By Matt Harper
Hardcore fans of pop culture have been waiting with baited breath for the latest Girl Talk album, Feed The Animals, which is like a musical spot-the-reference game. I am one of those people, so I was over the moon at the opportunity to spend a day hanging out with the man behind Girl Talk, Gregg Gillis, in his hometown of Pittsburgh.
Here's a quick bit of background if you're not familiar with Girl Talk:
· He's not really a DJ — technically speaking, he's a "laptop producer."
· He uses music samples to create something completely new and amazing. Technically his songs are mash-ups, but that's not giving him proper credit: At a rough estimate, there's somewhere around 300 music sources in Feed the Animals, (which drove our James Montgomery crazy on a recent transcontinental flight), maybe more.
· His last album, Night Ripper, was one of the best releases of 2006 (and not just according to me: Pitchfork, Paste, and Rolling Stone all put it on their "Best of the Year" lists).
Anyway, we started the day off at the Coal Hill Steakhouse at the Grandview Saloon, where we had a beer, talked about his start in music, and reminisced about some of his more memorable performance experiences — my favorite being the time he brought $500 worth of Taco Bell to a show to give out to his fans. Read More...
