Michael Andrews (musician)
Michael Andrews | |
---|---|
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 |
Michael Andrews (born November 17, 1967), also known as Elgin Park, is an American multi-instrumental musician, producer, and
Soundtrack production
After joining
Donnie Darko
In early 2000,
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
Me and You and Everyone We Know
In 2005, Andrews scored
Initially taking cues from the characters' dialogue, Andrews began writing the score. He came to understand the film's world as a kind of
Working out of his custom-built backyard studio in
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.
Solo career
Andrews released his first solo album,
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]
Discography
Albums
- Elgin Park (2000)
- Hand on String(2006)
- Spilling a Rainbow (2012)
Singles
Year | Single | Peak positions | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 |
Productions/appearances
- The Origin(1990)
- The Origin – Bend (1992)
- 'The Greyboy Allstars – West Coast Boogaloo (1993)
- Robert Walter – Spirit of '70 (player) (1994)
- Brendan Benson – One Mississippi (bass, guitars, background vocals) (1994)
- DJ Greyboy – Land of the Lost (guitar) (1996)
- Gary Jules – Greetings From The Side (producer) (1998)
- Elgin Park - Elgin Park (2000)
- DJ Greyboy – Mastered The Art (guitar) (2000)
- The Greyboy Allstars – Greyboy Allstars Live (2001)
- Trading Snakeoil For Wolftickets(piano, producer) (2001)
- Michael Andrews – Donnie Darko: Music from the Original Motion Picture Score (songwriter, performer) (2002)
- Brendan Benson – Metarie EP (producer) (2003)
- Metric – Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? (producer) (2004)
- Les Sans Culottes – Fixation Orale (producer) (2004)
- DJ Greyboy – Soul Mosaic (guitar) (2004)
- Inara George – All Rise (producer) (2005)
- Michael Andrews – Me and You and Everyone We Know (Original Motion Picture Score) (composer, performer) (2005)
- Michael Andrews – Hand on String (2005)
- Charlie Wadhams – Free Up Your Schedule (producer/player) (2007)
- The Greyboy Allstars – What Happened to Television (2007)
- Inara George & Van Dyke Parks – An Invitation (producer) (2008)
- Inara George – Accidental Experimental (producer/cowriter) (2009)
- Michael Andrews – Spilling a Rainbow (2012)
- The Greyboy Allstars – Inland Emperor (2013)
- Robert Walter – Get Thy Bearings (producer/player) (2013)
- Inara George – Dearest Everybody (producer) (2019)
- The Greyboy Allstars – Como De Allstars (2020)
- Brooks Nielsen– One Match Left (producer/player/songwriter) (2022)
- Brooks Nielsen– The Circle EP (producer/player/songwriter) (2023)
Filmography
Television scores
- Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000)
- Undeclared (2001–2002)
- Wonderfalls (2004)
- Desire – Ford Mondeo (2007) – TV advertisement
- New Girl (2011) – Main Title Theme
- Ben and Kate (2012) – Main Title Theme
- Togetherness (Seasons 1&2 – 2016 HBO)
- The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling (2017 HBO)[13]
- Friends from College (2019 Netflix)[14]
- City Of Ghosts (2021 Netflix)
- El Deafo (2022 Apple TV+)
- Totally Killer (2023 Amazon Prime Video)
References
- ^ "The Official Charts Company – Michael Andrews Featuring Gary Jules – Mad World". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 4, 2009.
- ^ "Elgin Park - Elgin Park | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
- ^ a b "Donnie Darko". EverLoving. Retrieved June 4, 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Staff (2012). "Spilling a Rainbow". Allmusic. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
- ^ "Michael Andrews discography". australian-charts.com. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
- ^ "Michael Andrews discography". austriancharts.at. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
- ^ "Michael Andrews discography". ultratop.be/nl/. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
- ^ "Michael Andrews discography". danishcharts.dk. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
- ^ "Michael Andrews discography". lescharts.com. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
- ^ "Michael Andrews discography". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
- ^ "Michael Andrews discography". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
- ^ "Michael Andrews discography". hitparade.ch. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
- ^ "Michael Andrews Scoring HBO's 'The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling' | Film Music Reporter". Retrieved July 13, 2021.
- ^ "Michael Andrews Scoring Netflix's 'Friends from College' | Film Music Reporter". Retrieved July 13, 2021.
External links
- Michael Andrews at IMDb
- Michael Andrews at AllMovie
- Interview with Gary Jules and Michael Andrews, on BBC Radio 1
- Donnie Darko spotlight at everloving.com