Greg Gillis, the Pittsburgh-based producer who information and performs as Girl Talk, understands this urge, so that you could be plucked onstage from the entrance row when Girl Talk performs at Revolution Live in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday, December 10. Los Angeles-based rapper Hugh Augustine opens the present.
“Audience members getting up on stage has been a core part of the show dating back to ‘06 or ‘07. Back in the day, when we’d play smaller places, I’d demand no barricade. Once shows got bigger, it got too chaotic, so now we pick enthusiastic people in the front row to come onstage,” Gillis says.
Girl Talk is touring the southeast this month in assist of Full Court Press, a collaboration amongst Gillis and rappers Wiz Khalifa, Big Ok.R.I.T., and Smoke DZA, launched this spring on Asylum/Taylor Gang. The album is the results of a three-day studio session amongst outdated pals, and stay audiences will hear new mixes from the Full Court Press periods. They’ll additionally hear some gems from Girl Talk’s 2006 breakout Nightripper and follow-up Feed the Animals, in addition to some new materials, like a current remix of Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul.”
“The energy and style of the show are related to what’s it been for years. People come out to dance, and it’s high energy,” Gillis says. “Bits and pieces of Full Court Press are remixed with older stuff, and I do newer mashups from current pop music. It’s been fun putting this together. It feels like a retrospective. It’s 20 years of material.”
With Nightripper, Gillis proved each his ear for isolating essentially the most iconic sound bites from songs and his precision in mashing them as much as create genreless membership bangers. Who else would suppose to pair the specific whispers of the Ying Yang Twins with the immediately recognizable string melody of the Verve’s ’90s alt-rock masterpiece “Bittersweet Symphony”? Gillis’ intricate production might remind some of a meticulous scientist at work, and that was exactly the case when he began creating music under the moniker Girl Talk.
Girl Talk was born about two decades ago while Gillis was studying biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. The scientific methods he learned during this time — as well as the treasured hip-hop and dance music from his youth — influenced his approach to music.
“Aphex Twin and Squarepusher have influenced me. I love the detail of it. Every second is different than the last. Growing up, I listened to rap and hip-hop, like Public Enemy and the Bomb Squad, whose music is very detailed. I like this idea,” he says. “I was working a day job doing meticulous engineering work while creating Nightripper. When I applied those sorts of practices to music, it’s like making an elaborate puzzle. There’s something satisfying about seeing those pieces come together.”
Girl Talk collaborated with rappers Wiz Khalifa, Big Ok.R.I.T., and Smoke DZA to supply Full Court Press.
Photo by Braden Walker
Over the final a number of years, Gillis has centered on manufacturing work for rap artists, together with T-Pain, Tory Lanez, Young Nudy, Freeway, and the three artists who seem on Full Court Press, proving his manufacturing prowess exceeds the mashup style that outlined a sure chunk of the aughts.
“I never wanted to necessarily be pegged as the mashup guy. There is endless brilliant music made in that style, but in 2010, after All Day, I wanted to grow a bit and do something different. I wanted to produce for someone else but make it sample-based. I did Broken Ankles in 2014 with the artist Freeway. From there, I kept producing,” Gillis says. “It’s fun to get in the studio with other people after years of making music in my apartment on my own.”
Creating Full Court Press with Wiz Khalifa, Big Ok.R.I.T., and Smoke DZA felt like a joyful reunion amongst outdated pals for Gillis. He was motivated to discover new terrain along with his collaborators within the studio.
“I had the idea for all four of us to get together. I never thought it would happen with everyone having different management, but everyone was down, so we got together for three days in L.A. That’s where the bulk of it was recorded,” he remembers. “With these artists, I’ve worked with them all, and they all had history with each other — it felt like old friends hanging out. The records were made effortlessly. It was a good time.”
Speaking of excellent instances, Gillis says having the chance to finish a tour he initially deliberate for 2020 — which suggests sharing new music and reconnecting with stay audiences as soon as once more — feels further particular as 2022 involves an in depth.
“The audience is so important to each night. The energy in the room is a core part of what motivates me to make new music,” he says. “Especially with the pandemic, people are appreciating things that maybe they took for granted. Getting to come out and talk to people in the audience who haven’t gotten to get out the house much, and now they’re getting to sweat, scream, and go crazy — I’m appreciating it now more than I ever have.”
Girl Talk. With Hugh Augustine. 7 p.m. Saturday, December 10, at Revolution Live, 100 SW Third Ave., Fort Lauderdale; jointherevolution.internet. Tickets price $28 through ticketmaster.com.