He’d already been nominated five times for music composition and lost all five times. Here he was nominated again, but thought secretly that the nominated work probably wasn’t as good as some other scores he’d done, and they obviously didn’t win. His expectations were low.
He drove his own car and took his mother, Pinehurst resident Dottie Harper, as his date.
“I got to walk the red carpet,” she says.
Most of the stars arrive in limos, so they can get away whenever they want. But Bunch knew from experience that traffic for most of the regular people would be trouble.
“I figured I’d lose, and we’d get out early,” he says.
When Bunch won he knew he’d made a mistake. He had to stay until the end for the after-party, to shoot pictures and answer questions. The audience members leaving that night might have seen Bunch and his mother waiting in the traffic, with Bunch behind the wheel of his car, clutching his Emmy.
“I was holding my trophy while I was waiting in line,” he says. “And it was a long wait.”
He won the Emmy for Best Dramatic Underscore for a composition that appeared in an episode of “Star Trek Enterprise,” titled “Similitude.”
Bunch has been composing songs for television and movies for years.
He formed his love for music as a boy growing up in Goldsboro. He was in Pinehurst recently to visit his parents and shared some of his thoughts on his youth, music and Hollywood.
Bunch came from a musical family, and it was a trait that he inherited. He honed his skills in church.
Though he was never much of a performer, he found he enjoyed song writing.
“I never had aspirations to perform myself,” he says. “I’m a horrible singer.”
Growing up in Goldsboro was great, he says.
“I really liked it,” he says. “I didn’t know any better.”
In college, he earned a degree in music from East Carolina University. After graduation, he followed his dream and moved to Los Angeles to become a song writer.
“Until I went to L.A. I’d never been anywhere of any size,” Bunch says. “It was quite a shock.”
Like many stories of people trying to break into Hollywood, Bunch struggled.
“I had a rough time of it,” he says.
But there were some successes as well. Some artists recorded his songs.
He also got signed to a song-writing contract by Jimmy Webb, the author of hit songs for artists such as Glen Campbell, Art Garfunkel, The Fifth Dimension and The Highwaymen.
After a year, Bunch threw up the white flag and came home. After getting himself back on his feet — he taught underprivileged children for two years — he took another shot. This time, he would be successful.
“I went back a little wiser the second time,” he says. “I wasn’t prepared the first time.”
He met a guy named Mike Post, who had recorded songs for “Hill Street Blues” and other television shows. Post got him involved in writing for television shows.
“He gave me my break,” Bunch says.
Bunch scored many television variety shows and worked on “Magnum P.I.,” “Hillstreet Blues” and countless others. He earned his first Emmy nomination for work on “Quantum Leap.” His friendship with the star Scott Bakula led to the gig with “Star Trek: Enterprise” that eventually won him the Emmy.
He’s also worked on several feature films like “Faith of My Fathers,” the movie based on the book by Sen. John McCain, “The Little Richard Story,” “Lost in Space” and “Dance with Me”.
Early in his career, he was producing records as well. Bunch worked with such greats as Tina Turner, Lionel Ritchie, Dolly Parton and Gladys Knight. He worked with Ray Charles on piano arrangement.
“One of the fun things about my career,” Bunch says, “is that I’ve gotten to work with a lot of people who’ve done really well.”
Parton was one of his first friends in Hollywood, and she is the one who began calling him Velton Ray. Back home, he’d been Ray. Parton’s way of referring to him stuck and now that’s how people know him.
Producing and writing compositions for television and movies got to be too much of a strain. He was working constantly.
“I sort of had to make a choice,” he says. “It was pretty hard. It was like two full-time careers.”
His mother moved to Pinehurst 13 years ago from Los Angeles. Bunch says he enjoys his visits here.
“Pinehurst is beautiful,” he says. “I love the village area. I love walking around. I think it’s funny here, everybody grumbles about the traffic.”
Harper says that her favorite movie that Bunch has worked on is one called “Papa’s Angels,” which got Bunch another Emmy nomination in 2001.
Bunch does have an agent, but he says he gets most of his work from personal contacts.
His latest project is the A&E movie about 9/11 called “Flight 93.”
Bunch says that it was a chance to work with a skilled director who had good tastes in music. The director told Bunch that he wanted the score to feel like a ticking clock.
“He wanted something that makes you feel slightly uneasy,” Bunch says.
He didn’t have to work hard to summon those types of feelings, he says. Working on a 9/11 movie, at least at the beginning, did feel strange. But you get used to it, he says.
“It was a very intense experience,” he says. “The movie is so... intense. It’s very gripping. You have to detach yourself emotionally. It was hard to go to sleep at night. But then I got used to it and it didn’t bother me. ... It was a very incredible experience.”
His work for “Flight 93” differs from most of the work he does for television shows like “Star Trek.”
“‘Star Trek’ is all symphonic,” Bunch says. “It’s a lot more action-oriented thing.”
Matthew Moriarty may be reached at 693-2479 or by e-mail at moriarty@thepilot.com.
