Larry Fast/SYNERGY® Biography

Starting with the first SYNERGY album, "Electronic Realizations for Rock Orchestra" recorded in 1975, and through the most recent SYNERGY releases, Larry's albums of electronic music have been on the cutting edge of studio production techniques and the development of new music technologies. Respect for the music composition and arrangements heard on the SYNERGY albums have led to wide-ranging work with a variety of artists in many styles over the years.

Digitally remastered versions of SYNERGY recordings are in current release in CD physical and digital online formats. Several titles are available in high-definition audio. All have been derived from the original restored archival studio mix tapes.

The shimmering electronic textures of the first SYNERGY album in 1975 led to an invitation for Larry to come to Europe and work with the distinguished British-German band Nektar, then enjoying top 20 success in the US. Following an album ("Recycled") and a tour with Nektar, Larry was contacted by Peter Gabriel who had recently left Genesis. He was asked to contribute to Peter's subsequent solo albums and tours. Larry's synthesizer playing is heard on all of Peter's early solo albums on tracks such as “Solsbury Hill”. Peter's breakthrough albums, his third solo record (the one with "Games Without Frontiers" and "Biko"), and "Security" ("Shock The Monkey") feature Larry's electronic production skills as well as his introducing Peter to programmable drum machines leading to a newfound emphasis on rhythm in Peter's music.

Larry's production credits show the influence that his control of music technology has had on other artist's styles. During his career Larry has worked with an endless stream of world-class artists and producers, and as a producer himself. Artists as diverse as Foreigner, Bonnie Tyler, Hall & Oates, Bon Jovi's Richie Sambora and David Bryan, Barbra Streisand, Annie Haslam (Renaissance), Randy Newman, Joan Armatrading, Meat Loaf and many others have called on Larry's talents. Electronic orchestrations for actress Helen Schneider's Kurt Weill retrospective, and producing pioneering new-age act Shadowfax's premier album and Canadian progressive trailblazers FM give a hint at the scope of Larry's electronic production skills.

In the late 1980s Larry Fast also served as the A&R coordinator and executive producer for The Audion Recording Company, the legendary electronic music label under the Passport Records group. Over twenty-five albums were recorded and released during a three year period before he left to allow more time for his own projects outside of the label. After the demise of Passport Records which had initially released the Synergy albums, Larry established Third Contact in 1993 as a media label for reissuing Synergy CDs for sale over the then-new world wide web. The Third Contact SYNERGY catalog is currently distributed through AMPED/Alliance for physical media and A Train Entertainment for digital streaming and downloads.

More recent projects have included new albums and tours with former Peter Gabriel bandmates Tony Levin and Jerry Marotta as the Grammy®-nominated Tony Levin Band, acting as co-writer and co-producer on several of Annie Haslam's (Renaissance) recordings, and numerous other projects. During concert appearances on tours with the Tony Levin Band starting in (North America and Japan), and thanks to today's advanced music-computer technology, the first-ever live performances of Synergy pieces were performed, 25 years after Synergy made its studio-only debut. Following that warm-up, the first Synergy solo concert took place headlining the annual European electronic music festival Alfa Centauri held near Amsterdam. Larry has also appeared onstage as a member or Wendy Carlos' Switched On Bach Ensemble.

An unexpected turn was Larry’s participation in the reformation of Nektar in 2002 after a 27 years hiatus. An initial headlining show at the NEARfest rock festival in June 2002 has led additional touring in North America and Europe. A Nektar concert DVD was released in late 2002 with additional US and European touring with Nektar during 2003. These were the last shows with the original band lineup.

Larry Fast's work in films and visual media include scoring for the original "Laserium" planetarium lightshows; Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" (PBS); the sci-fi movie "The Jupiter Menace", "Netherworld" (co-scored with Bon Jovi's David Bryan); and contributing work for "Birdy" and "Gremlins" (with Peter Gabriel), "Streets of Fire" (with Jim Steinman), "Planes Trains & Automobiles" (with The Dream Academy), "About Last Night"(with John Oates), and "Conflict Of Interest"(co-scored with Bon Jovi's David Bryan) among others. There have also been other films for European and American networks. Larry expanded his film duties by taking on the tasks of supervising music producer and music editor for independent feature films. Film work has included sound production with noted composer (and fellow electronic music pioneer) Wendy Carlos.

Though Larry Fast and his production company SYNERGY® Electronic Music are not usually associated with the commercial field, he has been involved with several ad campaigns including work with producer Mike Smith (formerly of the Dave Clark Five) for American Airlines; Allied Signal for Doyle Dane Bernbach; Philips Electronics for Gianettino & Meredith; and projects for Chiat Day. Larry has also provided audio and music production for many corporate video projects with clients as diverse as Johnson & Johnson, Rutgers University, International Paper, and Ebasco, among others.

Custom commissions include broadcast sound logos for XM Satellite Radio network, for Tribune Broadcasting stations including WGNA America, and hours of new compositions for the Walt Disney Company heard at the Tokyo DisneySea park.

As might be expected, Larry Fast's technical background has allowed him to stay ahead of the curve of studio technology. This gives him an edge on his own projects and keeps him in demand by other producers. Starting with custom-designed sonic modules he constructed for Rick Wakeman of Yes, built while Larry was still a student at Lafayette College in the early 1970's, he has been involved in the evolution of the tools of recording. Larry served as a consultant to Moog Music in the development of the Polymoog (1976) and Memorymoog (1982) synthesizers including voicing many of the original Memorymoog factory presets. On associated projects from 1975 until 1982 at AT&T Bell Laboratories, where the transistor was invented, Larry worked with groundbreaking digital recording, sampling and resynthesis, computer control of synthesizers, computer generated FM synthesis and other techniques years before they entered the mainstream. Examples of some early digital synthesis and can be heard on the 1978-79 SYNERGY album "Games".

Through his technology connections, Larry helped introduce the first Fairlight CMI synthesizer/sampler on the third Peter Gabriel solo album in 1979-80. Larry was also involved with the development of microcomputer control of synthesizers. He developed his own computer software used both in live performances with Peter Gabriel and on the ambient SYNERGY "Computer Experiments Volume One" (1980). Larry currently beta tests computer applications for music software companies, test flying their MIDI and audio software on his projects.

Larry Fast has also been the primary electronics designer on other audio projects. One significant device developed is an infrared audio transmitting system used by the hearing disabled. Larry has received several US patents for developments in this audio field.

In recognition of this expertise as well as being an electronic arranger and sound consultant, Larry Fast/SYNERGY has been the recipient of Keyboard Magazine's annual award for Best Synthesist; has been associated with numerous Grammy nominated and winning projects; is a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), a writer and publisher member of ASCAP, a long-time member of the Audio Engineering Society (AES), a member of AFM and SAG-AFTRA, has written for several magazines, and composed the forewards for several leading books in the fields of recording and electronic music. Many articles and interviews about Larry Fast and SYNERGY have appeared over the years including cover stories and overseas publications.

Larry Fast also has been awarded patents for developments related to audio transmission systems used by the hearing impaired.

Larry’s undergraduate degree in history with secondary studies in architecture has led to extensive work outside of music in both historic architecture preservation and historic archives management, chairing a government preservation trust fund board and contributing to the archival conservation of technology history. Larry currently serves on the board of the Thomas Edison National Historic Park in West Orange, NJ and as an outside advisor to the Thomas Edison Papers Project at Rutgers University. He also shares his preservation and archival expertise with the Bob Moog Foundation and the Electronic Music Education and Preservation Project (EMEAPP)
.

DOCUMENTARY FILM

In late 2017, Larry’s first outing as a documentary co-producer and co-writer made its appearance on PBS television stations across the US. Combining his experience in history, technology and media, Larry helped document the story of one of the earliest conservation battles against a proposed massive airport at the dawn of the jet age. The modern post-WWII conservation movement emerged from this controversy. (savingthegreatswamp.com) More documentaries are planned about other technology history subjects.