The ex-frontman and composer of The Cars (which Greg was a fan of). Ric produced The Gray Race, having previously produced the album "Rock for light" by The Bad Brains (from DC) as well as Weezer's self-titled album and Suicide (from NY). Ric is also known for being married to supermodel Paulina. As a producer, Hetson said he is "a visionary". Greg: "We liked the fact that he's another creative element, whereas a lot of producers are (...) just technical elements. He had a vision himself when he heard the demo tapes. Most of his input was on the overall sound of the album." Ric: "I'm not even a fucking producer; I'm a reducer. My job is to get to the essence of it. I wanted the guitars to be full and thick. I wanted it to punch real good. I also thought there was no reason in the world why this band shouldn't be played on the radio. This record is so well thought out, so good lyrically, so heavy, full and pumping, this should definitely be heard". Ric told them to go into the studio, work on the songs individually and put down stuff wherever they wanted, then sat down with all the recordings and picked up what he wanted for the album. Brian said that until The Gray Race was done, he didn't know what he had played on.