Causecast

The Greyboy Allstars is Karl Denson and DJ Greyboy’s San Diego-based boogaloo collaboration, packing houses with their house band since they first left home in the early nineties.

Greyboy Allstar’s Karl Denson found a few minutes for intrepid Causecast music manager Brandon Deroche, to talk about change from the bottom up, feeding hungry souls and hungry children, and the emergent paradigm shift in politics.

CC: Any activists that have inspired you throughout your life?

Karl Denson: There’s a few bands around that have impressed me in the last few years: Sound Tribe Sector 9, I really like how from the beginning of their band, they included this food drive, which has become really big for them. And, you know, my family, we’ve been involved in feeding kids from all over the world for a long time. So my wife really has a heart for kids. So I think that’s where our activism lies, in taking care of kids who are in really bad shape, you know. So, I just think it’s a really great idea for, especially bands who travel a lot, to try to figure out ways to network with people who are like-minded. We’re launching a new website this fall for my band, and we’re definitely going to include some kind of a way for people to reach other things through us. So I really like the whole Causecast idea. Really struck a chord with me.

CC: Are there any changes you’ve noticed as you’ve been touring around that have really moved you?

Karl: I think just in general the awareness that people have, the awareness that people are creating, by the home-grown organizations, you know? We’ve been doing this for fifteen years, so I’ve watched places like Whole Foods grow up and all these organic…the idea of eating healthy foods. As it starts to take hold in normal culture, I find that really interesting. The fact that major corporations are stopping using hydrogenated oils and crappy sugars and stuff, is all due to the fact that regular people decided not to eat that crap, you know? So I think it’s nice traveling around and just seeing people becoming more aware of what’s going on in their communities and in the world in general.

“…Most revolutions the day after were not as good as they seemed as the days running up to them…I’m more about paradigm shifts”
- Karl Denson

CC: So what do you think music’s number one tool is?

Karl: Well, music is, you know…it’s language. Music is language, you know? So, it’s one of those things that you can touch everybody kind of in the same way, whether you speak their exact language or not. It transcends language. So, I think it’s a great place to start, as far as community goes. People that like the same music are going to be more apt to talk to each other about what’s going on in their lives and what’s going on around them. And, you know, you get the right blend of people talking about important things, and you can actually get people, get a whole consciousness in a matter of years.

CC: We talk a lot about consciousness and how music has a big play into that. How do you find that music affects your consciousness or your music affects other people?

Karl: Well, for me music was one of the things that always made me happy. So that’s really all I’ve tried to do with my music, is have people get that same feeling from what I do, which is just try to make people dance and have fun. And enlighten them musically, you know, give them something that’s intelligent and that they feel like they maybe got some growth while listening to it. That’s the music I listened to as a kid.

CC: We also talk a lot about revolution. What revolutions have you seen in your life, and what revolutions have helped inspire you as an artist?

Karl: I’m not really that particular about the word revolution, myself, [laughs] because most revolutions the day after were not as good as they seemed as the days running up to them, you know? You say the word revolution in parts of Europe and Africa, and you get a whole different idea of what it is.

I’m more about paradigm shifts, you know? Consciousness, awakening to what’s really there. And… I’ll tell you a really interesting thing that someone said to me recently. She was quoting the Bible and ‘the meek will inherit the earth,’ and as we watch everybody…we watch the whole political spectrum, and everybody’s so strident about their point of view. Then you have a bunch of people underneath, just doing things and just changing the way people think and changing the way people do things, quietly. I think that’s what going to really happen. I think you’re going to have a shift, you know like we’re having a shift in politics right now, away from the noisy people. I think it’s going to be more about the quiet people, the quiet doers, than the noisy yellers. I think that’s kind of where it‘s going.

CC:What does the word ‘peace’ mean to you?

Karl: I would to have to say, ‘wisdom.’ ‘Peace’ would mean ‘wisdom’ to me. Because peace in itself without wisdom won’t necessarily get you there. I think if we can become wise enough to really do what’s important, and what’s really good, and what’s well thought out, and what’s lasting, then we can have peace.

Learn more about the Greyboy Allstars: www.GreyboyAllstars.com

Read more Causecast musician interviews at www.causecast.org/music.

Transcription by NICHOLAS CHUNG, Causecast Writer

Photo 1 by pfunkjazz, flickr