The quintessential sound of the West Coast has returned as The Greyboy Allstars emerge with a new studio album and live performances. Last year marked a return to the stage after a six-year hiatus from touring, reenergizing the San Diego-based five-piece and motivating the creation of What Happened to TV?
“It was really liberating to be in the room with so many talented people and just have a good time again,” says Elgin Park of reuniting with the group in the studio.
Park (also known as Mike Andrews) is illustrative of how busy the individual members of The Greyboy Allstars have been during its relative hibernation. Andrews scored the hip cult films Me and You and Everyone We Know and Donnie Darko, the latter generating a number one hit in the UK for his cover of Tears For Fears’ “Mad World” with singer Gary Jules, as well as the acclaimed television program Freaks & Geeks. Andrews has also produced albums by Brendan Benson, Inara George, and Metric.
But The Greyboy Allstars offer Andrews something unique; the opportunity to be Elgin Park. “In this band I’m a completely different player than in almost any other circumstance,” he explains. “I am normally not a blues or jazz player. So this band has really opened up a new world for me creatively.”
Music by The Greyboy Allstars have been a popular staple on television (ESPN), in films (such as Zero Effect), and even extreme sports videos, reflecting the culture of some of the group’s most devoted fans. This wide and varied exposure has garnered one of the broadest, multi-generational fan bases a group could possibly ask for, mirroring the diverse ethnic and artistic makeup of their native Southern California.
What Happened to TV? marks the first studio release in almost 10 years for The Greyboy Allstars, and the first since 1995’s debut West Coast Boogaloo (which featured former James Brown musical director Fred Wesley) where they have reunited with producer and namesake DJ Greyboy.
If any of this sounds a bit confusing, it’s time to press pause and hit rewind for a minute.
The Greyboy Allstars were formed in December 1993 by Greyboy (aka Andreas Stevens) and Karl Denson as an extension of Greyboy’s classic soul and funk DJ sets at a weekly residency at the now defunct Green Circle Bar in downtown San Diego. The hand-picked players performed both classics from the catalogs of labels like Blue Note and Prestige as well as new material, much of which emerged on Greyboy’s debut Freestylin’, an album which label Ubiquity Records still considers one of its cornerstones and launching pad to international success.
Despite the diverse, bustling music scene in San Diego, nothing could contain the force of the players that Greyboy put together into some sort of local secret. That’s a fact that has
