Top Ten With GIMM+ICKY

Welcome to Top Ten With…, a fun Q&A session where you’ll get to learn all about the music scene’s hottest artists! Today’s featured group is GIMM+ICKY, a pop duo formed by Tripp Weir and Jeff Garrison. You’ve probably heard their music and not even realized it, as the twosome have gotten several TV placements in the last year on networks like Nickelodeon, ABC, E! and the NFL Network. And with the release of their new single, “Shake That”, you can bet you’ll be hearing a lot more from them! Get to know GIMM+ICKY through our exclusive interview.

Top Ten With GIMM+ICKY

I’m inspired by:

Tripp – Beauty. Whether that be a beautiful woman, a beautiful place, or something beautiful happening to me doesn’t matter, they all get me in the mood to write.

Jeff – An audiences response, when we really connect with our fans, whether it be a show/music video/record it always gets me so amped up for creating the next thing that is going to connect with our audience.

I realized I wanted to play music when:

Tripp – Some of my earliest memories is me bangin’ on some drums or sneaking a cheap karaoke machine we had into my room and singin’ along to beastie boys and RUNDMC. I think I’ve always known that this is what I wanted to do, not really one exact moment that kickstarted it all.

Jeff – I knew I wanted to play music when I saw Flea playing the bass in the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I got an 80$ bass and starting playing funk in a band called follow suit in the 7th grade. I was pretty much done for from then on.

Four songs you might find on my iPod:

Tripp –

Power – Kanye West
Night by Night – Chromeo
Both of Us – B.O.B.
Hungry like the wolf – Duran Duran

Jeff –

What Goes Around Justin Timberlake
Circus by Britney Spears
Back To Black Amy Winehouse
Get Lucky Daft Punk

One word I would use to describe myself:

Tripp – Jackhammer

Jeff – Crazy

The best part of being a musician is:

Tripp – Being able to do what I love everyday and that somehow makes other people happy too.

Jeff – Being able to create without boundaries everyday and getting to share your creations with our fans.

Right now, I’m most excited about:

Tripp – Our next single, “it starts tonight”. I really think it has a lot of potential and I’m excited to see where it might take us.

Jeff – I’m always most excited about the next show. I love all the work that goes into preparing for a G+I live show!

Something most people don’t know about me is:

Tripp – I was both a jock and a theater kid, didn’t know which direction to go in college so I ended up doing neither. Writing was always my vice and my secret escape so I ended up pursuing that.

Jeff – I was a total band and choir junkie in high school… I got super into it, it was weird.

One of my happiest moments was:

Tripp – The day I was able to quit my job and just do music, if that’s not living the dream then I don’t know what is. I hope everyone gets a chance to live their dream in one way or another at some point.

Jeff – Playing the first G+I show. I had been playing music for a long time, but I had never experienced a connection with an audience as strong as that before that day.

My music is:

Tripp – My life. It consumes me. There are constantly new lyrics or arrangements or just beats in my head and it used to drive me crazy trying to get them all out. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Jeff – An extension of myself. I can’t imagine doing anything else, if I to choose between a million dollars in a job I didn’t love, or barely making rent every month in a crummy apartment while chasing my music dreams. I would choose to chase!

In ten years, I see myself:

Tripp – Still makin’ music, still livin’ and lovin’, and probably answering another ten questions.

Jeff – Playing shows, releasing another G+I album, and trying to push the envelope of what I can do musically.

“Shake That” is out now – check out the music video above and be sure to snag the single on iTunes. For more on the twosome, be sure to visit GimmAndIcky.com!