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Girl Talk - Sample
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Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

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• line of work
• pre-existing
• original
• gray area

• collage
• mashup
• sample
• clip

• go-to
• component

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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Gregg Gillis, better known as Girl Talk, makes musical collages. In art, a collage is when someone takes different pieces of other artists’ work and rearranges them, creating a brand new piece of art. Girl Talk does the same thing, but with music. He uses pieces of ten or more well-known songs to create a completely new song called a mashup. Using nothing more than a laptop, Girl Talk gets huge crowds dancing to his mashups.

The pieces of music he uses are called samples. A sample is a small amount of something. When you go to the store, sometimes they will let you taste a sample of something to decide if you like it. The act of using a short clip of someone else’s music in your own is called sampling. We met with Gregg on stage before a recent performance to talk about his music.

3. Watch - Watch the video without reading the dialog.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Jason

Gregg

Jason:  Welcome to English, baby! I am Jason, back with Girl Talk, and we want to talk about the word “sample.” I really can’t think of anyone better to teach the word “sample.” So, can you tell us, what does it mean to sample?

Gregg:  Yeah, “sample” has many applications. So, in general, it refers to a portion or a component of something. In my line of work, it’s taking a small fragment of music and using it. It’s kind of about taking pre-existing music and trying to transform it into something new.

Jason:  So, how do you choose the samples for your songs?

Gregg:  First of all, they have to be songs that I enjoy. I mean, there’s millions of songs out there, so it’s songs that I like. For me, one thing that works is it has to be kind of an isolated component, something I can layer with something else. So it’s like, if there’s just drums playing in the middle of a song, then that’s a good chance that maybe they could match up with something else. You could layer other elements to it.

Jason:  Is your music completely samples or are there original bits of music in there as well?

Gregg:  In general, my music is 99% samples.

Jason:  And so, it may surprise some people to learn that what you’re doing is legal, using all these samples. Can you talk about how that works?

Gregg:  Yeah, it is a gray area, so it’s not technically legal or illegal. It’s something where it can potentially be legal or it can potentially be illegal. There’s a thing called “fair use” and it allows you to sample music without asking for permission if it falls under a certain criteria and it kind of looks at the nature of what you’re doing. So, I believe that my work should fall under fair use, and I believe that it is legal, it should be legal. You know, thus far, I’ve had five albums and no one has really had an issue with it.

Jason:  Your shows are notoriously crazy. People love to dance all over the stage, everywhere. Is there a sample in particular that, when that one comes on, people really get going?

Gregg:  I would say there’s a moment on an album two albums ago where it’s Kelly Clarkson “Since You’ve Been Gone” mixed with a Nine Inch Nails song, “Wish.” That seems to always be a go-to. I don’t do it every night, but I feel like when I do hit it, it’s kind of always a big celebration.

Jason:  Well, thanks so much for talking with us today, Gregg. Can I get a high five and say, “English, baby!”?

Gregg:  English, baby!

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