----------------------------------------------- JULY 26, 2001 ----------------------------------------------- Source: SLAMM Magazine http://www.slammsd.com/current_issue/last.word.html  The Last Word  Scoring His Dream Gig San Diego Composer Larry Groupe Signs on with Yes By John Colling Turns out that Larry Groupe (pronounced "grou-pay") and I have a lot in common: We both reside in the same quiet, North County neighborhood. We share a love of music that has manifested itself in our professional lives. We're both major fans of the legendary British progressive-rock group, Yes. As kids, we were both forced by well-intentioned parents to take piano lessons -- and we both hated that. "My mom put me into lessons when I was, like, four or five years old," Groupe recalls after ushering me into the organized clutter of his home studio. "I didn't like them, but she forced me to take them for many years -- almost 19 years, including through high school and college. Never really liked the lessons, but obviously appreciated the skill they brought me.” At fifteen, his teacher overheard him improvising and encouraged him to write down some of the things he was playing. "For some reason, it had never occurred to me to do that. . . I improvised all the time," he says. "So I tried and realized that, even though it was really hard to figure it out, this was what composing was.  And -- my god -- I loved it! "So, with a year of doing that combined with that same teacher playing me Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring,' which just blew my mind, I said, 'That's it -- I want to be a composer, hopefully of orchestral music.' And I never left that path." In pursuit of this goal, Groupe earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees in music from University of the Pacific and UCSD, respectively, going on to pursue studies in computer music at Stanford. Still unsure of the viability of his music career, Groupe took a job with a Bay Area construction company. "I figured, well, San Francisco's a good place for musicians, and maybe I can write for some of the string quartets up there or something. I didn't know what I was gonna do with myself after all this schooling." But within a year, Groupe was back in San Diego, working as a tape editor at a company that produced commercial jingles. Eventually, the agency allowed him to do some composing of his own. It was a good decision on the agency's part. Since that time, Groupe has developed a solid reputation as a television and film composer, and his compositions have been used by CBS Sports, the A&E Network, the Academy Awards, and Chevrolet, among others. He's also written music for several TV series, including Ren & Stimpy, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and The Munsters Today. His music for the KPBS documentary, Jonas Salk: Personally Speaking, earned him a treasured Emmy Award. Groupe is no stranger to Hollywood, either, having scored last year's political thrillers, The Contender and Deterrence. Rod Lurie, who wrote and directed both films, has said that “Groupe's skills as a composer, his ability to grab a movie by its balls and turn it into an artistic endeavor beyond anything one could previously conceive of, is uncontroverted.” Accolades such as these opened the door for Groupe to land his latest gig. The composer will arrange and conduct the various local symphony orchestras with which his heroes, Yes, will perform on their upcoming tour, opening in San Diego on July 25. Groupe has also become the group's "fifth member" in the studio, writing the orchestral parts for Yes' upcoming CD, Magnification. "When I'd heard last year that [Yes] were planning a record and a possible summer tour with orchestra, I didn't know if they had 'that guy' yet who was going to help them," he recalls. "But I was a huge fan of the band. . . listened to them so much during high school and college, went to all their concerts. I just said, 'I have got to do this; I've got to be the guy for this.' And I just became a pit bull on the pant-leg of opportunity and wouldn't let go until I got the gig -- and I did!" After a few initial meetings with the band's management, Groupe finally met with the band, who were in Santa Barbara beginning production for the album's basic tracks. "I stayed there for a couple of days, just sort of hung out with them to get a feel for things," he says. "Then they suggested that I [go] home with some of these rough tracks they were working on and write some orchestral music to go along with them that I could do on my computer and my samplers." A week later, Groupe returned to Santa Barbara and played the re-worked tracks for singer Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, guitarist Steve Howe, and drummer Alan White. "We were sitting there, listening to [the songs], and nobody's saying anything -- they're completely still," Groupe remembers. “And I'm thinking, 'Well, I'm out of the gig, but at least I gave it my best shot.' But then, at the end of the song, they just burst into this [shout of], “Incredible!”. . . and I knew that was it. I was so validated that day!” Several composers were vying for the job, but Jon Anderson was convinced they'd found their man in Groupe. "Larry, for me, stuck out very, very strongly,” the singer says, calling from his coastal home in San Luis Obispo. “He has a great sense of harmony and cinematic vision, if you want to call it that. . . I just sensed that everything he was doing was right on the money. I hope everybody has the same reaction I did -- I didn't really come back down to earth for about a day after first hearing it.” With a 32-city North American tour on the horizon, Groupe and the band are still busy mixing the final tracks for Magnification. While he admits that he’s having the time of his life, the composer is discovering that this “dream gig” involves a very different process than what he’s accustomed to in the world of film scoring. "It's like [doing] a film, but with four directors instead of one,” Groupe says. “So that makes it really hard, because you don’t have a single vision -- you have four different visions of what should happen. “But this is all like a dream,” he adds. “It's like, pick your favorite band of your entire life, and now how do you feel 25 years later when you actually become a part of that band, temporary as it may be?  It's amazing.” Seems those long-ago piano lessons have paid off in ways my neighbor, Larry Groupe, could never have imagined. I hope he's had the opportunity to thank his Mom for forcing music upon him way back then. Mom, if you're reading this, thanks from me, too. Close Window YesInThePress.com For site comments, problems, corrections, or additions, contact YesinthePress@aol.com