Thursday, August 07, 2008

Girl Talk: Feed the Animals

So, how is it that a 26-year-old Pittsburgher named Greg Gillis, a former biomedical engineer (?!) turned DJ-musician also known as Girl Talk, has become a national sensation without hardly any media coverage in his hometown?

Today, Greg Girl Talk was featured in a major article in The New York Times, including the following excerpt:

"Mr. Gillis declined to say how many copies of “Feed the Animals” had been downloaded or what fans had paid for them. But, he said, he makes enough money performing that he quit his day job as a biomedical engineer last year. One major expense for him is computers; his live show takes such a toll on them that he went through three reinforced Toughbook laptops last year."

The NYT article followed extensive coverage of his recent appearance at Lollapalooza in Chicago, which prompted the following coverage and interview at the always worthy Chicagoist.

Chicagoist Interview: Girl Talk at Lollapalooza:

"Radiohead Shmaediohead. If there’s one act we’re pumped to see at Lollapalooza this year, it’s the sweatfest dance party stylings of Pittsburgh mash-up artist Gregg “Girl Talk” Gillis. Riding high on the recent release of Feed the Animals, Girl Talk takes the stage in Grant Park on Sunday for a live sample-based set certain to spark a raucous party and rip the festival a new one."

It's probably no surprise Girl Talk receives so little mainstream coverage in his hometown of Pittsburgh. As Mark Twain said, "When I die, I want it to happen in Pittsburgh. It'll take 20 years to catch up to me."

Links:

DrewReviews: Feed the Animals

HaveYouHeardReview: Feed the Animals

Wikipedia Entry

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Funny thing,I've never heard of him, but today I was thumbing through Whirl magazine at work and I think he was voted one of Pittsburgh's 50 most eligible or something like that. You know those goofy "Let's pat ourselves on the back" type of things.
I know, I know, it was a slow day at work. Whirl was the only magazine around.
It was either that, or look at Brad and Angie's kids.

Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls said...

Well, you KNOW you've arrived when Whirl turns its hoary spotlight on you. Whirl. Whew-hoo.

Anonymous said...

Couldn't help but correct you on this: the PG has done close to a dozen articles on the guy dating back two years: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06355/747615-42.stm

Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls said...

Thanks for the correction. That's a good interview.