Going Ape with the Gorillaz
Play, November 2005
From deep within the reaches of their top-secret Kong Studios, an encrypted communication arrived at the doorstep of ‘Play’. After checking to make sure that it was not booby-trapped, our brave scribe opened the message to reveal ruminations from the members of one of the universes most cryptic and influential collections of musicians around- the Gorillaz. Members Noodle (guitar), 2D (vocals), Russel (Hip-hop lyricist) and Murdoc (bass) shared their thoughts with ‘Play’, in a rare interview filled with international espionage and religious intrigue.
Do you create with your animated counterparts specifically in mind, or just create the music you’d be making regardless and bring in the (animated) band afterwards?
Noodle: Music is the key foundation of every good group. If the music doesn’t work then everything falls apart. Gorillaz are an animated band, but like most musicians, we’re not conscious of ourselves when we record. The music is far bigger, far greater then the state of the people who make it.
2D: I’m not sure that Chubby Checker would agree on that one. I think if he wasn’t aware of his…size, then the music would be totally different.
Murdoc: Yeah, Noodle, I’m not sure that Ozzy Osborne would agree with that either. I think most musicians are completely aware of themselves when they record. I mean, he’s like the Lord of Darkness! If he doesn’t make a black-rock Satanic corker, then his whole game is over.
Noodle: Okay, well, maybe Gorillaz present themselves to uniquely, we may seem to be an exception to the rule. The Gorillaz music is made without the preconception of videos or artwork in mind. We simply make the songs sound right, let them breathe and come alive.
How did the opportunities to work with iTunes come about?
Murdoc: Hey...I...err...don’t really get involved with all the paperwork issues. But you know, people just keep phoning us up and suggesting ways we could work together. iTunes seems like a great label so we got together with them. The stitching is fantastic.
Noodle: I have been downloading music from the internet since Napster was in nappies. It was always obvious that this was the way music would progress. So I feel we should be guiding the future into the present maybe...a little faster. When the opportunity came up to work with iTunes…we took it. It’s one of our finest collaborations.
2D: Since I got my iPod I can actually move around my room again.
Murdoc: Yeah, but all the music you listen to’s crap. You should have dumped all those CD’s straight in the bin.
Can you offer an insight into other members that might be joining Gorillaz, either as guests or regular members?
Murdoc: Listen, no-one else is joining this band. And no-one leaves except in a box. There’s people we might collaborate with, but at the moment I’d say we’ve really used up the cream of the crop on ‘Demon Days’.
Noodle: Hmm...I’m thinking that for the next album we should grow our own collaborators, in a tube. Like, collaborator clones!
Murdoc: Despite the fact that I despise 2D like the plague, this band is made up of these four original members, and they’re irreplaceable. I hate it when bands lose pivotal members and then continue under the same name. It’s just a big con.
The new Kidrobot vinyls are amazing, exuding a level of quality in line with your videos and DVD. Will we see more branding this time around? The characters seem primed for [Adult Swim], and more over, for video games. If so are they making sure to stay in the approvals loop to assure the quality is there?
Noodle: Nothing ever leaves the Gorillaz HQ without getting approval from us. Nothing. Not an advert, not a CD, not a single poster. That’s why Gorillaz come across so well. We don’t delegate or outsource our art.
2D: I’d like to see a game of us. It’d be amazing to see what we would look like if we were digitized, like...animated versions or ourselves.
Russel: You don’t get it, D, do you?
Noodle: Whatever we’d do would in that area, we’d have to oversee.
How much additional time does the animation take preparation-wise for a new release? Essentially nailing two mediums at once the timing must be interesting.
Noodle: When Jamie Hewlett and Pete Candeland shoot our videos, the time from initial shots to the finished product is normally around three months. So much of the detail has to be hand drawn, plus there’s the CG elements, then the after-effects, the lighting then the rendering. Each of our videos is like making...well, a mini-movie.
Murdoc: Well, for the Feel Good Inc. vid., I just turned up a little fuzzy, took my top off, danced around with my bass looking great and then left. It only took me two hours. But obviously being a pro, I work faster than people like Jamie
and Passion Pictures.
Noodle: Passion Pictures are the people that put together our videos with Jamie and Pete. And Murdoc doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Who would Gorillaz like to work with (either collaboration or tour with)?
Murdoc: I think it would be great to team up with Lemmy from Motorhead.
Russel: I don’t know, er...someone like Steve Reich would be interesting. He was experimenting with piano and rhythm loops for a long time before samplers were even invented. Maybe Jim Thirwell, Alec Empire or the Aphex Twin, if you’re looking for something fierce and noisy. I like Fourtet’s work. And maybe someone with a cinematic quality like John Barry or Ennio Morricone would be a cool collaboration. We look to those people for influence a lot anyway, so it would be great to do a remix or something with someone who didn’t really use re-mixing as their main tool, you know, that way you run the risk of ending up with something truly original.
Have you created substantially more for animated content for ‘Demon Days’?
Noodle: There have been more acceptance speeches. And also, the quality of the animation in our videos has certainly increased since the last album, because of the advances in technology. And sometimes our imaginations can run away with us...
You guys into or inspired by anime? If so, what are you fans of? What about games?
Noodle: Spirited Away by the Japanese animation studio Studio Ghibli, is one of my favorites. You can see an influence of their work in the Feel Good Inc. video. Also, I’ve been a big fan of the film Akira. Games-wise, I think it’s Halo and Resident Evil that really do it for me.
Russel: Our base Kong Studios became infested with zombies during our absence, so when Noodle returned from Japan, all her computer game practice really paid off in terms of clearing the corridors of the...walking undead.
Noodle: It took about six months to empty it of all the carcasses. For a while it was a real life version of Resident Evil.
With ‘Demon Days’ a definitive sound has emerged the like that we seldom hear these days. The new material with Danger Mouse, and MF Doom (as much as we loved the debut) seems more nuanced and is incredibly diverse. What’s your process like? Do you guys spend a lot of time together experimenting?
Noodle: All music is an experiment; there is no definite repeatable formula that guarantees a good outcome. But the usual process begins with me sketching out tunes, melodies and ideas using just a guitar and a four-track machine. We then go into the studio and having put the rough idea into Pro-Tools, we begin adding a rhythm or maybe some other instruments...bass lines...keyboard lines. From there it’s a process of recording, editing, re-recording, scrapping ideas, bringing in other musicians, etc. And then one day you wake up and your song is...fully grown.
Russel: Dangermouse and Noodle worked very well together in terms of being able to bounce ideas between the two of them. One will suggest a pattern or texture and the other will instinctively anticipate whether that sound is going to be...relevant to that song. And also whether that song is going to relevant to that album.
Murdoc: Well...I think it’s my bass-lines that really make the album work.
Have you ever considered Holographic concerts for the future? Seems like a no-brainer.
Murdoc: A no-brainer!? Bring it on! All that thinking makes my head hurt.
Noodle: We do have a world tour planned. It’s going to be really, really exciting. It’s taking time to put together as the technology is quite groundbreaking but as soon as we have the details, we’ll let you know.
Murdoc: But you can be guaranteed it’s gonna knock your socks off. There’s going to be full-on rock, fantastic visuals, me on bass, and a whole jaw-dropping spectacular stage show. Un-missable.
2D: You sound like PT Barnum.
The Beach Boys meets Gorillaz ‘Don’t Get Lost in Heaven’ running into ‘Demon Days’ is practically euphoric. It’s like a ray of sunshine at disc’s end and pretty much a departure from the rest of your music. Is there anything to it, or is it just that: a little ray of sunshine?
Noodle: That “little ray of sunshine” goes a long way. Without that, the rest of the record makes no sense. It balances the whole album, and it’s also the album’s payoff. The rest of the record is a description of the darkness, and of the volatile times that surround us. The track ‘Demon Days’ is the...antidote. Without it the rest of the album collapses into hopeless misery. That track leaves you looking optimistically to the future, which can only be a good thing.
Do you create with your animated counterparts specifically in mind, or just create the music you’d be making regardless and bring in the (animated) band afterwards?
Noodle: Music is the key foundation of every good group. If the music doesn’t work then everything falls apart. Gorillaz are an animated band, but like most musicians, we’re not conscious of ourselves when we record. The music is far bigger, far greater then the state of the people who make it.
2D: I’m not sure that Chubby Checker would agree on that one. I think if he wasn’t aware of his…size, then the music would be totally different.
Murdoc: Yeah, Noodle, I’m not sure that Ozzy Osborne would agree with that either. I think most musicians are completely aware of themselves when they record. I mean, he’s like the Lord of Darkness! If he doesn’t make a black-rock Satanic corker, then his whole game is over.
Noodle: Okay, well, maybe Gorillaz present themselves to uniquely, we may seem to be an exception to the rule. The Gorillaz music is made without the preconception of videos or artwork in mind. We simply make the songs sound right, let them breathe and come alive.
How did the opportunities to work with iTunes come about?
Murdoc: Hey...I...err...don’t really get involved with all the paperwork issues. But you know, people just keep phoning us up and suggesting ways we could work together. iTunes seems like a great label so we got together with them. The stitching is fantastic.
Noodle: I have been downloading music from the internet since Napster was in nappies. It was always obvious that this was the way music would progress. So I feel we should be guiding the future into the present maybe...a little faster. When the opportunity came up to work with iTunes…we took it. It’s one of our finest collaborations.
2D: Since I got my iPod I can actually move around my room again.
Murdoc: Yeah, but all the music you listen to’s crap. You should have dumped all those CD’s straight in the bin.
Can you offer an insight into other members that might be joining Gorillaz, either as guests or regular members?
Murdoc: Listen, no-one else is joining this band. And no-one leaves except in a box. There’s people we might collaborate with, but at the moment I’d say we’ve really used up the cream of the crop on ‘Demon Days’.
Noodle: Hmm...I’m thinking that for the next album we should grow our own collaborators, in a tube. Like, collaborator clones!
Murdoc: Despite the fact that I despise 2D like the plague, this band is made up of these four original members, and they’re irreplaceable. I hate it when bands lose pivotal members and then continue under the same name. It’s just a big con.
The new Kidrobot vinyls are amazing, exuding a level of quality in line with your videos and DVD. Will we see more branding this time around? The characters seem primed for [Adult Swim], and more over, for video games. If so are they making sure to stay in the approvals loop to assure the quality is there?
Noodle: Nothing ever leaves the Gorillaz HQ without getting approval from us. Nothing. Not an advert, not a CD, not a single poster. That’s why Gorillaz come across so well. We don’t delegate or outsource our art.
2D: I’d like to see a game of us. It’d be amazing to see what we would look like if we were digitized, like...animated versions or ourselves.
Russel: You don’t get it, D, do you?
Noodle: Whatever we’d do would in that area, we’d have to oversee.
How much additional time does the animation take preparation-wise for a new release? Essentially nailing two mediums at once the timing must be interesting.
Noodle: When Jamie Hewlett and Pete Candeland shoot our videos, the time from initial shots to the finished product is normally around three months. So much of the detail has to be hand drawn, plus there’s the CG elements, then the after-effects, the lighting then the rendering. Each of our videos is like making...well, a mini-movie.
Murdoc: Well, for the Feel Good Inc. vid., I just turned up a little fuzzy, took my top off, danced around with my bass looking great and then left. It only took me two hours. But obviously being a pro, I work faster than people like Jamie
and Passion Pictures.
Noodle: Passion Pictures are the people that put together our videos with Jamie and Pete. And Murdoc doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Who would Gorillaz like to work with (either collaboration or tour with)?
Murdoc: I think it would be great to team up with Lemmy from Motorhead.
Russel: I don’t know, er...someone like Steve Reich would be interesting. He was experimenting with piano and rhythm loops for a long time before samplers were even invented. Maybe Jim Thirwell, Alec Empire or the Aphex Twin, if you’re looking for something fierce and noisy. I like Fourtet’s work. And maybe someone with a cinematic quality like John Barry or Ennio Morricone would be a cool collaboration. We look to those people for influence a lot anyway, so it would be great to do a remix or something with someone who didn’t really use re-mixing as their main tool, you know, that way you run the risk of ending up with something truly original.
Have you created substantially more for animated content for ‘Demon Days’?
Noodle: There have been more acceptance speeches. And also, the quality of the animation in our videos has certainly increased since the last album, because of the advances in technology. And sometimes our imaginations can run away with us...
You guys into or inspired by anime? If so, what are you fans of? What about games?
Noodle: Spirited Away by the Japanese animation studio Studio Ghibli, is one of my favorites. You can see an influence of their work in the Feel Good Inc. video. Also, I’ve been a big fan of the film Akira. Games-wise, I think it’s Halo and Resident Evil that really do it for me.
Russel: Our base Kong Studios became infested with zombies during our absence, so when Noodle returned from Japan, all her computer game practice really paid off in terms of clearing the corridors of the...walking undead.
Noodle: It took about six months to empty it of all the carcasses. For a while it was a real life version of Resident Evil.
With ‘Demon Days’ a definitive sound has emerged the like that we seldom hear these days. The new material with Danger Mouse, and MF Doom (as much as we loved the debut) seems more nuanced and is incredibly diverse. What’s your process like? Do you guys spend a lot of time together experimenting?
Noodle: All music is an experiment; there is no definite repeatable formula that guarantees a good outcome. But the usual process begins with me sketching out tunes, melodies and ideas using just a guitar and a four-track machine. We then go into the studio and having put the rough idea into Pro-Tools, we begin adding a rhythm or maybe some other instruments...bass lines...keyboard lines. From there it’s a process of recording, editing, re-recording, scrapping ideas, bringing in other musicians, etc. And then one day you wake up and your song is...fully grown.
Russel: Dangermouse and Noodle worked very well together in terms of being able to bounce ideas between the two of them. One will suggest a pattern or texture and the other will instinctively anticipate whether that sound is going to be...relevant to that song. And also whether that song is going to relevant to that album.
Murdoc: Well...I think it’s my bass-lines that really make the album work.
Have you ever considered Holographic concerts for the future? Seems like a no-brainer.
Murdoc: A no-brainer!? Bring it on! All that thinking makes my head hurt.
Noodle: We do have a world tour planned. It’s going to be really, really exciting. It’s taking time to put together as the technology is quite groundbreaking but as soon as we have the details, we’ll let you know.
Murdoc: But you can be guaranteed it’s gonna knock your socks off. There’s going to be full-on rock, fantastic visuals, me on bass, and a whole jaw-dropping spectacular stage show. Un-missable.
2D: You sound like PT Barnum.
The Beach Boys meets Gorillaz ‘Don’t Get Lost in Heaven’ running into ‘Demon Days’ is practically euphoric. It’s like a ray of sunshine at disc’s end and pretty much a departure from the rest of your music. Is there anything to it, or is it just that: a little ray of sunshine?
Noodle: That “little ray of sunshine” goes a long way. Without that, the rest of the record makes no sense. It balances the whole album, and it’s also the album’s payoff. The rest of the record is a description of the darkness, and of the volatile times that surround us. The track ‘Demon Days’ is the...antidote. Without it the rest of the album collapses into hopeless misery. That track leaves you looking optimistically to the future, which can only be a good thing.