Michael Andrews | |
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Background information | |
Also known as | Mike Andrews, Elgin Park |
Born | November 17, 1967 |
Origin | San Diego, California |
Genres | Film score, experimental, folk |
Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
Instrument(s) | Guitar, piano, keyboards, bass guitar, marimba, drums |
Years active | 1985 - present |
Labels | Avace, Ever Loving |
Michael Andrews (born November 17, 1967), also known as Elgin Park, is an American multi-instrumental musician, producer, and film score composer. He is best known for a cover version of the Tears for Fears song "Mad World", which he recorded with Gary Jules for the Donnie Darko soundtrack, and which became the 2003 UK Christmas number one. [1] He is a founding member of the San Diego soul-jazz band The Greyboy Allstars, where he goes by the moniker Elgin Park. [2]
After joining The Greyboy Allstars following the dissolution of his band The Origin, Andrews fell into film score composition by chance in 1998 when The Greyboy Allstars were asked to score Jake Kasdan's first feature Zero Effect and worked on the music for the highly regarded (though short-lived) TV series, Freaks and Geeks . In 2000, Richard Kelly commissioned him to do the soundtrack for the film Donnie Darko . Its original score album went on to sell over 100,000 copies (in part because of Andrews's remake of Tears for Fears' "Mad World", featuring Gary Jules), [3] and Andrews became a composer to watch. He has since gone on to compose scores for the movies Out Cold , Nothing , Cypher , Orange County , My Suicidal Sweetheart , Me and You and Everyone We Know , The TV Set , a segment of Paris, je t'aime , Unaccompanied Minors , Bridesmaids , Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and Daddy's Home among others.
In early 2000, Jim Juvonen gave Andrews a copy of the script for the as-yet-unmade feature film Donnie Darko . Director Richard Kelly knew Andrews worked with The Greyboy Allstars, and made music under the name Elgin Park.
Like his role models John Barry and Ennio Morricone, Andrews wanted a song on his otherwise instrumental score. He chose "Mad World" by Tears for Fears (originally released in 1982), which his childhood friend Gary Jules sang as Andrews played piano.
The first soundtrack record was released by Andy Factor, a friend of Andrews, through his Everloving Records label in 2002. As Donnie Darko was not a hit at first, there was little interest in the soundtrack in the US. The film was more popular in Europe, especially in the UK, where it outgrossed the US release.
This sparked interest in the soundtrack and "Mad World", which was a 2003 Christmas #1 on the UK Singles Chart. It reached the top 30 of the American Billboard Modern Rock chart in 2004 and hit #1 on the Canadian Digital Singles chart in January 2007. [3] It charted in countries like Ireland, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Australia in 2003 and 2004, and a snippet was used in the television commercial for the 2006 Xbox 360 video game Gears of War .
In 2005, Andrews scored Me and You and Everyone We Know , a film by Miranda July praised at both Sundance and Cannes film festivals. The score to the film was released on Everloving Records on July 12, 2005.
Initially taking cues from the characters' dialogue, Andrews began writing the score. He came to understand the film's world as a kind of alternate reality where people believe in fate and chance—and this was the world he needed to paint with his music. He also saw the feelings July was trying to get across in her film as very primary. "She tries to break things down to very basic, simple shapes—the simplest shapes possible, and that totally influenced me in my music".
Working out of his custom-built backyard studio in Glendale, California, Andrews spent three months creating the score using an orchestra of obscure vintage synthesizers (a miniature hotwired Casio keyboard was unearthed at a garage sale for $10) and drum machines. His concept was to play what he termed amateurish, emotional, naïve, magical and simple music on highly unemotional, inorganic instruments—for example, a calculator with built-in twelve-note keyboard that lends a haunting portamento melody to one of the film's motifs.
Other instruments used in the score include Andrews's modified piano (rather than hitting the strings directly, the hammers first make contact with a piece of soft felt, creating a warmer, slightly muffled tone), as well as his Moog and Vocoder synthesizers. Despite all the electronic gear, no MIDI was used in the recording, so that all the humanness, all the subtle variations of rhythm, are intact. Inara George adds vocals in several climactic moments throughout the film. In some cases, cues were composed of only two or three tracks in order to attain the magical simplicity for which the film called out.
Andrews released his first solo album, Hand on String , on his own newly established label, Elgin Park Recordings, in Summer 2006. He is credited on the album as Mike Andrews.
In August 2012, Andrews's second solo record "Spilling A Rainbow" was released on Everloving Records performed mostly alone, and with Dan Long and Steve Kaye recording. [4]
Year | Single | Peak positions | ||||||||
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AUS [5] | AUT [6] | BEL (Fl) [7] | DEN [8] | FRA [9] | GER | NED [10] | SWE [11] | SWI [12] | ||
2001 | "Mad World" (featuring Gary Jules) | 28 | 13 | 23 | 2 | 30 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 23 |
Donnie Darko is a 2001 American science fiction psychological thriller film written and directed by Richard Kelly, and produced by Flower Films. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, Mary McDonnell, Katharine Ross, Patrick Swayze and Noah Wyle. Set in October 1988, the film follows Donnie Darko, an emotionally troubled teenager who inadvertently escapes a bizarre accident by sleepwalking. He has visions of Frank, a mysterious figure in a rabbit costume who informs him that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds.
Gary Jules Aguirre Jr. is an American singer-songwriter, known primarily for his cover version of the Tears for Fears song "Mad World", which he recorded with his friend Michael Andrews for the film Donnie Darko. It became the UK Christmas number-one single of 2003.
"Mad World" is a 1982 song by British band Tears for Fears. Written by Roland Orzabal and sung by bassist Curt Smith, it was the band's third single release and first chart hit, reaching number three on the UK Singles Chart in November 1982. Both "Mad World" and its B-side, "Ideas as Opiates", appeared on the band's debut LP The Hurting (1983). This single was also the band's first international success, reaching the Top 40 in several countries in 1982–83. In the UK it was the 12th best-selling single of 1982.
"The Killing Moon" is a song by the English rock band Echo & the Bunnymen. It was released on 20 January 1984 as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Ocean Rain (1984). It is one of the band's highest-charting hits, reaching number 9 in the UK Singles Chart, and often cited as the band's greatest song. Ian McCulloch has said: "When I sing 'The Killing Moon', I know there isn't a band in the world who's got a song anywhere near that." In a retrospective review of the song, AllMusic journalist Stewart Mason wrote: "The smart use of strings amplifies the elegance of the tune, bringing both a musical richness and a sense of quiet dignity to the tune."
Curt Smith is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer, who is best known as the co-lead vocalist, bassist and co-founding member of the pop rock band Tears for Fears along with childhood friend Roland Orzabal. Smith has co-written several of the band's songs, and sings lead vocals on the hits "Mad World", "Pale Shelter", "Change", "The Way You Are", "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", and "Advice for the Young at Heart".
Roland Jaime Orzábal De La Quintana is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and author. He is the guitarist, co-lead vocalist, main songwriter, co-founder, and the only constant member of Tears for Fears. He is also a producer of artists such as Oleta Adams. In 2014, Orzabal published his first novel, a romantic comedy.
Donnie Darko: Music from the Original Motion Picture Score is a soundtrack album by American musician Michael Andrews, released in April 2002 on Enjoy and Everloving Records. It contains music from the 2001 science fiction psychological thriller film Donnie Darko, written and directed by Richard Kelly. It consists of 16 instrumental tracks and two covers of "Mad World" by Tears for Fears sung by American singer Gary Jules.
Zero Effect is a 1998 American mystery comedy film written and directed by Jake Kasdan in his feature directional debut. Starring Bill Pullman as "the world's most private detective", Daryl Zero, and Ben Stiller as his assistant Steve Arlo, the film's plot is loosely based on the Arthur Conan Doyle short story "A Scandal in Bohemia".
Everloving Records was founded in 2003, having been Enjoy Records from 2000. With the success of Jack Johnson's debut Brushfire Fairytales the original, though defunct, Enjoy Records phoned up to reclaim their moniker. Everloving began with Jack's album, which was produced by co-founder J. P. Plunier. The company began when A&R veteran Andy Factor and Plunier partnered, after having worked together for Ben Harper. Plunier is Harper's manager and Factor was his A&R man.
Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets is the second studio album by Gary Jules on the Sanctuary Records label. Despite the year of release, it took three years to chart in both the UK and US, eventually reaching the UK Top 40 and Billboard 200 in 2004. The popular Tears for Fears cover "Mad World", which was featured on the Donnie Darko soundtrack and in the Gears of War trailer, is on the album.
The Greyboy Allstars are an American soul-jazz band from San Diego, California, United States, whose current members include Karl Denson on Saxophone, Robert Walter on Keys, Mike Andrews on guitar, Chris Stillwell on bass and Aaron Redfield on drums. They have released six albums to date.
"MLK" is a song by Irish rock band U2, and is the tenth and final track on their 1984 album, The Unforgettable Fire. An elegy to Martin Luther King Jr., it is a short, pensive piece with simple lyrics. It was because of this song and "Pride ", another tribute to King, that lead vocalist Bono received the highest honor of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, an organization founded by Coretta Scott King.
Robert Walter is an American keyboard player specializing in soul jazz on the Hammond B3 organ and Fender Rhodes. He is best known as a founding member of The Greyboy Allstars. Walter, splits his time between The Greyboy Allstars, his own 20th Congress, and a robust film soundtrack session career in Los Angeles.
Inara Maryland George is an American singer-songwriter and musician, one half of The Bird and the Bee, a member of the band Merrick, with Bryony Atkinson, and a member of the trio The Living Sisters, with Eleni Mandell and Becky Stark.
DJ Greyboy is an acid jazz DJ from San Diego, California now residing in Long Beach, California. Early in his career he was the partner of Rob Dyrdek in Crime on the Turn Tables. His style of music includes hip hop, soul, funk, experimental, and acid jazz rare grooves. Greyboy has tracks on numerous compilations. He is co-founder and namesake of The Greyboy Allstars. In 2009 Greyboy founded his own record label "Soundlock Recordings" as well as a turntable band called "Warchurch" members include Delmos Wade, DJ Truly Odd, Erick Coomes, Tycoon, Mike Long and Opie Ortiz. In 2010 he released a co-produced album with Delmos Wade titled From the Ground Up. Greyboy collaborated with rock band Incubus on a track called "Familiar", which appeared on the soundtrack of the film Spawn.
Wayne Carson, sometimes credited as Wayne Carson Thompson, was an American country musician, songwriter, and record producer. He played percussion, piano, guitar, and bass. His most famous songs as a writer include "The Letter", "Neon Rainbow", "Soul Deep", and "Always on My Mind".
Season 8 Favorite Performances is a compilation album by American singer Adam Lambert based on his American Idol performances. The album was released digitally through iTunes and consists of studio recordings made by Lambert during season 8 of American Idol. It does not include live performances at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. A similar album was also released through iTunes by season 8 winner Kris Allen. It sold 16,000 on its first week, and has sold 35,000 by July 23, 2009.
Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut is a 2004 re-cut version of Richard Kelly's directorial debut, Donnie Darko. A critical success but a commercial failure when first released in 2001, Donnie Darko grew in popularity through word-of-mouth due to strong DVD sales and regular midnight screenings across the United States. As a result of this growth, Kelly was approached by Bob Berney, president of the distributor Newmarket Films, who suggested that the film be rereleased. Kelly proposed producing a director's cut, and was given $290,000 to create what he called his interpretation of the original film. Donnie Darko was subsequently described as being the first "flop" to be given a director's cut.
Adam Keith Grace is an American actor, magician, and musician best known as a founding member of the rock/Americana band Truth & Salvage Co. He began his acting career in the 1995 Broadway show Busker Alley at the St. James Theater in New York City.
The Origin was an American alternative/indie rock/power pop band formed in San Diego, California in 1985. The classic line-up of the band consisted of Michael Andrews, Topper Rimel, Rony Abada, and Daniel Silverman. During the band's active years in the early nineties, they released two full-length albums and five singles, with two singles charting in the top 20 of the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. They broke up in 1993.