Interview: Girl Talk

By Ali Trachta in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 31, 2008 4:15PM

Radiohead Shmaediohead. If there’s one act we’re pumped to see at Lollapalooza this year, it’s the sweatfest dance party stylings of Pittsburgh mash-up artist Gregg “Girl Talk” Gillis. Riding high on the recent release of Feed the Animals, Girl Talk takes the stage in Grant Park on Sunday for a live sample-based set certain to spark a raucous party and rip the festival a new one. Unlike the Debbie Downers crying copyright lawsuit, we see a bright future for this mash-up maven, who has single-handedly elevated our standards of what it means to have a good time at a show. In anticipation of the Lolla madness, we rapped a little with Gillis over email to get some insight into what it’s like to be the ringmaster at the center of the Girl Talk circus.

Chicagoist: Last year you quit your job as an Engineer to Girl Talk-it-up full
time.  How has your life changed?

Gregg Gillis: I wake up after 2 PM almost every day. I go to bed when the sun is rising. I hang out all day in my underwear. I don't socialize with old guys as much. I answer Myspace messages in my bedroom instead of my cubicle. I don't have to use my 10 vacation days if I decide to play a show on a weekday. Other than that, things have been fairly similar.

C: In what ways do you think Feed the Animals differs from Night Ripper?

GG: The structure is more involved. The tempo range and variations are more extreme. The source material is more diverse. The production is more detail-oriented while moving through the source material at a more
accessible pace. The game plan was to use the style template of Night Ripper and take it over the top.

C: What was your motivation for pre-selling your album online on a pay-
what-you-want basis?  Why not take the money and run?

GG: I wanted to get the music to as many people as possible in the quickest and most efficient way possible, and this seemed like a reasonable method of going about that. As soon as an album hits the internet, most people know how to get it for free. I'd rather be upfront about that rather than pretend that file-sharing networks and blogs don't exist.  It's just like, 'Here it is, do you want to pay for it or not? It's up to you.'  It's acknowledging reality.

C: Considering no two of your shows are alike, what’s your strategy for
keeping your music innovative and surprising?

GG: I'm constantly working on small pieces of music, not really worrying about how it will fit into the bigger picture. Over time, certain things naturally evolve. You can go so many different directions in working with
samples, and I feel like I've only explored a very specific area of this style of music. I just try to make music that's interesting to me. Whether it's innovative or surprising isn't that much of a concern to me right now.

C: Are you in a constant state of song cultivation? (i.e. jotting down ideas
while listening to the radio, while searching through a jukebox, etc.)

GG: Yes! It's hard to escape this. Whether I'm in the car, grocery store, or at a party, I'm always text messaging myself with source material ideas. At times, when I'm really looking for something new to sample, I'll just spend a day cruising through the radio.

C: Mash-up is a relatively new genre and you’re one of its trailblazers,
however, are there any artists you consider to be influences?

GG: There were a bunch of people who were doing sample-based music long before the phrase "mash-up" existed. There's the experimental types like John Oswald, Negativland, and Kid 606. Those guys were a huge influence. And, there's the whole history of sampling being such an important tool in hip hop. Growing up, I was into stuff from Bel Biv Devoe all the way to Public Enemy.

C: Does playing larger shows such as Lollapalooza present a challenge to
you in any way, considering security and general “rules” have a stronger presence?

GG: Yeah, I hate rules, but I think the shows can work out great in such a large setting. I love playing smaller clubs, where I can go in the crowd and sweat on every individual, but that's just not an option at festivals. You lose some intimacy, but you gain a massive group of people partying together. It's hard to top that if it's going right.

C: What other Lolla acts are you excited to see?

GG: I'm pumped to crowd surf during The Toadies' "Possum Kingdom."

Girl Talk, Sunday, Aug. 3, 6:30 p.m., Lollapalooza’s Citi stage.

Download his latest album, Feed the Animals, here.

Also, check out this crazy video on which Gillis lays some very serious parodic smackdown.