President, GFI Productions
Tony entered the music business at the age of 19 as guitarist for A&M Records recording artist “Head East.” He formed GFI Music Publishing, Inc. at this time and opened his first full-service recording studio, The Hamster Cage, which would later become GFI Productions.
In 1989 Tony leveraged the purchase of the studio inventory of “Music America,” the Rochester, New York studio in which Metallica recorded “Kill ‘Em All.” In 1992 he founded Beyond Records Corp. to cultivate the young Rochester band Exploding Boy, which Tony also managed and produced. The band enjoyed immediate success with exceptional regional sales and local Top 20 AOR commercial airplay of its first full-length CD, New Generation. Beyond Records’ second signing was Randy Jackson, formerly of the Atlantic Records band Zebra, and Randy’s solo record, entitled Randy Jackson’s China Rain, charted in the Billboard Top 100 AOR nation-wide. Tony sold the Beyond Records moniker in 1998 to Left Bank Management and stayed on as independent A&R for the label.
In 1999 GFI Productions doubled its recording capacity and opened a second studio to accommodate its growing commercial business while remaining loyal to its musical roots. In addition to his work in music production and artist management, Tony has composed and recorded award-winning music for Volvo, The United Way, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and ESL and Xerox and has served as a recording industry consultant to Nazareth College in Rochester, New York. Currently, Tony manages American Country Music artist & influencer Claudia Hoyser and is Chief Strategy Officer of the Rochester Music Hall Of fame. Additionally, he has served as contributing editor for EQ Magazine, advisory board member of Applied Research and Technology, advisory board member of Root Words and has been a featured guest on PBS affiliates on Digital Rights Management.
