After recently ending a 20-year tenure at Chicago-based music/sound design house Com/track, composer/producer Gary Fry has joined commercial music shop Catfish Music, Chicago.
With the move, Fry is reunited with former Com/track colleagues, composers/producers Joel Raney and Jeff Boyle, who launched Catfish a year ago. Fry will continue working out of his Northfield, Ill.-based home recording studio, High Touch Music, although he will utilize Catfish’s downtown facilities when the need arises.
Fry explained that he’s always had a good relationship with both Raney and Boyle. After the duo left Com/track to open Catfish in early ’99, Fry said he looked forward to the time when he would be able to work with them again. He found the perfect opportunity after his Com/track contract expired at the end of last year. "I have tremendous respect for Joel and Jeff-as people and as writers," said Fry. "I think my writing strengths dovetail nicely with theirs."
Over the past two decades, Fry has worked for nearly every major Chicago agency and advertiser; his composing credits include work for McDonald’s, Sears, Kellogg’s, United Airlines, Oldsmobile, Nintendo, Kraft and Anheuser-Busch. He has been frequently commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus to create original works and arrangements.
Fry is also known for his kid-oriented musical fare. To that end, he worked on numerous McDonald’s commercials out of Leo Burnett Co., Chicago. Out of this, Fry was contracted by Kid Rhino Records to compose and produce three albums of kids’ music featuring Ronald McDonald: Ronald Makes It Magic (’96); Ronald McDonald: Travel Tunes (’97); and Ronald McDonald: Silly Sing-Along (’98). This led to a two-album contract with Warner Bros., for which Fry scored and produced Baby Looney Tunes: Born to Sing (’98) and Baby Looneys, Too! (’98).
"[Gary] has no musical weaknesses," said Raney. "He’s an all-around, wonderfully talented music guy. We think there are three areas-film scoring, sound design and children’s music-that have been under exploited, and we think we can really push Gary in those areas. He was one of the first guys in Chicago, and perhaps the country, to have a Synclavier, and he’s really a wizard with it."
A strong proponent of musical education, Fry is a frequent lecturer, clinician and guest conductor at public schools, colleges and universities. For the past three years, he served as music director for the Clio Awards show in New York.
After graduating from the University of Miami with a double major in music theory composition and music education, Fry started his career teaching junior high school music in Springfield, N.J., and in the summer studied arranging and film scoring at the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, N.Y. He also wrote vocal and instrumental arrangements and compositions, played keyboards as a session player and performed at various venues, both solo and as a member of a jazz/pop group.
Fry then accepted an invitation from the University of Miami to return as a member of the theory/composition faculty for the ’78-’79 academic year. He joined Com/track in ’80, and became a full partner in ’84. He remained a partner until ’95, at which point he sold his company shares to pursue other interests.
Having worked off and on from his home-based operation for the past 15 years, Fry completed a major renovation of the studio two years ago. The 2,500 sq. foot, 48-track recording facility is outfitted with ProTools systems and a live room. Fry is currently working on spots for Frosted Flakes and for Hi-C, both via Leo Burnett Co.
