Unfinished monkey business
NME, February 2010
Gorillaz are back, except this time Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s cartoon creations are marooned on a mysterious island called ‘Plastic Beach’. Frontman Murdoc sent us this message from across the waves...
Hi Murdoc, who have you been hanging out with lately? We notice you’ve been off ‘the circuit’, are you banned from Chinawhite or something?
Murdoc: “Chinawhite is just a morgue with a late licence. Anyway, I’ve been all over the shop, right around the globe. But in disguise. I had to be because I was, and still am, being tailed. If I stay still long enough for them to draw a cross-hair on my bonce, they’re guaranteed to blow my brains out.”
OK, we understand you’ve been working on a record, when did that start for you?
“This one? When I was born, sonny. I’ve been building up to this one all my life. Well, in fact that’s not true. Having scoured the pages of history, it would seem that me, my bloodline, ancestral DNA or whatever, have all been colluding, evolving towards the creation of this record since the beginning of time. But, y’know, really I started putting down tracks properly in about June 2008.”
What sort of songs have you been recording?
“GREAT BIG SHINY ONES! And I’ll be parading them up and down the charts imminently. Some were hand-carved, some were blown out of glass. Some of them I had modelled out of pink squeaky plastic. Then I commandeered some proper old-school legends and fresh young bucks to sprinkle some extra glitter-dust on them. And, as if by magic, they got up and started walking round the studio, all animated-like...”
Did you get much pressure from the powers-that-be to keep the Gorillaz hit factory going?
“I am the powers-that-be. But if you’re hinting at EMI, yeah, they flew over to Plastic Beach to check what I’d been up to. I just pulled some cakes out of the oven and showed them. ‘That’s what I’ve been up to. Baking...’ Wasn’t true, but I didn’t want to play them anything until it was finished. So I just dished them up some Battenberg.”
It’s been a while since the last Gorillaz album, what kept you?
“Underworld jaunts. Gun-running antics, a particularly addictive website... y’know... various shifty, shady deals. And, of course, a physical repulsion to the other members of the band. The usual stuff. Anyway, I started by putting this new album together without the deadweight of the other three goons. But then I got 2D back in, because even though he’s a nerd, his vocals are one of the defining factors of the band.”
You had some very famous guests on the last album, such as Shaun Ryder and De La Soul. Have you managed to leech off any similar talents this time?
“Mmmm... yeah. But ‘leeching’ is the wrong word now, isn’t it? It not like I’ve drawn blood or anything. No, I think the word ‘coerced’ sings the deal a little better. Although, yes, the coercion did come via chloroform and Rohypnol. So who’s on the rack this time? Um... Mos Def, Bobby Womack, Una Stubbs, Bashy and Kano, Little Dragon, Mark E Smith, some exotic orchestras, bazooka players, angel trumpets and devil trombones.”
It is understood the album will be called ‘Plastic Beach’. Is this somewhere you’ve been?
“Am. It’s somewhere I am. In the middle of nowhere, Point Nemo. The ‘No Man’s Land’. A big grimy lump of plastic floating in the sea, made up of all the swirling ocean landfill that’s been dumped since man first lobbed a crisp packet into the sea. I painted it pink and then installed a studio. You should see the place now... grand designs indeed. I wake up every morning to the sound of plastic waves lapping against synthetic shores, and the sound of oily seagulls squawking in my ears. It’s very... isolated here. In fact, I’ve just managed to get some new pieces of equipment shipped over; the beginnings of a massive radio transmitter... mmm... I mean, if you’re going to be stuck in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by rum, you may as well have a pirate radio station, don’t you think? My cutlass is drawn and the gangplank is lowered, so I’ll be stealing someone’s airwaves any day now Haa haaa! Maybe even yours!”
You have a single called ‘Stylo’ slated to be hitting the airwaves next week, what can we expect?
“Oooh... a big sigh of relief. And a warm, tingly feeling inside as you realise you haven’t actually been listening to ‘music’ for a long while, since... well, since we released our last long-player. All that other crap that’s out there is just landfill. Sonic landfill, in skinny jeans and stupid sunglasses.”
That Damon Albarn bloke was suggesting in a highbrow interview recently that he thinks the next Gorillaz album would take on The X Factor by bringing depth back to pop music.
“It’s not taking on The X Factor. That would be pointless. But I guess rather than parading an endless gaggle of sadly deluded hopefuls across the screen, and then coining it in by humiliating them, we thought what we’d do is gather together a group of talented musicians and artists and create something new, original and entertaining. Then we’d market it in an inventive and enthralling way, instead of just dressing it up in a stripy blazer and straw boater and then mugging you off with this end-of-the-pier, chicken-in-a-basket garbage that should have been wiped out in the Blitz. If The X Factor was a cruise ship you’d hope it hit an iceberg and sank.
We recently had Simon Cowell on the cover of NME so we can pass a message on to him if you fancy auditioning...
“Why are you putting that ’80s throwback on your cover? Aren’t you supposed to be the good guys?”
NME voted The Strokes’ ‘Is This It’ the album of the last decade. What do you think will be the album of the next decade?
“I do think our opinions are probably going to differ. But I should be able to bash out a couple more records before 2020. So it’ll probably be one of those... as long as my time isn’t siphoned away with all this new life-draining technology. I just started one of those damn Twitter accounts. God that’s annoying. 140 characters? It’s just more of that moronic bleeping into the ether, isn’t it? Still, mine are quite entertaining. Anyhow, sunbeam, must go. I’ve got something short and mindless to post... LOL x”
Hi Murdoc, who have you been hanging out with lately? We notice you’ve been off ‘the circuit’, are you banned from Chinawhite or something?
Murdoc: “Chinawhite is just a morgue with a late licence. Anyway, I’ve been all over the shop, right around the globe. But in disguise. I had to be because I was, and still am, being tailed. If I stay still long enough for them to draw a cross-hair on my bonce, they’re guaranteed to blow my brains out.”
OK, we understand you’ve been working on a record, when did that start for you?
“This one? When I was born, sonny. I’ve been building up to this one all my life. Well, in fact that’s not true. Having scoured the pages of history, it would seem that me, my bloodline, ancestral DNA or whatever, have all been colluding, evolving towards the creation of this record since the beginning of time. But, y’know, really I started putting down tracks properly in about June 2008.”
What sort of songs have you been recording?
“GREAT BIG SHINY ONES! And I’ll be parading them up and down the charts imminently. Some were hand-carved, some were blown out of glass. Some of them I had modelled out of pink squeaky plastic. Then I commandeered some proper old-school legends and fresh young bucks to sprinkle some extra glitter-dust on them. And, as if by magic, they got up and started walking round the studio, all animated-like...”
Did you get much pressure from the powers-that-be to keep the Gorillaz hit factory going?
“I am the powers-that-be. But if you’re hinting at EMI, yeah, they flew over to Plastic Beach to check what I’d been up to. I just pulled some cakes out of the oven and showed them. ‘That’s what I’ve been up to. Baking...’ Wasn’t true, but I didn’t want to play them anything until it was finished. So I just dished them up some Battenberg.”
It’s been a while since the last Gorillaz album, what kept you?
“Underworld jaunts. Gun-running antics, a particularly addictive website... y’know... various shifty, shady deals. And, of course, a physical repulsion to the other members of the band. The usual stuff. Anyway, I started by putting this new album together without the deadweight of the other three goons. But then I got 2D back in, because even though he’s a nerd, his vocals are one of the defining factors of the band.”
You had some very famous guests on the last album, such as Shaun Ryder and De La Soul. Have you managed to leech off any similar talents this time?
“Mmmm... yeah. But ‘leeching’ is the wrong word now, isn’t it? It not like I’ve drawn blood or anything. No, I think the word ‘coerced’ sings the deal a little better. Although, yes, the coercion did come via chloroform and Rohypnol. So who’s on the rack this time? Um... Mos Def, Bobby Womack, Una Stubbs, Bashy and Kano, Little Dragon, Mark E Smith, some exotic orchestras, bazooka players, angel trumpets and devil trombones.”
It is understood the album will be called ‘Plastic Beach’. Is this somewhere you’ve been?
“Am. It’s somewhere I am. In the middle of nowhere, Point Nemo. The ‘No Man’s Land’. A big grimy lump of plastic floating in the sea, made up of all the swirling ocean landfill that’s been dumped since man first lobbed a crisp packet into the sea. I painted it pink and then installed a studio. You should see the place now... grand designs indeed. I wake up every morning to the sound of plastic waves lapping against synthetic shores, and the sound of oily seagulls squawking in my ears. It’s very... isolated here. In fact, I’ve just managed to get some new pieces of equipment shipped over; the beginnings of a massive radio transmitter... mmm... I mean, if you’re going to be stuck in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by rum, you may as well have a pirate radio station, don’t you think? My cutlass is drawn and the gangplank is lowered, so I’ll be stealing someone’s airwaves any day now Haa haaa! Maybe even yours!”
You have a single called ‘Stylo’ slated to be hitting the airwaves next week, what can we expect?
“Oooh... a big sigh of relief. And a warm, tingly feeling inside as you realise you haven’t actually been listening to ‘music’ for a long while, since... well, since we released our last long-player. All that other crap that’s out there is just landfill. Sonic landfill, in skinny jeans and stupid sunglasses.”
That Damon Albarn bloke was suggesting in a highbrow interview recently that he thinks the next Gorillaz album would take on The X Factor by bringing depth back to pop music.
“It’s not taking on The X Factor. That would be pointless. But I guess rather than parading an endless gaggle of sadly deluded hopefuls across the screen, and then coining it in by humiliating them, we thought what we’d do is gather together a group of talented musicians and artists and create something new, original and entertaining. Then we’d market it in an inventive and enthralling way, instead of just dressing it up in a stripy blazer and straw boater and then mugging you off with this end-of-the-pier, chicken-in-a-basket garbage that should have been wiped out in the Blitz. If The X Factor was a cruise ship you’d hope it hit an iceberg and sank.
We recently had Simon Cowell on the cover of NME so we can pass a message on to him if you fancy auditioning...
“Why are you putting that ’80s throwback on your cover? Aren’t you supposed to be the good guys?”
NME voted The Strokes’ ‘Is This It’ the album of the last decade. What do you think will be the album of the next decade?
“I do think our opinions are probably going to differ. But I should be able to bash out a couple more records before 2020. So it’ll probably be one of those... as long as my time isn’t siphoned away with all this new life-draining technology. I just started one of those damn Twitter accounts. God that’s annoying. 140 characters? It’s just more of that moronic bleeping into the ether, isn’t it? Still, mine are quite entertaining. Anyhow, sunbeam, must go. I’ve got something short and mindless to post... LOL x”