STACK #199 May 2021

MUSIC FEATURE

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GORILLAZ GORILLAZ Bryget Chrisfield explores the creation, impact, and astonishing legacy of her favourite classic records. This month, it’s Damon Albarn’s virtual act Gorillaz’ self-titled debut.

Year 2001

O n 26 March, 2021, the eponymous flatmate Jamie Hewlett (creator of the cult Tank Girl cartoon strip), “the world’s first virtual band” ushered in the new millennium with their self-described “zombie hip-hop” – a hybrid of rock, hip-hop, reggae and dub sounds – and by 2007, Gorillaz had sold seven million copies. During an interview, Damon Albarn recalled the Gorillaz recording sessions, which went down at Jamaica’s G-Jam studio: “I flew in a little plane over Blue Mountains to the north Gorillaz album turned 20. The brainchild of Damon Albarn and his former

Gorillaz OG Animated Band Members 2-D: Blue-haired, rakish frontman (singing voice supplied by Damon Albarn). Murdoc Niccals: Founder, self- proclaimed band leader and evil-looking, green-skinned bassist. Noodle: Guitarist/vocalist of Japanese descent. Joined band when she was just 10 years old. Russel Hobbs: Drummer/ percussionist originally hailing from New York. Loosely based on Ice Cube (according to Jamie Hewlett).

east of the island, and I was given a suitcase of weed. That lasted for about three weeks. We had to get another suitcase. I smoked spliff, drank rum and ate ackee and saltfish and fresh mangoes for two months. By the end of it, the locals were hanging out every night. That’s typically coveted, Albarn – who had become a Britpop poster boy thanks to the success of Blur – attempted to remove himself from the picture entirely through Gorillaz, which went on to enjoy greater success than Blur in some territories (especially the US). Using 2-D as his mouthpiece, Albarn was able to experiment with different musical styles and return to focusing on “being a musician, not a personality”. “I remember being on tour and listening to [Massive Attack’s] first album, Blue Lines , and being really jealous of their freedom; not to be tied to a band structure,” Albarn has said. ‘It was a model for the future.” Initially, demos of the Gorillaz songs started taking shape at Albarn’s Studio 13 in West London with engineers Tom Girling and Jason Cox manning the control room. “It was Damon, Tom and myself doing the music, and Jamie used to come down and see what was going on and what style of music we were heading towards,” Cox told James Inglis. “He was doing his sketching and demoing his characters while we were demoing the songs – the same sort of thing, but on the drawing front...” BC when we knew we had a good record.” In the music biz, where ‘celebrity’ is

Clockwise from top: Gorillaz in 2001, L-R - Murdoc, 2-D, Noodle, Russel; Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn in the early ‘90s; the two again in 2018 (Image credit: The Sunday Times)

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78 MAY 2021

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