Girl Talk (musician) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Girl Talk
Girl Talk in 2009
Background information
Birth name	Gregg Michael Gillis
Born	(1981-10-26) October 26, 1981 (age 43) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres	Plunderphonics mashup hip hop
Instruments	Laptop, sampler, turntables
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Illegal Art, 333 Recordings, SSS Records, Spasticated Records, 12 Apostles
Associated acts	Trey Told 'Em

Gregg Michael Gillis (born October 26, 1981) is an American DJ known as Girl Talk. He creates music using a special technique called mash-ups and digital sampling. This means he takes small parts of many different songs and mixes them together to make a brand new song.

Girl Talk has released five albums with the record label Illegal Art. He also has EPs (shorter albums) with other labels. Before becoming a full-time musician, he was trained as an engineer.

Early Life and School

Gregg started making electronic music and experimenting with samples when he was in high school. This was in Bridgeville, a town near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Later, he began his "Girl Talk" project while studying biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. In college, he focused on tissue engineering, which is about growing tissues for medical uses.

Musical Inspirations

Gregg Gillis gets ideas from many different artists. Some of his musical heroes include Squarepusher, Aphex Twin, Just Blaze, Nirvana, and Kid606.

He also likes punk rock and noise music artists like Merzbow. Gregg learned about a music style called Plunderphonics from John Oswald. He has always enjoyed hip-hop and pop music, and as he got older, he started listening to classic artists like The Beatles.

Music Career

Gregg used to work as an engineer, but he decided to quit in May 2007 to focus only on his music.

He creates mash-up remixes by taking parts from many different songs. Sometimes he uses a dozen or more samples in one track! Because he uses parts of other songs, some people thought his music might cause legal problems. However, Gregg believes his work is allowed under "fair use" laws. This means you can use copyrighted material in a new way, like for commentary or education.

Gregg has given different stories about how he chose the name "Girl Talk." One time he said it came from a poem, and another time he linked it to an old music project. In 2009, he said the name was inspired by a band called Tad. He also mentioned that "Girl Talk" sounded like a name a Disney teen girl group might have.

In an interview, Gregg explained that he picked the name "Girl Talk" to be a bit playful. He said it was a "pop culture phrase" and that he wanted to "stir things up" in the experimental music scene he was part of. He wanted a name that sounded the opposite of a serious musician playing a laptop.

Gregg was featured in a 2008 documentary called RiP!: A Remix Manifesto. This film talks about copyright law and how people create new art by mixing existing works.

On November 15, 2010, Girl Talk released his fifth album, All Day, for free on the Illegal Art website. He started a tour for All Day in his hometown of Pittsburgh. Since Gregg releases his music under Creative Commons licenses, fans can legally use it to create their own projects. Many fans make music videos by mixing the original music videos of the sampled songs. A filmmaker named Jacob Krupnick even used All Day as the soundtrack for his extended music video, Girl Walk//All Day, which was filmed in New York City.

In 2014, Girl Talk performed with rapper Freeway at a show. They announced they would release a collaborative album called Broken Ankles, which came out on April 8, 2014.

Girl Talk also played at the Coachella Festival in 2014. For the first time, other artists sang their songs live over his mash-ups. Famous rappers like Too Short, E-40, Juicy J, and Busta Rhymes joined him.

After Broken Ankles, Girl Talk continued to tour and play at music festivals. He also started producing music and working with other artists. Some of these artists include Wiz Khalifa, Young Nudy, T-Pain, Smoke DZA, Bas, and G Perico.

Album Pricing

After his album Feed the Animals became popular, Gregg decided to let listeners pay what they wanted for it. He made all his other albums available this way too, through the Illegal Art website. This means you could choose to pay nothing, or pay whatever you thought the music was worth.

Awards and Recognition

Girl Talk's album Night Ripper was named one of the best albums of 2006 by magazines like Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and Spin. In 2007, he received a Rave Award from Wired magazine.

His album Feed the Animals was also highly praised. Time magazine called it one of the top 10 albums of 2008. Rolling Stone and Blender also gave it high ratings.

On December 7, 2010, Gregg's hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, even named the day "Gregg Gillis Day" to honor him!

Live Shows

Gregg uses special software called AudioMulch to create his music, which he still uses for live shows. When he performs, he uses samples and loops to play his set. This allows him to change things up during the show. His live performances often include cool videos on stage. He is also known for inviting fans on stage to dance with him!

Discography

Girl Talk performing in 2006

Albums

• Secret Diary CD (2002, Illegal Art)
• Unstoppable CD (2004, Illegal Art)
• Night Ripper CD (2006, Illegal Art)
• Feed the Animals CD (2008, Illegal Art)
• All Day (2010, Illegal Art)

Collaborative Albums

• Full Court Press (with Wiz Khalifa, Big K.R.I.T. and Smoke DZA) (2022, Asylum/Taylor Gang)

EPs

• Stop Cleveland Hate 12" (2004, 12 apostles)
• Bone Hard Zaggin' 7" (2006, 333 recordings)
• Broken Ankles (with Freeway) (2014, Girl Talk Music)

Compilation Appearances

• bricolage #1 CD (Illegal Art) – "Killing a Material Girl" – 3:37
• Illegal Art 2007 Sampler MP3 (Illegal Art) – "Let's Run This"
• Circuits of Steel CD (SSS) (2003) – "On Nesbit"
• Love and Circuits CD (Cardboard Records) – "All of the Other Songs Remixed" (under Trey Told 'Em)

Singles

• "Tolerated" (with Freeway) [feat. Waka Flocka Flame] (2014)
• "Trouble In Paradise" (with Erick the Architect) (2018)
• "No Problem" (with Young Nudy) (2019)
• Smoke DZA – "Santos House Party" (feat. Wiz Khalifa, Curren$y, Big K.R.I.T., Girl Talk) (2020)
• "Fallin'" (with Bas) (2020)

Remixes

• Beck – "Cellphone's Dead" (2006) (unreleased)
• Peter Bjorn and John – "Let's Call It Off" (2006)
• Grizzly Bear – "Knife" (2007)
• Bonde do Role – "Gasolina" (2009)
• Bad Brilliance – "Non-Tradition (Girl Talk Remix)/It's So Fun (Andrew WK Remix)" (2009)
• Tokyo Police Club – "Cheer It On" (2007, under Trey Told 'Em)
• Simian Mobile Disco – "I Believe" (2007, under Trey Told 'Em)
• Professor Murder – "Dutch Hex" (2007, under Trey Told 'Em)
• Of Montreal – "Gronlandic Edit" (2007, under Trey Told 'Em) (unreleased)
• Thrill Jockey Records – "Super Epic Thrill Jockey Mega Massive Anniversary Mix" (2007, under Trey Told 'Em)
• Ke$ha – "Tik Tok" (2010, under Trey Told 'Em)

Production Credits

• Grand Buffet – "Cool as Hell" (2003)
• Jim Jones – "Believe in Magic" (feat. Lloyd) (2011)
• Freeway – "First Thing's First" (2016)
• Freeway – "Always Love You" (2016)
• Wiz Khalifa – "Steam Room" (feat. Chevy Woods) (2017)
• T-Pain - "Getcha Roll On" (feat. Tory Lanez) (2019)
• 24hrs – "Bubble" (feat. Ty Dolla $ign) (2019)
• Smoke DZA & Curren$y – "Cinderella Story" (2019)
• Cozz, Bas – "Outta Pocket" (2020)
• G Perico – "Toolie" (2020)

See also

In Spanish: Girl Talk para niños