
Rebeca: Did anyone ever call you Stewie?
Marshall: No.
Rebeca: Okay! So Marshall, was it always audio?
Marshall: I’m a third-generation percussionist. My grandfather played timpani for [Arturo] Toscanini.
Rebeca: Get out!
Marshall: Played Broadway, you know Porgy and Bess, he had perfect pitch. The Grupp family, there were four musicians, one of them had a breathing method that he taught Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, the Dorsey Brothers.
So I became a percussionist, played in a rock and roll band when I was 15 and 16. It was a cool band because back when I was playing, Blood, Sweat, & Tears were big, and we had twin brothers who could play lead guitar and bass and trumpet and sax. So we were able to play rock songs with brass.
Rebeca: That’s really cool.
Marshall: It was cool. We had a guy who played organ who also played trumpet. And they were really good musicians, I was okay. But anyway, that’s my background. And I went to college, studied African studies, got a degree in African studies.
Rebeca: Where’d you go to college?
Marshall: First went to Ithaca and then I eventually ended up going to SUNY New Paltz. I got into African Studies ’cause my anthropology teacher at Ithaca did his research in Tanzania. So I did that, and then I said, “Well, how am I going to express my love?” You know, I wanted to be an ethnologist, study cultures, so I figured I’m not a writer, I’ll go to film school. So, I ended up going to USC film school, I only stayed one year – hated it. I didn’t learn the kind of things you needed to learn to get into the film business. Eventually I got in because a friend knew a friend – I got PA jobs, I worked in editing. I lied to get on a job, there was a feature film called Girlfriends by Claudia Weill, and I got on that job as an assistant. Somebody asked me, “Do you know how to sync up dailies?” And I said yes. And the best story from that is, I was working in the Ed Sullivan building, I was on the 11th floor. You know, 60 millimeter [film], it’s on a core – well often it was on a Steenbeck, and if you pick it up wrong – do you even know what a Steenbeck is?
Rebeca: No…
(Dear readers, the Steenbeck company made flatbed film editing tables)
Marshall: If you pick the film up wrong, it could fall off the core. And my editor said, “Be very careful with this work print. I don’t want any scratches.” And it fell off the core. I literally had to throw it out of the window of the Ed Sullivan building and wheel it back in. It was a mess. So that was the start of my assistant AD career.
I was an assistant to a really talented woman, she was like my mentor, her name was Victoria Hockler. She was doing music videos and the Eagles were doing their Hotel California tour, so I got on that. First, I was an assistant cameraman – which I didn’t know what the f*** I was doing, so I had to learn how to do that.
So eventually I came back to New York and got a job in the union, that was a big deal. And got a job on this TV series for NBC and eventually ended up working on after-school specials, which were these things on channel seven, little, short movies for kids. To stay on the job longer, ‘cause I was an assistant editor, picture editor, to stay on the job longer than the four weeks you could also do the audio editing. So I became a sound editor.
Rebeca: Oh dang!
Marshall: So that was my entry into audio post. Eventually, I worked on TV shows; I worked on Reds for about seven or eight months. Did a whole bunch of movies, worked on Working Girl. One night, it was during Working Girl, I got a call from a very successful filmmaker named Dennis Hayes. Said, “I have your name, I have about 11 Coca-Cola spots, can you do them?” and I said, “Yeah, I can do it.” So I would go from Working Girl at you know, 9:00pm maybe 10:00 pm at night, and I would go work through the night on Coca-Cola spots. I was the only feature editor doing commercials, and became one of the first people doing “sound design.” Then I eventually built a digital thing called “Synclavier,” and started creating sounds and my own template of sounds, a style, using combinations and creating weird s***.
Rebeca: What’s the story behind Sound Lounge?
Marshall: In 1997, I eventually started working with this music guy, we called our company “Big Noise.” We were approached by this guy who said, “What are you doing?” I never had the money, and he had the money. So, in 1998 we opened Sound Lounge. It was successful from the get-go. We were making money the moment we opened.
Rebeca: What was a moment of surprise?
Marshall: I’ve had many surprises, like four children. I have three boys and a girl.
Rebeca: When did you start being an outdoor athletic enthusiast?
Marshall: I always played sports. My dad ran the Forest Hills Athletic Association in Queens. So he ran an association of 2,000 boys and girls. He created the first girls softball program in New York City called the Lassie League.
So I’ve been in sports; I played football from the age of seven. I eventually ended up playing football in college. I was high school basketball captain. So I’ve always been involved in sports. And I love organizing. When I got married, we moved to Upper Saddle River. I created this Thanksgiving Day run, created the first youth triathlon in New Jersey. Ran the basketball program for 15 years, and now I’m coaching privately. I love coaching; I love being around young people.
Rebeca: And the running? You do a lot of running.
Marshall: I hate running, but I do it to keep busy. Last year I did two halves (marathons). I did the United half, which I hated, and I did the Brooklyn.
Rebeca: What inspired you to start working with young people?
Marshall: Well, I went to sleepaway camp from the age of five. Camp Keeyumah in Orson, Pennsylvania. And I learned a lot and had good mentors. I learned a lot about life. Learned from really good Jewish basketball players. Larry Brown, Herb Brown, Richie Scheinbloom, who eventually played for the Kansas City Royals, learned football from a guy, Jim LeClair, who played with the Giants for a little bit.
Rebeca: Marshall, if we were to play the game 2 truths and a lie, what would you say?
Marshall: I wanted to be a cantor, I wiped dog poop all over a friend of mine before Hebrew school. That feels true or false?
Rebeca: So true! That’s way too specific! (laughing)
Marshall: Yeah. I’m not a good liar. I’m a straight shooter.
Rebeca: You wanted to be a cantor?!
Marshall: Yeah, I was the Saturday morning cantor in the youth synagogue in Forest Hills. I liked singing, I liked singing Hebrew. Sitting next to my dad for the high holidays.
Growing up in 1970, I had an ongoing conversation with my rabbi. He used to write poems in the weekly newsletter and I would send him my comments.
Rebeca: You gave feedback?!
Marshall: I gave feedback. A very famous rabbi also. I loved his poetry. And eventually I would go and we would sit and talk.
Rebeca: Can you think of a lie?
Sound Lounge Staffer: You could say you climbed Mount Everest?
Rebeca: A smaller lie is more believable!
Sound Lounge Staffer: Well, he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.
Marshall: Yea, I climbed Kilimanjaro.
Rebeca: Well, that’s just annoying.
Marshall: Found my grandfather dead in the bathtub?
Rebeca: That’s morose! That’s terrible.
Marshall: Ran for mayor twice in my town – lost both times.
Rebeca: What was your platform?
Marshall: Transparency. That was a big part of it. They (the opposition) came after me pretty bad with some really nasty ads, really awful.
Rebeca: Yikes.
Marshall: I have to think of a lie… I’ll get back to you.
