He floats over crowds in inflatable life rafts. He wears old-school sweatbands around his head. He recombines, reconstitutes, recreates and rebels. He is the king of the underground music scene. He is a mash-up mastermind.
Greg Gillis, who goes by the name of Girl Talk when performing, visited Tuscaloosa this Wednesday night to perform at Rounders, kicking off his second tour.
“Extreme,” Gillis said. “If I had to choose one word to describe my music, it would be extreme. I want it to be complicated. I just don’t want to be midway with anything. I want it all to be extreme – the music, the show, everything.”
And extreme it was. With speakers pumping a bass line so intense that it resonated over the crowd like thunder, and strobe lights striking down on the audience like lightning, Gillis’ Tuscaloosa concert was a storm of body heat and pure bliss.
“I knew from the start that it would be an uphill battle to make a laptop show into a concert experience. I had to make my performances something that people could watch and be entertained by,” Gillis said.
Gillis’ performance also included toilet paper, a downpour of multi-colored balloons, heavy fog and a leaf blower that was blown on the audience throughout the performance.
A sea of bodies jumped through the fog. However, no one jumped as high as Gillis.
“When I go out there I feel like it’s a battle between me and everyone else,” Gillis said. “I want to be sweating the most. I don’t want anyone to be going harder than me. I’m going to bring it, and where are you guys going to go? I want to keep pushing everyone further. That’s what makes my performances such a different experience.”
When going to interview Gillis in his gigantic, glimmering tour bus covered in red and orange flames, I expected to find a flashy rock star inside that was just as intense as his bus and his music. However, what I found was a welcoming guy with a gentle handshake in a faded gray sweatshirt, jeans and worn-in sneakers; Gillis’ trusty laptop, his only instrument, rested at his side at all times.
“I don’t feel like Girl Talk is a character,” Gillis said. “It’s not like I’m playing a role. It’s just a part of me. In real life, I don’t behave the way that I do on stage. It’s the same with any other performer.”
Gillis and his team picked Tuscaloosa to begin Girl Talk’s tour because Gillis loves performing in intimate places.
“We wanted to pick a city that was unique to start off the tour. Playing here in a college town like Tuscaloosa is very different from playing in a Southern city where there isn’t a college. I’ve played for many universities in the South, and you know there is a specific feeling. The college crowd is always ready to party,” Gillis said.
Gillis, who stretches half an hour before each performance, found all of the hype surrounding his surprise Tuscaloosa performance flattering.
“I’ve never done anything like this before – doing a surprise performance and handing out tickets randomly. I’m pretty low-key, so I wasn’t sure what the excitement level would be,” Gillis said. “I was flattered about how it all turned out here. I loved hearing about it from people on Twitter and Facebook.”
Gillis uses the audience’s reaction to his debuted music to decide whether or not he will include the music in an album. Shows are also therapeutic for Gillis.
“When I make the music it’s all in my house, and it’s me all alone at a computer, laboring over details for hours,” Gillis said. “It’s very meticulous. Shows are a chance for me to lose my mind with the music.”
