It’s hard to believe that’s been nearly a decade since the release of the first Gorillaz album back in 2001. Back then the project—a musical and visual collaboration between Blur frontman Damon Albarn and British cartoonist Jamie Hewlett—seemed like a fun joke between two old friends. Now, 10 years in and two more albums later, Gorillaz has evolved into a multi-media, shape-shifting, arena-filling powerhouse. The cartoon band’s new album, Plastic Beach, is proving to be one of the year’s biggest success stories. Both Albarn and Hewlett seem just as happily surprised about this fact than anyone else. The band--comprised of Albarn, Hewlett and a revolving cast of famous guest musicians--recently passed through the US to play some festivals and do some talk shows, and they'll be back this fall to do a proper tour. If you are a fan of great pop music and/or animated monkey bands, do yourself a favor and GO.
It's hard enough to make a successful record--no matter what kind of music you're doing-- but even harder when it's so conceptual. Still, each Gorillaz record seems to be bigger than the previous one.
Damon: It is tricky, but I mean that's why it started off this time around with such a big sweep of ideas. Because I produced it on my own, I had to be brutal with myself. I left off a lot of stuff that I really liked so the album wasn't too long. It's difficult..trying to make a good pop record is really difficult. One that you're actually proud of and not hating yourself because it's so cynical.
It's interesting, so much of what people have responded to this time are that it's so much more of a pop record.
Damon: Well I kinda thought straight out that it would be my last pop record ever --so there was a chance it would be listened to in that way, you know what I mean?--but it's obviously not. I’m sure there will be others.
Pop music gets such a bad rap.
Damon: Yeah, but it shouldn’t. What about that MGMT song? It's pure pop. I thought, not bad, that delivers something really popular but something that is dealing with something, addressing something.
Pop music doesn't have to be stupid. There is this idea now that pop music—by it’s very definition—is always gonna be dumb.
Damon: No pop music used to be amazing. Because the audience for it was different, there were only a few radio stations and there won't so many people making music back then either. It's definitely harder to be an interesting pop artist these days, it's possible, but it's not a given. There's so much stuff out there that has no soul whatsoever. That is just smothering. It's like a sort of fungus, a bacteria. A pop fungus. Grown in an aquarium. If one fish gets it then it all starts to spread, it's like that.
The whole landscape, the way music is bought and sold is completely different now…it lends itself to the promotion of mostly bad, commercial things.
Damon: Yea, it's...yeah. It’s bad.
Thinking back to when this project first started, has the concept of Gorillaz changed radically?
Damon: It's gotten more defined, I think. I think that we set out to do to at the start wasn't always going to be possible. There were lots of ideas that we hit on along the way, especially playing live. We've tried it different ways. Originally we played from behind a screen where you can't actually see anybody…which seemed to upset a lot of people.
Jamie: It's fun though. For me Gorillaz has to be fun, playful and a bit loopy. You have to go, what's going on? As long as it's that, than I think it's Gorillaz.
Damon: I'm surprised we didn't get lynched for that behind-the-screen business. All these people going, it's starting, it's starting,….what? We had people asking for their money back, like, what was that? The Second time we had big cartoon silhouettes. And this time we've got a huge screen..
And a giant band.
Damon: This band is so much fun to play in.Jamie: It’s a very fun band filled with people who are basically a bunch of cartoon characters themselves.
Hearing the songs played live with so many people on stage is really interesting. The band—along with the visuals—gives the whole thing a whole new dimension.
Damon: It's different from the record, most definitely...
Which ideally is what makes the live experience worth seeing.
Jamie: It should be something totally different. Otherwise, what’s the point?
Damon, outside of Gorillaz, you've collaborated with so many people of all different genres...
Damon: I am a serial collaborator.
What appeals to you so much about collaborating?
Damon: Just hanging out, meeting new people, it's an adventure. Sometimes it's really tricky, getting into people's heads, like Mark E. Smith, it's not easy to get him to go out of his comfort zone, and that's one of the hardest things, getting people to get out of their comfort zones, and convince them it's going to be okay. And you learn so much, I do it because I love it.
What will happen next?
Jamie: We're going back to London tomorrow, we're doing Wild House, the Jools Holland show, doing a few festivals, then we're planning on coming back to America and touring in October, a new video that I'm going to be making, the web-site is growing. Keeping the--for lack of a better word--the campaign going.
Damon: I started another opera as well. I've got to get a lot of it done before the autumn when we go out on tour and warm-ups, so after next week I go into Elizabethan mystical world for a few months and leave Gorillaz for a little while.
That's a crazy change of direction.
Damon: You know, gotta keep things interesting. Can’t be about monkeys and cartoons all the time.
more at Gorillaz OFFICIAL SITE
Gorillaz on Myspace
It's hard enough to make a successful record--no matter what kind of music you're doing-- but even harder when it's so conceptual. Still, each Gorillaz record seems to be bigger than the previous one.
Damon: It is tricky, but I mean that's why it started off this time around with such a big sweep of ideas. Because I produced it on my own, I had to be brutal with myself. I left off a lot of stuff that I really liked so the album wasn't too long. It's difficult..trying to make a good pop record is really difficult. One that you're actually proud of and not hating yourself because it's so cynical.
It's interesting, so much of what people have responded to this time are that it's so much more of a pop record.
Damon: Well I kinda thought straight out that it would be my last pop record ever --so there was a chance it would be listened to in that way, you know what I mean?--but it's obviously not. I’m sure there will be others.
Pop music gets such a bad rap.
Damon: Yeah, but it shouldn’t. What about that MGMT song? It's pure pop. I thought, not bad, that delivers something really popular but something that is dealing with something, addressing something.
Pop music doesn't have to be stupid. There is this idea now that pop music—by it’s very definition—is always gonna be dumb.
Damon: No pop music used to be amazing. Because the audience for it was different, there were only a few radio stations and there won't so many people making music back then either. It's definitely harder to be an interesting pop artist these days, it's possible, but it's not a given. There's so much stuff out there that has no soul whatsoever. That is just smothering. It's like a sort of fungus, a bacteria. A pop fungus. Grown in an aquarium. If one fish gets it then it all starts to spread, it's like that.
The whole landscape, the way music is bought and sold is completely different now…it lends itself to the promotion of mostly bad, commercial things.
Damon: Yea, it's...yeah. It’s bad.
Thinking back to when this project first started, has the concept of Gorillaz changed radically?
Damon: It's gotten more defined, I think. I think that we set out to do to at the start wasn't always going to be possible. There were lots of ideas that we hit on along the way, especially playing live. We've tried it different ways. Originally we played from behind a screen where you can't actually see anybody…which seemed to upset a lot of people.
Jamie: It's fun though. For me Gorillaz has to be fun, playful and a bit loopy. You have to go, what's going on? As long as it's that, than I think it's Gorillaz.
Damon: I'm surprised we didn't get lynched for that behind-the-screen business. All these people going, it's starting, it's starting,….what? We had people asking for their money back, like, what was that? The Second time we had big cartoon silhouettes. And this time we've got a huge screen..
And a giant band.
Damon: This band is so much fun to play in.Jamie: It’s a very fun band filled with people who are basically a bunch of cartoon characters themselves.
Hearing the songs played live with so many people on stage is really interesting. The band—along with the visuals—gives the whole thing a whole new dimension.
Damon: It's different from the record, most definitely...
Which ideally is what makes the live experience worth seeing.
Jamie: It should be something totally different. Otherwise, what’s the point?
Damon, outside of Gorillaz, you've collaborated with so many people of all different genres...
Damon: I am a serial collaborator.
What appeals to you so much about collaborating?
Damon: Just hanging out, meeting new people, it's an adventure. Sometimes it's really tricky, getting into people's heads, like Mark E. Smith, it's not easy to get him to go out of his comfort zone, and that's one of the hardest things, getting people to get out of their comfort zones, and convince them it's going to be okay. And you learn so much, I do it because I love it.
What will happen next?
Jamie: We're going back to London tomorrow, we're doing Wild House, the Jools Holland show, doing a few festivals, then we're planning on coming back to America and touring in October, a new video that I'm going to be making, the web-site is growing. Keeping the--for lack of a better word--the campaign going.
Damon: I started another opera as well. I've got to get a lot of it done before the autumn when we go out on tour and warm-ups, so after next week I go into Elizabethan mystical world for a few months and leave Gorillaz for a little while.
That's a crazy change of direction.
Damon: You know, gotta keep things interesting. Can’t be about monkeys and cartoons all the time.
more at Gorillaz OFFICIAL SITE
Gorillaz on Myspace
