Pitchfork

Photo by Joseph Mohan

If you'd been putting together an iTunes playlist for a big party this weekend, be sure to leave a good bit of space on it. After a few final listens just to make sure everything's as it should be, Gregg Gillis-- aka mainstream-mining maximalist mashupper Girl Talk-- will release his fourth LP, Feed the Animals, via the Illegal Art label site. Gillis expects the album to hit the web "Wednesday or Thursday" of this week, with a physical release to follow. (The CD is due on Illegal Art, while the vinyl will be handled by Wham City.)

We spoke with Gillis late last week, two days after he finished work on the album's tracks. Mastering work on the LP had just begun. We talked about the how much things have changed for him in the two years since his breakthrough, Night Ripper, the relationship between his ever-evolving live show and his albums, and the proper way to turn "Hollaback Girl" into an enduring classic. [But it already IS an enduring classic! -- Ed.]

Pitchfork: Why did you opt to release the album this way, with a rushed "Radiohead-style" digital release, followed by the physical product at a later date?

Gregg Gilllis: First of all, there's a lot of current pop and hip-hop sampled on the album, and I wanted to get it out there as soon as possible. Unlike when Night Ripper came out, I have an actual fan base who's ready to hear it. I remember when we were doing Night Ripper, we were trying to rush it out and it wasn't really a big deal, because when it actually came out people still didn't know about it 'til maybe a few months later. So for this one, I feel like I'm in a fairly lucky situation to have people who want to hear it already before even hearing it. That much is a rare thing in my career so far. I think what we went for seems like an obvious game plan now, just because as soon as it hits the internet, anyone who reads the internet can get it for free if they want to. So why not tap in and let them actually take a step back and think about it, and maybe offer some money? It seemed to make sense, especially because kids who listen to my music are probably fairly attached to the internet and can get it for free if they actually want to.

Pitchfork: Have you settled on a date for when it's going live?

GG: Pretty much as soon as possible. I finished it Tuesday night (June 10), and the guy who has mastered all my albums is starting the mastering process today. He promised me he'd be done by Monday, so that would give me maybe a couple days to listen to it, but I imagine it will be on the internet by Wednesday or Thursday [June 18 or 19].

Pitchfork: In an interview with Pitchfork about two years ago, you mentioned that you originally intended to release Night Ripper on the internet for free, and not do a physical release. But you wanted to make sure Illegal Art could break even on it, though you weren't sure that people would take an internet release seriously. Obviously a lot has changed in the past couple years in terms of musicians putting high-profile stuff online. And your profile as an artist has changed a lot, too.

GG: It's funny; thinking back on it now, I have changed my opinion of that so much. I mean, especially with the Nine Inch Nails things, they released an album, and I don't even think they put out a CD for that last one. [It's due on CD in July. -- Ed.] But they have a song that hit mainstream rock radio from that album. Which is great. So I think we're definitely moving into a time where you won't need a physical CD very soon. I still think where I stand right now, and especially with the potential legal issues with the album, that if I did just put it online for free and that's it, I think that people would think "oh, it's a live set" or throwaway tracks or whatever. Even with me, I think it's relatively new; when I heard about the Nine Inch Nails thing, the first thing I thought was that it's probably like throwaway tracks or b-sides or something. And then I learned that it was a real album. So yeah, I want people to take it seriously, on the same level as Night Ripper. And at the same time, I still like buying CDs myself, so it's something I like to indulge in.

Pitchfork: You mentioned the legal issues involved in sampling. Are you worried about anything in particular for this disc?

GG: I can't say for sure, but I think it's possible there's more heavy-hitter samples on Feed the Animals than on Night Ripper. Not that that matters, but the big issue is that it's just going to be a lot higher profile than when Night Ripper came out. And I think once all the press hit for the last one, we were almost expecting to hear something. I think where Illegal Art and I stand is that we believe the music should be legal, but we were expecting to hear a response, whether it was a cease-and-desist or even unapproval, but we didn't really hear anything. But it's definitely something we took into consideration with this one. It's a weird situation just because you want to push the music as much as possible-- I mean, I work on it every day and it's become my life-- but at the same time, you kind of feel like maybe it would be cool to just not push it full force, just for the sake of not being sued.

Pitchfork: In the past, you've cited fair use laws, and suggested that you've recontextualized the samples enough that they become your own in a way. I assume much the same would be the case with this album, should it come to that.

GG: Yeah, I still feel the same way, that the music is transformative, and I think it actually makes more sense as an argument as the internet progresses. It's just a fact now that any kid with a computer can download any song he wants. So I really can't imagine I would be taking sales away from anyone. You know, people don't want to turn on my songs to hear a sample of something that's been chopped up or recontextualized rather than download the original. So it makes a lot more sense even now, compared to five years ago.

I still feel morally strong about what I'm doing. I don't feel like I'm ripping anyone off. But I think people took Night Ripper exactly how I wanted them to treat it, like an album. You know, it wasn't really true to the traditional DJ mix. I think people have a better understanding of that, and especially now also, in 2008 compared to 2005, it's so much easier to find a cappellas and instrumentals and things like that online, just because I think labels are shooting for that. They understand that you do that, and you can get a million remixes, and that's what really fuels the fire of the song. So I think the industry is starting to understand the potential of viral marketing and stuff like that.

Pitchfork: Have you heard from any artists that you've sampled?

GG: A couple. Big Boi from Outkast came out to the Atlanta show with me and Dan Deacon and White Williams. That was pretty interesting because he said that he saw me in Vegas one time when I was playing a show with Gnarls Barkley, and he was out there hanging with Cee-Lo. I think he hangs out at the club I was playing at a bit, but he knew my stuff and he was totally cool with it. I think he knew that he was on Night Ripper, though I spelled it out there for him in case he wasn't sure, but he seemed totally fine with it. And outside of that, like, [there's just been] a few small things. I got an email from Sophie B. Hawkins' manager [laughs]. She wanted to maybe collaborate on something, which is very cool, but nothing has come about of that yet.

Pitchfork: Wow, that better happen! You mentioned in another interview something about this album containing more "in-your-face classics" than Night Ripper. What constitutes that level of song to you? Is it all Beatles and Sinatra samples?

GG: That's the next step. There's no Beatles on this, and no Sinatra. But yeah, I feel like everything on Night Ripper was a hit, but at the same time it was a fairly random assortment of hits. Whereas there's still a lot of hits that you don't really hear, but at the same time, there's [Tag Team's] "Whoomp! (There It Is)", which I play a lot at my live shows, there's Earth, Wind & Fire's "September". Almost like wedding classics throughout, but definitely sprinkled, and I feel like it gives it an added boost. I feel like there's not too many of those on Night Ripper; they're all classic jams, but there's no "Whoomp! (There It Is)". Overall, I think the song structure is kind of similar, just thinking back. But I don't know, because I listen to the radio a lot, so I think my frame of reference for the familiarity of a song is different from a lot of people.

Pitchfork: You also mentioned that you used a different style of sampling on this album, spending more time on one sample before moving to the next. Can you explain that a little more?

GG: I think it definitely developed from the live show. It's easier for me to play that style of music, rather than jump from song to song to song. Because every time I make a blunt transition on Night Ripper, I usually have to sit down and have a detailed transitional part that I have to edit by hand, whereas I can't do that stuff live. Live, I have to be a little more freeform about just triggering samples. So yeah, for example on Night Ripper, I think a popular segment for a lot of people was the Biggie Smalls with Elton John [from "Smash Your Head"]. That particular part has the Elton John piano part, and then it builds up to the Elton John piano plus bass, and then the Elton John chorus, and it kind of progressed a little bit.

I think this album works on that level a lot. But at the same time, I feel like it's more dense than Night Ripper overall. Even though the pace is moving slower, it's like there's overall more levels transitional elements. When it gets detailed, it's very detailed. On my album before Night Ripper [2004's Unstoppable], I did a lot of work with chopping up quarter-second samples and kind of making crazy stuff that you couldn't even recognize the sample. I didn't do any of that on Night Ripper at all, and I think there's like maybe a handful of some segments on this album where I kind of embraced that style, a little bit of a throwback. But again, those are used kind of as transitional elements.

Pitchfork: You just mentioned a lot of this evolves out of your live show, which is also evolving itself as you hear new songs. Does the kind of crowd-pleasing element of your track selections come out of the live show?

GG: It's difficult for me to play over an hour-- it takes a long time to assemble the material-- so every show, people know the stuff from Night Ripper. They're going to be the most excited for that no matter what else I play. So in building this album, I think, 'how do I match that intensity with material that they've heard before, remixes they've heard?' So I think that's why I did go to some of the classics. But yeah, I think the album for me is an interesting point, where I can put some stuff that I wouldn't play live, because it's more subtle, or samples that people may not know. I've noticed now with Night Ripper, everything on it is familiar to people. Even the most obscure sample on that album I can play now live, and people will get crazy for it, just because they recognize it from the album.

The album is a change, though I think even my live show in the past has been even more blunt and aggressive than even this album. Some slightly more obscure things that I think sound amazing, that just aren't that crazy, that they would go over well in a live setting, like for drunk people who aren't really catching every detail of the set.

Pitchfork: From a career perspective, you could keep touring and just keep changing the live set, and I'm sure you could make money and keep doing that without releasing any new material. But you've obviously worked very hard on this album. What do you see the role of the album being, in relation to the live set and the fan base?

GG: It's interesting because the live show has become a piece of its own now. I think so many people come out to the live shows who probably don't even listen to Night Ripper, they just know that it's a party, and there's going to be a lot of crazy pop music and things like that. It really has gone to this place where I never really imagined it would go.

But for me it's always been about the albums. I think prior to Night Ripper catching on with people, I would play a lot of shows. Not nearly as much as now, but a show a month or something like that. And it would be fun and it would be a celebration of what I was working on. But it's always been a meticulous process that's been about making albums. I really don't think I had to make this album necessarily, but at the same time I feel like a lot of people know Night Ripper, were into it, and even before I announced the new album, started to ask a lot when I was going to do another release. So I think kids start to expect it. Also, I feel like all the albums are sort of a documentation of where I stand with the live show at that particular time, so I feel like this album is more developed, it's more dynamic.

Pitchfork: Do you have larger compositional goals as a musician? Do you see yourself composing in a particular way, and maybe taking that style into a somewhat different medium?

GG: Yeah. I feel like this album is kind of a cousin to Night Ripper. I feel like I kind of completely exhausted this style with this album. I'm very happy with it, but I can't imagine doing another one like it. But at the same time, I was thinking that same thing two years ago when Night Ripper came out. But where it stands, I feel like I accomplished what I wanted to, with an album that flows continuously and is like one giant mix. So I feel like at this point I'm really happy to take a step back and start working on some different-style things.

I want to get back into making individual songs, kind of like on the album before Night Ripper: a similar A.D.D. style, and a lot of chopped up samples, but spend time doing verses and choruses, lots of little parts and things like that. You know a lot of people do remixes of individual songs, that's really common, but I feel like not too many people try to craft their own songs out of a bunch of songs, with verses and choruses. People definitely do it, but I think it's a bit more rare. So I'm kind of excited at this point. I feel accomplished enough that I can move on to some other material.

Pitchfork: If this is a breaking point, is that going to affect the live show? Are you going to keep evolving it into a similar style, or are you going to bring some different elements into it?

GG: I think at this point I could bring different elements in and it wouldn't be a problem. I mean, people know what they're getting into with the show, but sometimes I think it would be cool to just have in the show for three minutes, just have a part with verses and choruses and repeating parts and things like that. I don't think there would be any issue with that. I want to start fading that into my set, ideally. This is all theoretical right now, so if this doesn't happen... but I can just start doing small little bits in my set and see how it goes over. I think there's just so few people who actually release sample-based music in album form, so it's almost an open field to do whatever you want. There's so many different options, it's so easy to sit back and just, you know, say, "I wanna do this, because it hasn't been done yet." There's just so much that hasn't been done.

Pitchfork: I know you like to mix really new radio songs into your sets, but do you worry that relying on new stuff might prematurely date an album? If you put [Lil Wayne's current monster hit] "Lollipop" on it, it would sound a lot different in six months than it would today.

GG: I learned quite a bit from the way people digested Night Ripper. You know, I hope that the songs are transformative enough that they just become a Girl Talk song. But I still to this day will show up at a party or something, and they'll be playing Night Ripper, and people will be getting down with "My Humps" or "Hollaback Girl", when you won't hear that song on the radio or in a club anymore. So I kind of don't really worry about that. I hope, again, that it stands on its own and it becomes its own entity. Even at my shows, I can drop "Hollaback Girl" and people won't think that's played out; they just think I'm playing my old song. Every year that goes on, people's attention spans shorten and the life span of songs on the radio just dies. It's so insane. And for me, it takes me so long to put this stuff together, it's hard for me to put out an album with up-to-date material on it. But hopefully it just becomes my own. And there is definitely a "Lollipop" sample on it.

Pitchfork: People always seem to want to know what you're listening to lately. Any new jams?

GG: I've been listening to the new Mariah Carey a lot. The last one, The Emancipation of Mimi, came out three summers ago, and that was, like, the jam for when I was putting together Night Ripper. I see some heavy parallels there with this one. Other than that, what have I been listening to? I went to see the Breeders in Chicago. That was awesome. I bought their new album, I've been jamming that a bit. I didn't get the one before that, I haven't heard some of that stuff, but I like the new one. I listen to a lot of the Beatles actually, just random tracks. I was never a Beatles head growing up, so I just kind of dived in. The new Steinski thing on Illegal Art is pretty cool. This dude named Wiz Khalifa from Pittsburgh I've been listening to a lot. And just a lot of radio stuff.

Pitchfork: The album's done, and you don't leave for tour for a little while. Anything else going on in your life besides making music all the time?

GG: [laughs] I don't know, that's about it. I haven't had a week off from shows in a very long time. I had my last show like two weekends ago, and I'm in the midst of three or four weeks off right now. And it happens to be 90 degrees every day in Pittsburgh, so right now the exciting stuff is me hanging out at pools and watching movies and playing basketball. Right now, I'm just laying low. I'm going to try to do another full U.S. tour in the fall, and I want to take the live show up a notch, just a little bit.

Girl Talk:

06-26 Hattiesburg, MS - Thirsty Hippo
06-27 Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon
06-28 Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom
07-03-06 Roskilde, Denmark - Roskilde Festival
07-04-06 Belfort, France - Eurockeennes Festival
07-05 Des Moines, IA - 80/35 Festival
07-11 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre
07-12 Aspen, CO - Belly Up
07-24 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
07-25 Seattle, WA - Capitol Hill Block Party
07-26 Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
08-03 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
08-06 Oslo, Norway - Øya Festival
08-08 Jersey City, NJ - Liberty State Park (All Points West Festival)