Google won't save you #92 - Gregg Gillis/Girl Talk

[Brian the Automator]

http://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/a0a15a4099db441775c0427819c35a23115f465.jpg

Who am I?

 

[And That]

The love child of Marc Echo and Sufjan Stevens.

 

He looks familiar, but I can't place him yet.

[mothershipconnection]

A member of the Odenkirk family?

[TooLiveBrew]

Brian the Manualmator, evil twin of BtA, from the 9th dimension?

[Brian the Automator]

This person is in the music industry.

[iluvlamp]

Lou Adler.

[And That]

Gregg Gillis.

[Brian the Automator]

Gregg Gillis.

Correct! Gregg Gillis known by his stage name, "Girl Talk", rocks the stage with just his laptop.

 

[JimH5]

I'm old.

 

That video clip seems to be the most absurd thing I could imagine. People are genuinely that excited about this guy and his tunes?

 

At least with records and turntables, there's a visual, tangible thing to watch. He's just rocking out over his laptop, under the bright lights, to the adoration of the crowd. . .

 

I'm laughing and shaking my head at the same time.

 

Old.

[Brian the Automator]

I'm old.

 

That video clip seems to be the most absurd thing I could imagine. People are genuinely that excited about this guy and his tunes?

 

At least with records and turntables, there's a visual, tangible thing to watch. He's just rocking out over his laptop, under the bright lights, to the adoration of the crowd. . .

 

I'm laughing and shaking my head at the same time.

 

Old.

I'll try to explain it... When you go see a DJ at a show, it's not like you're at a traditional concert ... The main purpose is to dance. The real talent is the beatmatching and reading the crowd to see what kinds of things will make them dance harder and go crazy. Also, I'd say that, conservatively, 50% of the people are probably on drugs, so it really doesn't take much to get the crowd amped up http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

[JimH5]

When you go see a DJ at a show, it's not like you're at a traditional concert ... The main purpose is to dance. The real talent is the beatmatching and reading the crowd to see what kinds of things will make them dance harder and go crazy.

I do understand that part. . .intimately. During my college days and for awhile afterward, I worked as a DJ at the nightclub in the Brookfield Marriott (1982-86), and then at the Sheraton on Brown Deer Road (1986-87), and then managed the nightclub at the Clock Tower Resort in Rockford in 1987 & 88. I don't bring that up for any reason other than to say that I know what the DJ's purpose is (or used to be 25 years ago).

I guess there's just so much about the 2008 DJ world that is foreign to me. . .The concept of a DJ having any sort of celebrity or following seems very strange. Back then, the only guy who would have had any name recognition might have been Jellybean Benitez, and even then, if you'd have shown his picture to 100 Milwaukee clubgoers, he might have been recognized by 5.

Same thing with the "traveling DJ featured at a show". Most of the good ones, locally anyway, were employed by nightclubs, and once in awhile on Sunday nights, there might be a contest where guys would show up with their record bags and do half-hour sets. But to fly someone in specifically to perform for a show? It just wasn't done, because everyone was fairly anonymous. And often, DJs were behind smoked glass, sort of hidden away from a crowd. In that clip, he's clearly an attraction, and the star of the show. It seems weird.

And the adopted monikers of today's DJs is peculiar. Nobody back then, except the emerging guys in rap, would invent a name and go by that.

And of course, the technology is so different. Like, how much of this guy's "show" is spontaneous and produced on the spot vs. just showing up and punching a button to play something he produced and recorded earlier? With vinyl records, you have to use your hands and ears constantly--and there's a real danger in butchering your mixes. Do you have to do that with digital stuff? He's moving around so much in that videoclip that it seems like it would be impossible to cue up the next song, adjust pitch control, etc. And, it seems that with looping and sampling, a modern guy would really be able to produce and record almost any sound. With records, you had Side A and Side B, and could do some trickery, but for the most part, if it was recorded at 116 BPM, you had to play it somewhere around there.

Plus, to use a laptop as a musical instrument seems kind of goofy. It could be the same machine that he uses for TurboTax, and he's got 1000 people in a euphoric frenzy. . .it looks odd.

Anyway, that's what seems strange to me.

[And That]

And of course, the technology is so different. Like, how much of this guy's "show" is spontaneous and produced on the spot vs. just showing up and punching a button to play something he produced and recorded earlier? With vinyl records, you have to use your hands and ears constantly--and there's a real danger in butchering your mixes. Do you have to do that with digital stuff?

He mixes everything live, and has a lot more music to sort through than with records because of a computer's storage capacity. I'd say his job may be more difficult than a turntable guy because of that. Not to mention, Gillis usually sets up in a place where the crowd is all around him. So he not only has to mix live, he has to mix live within a few feet/inches of his fans.

I'm just surprised he doesn't use an Apple.

[JimH5]

He mixes everything live, and has a lot more music to sort through than with records because of a computer's storage capacity. I'd say his job may be more difficult than a turntable guy because of that. Not to mention, Gillis usually sets up in a place where the crowd is all around him. So he not only has to mix live, he has to mix live within a few feet/inches of his fans.

 

So besides being old, I'm also too quick to judge.

 

If he does his thing live, right next to people, and can concentrate on his sound, produce good mixes, and think a few songs ahead with a big catalog--then he's masterful.

 

But in the clip, it doesn't look like he's even wearing headphones. Does he have an earpiece? Does he do it all visually?

 

Now I'm starting to be capitvated.

[mothershipconnection]

People are genuinely that excited about this guy and his tunes?

 

Like Brian alluded to, a handful of X will make people that excited for a reading of Wordsworth.