Grace Jones, relentless “Hurricane”
At 60, the ultimate underground diva Grace Jones decides to hit the stage for the Meltdown Festival curated by Massive Attack, and tears it up. As if that weren’t enough, her first new album in 19 years, Hurricane, dropped in November, produced in part by Brian Eno and Tricky. And, just in case you’re still “Jonesing”, there’s a documentary on the way – just as soon as Miss Jones can find a way to edit the last 4 or 5 years of her fabulous life into a film of manageable length. Kids, don’t try this at home. It’s just not worth the shame. Then again, you may as well aim high – a stratosphere amazing Grace is intimately acquainted with. Whatever you do, as she reminded one fan, don’t try to touch her because “nobody can touch me, but me…”
Earplug #133: Girl Talk interview
The current issue of Earplug is up, featuring my interview with Gregg “Girl Talk” Gillis, and a photo by my friend, fellow DJ-lover, Anna “Detroit” White. We make a pretty good team, I think.
Feature
November 6, 2008
Girl Talk’s Copyleft Curveballs
Sampling artist puts a smiley face on Plunderphonics
Until two years ago, biomedical engineer/mashup DJ Gregg “Girl Talk” Gillis spent more time crunching data in a cubicle than stripping on stage. His sophomore CD, Night Ripper, changed all that. 2008’s Feed the Animals reflects the RIAA-baiting producer’s newfound focus: the samples are longer and the “songs” more complete, but the pace is no less frenetic. Earplug’s Jorge Hernandez caught up with Girl Talk in Manhattan to talk irregular fashions, “Moist Vagina,” and the sonic collective unconscious.
Earplug: You’re having quite a moment right now. What are you up to?
Greg Gillis: I’m working on some music with a friend of mine, Hearts of Darkness. He does weird computer stuff, and we play together as Trey Told ‘Em.
EP: You working on anything special together?
GG: We’re doing a really long Nirvana cover; it’s really far out. We got these Nirvana multi-tracks, and we’re doing “Moist Vagina” with live drums and noisy, crazy stuff.
EP: How do you get your hands on something like that?
GG: Some kid who’s into my stuff knew I was into Nirvana. His dad had access to a studio, and so they sent me a few tracks like that.
EP: Do you have free license, or are you just running with it?
GG: I want to do an official EP of remixes of all of them, because no one else has their hands on it. I want to do something interesting. We’ve just been working on this one song this week. We haven’t really rehearsed much, but the little bit that we’ve done — you can tell it’s going to be good.
EP: Are you still working your day job?
GG: No, I quit last summer. I haven’t cut my hair since I quit. That year before I quit, I played like a hundred shows, so it was getting hard to ask for vacation time. I don’t have a job, but I happen to be able to live off this, so I’m feeling lucky.
EP: The samples on Feed the Animals are longer. Are you getting in trouble? Isn’t there a time limit to samples?
GG: That’s an urban myth. It used to be under a certain amount, but they recently ruled against that. Fair Use allows you to use however long you want, as long as the work is transformative, and it doesn’t impact the artist negatively. It’s more holistic criteria. There’s a big academic and legal movement behind it, so it’s not really that big of an issue any more.
EP: A lot of the samples you use are very recognizable.
GG: Most of the a cappella samples are available for a reason: the rap ones are on B-sides and 12-inches, and the Internet, and it’s because record labels want people to do crazy stuff with it. Stuff like my music is an effective way to promote the artists. It’s a different era. Hearing the music itself doesn’t hold value; you can go hear any song for free on Soulseek. If you pay money for it, it’s because you want to invest in it. So, I feel morally solid about what I’m doing.
EP: You use Creative Commons, right?
GG: They helped us out, gave us a bunch of specific elements. I’ve actually been getting a lot of support.
EP: From whom, for example?
GG: Representative Mike Doyle spoke in favor of me and DJ Drama and mixtapes and mashups. He compared it to Paul McCartney using a Chuck Berry riff.
EP: How did you get started, gear-wise?
GG: A lot of that stuff was just like modified children’s toys, broken stuff from the Salvation Army; whatever you can find, real junk gear. There were a couple of real samplers here and there.
EP: It’s funny how all this music is rattling around in your brain, and you respond to the smallest samples.
GG: For me, it’s a blatant form of music’s influence in general. You develop these affiliations with music, and what I like to do is recontextualize it. I guess that’s why the shows get so crazy. Regardless of what you’re into, it’s all being represented.
EP: What do your parents think?
GG: They’re cool with it, but the early shows with the noise band kinda took them a minute, because we’d be up there smashing things, and they were weirded out. But this Girl Talk stuff, they really like.
EP: Your shows are notorious for getting kind of crazy — and naked. What happens to your clothes? Do they end up on eBay?
GG: I don’t know. Even when I take a sweatshirt off, people take it all — even when I don’t throw it out there. There’s a store called Gabriel Brothers in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. They sell mis-manufactured clothing. I buy all my sweat outfits there still — they’re like a dollar or two each. When I used to be a kid, we used to go there. It was a lot weirder then; there’d be a Miami Hurricanes shirt with a Yankees logo on the back. It’s a bit more subtle these days, but that’s where I still get everything I wear onstage.
gObamarama!
Did ya hear, the USA has its first black president. And not just any black president, a potentially great president. This subtle distinction was often dismissed in the heated dialogues over his nomination and election. But it’s a distinction that stuck in my craw. To say that the only reason he won is because he’s black, is no better than dismissing his chances at winning for the same reason. Since this is not a political blog, I’m keeping this post light and breezy.
Here’s why I think “Gobama” won. Obama uses his big ears to listen. Obama likes tacos and makes sly, poignant references to Jay-Z. Obama uses Twitter, Flickr! and Youtube. (Although he has been slacking on his Twitter; and he may have to surrender his Blackberry on January 19th.) Even Rupert Murdoch’s rabid right-wing tabloid the NY Post dubbed him “President 2.0″ and summed up his victory and pending presidency this way: Obama is digital; McCain/Bush are analog. Michelle looks dashing, and their daughters’ “aww” factor is undeniable. I’m sure the haters in the McCain/Palin camp will look upon the search for a hypoalllergenic White House puppy as yet another example of the urban elite thrusting “Amurica” fast and furiously into the multiculti, liberal, pits of hell. And rightfully so. If I were on “that” side of the slavery narrative in America, I would look upon the coalition from “non-real” America with fear as well. Before the election, hate crimes increased; shortly after the election, gun sales soared. But all the fears of, and prayers for, race riots so far have gone unanswered.
As they did at so many other points in this election, mainstream media and the majority of conservative white America completely misread what was at the heart of this election. It was not revenge we were seeking and driven by; it was not a divine comeuppance. It was simply a chance to try doing things differently, a chance to acknowledge that the world was changing at such an accelerated pace, that falling back into the old school ways was not a viable option. By all accounts, Obama was the only candidate serving up fresh options at every turn.
This is not a new battle cry. This siren has been sounded before. So what was different this time? Simply stated, this time there was a truly worthy candidate to match our will and purpose. What made him worthy? Obama kept his eye on the prize and took the high road – and stuck to it. In doing so, he inspired everyone to do the same. A lesser candidate would have been dragged into the muck, and many were. The tenor of all other campaigns, including Clinton’s, at some point resorted to old-fashioned mudslinging, oblivious to the fact that their mainstream messages were being drowned out by the incessant chatter online. There is no marketing tool more effective than word of mouth.
The collapse of the economy didn’t help his opponents either. Obama’s numbers took a significant upswing as Wall Street’s numbers plummeted. The blame for the meltdown rests as much with Democrats as Republicans; but America and the world were suffering from Bush fatigue. Obama’s policies may need polishing, and he is not a superhero, or messiah that will save us overnight. But he is ready, willing and able to assemble a group of progressive thinkers that, given time, can at least abate the bloodletting, and give us a chance to heal. It’s a process that will take at least four years, and most likely eight. Considering we were willing to let the Republicans take and steal the previous eight years, barring any epic fumbles, I see no reason why Obama, America and the world, shouldn’t be allowed our fair shake at the next eight. Hopefully, we can refrain from picking at the scabs in the process.
Blank Tapes
Behind every hit record, there’s a million misses. And I don’t mean single ladies. Misses, for lack of a better word, are the anti-hits of the music business. They are those records that music geeks and DJ’s treasure, those influential one-hit wonders, or sleepers that don’t move many units, generate inches of ink or hours of press. Every genre has its lost, forgotten, overlooked heroes. They’re either eccentrics, or “before their time” or prefer to work behind the scenes, content with the respect and adulation of their peers. What these records and their creators lack in commercial success, they make up for in influence.
Dance music has its fair share of influential behind the scenes and off the radar heroes. Larry Levan, Tom Moulton, Nicky Siano, Arthur Russell all spring to mind. Among them was producer/engineer Bob Blank. In the 70’s and 80’s, his New York studio, Blank Tapes, was home to a prolific class of left-field singers, producers, vocalist and performers. His credits include one of the first disco 12” releases (Jimmy Sabater, “To Be With You”), as well as Talking Heads, Chic, Instant Funk, Kid Creole & the Coconuts, Lydia Lunch, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, Ashford & Simpson, Tito Puente, Donna Summer, Sting, and Patti Smith. His wife was a former James Brown singer, and he also worked with Ronnie Spector, and Taana Gardner, of “Heartbeat” fame.
With so many avant pop stars in his pocket, it was inevitable that there would be lots of left-over tape, edits, out-takes and side projects. In 1980, Bob gathered some of his fabulous friends in the after-hours playpen that his studio had become and together they produced an album called “Aural Exciters”. Most of the songs were written by the Kid Creole & the Coconuts crew with help from James Chance of the Contortions on sax, Fonda Rae, and many others on vocals. The catchiest single is sardonically titled “Spooks in Space”; its cover features black ghosts swarming the galaxy. The track opens with a doo-wop vocal that quickly switches to a cartoon-like lilting raggae rhythm and non-sequitor vocals about an imminent funky invasion. It’s one of the most colorful entry points into the Post-Punk/No-Wave music scene that helped shape mainstream disco, pop and hip hop.
These days, Bob’s studio is apparently up in Connecticut, and as evidenced by the credits on his website, he is still quite busy, mostly licensing and producing music for various soundtracks, TV shows, and commercial jingles and making guest appearance on shows like Behind the Music and documentaries like Maestro, about the early underground disco scene in 70’s NYC. He most recently appeared in person at the premiere of the movie about Arthur Russell, “Wild Combination.” Sadly, I missed the it, but you best believe I will be trying to make contact and get an interview soon.
leave a comment