Excerpt from Radio Arts Middlebury's interview with Girl Talk

Author: Colin Foss

Radio Arts Middlebury producer Colin Foss '10 spoke with Girl Talk DJ Gregg Gillis prior to last Friday's now infamous dance party extravaganza. His interview with Gillis aired yesterday on WRMC 91.1. Listen to the full interview at middleburycampus.com, or check out the highlights of Foss' conversation with the man behind the music:

Radio Arts: Your music isn't just the work of a dance club DJ on speed. There's a higher organization and most importantly an idea behind these seemingly random music encounters. What do you think the Smashing Pumpkins have to say to Fergie, for example?

Gregg Gillis: For me, I'm not trying to push any ideas or political statements on anyone - I do have particular views, and I'm happy to discuss them - but for me, conceptually music is about breaking down barriers. Artistically, I respect Fergie as much as I do Sonic Youth, even though certain bands are critically acclaimed and considered "real artists" and other more pop-oriented acts are sometimes dismissed. For me, anyone putting out CDs into the public is making an attempt to be heard, and even people who live off their music can be great artists. You can make great art and make money off it. For me, it's all on the same level. You have to take into consideration their audience.

RA: What can we expect on your new album? Do you ever imagine using any original instrumentation?

GG: Little bits. On Night Ripper there are a few melodies on "Hold Up" and some beats that are original. There's a minute-long keyboard part I wrote, and then I put together some stuff for the last track. On the new album - which I actually just started assembling yesterday - I have a lot of it drawn out. There's about a minute and 20 seconds done, so I can't say 100 percent what it's going to sound like. On earlier albums, I felt a little bit like I was trying to prove myself on a laptop, almost showing off to some degree. It was about how fast I could chop up this many songs, make it fast and crazy but still together. Night Ripper was so well-received that it makes the pressure on me less. I don't have to show off that I can chop up 300 songs in 40 minutes. I think the album's dense like the last one, but I'm going to let it breathe a little bit more. I'll take the concepts of Night Ripper and hopefully make a better pop album out of it.

RA: Being somewhere in between a music producer and a music presenter and a music maker - are you ever at a loss as to what to do onstage?

GG: Not really. I mean, in high school, I was in a noise band, and we just made experimental sounds and smashed up stuff. It was very performance-based. We took the music into consideration, but it was always performance first. As soon as I started Girl Talk, I though I was going to start a band all sample-based. I wasn't going to be a DJ, I would just do sound collage and that's what this whole project was going to be about. It wasn't like I was making these collages and then I was asked to do something live. I've had many years now of playing shows in basements and opening up for bands in basements - it wasn't dance clubs or parties. It was "here's 30 minutes, get up on stage and put on a performance." During shows these days, now that people come out to party and know my material a bit more, the performance end of it is so casual and easy for me because I can focus on the music more. I really try to engage the crowd.