May 21, 2006: Girl Talk
Back to the regular routine, then. After having to repost episode 89 a couple of weeks ago and then breaking from our schedule to podcast the live interview with Mark Hosler last week, getting back to the focus of this blog/podcast will feel good. For those of you who are new to this (and really, we're just getting started here), the goal of this project has been to get the 2nd year of
Some Assembly Required online, and to do a blog focus on one artist each week, from that week's episode. We're still airing new episodes around the country (and Canada!), so stay tune
d to your radio for new episodes of the show - while checking out the podcast every week, for past episodes from our 2nd year in syndication, along with blog features on the many sound collage artists we feature on the program.
This week's featured artist is
Girl Talk! A glitch oriented super-fan of pop music, Girl Talk is most often reviewed as party music, and I'm sure that is just fine with Gregg Gillis - the man behind Girl Talk. Stay tuned for episode 88 of
Some Assembly Required - among the 16 sound collage tracks is one called
I want you back by Girl Talk, off of his 2002 release, Secret Diary.
Another feature in this week's podcast is a look at a record called
The East Village Other - Electric Newspaper - Hiroshima Day. Dolores Dewberry did a couple of little features for the show our second year, and this is one of them (stay tuned for another one on sampling and
The Beatles). The track we focus on, from The East Village Other... is
Lucy's Wedding, as it samples an interview with Lyndon Johnson's daughter, Lucy Byrd, on the day of her wedding - with
The Velvet Underground providing background instrumentation. The record was released in 1966, and included contributions from Steve Weber, The Velvet Underground, Marion Brown, Allen Ginsberg, Peter Orlowsky, Tuli Kupferberg, Viki Pollon, Peter Rawson and many others. Andy Warhol even took part. His contribution was
silence - according to the liner notes.
...but back to
Girl Talk - He's got three records currently: Secret Diary (2002), Unstoppable (2004) and Nightripper (2006), all on the
Illegal Art label. There are some vinyl releases, as well, on 12 Apostles and 333 Recordings. I've not yet had the pleasure of seeing Girl Talk live, but every review seems to agree that its something not to be missed. If stories of drunken debauchery, reckless abandon and general glee-inspired mayhem sound like a good time to you, then be sure to check out Girl Talk, the next time you see him on the bill. For now, I'll just have to settle for my records, and anxiously await my copy of Nightripper...
Without further ado, here's the SAR Q&A with Gregg Gillis of
Girl Talk!
***
*Name: Girl Talk*Members: Gregg Gillis
*Tape manipulations, digital deconstructions or turntable creations: I don’t use tapes or turntables for making music, so if I had to pick one of the above, I guess it’d be “digital deconstructions.” I really don’t know how “deconstructive” my stuff is these days though.*Do you have a different descriptor you like to use? My music is pretty much pop music.*Location: Pittsburgh, PA. Steel City, USA. *Original Location: Pittsburgh
*What is your creative/artistic background: I played saxophone in 3rd grade. I was in some rock bands that never practiced in middle school. I was in a noise band that smashed a lot of stuff in high school. *History: I started Girl Talk in the summer of 2000. *Born: October 26, 1981 in Pittsburgh, PA.*Motivations: I like to make music that my friends will dance to.*Philosophy: It’s fun to mix up a ton of pop songs.*How would you like to be remembered: Our generation’s Kurt Cobain.*Web address: www.girl-talk.net
www.myspace.com/girltalkmusic***
Thanks to Gregg Gillis of
Girl Talk. As you can see, there's a page for
Girl Talk at Myspace. Check out the
SAR Myspace page, while you're there. And come back next week, for a special feature on
V/VM...
Until then - thanks for listening!
Jon Nelson
www.some-assembly-required.net
