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Girl Talk’s Night Ripper was a game-changer. I remember buying that CD and playing it for the first time, thinking, “What the fuck is going on here?” By that time in 2006, we had heard mash-ups before, but Girl Talk made it feel like a new art form. These weren’t just sound collages, sloppily cut and pasted together—these were new songs. And unlike so many other attempts to make hip-hop and other genres meet somewhere in the middle, these mash-ups forced the worlds of rap, pop, rock, and electronic together, with no compromising. Hearing Biggie over Elton John and Jeezy over Nirvana was a jarring listening experience. Two very familiar things, from very different worlds, pushed together. It was like watching two of your most opposite friends meet for the first time and smiling when you realize that, somehow, they’re getting along.
Since then, the art of the mash-up hasn’t been given a fair chance. Copyright law has made it risky territory, and mash-ups have been mostly relegated to to the shadows of the internet. If you can name a current producer who specializes in mash-ups, you are among the rare few.
It’s been almost 10 years since Night Ripper, and today, Atlanta producer Bruneaux releases The Art Of Noise. By pairing Outkast with Grimes, Lorde with Nine Inch Nails, David Banner with RHCP, and Too $hort with Third Eye Blind, Bruneaux just made the most fun mash-up album of 2015.
After listening to just a few of these songs, the first thing I thought of was Girl Talk’s Night Ripper. Were you a fan of Girl Talk and that album?
I’m a huge fan of Girl Talk and Night Ripper is one of my favorite albums of all time. Back in 2007 when I was a music major at the University of Georgia, a friend gave me it on a CD one night. The sounds that were on it blew my mind. I sat in my dorm looking up audio editing software and started messing around with chopping samples back then.
What’s your perspective on mash-ups in general? Lately, they seem to be looked down upon, like they picked up a bad reputation for being cheap or too easy or whatever.
I honestly feel like some people saw 3LAU and Kap Slap blow up with their mashups and quickly gain mainstream success, so they tried to do the same and flooded the market and that gave the genre a bad rep for a while.
Were you trying to make points with these juxtapositions of vocals over beats, or what it just a musically based thing? Hearing Lorde over NIN or Biggie over Ryan Lewis is crazy. Is the point sometimes to just make a jarring combination?
It’s a little bit of both. The Lorde and NIN part is more of a music thing. Both have that dark creepy vibe to it and it just flowed well together. The juxtaposition I didn’t realize until a friend pointed it out was Juicy J and Madonna. I just thought it was a cool combo and then a friend pointed out the wordplay between Juicy and Madonna. Juicy is talking about throwing money at girls while Madonna is talking about guys giving her material things.
What’s the deal with copyright law on this? Have you thought about that? Are you trying to sell it? Are you worried you’ll get sued?
My family worries about it more than I do. I’ve started to worry about it slightly more these days, with the whole Marvin Gaye “Blurred Lines” lawsuit thing going on. I’m never going to sell it, so as long as I don’t get paid for using other’s work without consent, I should be good. If Girl Talk hasn’t been sued yet, I think I should be fine.
How did you pick the samples? Do you start with vocals that you know you want to use, or beats, or what?
It all just comes to me most of the time. I just constantly listen to a lot of music and things just stand out and come together. I also make little stipulations for myself when making an album. Like I always put both Madonna and Prince somewhere on the album for my mom. She practically raised me on them and I always sneak them somewhere in there for her.
Is it a trial-and-error process or do you immediately know when you hear something that you want to pair it with something else?
Lots of both. Some parts it’s trial-and-error, but the majority of it just comes to me. Especially when I’m driving. I have a bunch of voice memos saved in my phone of me just listing two songs that just came to me. I also keep a running list of songs I want to sample, whether it’s a whole acapella verse or just a kick drum to chop up. I have probably a dozen lists in different places on both my computer and phone.
What’s your long-term goal as a producer?
I’ve had a lot of people tell me to go into original production, but I honestly love what I do. My main goal right now is to get out on the road and play some more shows.
Do you have a favorite combination or moment on this album?
There are too many on this album that I love. The ending is really special to me because I’ve been sitting on that combo for the past two albums, but it never really fit until now.
Anything else you want people to know about you or this project?
I just hope people enjoy it. It’s taken me two years to make and I’m ridiculously proud of it. Also I hope Marvin Gaye’s estate doesn’t come after me for using “Blurred Lines.”
