Girl Talk at Bonnaroo 2009

Gregg “Girl Talk” Gillis, The Strokes’ Albert Hammond Jr. and comedian Eugene Mirman took part in a Bonnaroo press conference on Wednesday. With the 10th anniversary of the festival approaching, the artists discussed everything from bridging the mainstream rock/jamband scenes to performance possibilities to festival tips.

Making his first appearance at Bonnaroo with The Strokes this summer, Hammond addressed the festival’s departure from its jam-centric roots. “Either the jam band people will completely hate us or there’s enough of both to go around” Hammond said. “Is there a bridge? I mean, yes, we all play, we all love the same thing, you know? It’s just we do it differently.” While the band is currently recording a new album, the possibility of any of these songs appearing in the Bonnaroo set was quashed.

Gillis, a veteran of the late-night festival scene, discussed some of the visual additions being incorporated into his performance, “I think it will bigger than I’ve ever had before…in the past I’ve never even had my own lighting guy or anything like that. But we should have a custom LED wall for this and some special things.” When asked if he would be willing to collaborate onstage with other festival performers, Gillis responded. “I would like to do it because, you know, people have mentioned it to me in the past with just the idea of collaboration being such a kind of a fundamental part of Bonnaroo…there are some smaller rappers that aren’t necessarily Lil’ Wayne or Eminem that could definitely be a possibility.”

The comedy tent will also be making its return this summer, with major acts such as Lewis Black and a “420 Comedy Blaze” fittingly hosted by “Cheech” Marin. Comedian Eugene Mirman also chimed in on the festival’s collaborative spirit saying, “I exclusively hope to do a sketch with Buffalo Springfield but I guess if that doesn’t work out maybe Tig [Notaro] and I will do something.”