Gorillaz Interview
Official PlayStation 2 Magazine, March 2001
What are the advantages in the pop world of being cartoons?
Russel: We live in an animated alter-world where Augustus Pablo can walk into Electric Lady Studios, pick up a Gibson, and play a fuzz lead over a Cachao bassline while Dr. Dre plays the tin flute to Rag Time beatz.
Are you a walking statement - like "pop's all a cartoon anyway" - or is it simpler than that?
Murdoc: I’m not answerable for the conclusions you may draw about popular culture, I just make it.
2D: You’re always so confrontational Murdoc, it’s not a competition you know.
Murdoc: Oh, but it is, my simple friend!
Why the name? And why the spelling mistake?
Russel: If the shit fits, wear it. And I’m a big fella, so you had better believe me when I say that.
All your imagery seems dark and violent but the music's actually quite positive - deliberate contradiction?
Russel: It’s more complicated than any mere dualism, and I’m not sure that I actually agree. Have you checked our website? Sure, we do dark imagery, but we also do some damn funny shit and likewise, there’s some twisted sound on our album too.
What's so rock'n'roll about Stoke/Crawley/NY State/Osaka?
Murdoc: It’s not where you're from, it’s where you're at. But I must add that Slash and Lemmy also hail from my fair hometown of Stoke, and I dare you to get more Rock ‘n’ Roll than that.
Where do you fit in with the current pop scene where Westlife clones rule and Eminem duets with Elton?
Murdoc: We are about to kick open a new ring piece for the tired old endgame of contemporary culture that is comprised of the turgid leftovers from the last centuries' impotent pretenders to our crown.
...And where do you fit in with the alternative scene which is full of rhetoric, but little action?
Murdoc: Not interested, who gives a bugger about faceless gits who position themselves as some sort of heroic outsides, yet jump when their zombified marketing managers and pluggers pool their shared brain cell and decide that their next video should resemble the last atomic kitten fiasco.
Who are your UK music heroes? The sound's very punk/funk and two-tone...
Murdoc: The Clash for starters, Sandanista bloody rules and The Specials are just that; special.
Russel: Phi Life and Cypher are really cool, I love the rap they did for us on their mix of Clint Eastwood, and Mark B and Blade are tough. English Hip-Hop isn’t given the credit it’s due man, those guys and others too numerous to mention are solid, they don’t get the backing they deserve but they’ve been into it since time. Now that Hip-Hop from my homeland is the dominant global art form, I hope that they can get some much-needed record company support.
2D: I love the whole West Country music scene, Massive Attack are consistent and for real, and Smith and Mighty are just smashing.
Where does the zombie obsession come from?
2D: I saw Zombies Dawn of the Dead when I was eleven, and it well shit me up. I’m from creepy Crawley, and the film just seemed too much like a busy Saturday afternoon in town for me to handle.
That means you must have played the Resident Evil games...?
2D: I’m totally gutted! Noodle and I have been playing Code Veronica for months and we’ve got to the bit in Antarctica where you need the fire extinguisher to get the magnum, and I bloody left it in the box next to the metal detection devise, all the way back at the beginning of the game on the island. I can’t face going all the way back to get it, so that’s that buggered.
Being cultural sponges, you must have bought/blagged/stolen a PlayStation 2?
Murdoc: Funny you should mention that, because the only reason I’m doing this is for the free console. So cough up or no more answers, and I’m not bloody joking!
What games are you playing?
Murdoc: Conkers and Hide the Sausage.
2D: Is that like Burger Time on the Spectrum?
And what games generally fit into the Gorillaz psyche?
2D: Everything is just filler in between installments of Resident Evil. We have Soul Blade tournaments, I like Li Long, Murdoc plays that weirdo Voldo character, Russel likes Rock, but Noodle is always Taki the Demon Hunter and kicks our arses every time.
So, when's the Gorillaz video game coming out?
2D: We’ve done some stuff for a PlayStation game that I’m not sure if I’m allowed to talk about it. Although you are PlayStation 2 magazine, so why don’t you know about it?
Murdoc: More like you don’t know what you’re on about, numb nuts!
What would the Gorillaz video game be like?
2D: We’ve got a wicked Flash game based on our video for Clint Eastwood. Noodle stars in it and it’s a classic platform-style thing with a Kung Fu flavoured twist. I suppose our internet site is like one massive game really too.
Noodle
What are your favourite Japanese gadgets and toys?
Russel: I’ll answer that, my little sister here is only ten and her English is not too sharp, but I think I can safely say that her MP3 hat and her remote-control Gorilla are pretty high on the list.
2D: I like the mobile phone camera that she’s got.
Murdoc
You're a bit of a sinister Svengali - do you have a hidden agenda? Are you more Malcolm Maclaren or Gary Barlow?
Murdoc: I’m always getting asked about Blobby Williams, and now you're going on about Gary “sad lonely man” Barlow. Do I look like I give a be-shitted pig's arse piece?
Russel
What's it like having Del tha Funkee Homosapien living as a demon in your head?
Russel: Del is the phantom spirit of my brutally slaughtered high school pal, and I’m just glad that he’s with me in a tangible form and that his rhymes are so damn hard.
2D
Do you ever feel manipulated by Murdoc? Was it really the car crash that damaged your brain or was it over-exposure to cheap horror flicks and video games?
2D: Is there a difference?
Murdoc: I think gentlemen, you might be aiming a bit high with your line of questioning.
2D: Yeah. Thanks Murdoc, sometimes you just can’t help but be nice to me, can you?
Murdoc: Hmmmmmm!
Being urban, er, guerillaz, what do you think of pretty boys Blur?
Noodle: Graham Coxan-san!
Murdoc: We have a great relationship with Damon, but I’m not so sure that he’s all that pretty anymore.
Who's better: Dr Octagon, Handsome Boy Modelling School, or Deltron 3030?
Murdoc: Ozzy Osbourne and Dr. Octopus are far better, and I’m not interested in handsome boys thank you very much.
Russel: Man, don’t dis’ my homes!
Murdoc: Oh, you love it you big gruff sod you! Hail Satan! Right Russ?
Are Gorillaz the new UNKLE? Or even the new Senseless Things? Oh, and are you going to be around for five albums or do you bow out in a blaze of glory?
Noodle: “Gunned in a blaze of glory!” Richie Sambora-san!
Russel: She can’t help loving the old wrinkly sod, she’s only a little girl, so we let her off!
Russel: We live in an animated alter-world where Augustus Pablo can walk into Electric Lady Studios, pick up a Gibson, and play a fuzz lead over a Cachao bassline while Dr. Dre plays the tin flute to Rag Time beatz.
Are you a walking statement - like "pop's all a cartoon anyway" - or is it simpler than that?
Murdoc: I’m not answerable for the conclusions you may draw about popular culture, I just make it.
2D: You’re always so confrontational Murdoc, it’s not a competition you know.
Murdoc: Oh, but it is, my simple friend!
Why the name? And why the spelling mistake?
Russel: If the shit fits, wear it. And I’m a big fella, so you had better believe me when I say that.
All your imagery seems dark and violent but the music's actually quite positive - deliberate contradiction?
Russel: It’s more complicated than any mere dualism, and I’m not sure that I actually agree. Have you checked our website? Sure, we do dark imagery, but we also do some damn funny shit and likewise, there’s some twisted sound on our album too.
What's so rock'n'roll about Stoke/Crawley/NY State/Osaka?
Murdoc: It’s not where you're from, it’s where you're at. But I must add that Slash and Lemmy also hail from my fair hometown of Stoke, and I dare you to get more Rock ‘n’ Roll than that.
Where do you fit in with the current pop scene where Westlife clones rule and Eminem duets with Elton?
Murdoc: We are about to kick open a new ring piece for the tired old endgame of contemporary culture that is comprised of the turgid leftovers from the last centuries' impotent pretenders to our crown.
...And where do you fit in with the alternative scene which is full of rhetoric, but little action?
Murdoc: Not interested, who gives a bugger about faceless gits who position themselves as some sort of heroic outsides, yet jump when their zombified marketing managers and pluggers pool their shared brain cell and decide that their next video should resemble the last atomic kitten fiasco.
Who are your UK music heroes? The sound's very punk/funk and two-tone...
Murdoc: The Clash for starters, Sandanista bloody rules and The Specials are just that; special.
Russel: Phi Life and Cypher are really cool, I love the rap they did for us on their mix of Clint Eastwood, and Mark B and Blade are tough. English Hip-Hop isn’t given the credit it’s due man, those guys and others too numerous to mention are solid, they don’t get the backing they deserve but they’ve been into it since time. Now that Hip-Hop from my homeland is the dominant global art form, I hope that they can get some much-needed record company support.
2D: I love the whole West Country music scene, Massive Attack are consistent and for real, and Smith and Mighty are just smashing.
Where does the zombie obsession come from?
2D: I saw Zombies Dawn of the Dead when I was eleven, and it well shit me up. I’m from creepy Crawley, and the film just seemed too much like a busy Saturday afternoon in town for me to handle.
That means you must have played the Resident Evil games...?
2D: I’m totally gutted! Noodle and I have been playing Code Veronica for months and we’ve got to the bit in Antarctica where you need the fire extinguisher to get the magnum, and I bloody left it in the box next to the metal detection devise, all the way back at the beginning of the game on the island. I can’t face going all the way back to get it, so that’s that buggered.
Being cultural sponges, you must have bought/blagged/stolen a PlayStation 2?
Murdoc: Funny you should mention that, because the only reason I’m doing this is for the free console. So cough up or no more answers, and I’m not bloody joking!
What games are you playing?
Murdoc: Conkers and Hide the Sausage.
2D: Is that like Burger Time on the Spectrum?
And what games generally fit into the Gorillaz psyche?
2D: Everything is just filler in between installments of Resident Evil. We have Soul Blade tournaments, I like Li Long, Murdoc plays that weirdo Voldo character, Russel likes Rock, but Noodle is always Taki the Demon Hunter and kicks our arses every time.
So, when's the Gorillaz video game coming out?
2D: We’ve done some stuff for a PlayStation game that I’m not sure if I’m allowed to talk about it. Although you are PlayStation 2 magazine, so why don’t you know about it?
Murdoc: More like you don’t know what you’re on about, numb nuts!
What would the Gorillaz video game be like?
2D: We’ve got a wicked Flash game based on our video for Clint Eastwood. Noodle stars in it and it’s a classic platform-style thing with a Kung Fu flavoured twist. I suppose our internet site is like one massive game really too.
Noodle
What are your favourite Japanese gadgets and toys?
Russel: I’ll answer that, my little sister here is only ten and her English is not too sharp, but I think I can safely say that her MP3 hat and her remote-control Gorilla are pretty high on the list.
2D: I like the mobile phone camera that she’s got.
Murdoc
You're a bit of a sinister Svengali - do you have a hidden agenda? Are you more Malcolm Maclaren or Gary Barlow?
Murdoc: I’m always getting asked about Blobby Williams, and now you're going on about Gary “sad lonely man” Barlow. Do I look like I give a be-shitted pig's arse piece?
Russel
What's it like having Del tha Funkee Homosapien living as a demon in your head?
Russel: Del is the phantom spirit of my brutally slaughtered high school pal, and I’m just glad that he’s with me in a tangible form and that his rhymes are so damn hard.
2D
Do you ever feel manipulated by Murdoc? Was it really the car crash that damaged your brain or was it over-exposure to cheap horror flicks and video games?
2D: Is there a difference?
Murdoc: I think gentlemen, you might be aiming a bit high with your line of questioning.
2D: Yeah. Thanks Murdoc, sometimes you just can’t help but be nice to me, can you?
Murdoc: Hmmmmmm!
Being urban, er, guerillaz, what do you think of pretty boys Blur?
Noodle: Graham Coxan-san!
Murdoc: We have a great relationship with Damon, but I’m not so sure that he’s all that pretty anymore.
Who's better: Dr Octagon, Handsome Boy Modelling School, or Deltron 3030?
Murdoc: Ozzy Osbourne and Dr. Octopus are far better, and I’m not interested in handsome boys thank you very much.
Russel: Man, don’t dis’ my homes!
Murdoc: Oh, you love it you big gruff sod you! Hail Satan! Right Russ?
Are Gorillaz the new UNKLE? Or even the new Senseless Things? Oh, and are you going to be around for five albums or do you bow out in a blaze of glory?
Noodle: “Gunned in a blaze of glory!” Richie Sambora-san!
Russel: She can’t help loving the old wrinkly sod, she’s only a little girl, so we let her off!