JUST THE FACTS: Age - 35; Hometown - Trinity, North Carolina; Education - North Carolina School of the Arts for one year, taking percussion ("But after that, I'm a dropout"); Employ - Stimmüng, since 2005 (initially freelance, now a staff writer).

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE: Griffith's musical adventures began with two turntables ("I was really into Run DMC when I was 12"), which he eventually traded in for a bass and amp. Playing in a variety of bands led to time behind the mixing desk, which later translated into engineering at music houses such as JSM. "I'd been around it for a while, but never composed," he explains. "And then I had a kid, and had to figure out how I was gonna take care of him." Cue an introduction to Stimmüng EPs Kelly Fuller and Reinhard Denke via a staff writer, which led to them "throwing work at me, and I started figuring it out."

SIGNATURE SOUND: Griffith says he's good with "quirky pop and lyrics" - two traits that came in handy for his work on last September's Saturn "Walls" spot for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco. According to the Stimmüng EPs, the job's agency creatives immediately cottoned to Griffith and his track, a folksy acoustic piece that falls somewhere between Simon & Garfunkel's funkier bits and Elliott Smith. "Someone like Jamie [Barrett, CD at Goodby] has worked with the best of the best and has pretty high standards - for him to like Greg right off the bat, that really says something," says Denke. "It's probably partly due to my limitations," muses Griffith, "but I guess I have a thing, and the thing I do, I do pretty well."

BEST WORK: Besides the Saturn spot, Griffith's getting props for another FBA entry, a Sony Handicam spot for Bagby & Company, "Stars", which features a children's chorus singing his jaunty, African-inspired track. What was initially a "pretty challenging" assignment turned into a warm and fuzzy experience. "Having this group of kids come in and sing this song I wrote and take it to a whole new place - it was pretty cool," says Griffith. "He never looks at it like a commercial, he just writes something that he loves," enthuses Stimmüng's Fuller.

FIRST JINGLE HE CAN REMEMBER HUMMING: "The first thing that comes to mind is 'Have a Coke and a smile' - but maybe because it's been thrown at me for 15 years."

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