45 reasons to dance with Greyboy

PHOTO by ERIC ANTHONY

If the best full-length albums are the aural equivalent of sprawling literary masterpieces like East of Eden and Don Quixote, the best 45-rpm singles are flash fiction, precise but visceral declarations of intent that take mere seconds to experience but days to process. For example, “For sale: baby shoes, never worn” (allegedly penned by Hemmingway). When an artist works within constraints, the scope is narrowed and the final product is often infinitesimally more refined, powerful and complete (e.g., Buddy Holly’s “Peggy Sue” b/w “Everyday”—both surely on the short list for our new national anthem should Francis Scott Key ever be deservedly dethroned).

In tribute to the 45’s enduring power over our hearts and souls, international soul/acid jazz heavyweight and Long Beach fixture Greyboy (born Andreas Stevens) plans on spinning nothing but that defining format in the newly reborn Basement Lounge Thursday night. If any musicmaker in this city is an authority on 45s, it’s Greyboy. He’s an active hip-hop producer and DJ who’s released a steady stream of material for over 15 years, collaborating with Incubus and Sharon Jones and recording an album with James Brown’s band leader. But more importantly, vinyl records have always been the crucial primary source for DJs and hip-hop producers all over—and Greyboy has defined his career by fusing together fragments of obscure soul and funk records to produce totally new and captivating material. He speaks now, sick and sneezing on a cold fall afternoon, about records, the devil and Kool & the Gang.

The District Weekly: What 45 are we most likely to hear when you’re is spinning?
Greyboy: I’d say it’s something that I always have that not like a ton of people have . . . especially not in this area. It’s a 45 by a group called the Devils, and it’s called ‘The Exorcist.’ It’s just like all the way around what I like. It’s by an instrumental funk band. They only had like two 45s, and it’s great. That’s as far as you could go with it. It’s funk.

On the subject of 45s: Is your name a reference to that Human Race 45? Did you manage to beat DJ Shadow to the punch on that one?
That song wasn’t actually discovered until like 15 years after I got the name. This Puerto Rican guy named me that when I was a kid. He was my mentor. One day he was like, ‘Your DJ name is Greyboy, ’cause you’re black on the inside but you’re white on the outside!’ I was like the only DJ in that scene who excelled in DJing, and I won a lot of contests. It all came from my desire to scratch. Coincidentally, like in the mid ’90s that 45 surfaced back into music, and it was a trip when I saw that! I think Wax Poetics found that dude and found out that his name was given to him in the same circumstances! And actually, there’s one other reference I’ve seen to ‘Greyboy’ after I got my name. There’s this rare collectors record out there called Hustler’s Convention. It’s all this spoken-word over this cool funk track; they’re talking about pimping. And the band playing the music is actually Kool & the Gang! And then in one part he calls a dude a grey boy because he’s dating a black chick! That’s the full story on that.

BIG AUDIO PRESENTS 45 FLAVORS OF FUNK WITH DJ GREYBOY, JAPSON AND MRDIGGLZ THE BASEMENT LOUNGE • 149 LINDEN AVE • LONG BEACH 90802 • 562.901.9090 • THURS • CHECK WEB SITE FOR TIME • FREE RSVP FOR FIRST 50 PEOPLE, BIGAUDIOPARTY@GMAIL.COM • $5 AFTER • BIGAUDIOPARTY.BLOGSPOT.COM

Tags: basement lounge, dj greyboy, hustler's convention, Long Beach, Music, wax poetics