GORILLAZ QUESTIONS
TOP OF THE POPS MAGAZINE, OCTOBER 2001
Been up to much monkey business recently? What?
Russel
(Sigh) What, like a banana in somebody's tailpipe?
Murdoc
Let's get this straight! There's no real Gorillas in the band, it's just a name. Do you ask Atomic-bleeding-Kitten about the Cats Protection League nuclear testing program?
2D
Yeah, and we let all of the funky gibbons out of the Babylon Zoo, too.
Murdoc
Can it, div head!
Can you still go out and buy a bottle of banana milk without being recognized?
2D
No, because I know Mr Bilowdi who runs the corner store really well. He even lets me come back and pay him later if I don't have enough cash on me. He's great, but he smells a bit funny.
Has fame made you more popular with the ladies? If so, which ones?
Murdoc
I've always been a legendary swordsman with or without the so-called newfound fame. But what do you mean which ones? Do you want specific age brackets or something?
What makes you think that you're in touch with today's youth?
2D
I never knew that we were sent a youth today. Why didn't I get to meet them?
What made you decide to form a band together?
Murdoc
Because Tesco's already had all the bass players they needed at the time.
Russel
I thought it would be a great way to meet my childhood heroes, Salt n' Pepa.
2D
I didn't know that Russ', what were they like?
Russel
I haven't met them.
Where do you come up with the ideas for your songs?
2D
I get most of my lyrics, funnily enough, from Mr Bilowdi the newsagent. He's a fiercely private man, as well as a very ugly and smelly one too, but he's a prolific and gifted musician. It's just that he'd rather I sing them, because he really is a stinky old goat, I'm not joking!
Murdoc
What planet are you from, numb nuts? I write all the songs on the kazi. Who is this Bilowdi bloke anyway?
What musical diet were you weaned on?
2D
We never played musical diets when I was a kid, is it anything like musical chairs or bumps? Oh, or statues? Phew, I nearly forgot that one!
Russel
I used to like Hanna Barbara's Banana Splits show, Fleagle the flea-bitten beagle was fly!
What sort of monkey business do you get up to when you're not making music?
Russel
(Sigh) What, like a banana in somebody's tailpipe?
Murdoc
Let's get this straight! There's no real Gorillas in the band, it's just a name. Do you ask Atomic-bleeding-Kitten about the Cats Protection League nuclear testing program?
2D
Yeah, and we let all of the funky gibbons out of the Babylon Zoo, too.
Murdoc
Can it, div head!
Noodle
I'm getting de ja vu?
Murdoc
No, you're thinking of Vuja Dave, the eighties pop songster from Visage!
When was the last time you really got into trouble?
Russel
We're always getting into trouble. We had to hang out with Soho low-lifes during our first video shoot. We got attacked by mutant, zombie apes in our second and aliens in our third! Don't even start with me about that giant moose, either!
Where's the strangest place any of you have left your tag?
Russel
The back of Brian Harvey's head.
2D
I never saw that.
Murdoc
Neither did he!
2D
Really?
Where do you hang out when you're not in the studio?
Russel
I've been steadily going through the entire history of Jazz section at the British Library.
Murdoc
You should go to that Bilowdi's place that 2D keeps banging on about. I bet he's got plenty of Jazz mags.
2D
Really?
Murdoc
Oh, yes. You should ask for Glenn Miller's Big Band Ones, that'll really get you "In the Mood."
2D's fascination with zombies – does that stem from a deep-seated childhood fear?
2D
You mean like being frightened of decaying corpses coming back to life as flesh-eating automatons, cursed to scour the earth in search of the warm meat of the living on which to gorge themselves? Never to know death's comforting embrace, never to become one with the void? No, that never bothered me as a child.
So, how can the kids spot a zombie?
Murdoc
They're easy to spot. They always wear tweed suits with leather patches on the elbows and Clarks "sensible" shoes. They also insist upon being called sir or miss.
2D
All the zombies I've ever seen wear a hat with "ZOMBIE" written on it.
What makes you go ape?
Russel
If people ask me about Gorillas in the Mist, if I've seen the new Planet of the Apes movie or want to know what I think about The Monkees. That, and having a banana in my tailpipe.
Who is your public enemy number one?
Russel
Chuck D and Flava Flav were always arguing about that one, when we all know that it was Terminator X.
Who is the Gorillaz king of cool?
Murdoc
Mr Bi-flipin-lowdi!
2D
Who?
Are the Gorillaz about to embark on an urban revolution or would they rather stay in bed?
Murdoc
What is an urban revolution? Ganging up on farmers?
Russel
I wouldn't mess with them, they've got Giant Haystacks!
Murdoc
How on earth do you, a twenty-three-year-old New Yorker who spent most of his teenage years bedridden, possessed by demons, know anything about the English 1970s wrestling phenomenon that was Giant Haystacks?
2D
Why not? I know about Arnold, the tiny boy from that TV show Different Strokes.
Murdoc
Yeah, but he was massive.
Russel
No, D's right, he was tiny!
Murdoc
Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up! Your constant inane drivel is destroying my soul, shut up!
Russel
(Sigh) What, like a banana in somebody's tailpipe?
Murdoc
Let's get this straight! There's no real Gorillas in the band, it's just a name. Do you ask Atomic-bleeding-Kitten about the Cats Protection League nuclear testing program?
2D
Yeah, and we let all of the funky gibbons out of the Babylon Zoo, too.
Murdoc
Can it, div head!
Can you still go out and buy a bottle of banana milk without being recognized?
2D
No, because I know Mr Bilowdi who runs the corner store really well. He even lets me come back and pay him later if I don't have enough cash on me. He's great, but he smells a bit funny.
Has fame made you more popular with the ladies? If so, which ones?
Murdoc
I've always been a legendary swordsman with or without the so-called newfound fame. But what do you mean which ones? Do you want specific age brackets or something?
What makes you think that you're in touch with today's youth?
2D
I never knew that we were sent a youth today. Why didn't I get to meet them?
What made you decide to form a band together?
Murdoc
Because Tesco's already had all the bass players they needed at the time.
Russel
I thought it would be a great way to meet my childhood heroes, Salt n' Pepa.
2D
I didn't know that Russ', what were they like?
Russel
I haven't met them.
Where do you come up with the ideas for your songs?
2D
I get most of my lyrics, funnily enough, from Mr Bilowdi the newsagent. He's a fiercely private man, as well as a very ugly and smelly one too, but he's a prolific and gifted musician. It's just that he'd rather I sing them, because he really is a stinky old goat, I'm not joking!
Murdoc
What planet are you from, numb nuts? I write all the songs on the kazi. Who is this Bilowdi bloke anyway?
What musical diet were you weaned on?
2D
We never played musical diets when I was a kid, is it anything like musical chairs or bumps? Oh, or statues? Phew, I nearly forgot that one!
Russel
I used to like Hanna Barbara's Banana Splits show, Fleagle the flea-bitten beagle was fly!
What sort of monkey business do you get up to when you're not making music?
Russel
(Sigh) What, like a banana in somebody's tailpipe?
Murdoc
Let's get this straight! There's no real Gorillas in the band, it's just a name. Do you ask Atomic-bleeding-Kitten about the Cats Protection League nuclear testing program?
2D
Yeah, and we let all of the funky gibbons out of the Babylon Zoo, too.
Murdoc
Can it, div head!
Noodle
I'm getting de ja vu?
Murdoc
No, you're thinking of Vuja Dave, the eighties pop songster from Visage!
When was the last time you really got into trouble?
Russel
We're always getting into trouble. We had to hang out with Soho low-lifes during our first video shoot. We got attacked by mutant, zombie apes in our second and aliens in our third! Don't even start with me about that giant moose, either!
Where's the strangest place any of you have left your tag?
Russel
The back of Brian Harvey's head.
2D
I never saw that.
Murdoc
Neither did he!
2D
Really?
Where do you hang out when you're not in the studio?
Russel
I've been steadily going through the entire history of Jazz section at the British Library.
Murdoc
You should go to that Bilowdi's place that 2D keeps banging on about. I bet he's got plenty of Jazz mags.
2D
Really?
Murdoc
Oh, yes. You should ask for Glenn Miller's Big Band Ones, that'll really get you "In the Mood."
2D's fascination with zombies – does that stem from a deep-seated childhood fear?
2D
You mean like being frightened of decaying corpses coming back to life as flesh-eating automatons, cursed to scour the earth in search of the warm meat of the living on which to gorge themselves? Never to know death's comforting embrace, never to become one with the void? No, that never bothered me as a child.
So, how can the kids spot a zombie?
Murdoc
They're easy to spot. They always wear tweed suits with leather patches on the elbows and Clarks "sensible" shoes. They also insist upon being called sir or miss.
2D
All the zombies I've ever seen wear a hat with "ZOMBIE" written on it.
What makes you go ape?
Russel
If people ask me about Gorillas in the Mist, if I've seen the new Planet of the Apes movie or want to know what I think about The Monkees. That, and having a banana in my tailpipe.
Who is your public enemy number one?
Russel
Chuck D and Flava Flav were always arguing about that one, when we all know that it was Terminator X.
Who is the Gorillaz king of cool?
Murdoc
Mr Bi-flipin-lowdi!
2D
Who?
Are the Gorillaz about to embark on an urban revolution or would they rather stay in bed?
Murdoc
What is an urban revolution? Ganging up on farmers?
Russel
I wouldn't mess with them, they've got Giant Haystacks!
Murdoc
How on earth do you, a twenty-three-year-old New Yorker who spent most of his teenage years bedridden, possessed by demons, know anything about the English 1970s wrestling phenomenon that was Giant Haystacks?
2D
Why not? I know about Arnold, the tiny boy from that TV show Different Strokes.
Murdoc
Yeah, but he was massive.
Russel
No, D's right, he was tiny!
Murdoc
Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up! Your constant inane drivel is destroying my soul, shut up!