The guitarist discusses the Greyboy Allstars’ new compilation and his work in film scoring
For over three decades, Michael Andrews (aka Elgin Park) has been an integral part of the Greyboy Allstars, a band that has carved out a unique space in the world of funk, jazz, and soul. With their infectious grooves and deep musical chemistry, the group has remained a fixture on the scene, constantly evolving while staying true to their roots. As they prepare to release Grab Bag, a new compilation showcasing the full spectrum of their sound, Andrews reflects on the band’s journey, their creative process, and the art of keeping things fresh after all these years.
In this conversation, Andrews shares insights into the band's longevity, emphasizing the importance of mutual respect, individuality, and allowing space for personal growth. He discusses how their collective approach to music—both structured and spontaneous—has kept the Greyboy Allstars together for more than 30 years. We also touch on vinyl and a key detail included in this new release that collectors will no doubt appreciate.
Beyond his work with the band, Andrews has built an impressive career as a composer and producer, scoring major films and television projects, including collaborations with Will Ferrell and Seth Rogen. His ability to shift between different musical worlds—from funky jazz guitar to acoustic folk to cinematic compositions—highlights his versatility and passion for storytelling through sound. In this interview, he offers a glimpse into his influences, his approach to composition, and what continues to keep the Greyboys boogalooin' after all these years.
Evan Toth: I've really been enjoying your tunes. I've been sort of revisiting your catalog a little bit, and also enjoying this new compilation that has come out. Although I guess it's coming out officially on vinyl Friday, this Friday, Is that correct?
ma: I'm not sure because we got a test pressing and it wasn't great. We had to go back for a new test pressing. It's probably not coming out this Friday.
ezt: All right. Well, that's good. You've got some QC going on there. I'm glad you checked it out.
ma: No. There's a lot of people making vinyl, I guess, and it's not always right. It's an imperfect process.
ezt: You've had previous releases pressed on vinyl. Is that correct?
ma: Sure. Yes.
ezt: I noticed that you have a bag that's going to cover the record. Is that right? A paper bag or something, or is that just in the markup?
ma: Yes, it's Grab Bag. It's a bag.
ezt: It's a bag, but it comes with an actual bag.
ma: It comes in a bag, but it's a very nicely fitted bag. It's styled like a loose bag.
ezt: It looks like something that 30 years from now if you got this recording, you really want to get the one where the bag is intact and in really good shape.
ma: You have to take care of the bag.
ezt: Take care of the bag. Listen, it's been a long time. You guys have been together for about 30 years now if I'm correct in my math.
ma: Over 30 years now. 31 or 32 even maybe.
ezt: I imagine you guys can finish each other's sentences. With so much time together on stage and in rehearsals, how do you keep things light? How do you keep things real? How do you keep things funky?
ma: It's interesting. I think when we first started, we were gathered together by DJ Greyboy. We grew together as friends. We really weren't friends. I had known Karl, and Chris, and Zak, our original drummer. Now our drummer is Aaron Redfield, but originally, it was Zak Najor. We didn't really even know each other. I think it took us a few years to get to know each other and develop a friendship. I think we just built respect for each other and over time generated a friendship.
It's a long relationship where we gave each other a lot of space, I think, musically and personally. I think that has allowed us to stay together. I think a lot of bands, it's like a relationship, they're like, "We're going to spend every day together, we're going to live together, and we're going to look the same. We're going to be the same people." Pop bands tend to do that but we've really maintained our individuality over the course of the time that we've been together. I think that's really helped us be a better band and be better friends.
ezt: I guess all the projects that you all have going on outside too keeps things fresh, keeps things interesting. What about musically? How do you communicate with each other? I guess the cool thing that comes with being in a group for a long time is you probably have some way to communicate things to each other without getting all personal and insulting one another. You probably have a way that you're very respectful of each other but yet you know how to sort of say, "Hey, let's try this thing that way." Does that come up? Have you guys ever talked about that?
ma: We don't really talk about how it happens. I think that's the testament of it. The band stayed together. That we like each other's ideas and if we don't we also like each other's input. I think we respect each other. It's not really something you talk about, but if it's a problem the band just doesn't stay together. We all have other outlets. It's like if we come to the band with an idea and one person doesn't feel like they can contribute to it or doesn't gel with the group, then it's like, okay, file that under my other band or my other project or whatever.
There's plenty of writers in our band. There's never a shortage of material. There's also we're not getting rich on it either. It's not like George Harrison has five songs and John Lennon and Paul McCartney there's too many songs and the record is going to go to 20 times platinum. If he doesn't get his songs on the record, he's not going to participate in the business or something. There's nothing at stake. It's we just want the music to be good and everybody to be excited about it. That's the purpose of it.
ezt: Of course, the name of the new, it's really a compilation, as we said. It's called Grab Bag and it's a mix of sounds. These tracks seem to represent the edges of your musical journey. How do you see this album reshaping the way people think about you? Was that something that you thought about? Just maybe you could talk about how these songs maybe are a little different in what people might have come to expect from you over the years.
ma: I think that we're a pretty diverse band in terms of what we like to play musically. I think sometimes we hold ourselves into a thing. I think bands do that often where they're like, "Well, this is the lane that we're in. We're in the Boogaloo Lane, or we're in the funk lane, or we're in this lane or that lane." I think all the artists that I really have enjoyed my life have been very expansive, "Let's make a record that doesn't sound like us at all, and challenge people to enjoy it."
This record, although it's not entirely different than anything we've ever done, it does expand slightly into more fusion, into some heavier stuff, and also into maybe some even lighter stuff. I think it expresses our sense of humor musically a little bit more than our previous records have. Also has a little bit more of a serious side that we haven't gone into, like with Boxes, which basically is a very much of a jazz song where maybe more of our music has been more blues and funk-based. It's another thing that we've thought, "Okay, check this out. We made this."
ezt: As you were going through the archives, did you have one of two moments which was one was going, "Oh, this, we got to include," or maybe there was something that you went, "Wait a minute. This is cool but we can't. It's too far off the mark."
ma: There was just stuff. We work really fast. We've probably only been in the studio in the totality of our band, probably about 30 days.
ezt: Wow.
ma: We have spent a lot of time. We made our first record in one day. We made our second record in four days. We've never spent more than 10 days in a recording studio on any given project. We don't spend a lot of time doing that. We also don't spend a lot of time rehearsing. We're very much of a quick and we're not laboring over anything too much. Simply, some things just weren't done. There were too many mistakes, you know what I mean, because we're just going really fast, whatever. There was some cool stuff, but it was just like, "There's too many mistakes on this. We'll just have to move on to the next jam."
ezt: Right. Anything jump out at you as being particularly a song that you maybe personally really wanted to include?
ma: I don't know. I'm glad that "Suadela" made it on, which was a song from our newer record that actually we were in the process of making. By, in the process, I say that we've started recording sessions on it and we need to come back and do more recording sessions.
ezt: That's a newish outtake, I guess, if that's what I'm hearing.
ma: Yes, that's a new. There's a couple of songs from the new record, Chris's song, "Pixie Stick" was a tune that-- "Suadela" and "Pixie Stick" were the outer reaches of the new record, which we've thought about as a different record. Well, those are great songs but it would be cool to-- because I feel like they are a little bit out, they're on the outer side. Let's bring them into this album. I'm happy that that record came out because a lot of the time, we're playing a lot of solos. It's more like of a muscular expression and this one is very much just more of a chill thing. I thought that was cool to put out. I'm happy that made it.
ezt: The name of the band is an interesting one. I wonder where did you come up with Greyboy Allstars? Where did that come from?
ma: I didn't come up with that name. Honestly, I never thought it was a thought it was a great name because, I thought it was confusing, but that's fine. It came from DJ Greyboy, Andreas Stevens, who put the band originally together as a band to celebrate the release of his record Freestylin' which was a hit in the acid jazz scene in the early '90s. We got together to play his release party and he had started a label called Greyboy Records and so we were the all-stars of the label, The Greyboy All-Stars. Sort of the-- whatever.
ezt: Daptone All-Stars or something like that.
ma: Exactly. That was what was going on there. Honestly, when he told me that that was going to be the name of the band, I was like, "Yes, that's cool. Whatever you want. This isn't going to last for more than a couple years anyway."
ezt: [laughs] This sound, and of course, we're talking about a record that showcases a lot of different sides of you guys, aside from just the soul, funk, jazz, boogaloo thing. There are a lot of bands that are getting into this sound. Not really getting into it, but it's happening. I wonder, when you hear stuff like that, what do you think really makes it successful? What do you think are the keys to getting a great funky, the right sort of balance there?
Because I listen to a lot of stuff. It's funny sometimes you put something on and it sounds great at the beginning, but then it kind of loses the thread. It takes a special band to really keep up that momentum and keep up the melody and keep up the excitement. What do you attribute to that after all these years doing this?
ma: I don't know, everybody has their own-- music you react to it as an individual, obviously, but I don't know. I think it's composition. I think it's really easy to make sound-alike music. People have been doing it for a long time. Honestly, when we started, we were playing covers. Out of playing covers, we ended up steeping ourselves in the genre and then began writing in that genre, the same way the Rolling Stones did with the blues.
Now I feel like we're very much in a culture of vintage fetishism where people are examining what gear people made their records with, what instruments they used, how they were micing it, how they were-- everything. It's like this obsession with replicating something. Then sometimes I just think that composition ideas get lost, and I think that music is really just about composition. It's not about how crunchy it is or how old it sounds or whatever. I think that's enticing when you first hear it.
It's like, "Wow." It's like a photo with a filter on it, and you're like, "Wow, is that a Super Eight, or is that a Polaroid?" Then you're like, "I don't care about the subject, what's the song? What's the song?" A lot of these records that I love, I love them because the juxtaposition of rhythms and the composition of the tune, the melody. The where it is in relation to the chords, or how someone leaves space in their solo, it's not like I'm digging how old and weird and warbly it sounds.
ezt: It's true. I like the thought of it being an Instagram filter. You're looking at the colors rather than what the picture is, something like that. I don't know.
ma: Whatever, that's how you get into it. Maybe these bands that are doing that, or I don't even know who they are, but if there were to be a mistake made that would be one of the mistakes. There are bands that can manage to have the old vibe and write good composition. I don't know. I prefer the composition element of it.
ezt: When you were growing up, when you were getting into the sound, falling in love with it, what were some albums or musicians that really inspired you along the way? When you're playing now, obviously you're thinking of yourself, but what else are you thinking of what's inspiring you in your subconscious?
ma: I've been playing guitar forever, basically since I was four years old. I started as just a kid going to blues jams in San Diego. There was a big blues scene in San Diego. My brothers used to take me to those. Then I ended up taking blues lessons from one of the guys for a couple months, and I was like, "Oh, this is cool," and then I got into rockabilly music.
I was coming from more of a blues rockabilly space. When I heard Melvin Sparks, or when I heard Look-Ka Py Py with The Meters, or I heard James Brown, or I heard Cheese Martin playing James Brown, or played a Boogaloo Joe Jones, there was kind of a country thing inside it. It's almost like a rockabilly thing, and it's like a blues thing. I'm coming from that space. Those were the records.
Then I heard Grant Green. It's sort of like a ramp into jazz from this blues element ramping into jazz with Grant Green, and Kenny Burrell, and Pat Martino. Then getting into more of a fusion thing with excursions through the Quran with Pat Martino and his early record strings, or George Benson Cookbook, Grant Green Live at The Lighthouse. These are records that were biblical for our band and for me personally.
ezt: Back to your guitar sound, as we talked about earlier, you guys all do a lot of things. Outside of the band you're all very busy with your own projects. Is the sound that you get with this group unique to you, or what would people be surprised to hear you playing on that maybe doesn't quite sound like what's on a Greyboy All-Stars album?
ma: Oh, yes. Well, I've played on a lot of records. I don't always play funky jazz guitar. I've dedicated a lot of my life to playing acoustic guitar, open tuning. I'm a huge fan of Bert Jansch, I'm a huge fan of Neil Young. I love Joni Mitchell, and I very much am into all kinds of music. My solo records under Michael Andrews are not really anything like Greyboy All-Stars record. People can listen to those and that pretty it's another thing. Then obviously I make score music, which is completely on some other thing where I don't even play guitar. I've been fortunate to be able to develop a lot of different styles of music coming out of my mind.
ezt: Are you scoring anything now that you can talk about or anything coming out down the road?
ma: I did this crazy romantic comedy that just came out this weekend that's popular called You're Cordially Invited, which is a Will Ferrell, Reese Witherspoon movie that just came out.
ezt: Oh yes. Yes.
ma: It's kind of everywhere. I'm working on a new season of Platonic, that's a show with Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne. It's on Apple. I worked on the Pharrell Lego movie last year that came out. People liked that. What else? I'm just working on a movie called American Sweatshop that's going to premiere at South by Southwest. About to get into another movie with Will Ferrell called Judgment Day, that's going to start. I'm always working on that stuff. Then we're trying to do Greyboy stuff or trying to finish this record. I have a couple other instrumental projects, and I'm always pecking away at more personal recordings too.
ezt: Cool. Will Ferrell seems to love your work.
ma: Will Ferrell, he's cool. He's a sweet guy. He's really a talented guy.
ezt: When you do those scores, how do you approach that? I'm just curious how does that work? They give you an idea, they give you some shots, they give you some scenes, do you do that or how do you--
ma: You know what, it works all different ways. In the longest term, most involved situation, I would say would be like, Walk Hard. Did you see Walk Hard with John Reilly?
ezt: Oh yes. Yes
ma: On that movie, we were writing songs, people were writing songs, we were collaborating. All those songs that were in the movie were made maybe even in the conception of the script. That's the earliest we would start. Then make all the songs, and then they shoot the movie. Then as the movie is being edited, I'm getting scenes or sections of the movie, and then I start to work on the score, which is the underscore, the instrumental underscore. Then it just keeps going, going, going.
They start screening and they put the music in, and then people feedback and scenes get longer and shorter and they get reordered. The music continues to change, and the tone, balance. Especially in a comedy the tonal balance is really what makes the movie finally funny or effective in an emotional way. Most of the movies I work on are emotional comedies. That balance between comedy and heart it's like that's the thing we're all working on. Until the very end it's like a reduction of-- it's the balance of everything, really.
ezt: Did you work with Mike Viola on that?
ma: Yes, yes, yes. Mike wrote a bunch of songs with Dan. Yes, he was all in the mix the whole time. I've known Mike for a long time.
ezt: He was on the show. He was one of my first guests, in fact.
ma: Oh, that's cool. Yes, Mike and I have been friends for probably over 20 years now.
ezt: He's an amazing songwriter. I'm a big fan of his music.
ma: Yes, he's great. He is a really, really great songwriter. That was great. Those guys would just keep coming in with songs. I think maybe the first song that he came in for Walk Hard was a-- God, it was the '50s one. "A Life Without You" maybe was the first song that he wrote for the movie. "A life without you is no life at all." Yes, so cool. Those guys did so many great songs. I met Van Dyke Parks on that movie. That was awesome.
ezt: Oh, that's cool. He was also on this program. I also had a chance to interview him, too.
ma: Oh, yes. Van Dyke is incredible. I made a record with him and Inara George. You should listen to it, called An Invitation. That is just unbelievable. So beautiful. He did all the arrangements for it. It's really cool.
ezt: Amazingly talented people, of course. Talk about some of your live shows you guys are playing in support of this, and what's going on, on stage. What can people expect if they come to see you guys?
ma: Just us having a good time, playing the jams, improvising. If anybody has ever been to a show, we're just having fun and using our songs as a lifting-off place to be in the moment and collaborate rhythmically and otherwise. There's nothing incredibly special about it, except for if you think it's special, then it's incredibly special. You know what I mean?
ezt: That's everything, I guess.
ma: Come and see it. I don't know. We are going to have some guests on Friday, but I don't know if this podcast will be out by then.
ezt: No, it won't, but you could tell who will people have missed.
ma: I think The Living Sisters are going to show up. They were on What Happened to TV. We did a cool tune on our record, which is "How Glad I Am". Have you ever heard that?
ezt: No.
ma tried to play the track for us to listen to...
ezt: It's a little warbly. I can't really make it out. It's supposed to sound that way. It's vintage.
ma: Anyway, it's "How Glad I Am". It's distorted and warbly, man.
ezt: It's a distorted tube mic.
ma: Yes, probably was the tube mic, actually. Yes, [laughs] they're going to come and sit in with us because they're from LA and that'll be cool.
ezt: Well, cool. Well, congrats on releasing this record. Has there been a feel about-- again, I think this is an interesting record for you guys because it is some things that are a little out of the ordinary for you. What are you thinking about next time? You say you're working on something, but is it more of a return to what people can expect or are you going in a little bit of a different direction? You kind of touched on it before.
ma: It's hard to say. I mean, we have ambitions to make-- I will only say that we're trying to be more ambitious musically. It's not necessarily commercially ambitious. Excuse me. I don't know. I think we're trying to marinate in a way that we haven't had a chance to yet on a record. I think a lot of us have given a lot of ourselves to other projects. I think that the consensus is let's try to give more of ourselves to this band so that we can have something that is more of the potential of all of us collectively.
We try to do that every time, but there's just time constraints. We're trying to say, "Hey, let's take our time with this one, and try to make something that we all can be incredibly proud of. What if we never made any records again? We're at the point now where we're not young anymore. I think there's a finite amount of time that we're going to have together. I think it's important for us to really potentialize our collaboration."
ezt: Cool. Let's potentialize.
ma: That's it. That's what we're doing. Anyway, but we have to get in the studio first.
ezt: That's it. Well, listen, I really appreciate your time. It's a very cool album. You guys are really a fun band and so fun to listen to. Also, folks haven't watched your videos online. You have such great videos. Watching you guys do that stuff in the studio. I imagine it's all recorded live, but it all looks like, "Oh, they're just playing over these tracks," but I know better. I know you guys are good enough for it all be live. You look great.
ma: Thank you, and thanks for saying that. There's so many videos of us on YouTube throughout the years. It's just interesting if people are interested in looking to see the history of the band. It's fun. It's fun for us occasionally to look. Just to see like, "Whoa, I was 30 years old when that happened and now I'm 57."
ezt: Right. A lot of water under the bridge at this point.
ma: Pretty intense. I can imagine how the guys in the Stones feel when they see these old videos of them. It's just like, "Wow, it's a trip."
ezt: Yes, it's funny. There's a good video of George Harrison watching themselves on Ed Sullivan or something, I guess. It was already in the '70s. He was still young, but he was just cracking up. He was just watching it and beside himself laughing.
ma: It's strange. It's like looking at pictures of yourself. Everybody goes through the old drawer of photos and you're just like, "Whoa, that was a long time ago."
ezt: Right.
ma: It's cool. I enjoy. There's a couple of videos that-- specifically, there's one, I think, in Santa Cruz that we've put out last year. That's a show right after we made A Town Called Earth. It's pretty good, I have to say. Watch it.
ezt: Watch it, gang. If you can't make it out to a show, watch the video.
ma: Yes, watch that video. That's a good one. That's a good one.
ezt: Cool. Well, Michael, I really thank you for your time today, and best of luck. Be well, and keep in touch.
ma: Likewise.
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