Gregg Gillis, aka Girl Talk

Gregg Gillis knows how to work a crowd.

That's exactly what he did when he played the Fox Theatre this summer. The mash-up artist -- aka Girl Talk -- had hundreds of University of Colorado students dancing on the venue's stage as he worked his computer magic to create a one-hour pop dance party.

Now Gillis is back in Boulder to give CU students a taste of the Girl Talk experience.

Girl Talk is Gillis' one-man, techno-savvy DJ show -- or as he prefers to call himself, a "laptop programmer." He's also one of the hottest new college acts to hit the Internet and concert halls.

Using more than 300 classic pop samples -- without permission -- Gillis has developed a non-stop, 50-minute show that turns his pop-music passion into a high-tech, party-centric concert. The buzz is on about Girl Talk.

Saturday, Gillis will hit CU's Farrand Field a part of the school's New Student Welcome Concert. Girl Talk has a knack for whipping his young crowds up into dancing frenzies -- even when he removes his clothes and dances around stage in his undies.

"I got into avant-garde and electronic music when I was in college," Gillis said. "I originally went into the field of bio-medical engineering, but I treated the music as my career. I started by sampling music and I kept manipulating it. I wanted to create something original and I wanted to try something new.

"I picked the name Girl Talk, so it would sound like a very glossy, poppy project."

Gillis' brand of "cut-and-paste" remixes caught on with underground music fans, but the Internet was the primary force behind Girl Talk. The DJ also became known for his outrageous stage antics and his knack for turning concert halls into full-fledged parties.

As Gillis honed his mash-up style of music mixes, word started spreading about his shows. Now he's breaking news in the world of downloadable CD sales. Gillis let his fans digitally download his new record Feed the Animals -- the follow-up to his breakthrough The Night Ripper -- via a Radiohead-style "pay what you want" plan at www.IllegalArt.net. The CD will be released in stores Sept. 23.

"I knew this act had potential and people caught onto it," Gillis said. "A lot of people never heard of an album composed of 300 songs, so they didn't know what to expect. It's a very long, drawn-out process for me. I sample hundreds of songs and try out different combinations.

"Only a small fraction of it will be used down the road."

The process involved in creating a Girl Talk album is very time-consuming and intense for Gillis, so he only puts out records every two years.

That's all right -- Girl Talk fans are compensated with Gillis' impressive live shows that he hosts between CD releases.

"It's all about the live show," Gillis said. "Even when I first started doing the live performances, I tried not to do a traditional DJ show. I use a lot of software triggering, loops and samples. I pretty much put together a live music collage. The software's all loaded up, so I can step away from the computer.

"That gives me a lot of freedom."

Gillis says that freeing himself up from the techno toys allows him to interact with his audiences.

"In the early days I did the show with dancers and projectors, now it's very bare-bones," Gillis said. "The kids know the drill -- they know it's a party. People are really interactive at the shows and I like to get people on stage."

The non-stop dance party doesn't disguise the fact that Gillis has come up with a clever new way to satisfy the appetites of pop music fans.

"This is a very unique way to present pop music," Gillis said. "It's a giant pop sound that becomes this pure music collage. My new CD, Feed the Animals, is pretty over the top. It's much more extreme, complex and accessible. It also has a lot more dynamics than my previous records. I used 300 samples and turned them into 50 minutes of music."

The laptop programmer flew to Europe last weekend just to play two shows in Seville, Spain and Brussels, Belgium.

"There's a history of electronic music over in Europe," Gillis said. "You just put up a tent and everyone's ready to dance. Now that I'm back I have some concrete plans to experiment with new things. I'm going to try to incorporate those in the fall U.S. dates. I'm already booked in Denver to play Halloween. That's one of my favorite holidays, but I'm still trying to figure out my costume."

Speaking of costumes, Gillis regularly changes his outfits during his 50-minute show.

And yes, sometimes he does strip down to his underwear.

"I usually show up in layered gear, but if it's really hot in a club, I will get down to my underwear," Gillis said. "It's a form of visual entertainment. If I get everyone on stage dancing, then I don't need any extra visuals. But, if they put up barricades and have more rules at a show -- well, then I have to fall back to an old-fashioned strip routine.

"I'm going to play it by ear at CU."

Pants on or off, Gillis promises to go all out for his CU show. Students will get to hear new Girl Talk material and the DJ promises to take elements off his CD "and twist them around."

"Hopefully everyone will be celebrating at CU," Gillis said.