Murdoc
The Official Gorillaz Fansite, April 2005
This week, we've had a nice sit down with Murdoc...
Murdoc, how are you?
Murdoc: Urhh....A little groggy. Bit of a furry tongue. I went to the big screening for our new video last night. It's the one for the single 'Feel Good Inc.' The De La Soul lot were there and some joker bought a couple of bottles of Absyinthe. Last thing I can remember is pissing about in the helicopters that we used on the shoot. Me and Posdenous from Dela ended up in bloody Tahita. Woke up on a beach, the copter just in pieces, smashed up on the shore. Still, I'm back now. And I managed to pick up a load of duty free gear too.
You've just been to the album listening party in Texas, how was that?
Murdoc: Sorry, mate. I never went. Dangermouse, who produced the album, went over there with Damon Albarn on our behalf apparently. Someone had to make sure that the album reached the venue in safe hands. It's a bugger tryna keep this stuff away from the Internet. 2D had some demos uploaded onto Crapster the other day. But it was fine. No-one downloaded them. So yeah, Damon and Dangermouse went over to er... 'South by Southwest' in Texas to talk about 'their' input on 'our' album. Damon and Dangermouse? That's a stand-up double act if I ever heard one.
We've just got a few questions from some fans here that we're going to get stuck in to... first up from Toasty who wants to know, "how are you preparing for the album release?"
Murdoc: Er... I've had a new toilet put in my Winnebago. And I've put a couple of new rugs in the lounge. I dunno. What kind of answer are you looking for? I'm not doing any sit-ups if that's what you're on about. We've just started to pick the album apart again, so that we can learn how to play it live. Dunno if we're gonna play any live gigs but we've got some tedious radio show to play. So we thought we'd make it special. By... er... sounding superb. Novel, eh? Actually it's great to be back in the saddle again. Jail can do funny things to a man's mind... Couped up all day... with a couple of Mexican geezers....
Resa has emailed in to say, "Murdoc, I am loving your new boots but the cape is a little iffy. What made you decide to adopt the Barnabas Collins look?"
Murdoc: Barnabas Collins? Who's that? a mate of yours? This look I'm rocking is pure Dr. Strange! Tight jeans, some gnarly looking boots, razor-sharp hair and a designer cape with an expensive lining. It's killer! Kinda 'Victorian Opium-eater' meets 'East End thug' with a little Marvin the Magician thrown in. Now that's a look! Better than walking around all day in a pair of shitty trainers with your trousers down your ankles, looking like you've just soiled yourself. Baseball caps, man. What is that about? Chevy Chase? Kids today just seem to dress like... well... kids! In fact most adults seem to dress like kids too.
Adrianna Gober asks, "who are some of your favourite bassists of all time?"
Murdoc: Bass players... hmm... Jean Jacques Burnel from the Stranglers, Paul from the Clash... Entwistle from the Who... a bunch of the dub guys. Most of the bass I like nowadays is programmed by producers anyway. It's not really something I'm into y'know, sitting around rattling off lists of musicians. Hey! Better than that. Can you name your Top Ten bars and clubs around the world. Send 'em in and I'll visit every one of them.
Alistair Craig has popped up with a hypothetical question of course... "if you received a License to Kill in the mail, who would you murder first and why?"
Murdoc: Well, funny thing about... er... murder, is that you don't really need a licence to do it. If you're really in the mood to bump someone off, then usually you're not the type to wait around for written permission, know what I mean? That said. Who would I kill? Hmmm. I'm not into people doing shit cover versions of songs I like. That gets to me. And... er... people who write articles on fake health conditions so they can sell you a bunch of pills to 'cure' it. That's pretty sick. And... er... People who use charity situations as some kind of profiteering racket. Y'know after that Tsunami wave a bunch of people were found using it to skim money off donations and stuff. That's kind of disgraceful. On a day-to-day basis though, it's usually just people who get in my way when I'm marching down the street. So take your pick who you think I'd kill. I'm not really that bothered.
Finally, we've got a question from Evan who wants to know how you managed to get Dennis Hopper to appear on the album...
Murdoc: Noodle met him at some award show where he was presenting a gong to some band for some spurious reason. He already had a bunch of Gorillaz tunes on his iPod that he listens to when he's out 'biking.' So we just went up and said. 'Listen Den. We've got this track that needs some heavyweight icon to give the tale the gravity it needs to get people to really listen to it. The job's yours if you want it. If not we're giving J.R. Ewing a call. Let us know before we set the dogs loose.' He took the position. We paid him in petrol and that was that. He just came up to Kong, laid it down in like one take, then kinda roared off... to New Orleans. Something about a Mardi Gras.
I'm afraid that's all we've got time for this time. Thanks Murdoc, see you soon!
Murdoc, how are you?
Murdoc: Urhh....A little groggy. Bit of a furry tongue. I went to the big screening for our new video last night. It's the one for the single 'Feel Good Inc.' The De La Soul lot were there and some joker bought a couple of bottles of Absyinthe. Last thing I can remember is pissing about in the helicopters that we used on the shoot. Me and Posdenous from Dela ended up in bloody Tahita. Woke up on a beach, the copter just in pieces, smashed up on the shore. Still, I'm back now. And I managed to pick up a load of duty free gear too.
You've just been to the album listening party in Texas, how was that?
Murdoc: Sorry, mate. I never went. Dangermouse, who produced the album, went over there with Damon Albarn on our behalf apparently. Someone had to make sure that the album reached the venue in safe hands. It's a bugger tryna keep this stuff away from the Internet. 2D had some demos uploaded onto Crapster the other day. But it was fine. No-one downloaded them. So yeah, Damon and Dangermouse went over to er... 'South by Southwest' in Texas to talk about 'their' input on 'our' album. Damon and Dangermouse? That's a stand-up double act if I ever heard one.
We've just got a few questions from some fans here that we're going to get stuck in to... first up from Toasty who wants to know, "how are you preparing for the album release?"
Murdoc: Er... I've had a new toilet put in my Winnebago. And I've put a couple of new rugs in the lounge. I dunno. What kind of answer are you looking for? I'm not doing any sit-ups if that's what you're on about. We've just started to pick the album apart again, so that we can learn how to play it live. Dunno if we're gonna play any live gigs but we've got some tedious radio show to play. So we thought we'd make it special. By... er... sounding superb. Novel, eh? Actually it's great to be back in the saddle again. Jail can do funny things to a man's mind... Couped up all day... with a couple of Mexican geezers....
Resa has emailed in to say, "Murdoc, I am loving your new boots but the cape is a little iffy. What made you decide to adopt the Barnabas Collins look?"
Murdoc: Barnabas Collins? Who's that? a mate of yours? This look I'm rocking is pure Dr. Strange! Tight jeans, some gnarly looking boots, razor-sharp hair and a designer cape with an expensive lining. It's killer! Kinda 'Victorian Opium-eater' meets 'East End thug' with a little Marvin the Magician thrown in. Now that's a look! Better than walking around all day in a pair of shitty trainers with your trousers down your ankles, looking like you've just soiled yourself. Baseball caps, man. What is that about? Chevy Chase? Kids today just seem to dress like... well... kids! In fact most adults seem to dress like kids too.
Adrianna Gober asks, "who are some of your favourite bassists of all time?"
Murdoc: Bass players... hmm... Jean Jacques Burnel from the Stranglers, Paul from the Clash... Entwistle from the Who... a bunch of the dub guys. Most of the bass I like nowadays is programmed by producers anyway. It's not really something I'm into y'know, sitting around rattling off lists of musicians. Hey! Better than that. Can you name your Top Ten bars and clubs around the world. Send 'em in and I'll visit every one of them.
Alistair Craig has popped up with a hypothetical question of course... "if you received a License to Kill in the mail, who would you murder first and why?"
Murdoc: Well, funny thing about... er... murder, is that you don't really need a licence to do it. If you're really in the mood to bump someone off, then usually you're not the type to wait around for written permission, know what I mean? That said. Who would I kill? Hmmm. I'm not into people doing shit cover versions of songs I like. That gets to me. And... er... people who write articles on fake health conditions so they can sell you a bunch of pills to 'cure' it. That's pretty sick. And... er... People who use charity situations as some kind of profiteering racket. Y'know after that Tsunami wave a bunch of people were found using it to skim money off donations and stuff. That's kind of disgraceful. On a day-to-day basis though, it's usually just people who get in my way when I'm marching down the street. So take your pick who you think I'd kill. I'm not really that bothered.
Finally, we've got a question from Evan who wants to know how you managed to get Dennis Hopper to appear on the album...
Murdoc: Noodle met him at some award show where he was presenting a gong to some band for some spurious reason. He already had a bunch of Gorillaz tunes on his iPod that he listens to when he's out 'biking.' So we just went up and said. 'Listen Den. We've got this track that needs some heavyweight icon to give the tale the gravity it needs to get people to really listen to it. The job's yours if you want it. If not we're giving J.R. Ewing a call. Let us know before we set the dogs loose.' He took the position. We paid him in petrol and that was that. He just came up to Kong, laid it down in like one take, then kinda roared off... to New Orleans. Something about a Mardi Gras.
I'm afraid that's all we've got time for this time. Thanks Murdoc, see you soon!