Girl Talk’s song collages strike a new sonic chord

By John Benson

entertainment@vindy.com

Just a lot of winks and nods done in a cool way is what Gregg Gillis does really well under his mash-up project Girl Talk. However, his vision goes way beyond turning two songs into one.

“I’m more like putting 400 songs together and making it work,” said Pittsburgh native and Case Western Reserve University graduate Gillis, calling from his Steel City home. “My new album [and free download] ‘All Day’ is one composition, a 71-minute piece of music, and it’s around 400 songs. When I kind of break it down to family and friends, it’s less about having two songs and more about chopping up tiny fragments of lots of songs.

“It’s using a hand clap from a particular song or using a vocal sample from a song and layering that with guitars from another song and bass from a different song and vocals from another song. It’s an audio collage using bits and pieces of lots of different pop music and trying to make something new out of it.”

Making something new and not competing with the original songs is how Gillis skirts around the royalties issue. For example, one would assume the costs to sample Lil Wayne’s “A Milli” and Joe Jackson’s “Steppin’ Out” for new track “Triple Double” would be through the roof.

The 29-year-old DJ quotes the copyright code’s Fair Use clause, which allows use of samples without asking permission or paying a royalty if the output is transformative and doesn’t negatively impact the source of material.

Considering the beleaguered music industry these days, Gillis said no one has questioned his use of high-profile samples, including what is widely considered to be his breakout track, “Smash Your Head.” The mash-up features numerous samples, including a memorable juxtaposition of Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” and The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy.”

“That album, ‘Night Ripper,’ is something where people were kind of nationally into it,” said Gillis, who said his time spent in Northeast Ohio helped shape Girl Talk. “Prior to that, it was really a small cult following. I think that album got a lot more media and blog coverage, and that song was highlighted as one of the more recognizable moments from the album.”

Today, the majority of Gillis’ income comes from touring. He’s on the road roughly 150 dates a year, including a sold-out Jan. 5 show at the House of Blues.

Gillis already is seeing hints of more mainstream attention. In fact, there was an experience a while back in Atlanta that blew his mind.

“I think the coolest thing for me was a couple of years back I played a sold-out show in a small, dirty, sweaty, smelly club on a Saturday night,” Gillis said. “During the set, my sound guy came up to me and said Big Boi was in the house, so I kind of started flipping live remixes of Outkast and Big Boi stuff on the fly. I was told he was actually running my visuals at one point while I was cutting up his tunes. It was a weird alternative- universe collaboration going on. After the set, I got a chance to say what’s up, and he said he had seen me once before. You know, it was a Saturday night in Atlanta, and that man is the king of Atlanta, so it was an incredible honor.”

Does that mean if Michael Stanley comes out to the upcoming Girl Talk show in Cleveland, Gillis will be chopping up MSB tunes all night long?

“Yeah,” he said, laughing. “I’ll try to dive in.”