Album Notes

Larry Fast is best known for his series of pioneering electronic music albums recorded under the project name SYNERGY. He is also known for his work with Peter Gabriel; playing synthesizer on records and on tour, and rounding out the production team on many of Peter's albums for nearly a decade.

Starting with the first SYNERGY album, "Electronic Realizations for Rock Orchestra" recorded in 1975, and through the most recent SYNERGY release "Reconstructed Artifacts" in 2002, Larry's ten 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 electronic arrangements heard on the SYNERGY albums have led to wide-ranging work with a variety of artists in many styles over the years.

"Reconstructed Artifacts" is a new collection of recordings made in 2002 of classic SYNERGY pieces from the 1970s and 1980s, newly performed on digital synthesizers and recorded digitally. These are completely new recordings and performances, not repackaging or remastering of the original recordings. The 21st Century equipment and techniques bring out dynamics and complexities in the electronic orchestrations not possible with the Moog synthesizers on the original records.


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. Larry 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, but 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. All through the 1980's and into the 1990's Larry has worked with an endless stream of world-class artists and producers, and as a producer himself. Artists as diverse as Hall & Oates, Foreigner, 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. 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.

Recent projects have included new albums and tours with former Peter Gabriel bandmates Tony Levin and Jerry Marotta performing as the Grammy® nominated Tony Levin Band; as co-writer and co-producer on Annie Haslam's newest recordings, and numerous other projects. Larry has also appeared onstage as a member of Wendy Carlos' Switched On Bach Ensemble.

Synergy® is a registered US trademark used by permission of Synergy Electronic Music, Inc.