Find an event
Gorillaz in our midst
Murdoc, Noodle, 2D and Russel are drawn together for a second U.S. tour.
WHAT Gorillaz get animated for their Chicago show
WHEN Oct 16
WHERE UIC Pavilion (1150 W Harrison St, 312-413-5700, ticketmaster.com)
Sadly, Gorillaz themselves were not available to tell us how their second American tour came about—chiefly because they’re fictional characters—so instead we interviewed the collective’s two master marionetteers, musical mastermind Damon Albarn (of ’90s band Blur) and aesthetic overlord Jamie Hewlett (creator of Tank Girl).
Hewlett talks us through the exclusive image he painted for Time Out . “It’s with all of the characters, finally reunited for the first time. We’ve got Murdoc, Noodle, 2D, Russel and the impostor Noodle. It’s like a family portrait of them….”
Like all of the Gorillaz videos, interviews, Web content and even ads, the image fits into the rapidly developing Gorillaz narrative. Although it’s a little too convoluted to explain here, it details how the Gorillaz lineup has been torn asunder by bad luck and ultraviolence, with guitarist Noodle having been replaced by a cyborg replicant and drummer Russel missing.
“I think with the third album, Plastic Beach, we felt it was necessary for a story to unfold out of Demon Days and what was happening with the characters,” Hewlett says. “Here, it’s like they’re taking a moment for a quick photo shoot with them all before they carry on fighting and trying to murder each other.”
Mayhem is something that comes naturally to Gorillaz, a band without a defined sound, stable lineup or aural agenda. Indeed, the band’s line-drawn alter egos were originally intended to free the humans behind the band from the normal dramas that dog a high-profile outfit, those outside influences that can cripple a functioning group, from tabloid gossip to the expectations of their fans.
“That was something we were very passionate about avoiding, because it is limiting and bands do get, historically, trapped in their own legends,” Albarn says. “It’s a relatively new idea—music carried by personality. There will always be enormous personalities, charismatic individuals in music. But we’re taking music back more toward the traditional idea of it being made for people.”
Freeing themselves from image and ego constraints means the band is free to assimilate whatever sounds, scenes and shop-floor staff it feels like getting their groove on with at any one time. When the group hits Chicago, Albarn will be backed by Mick Jones and Paul Simonon of the Clash, local drummer Gabriel Wallace of the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and a slew of guest MCs, Syrian classical musicians and soul legend Bobby Womack.
“I think that’s probably the secret formula to Gorillaz,” Hewlett says. “We can both do whatever the hell we want. It’s completely up to us how we portray these characters, or how Damon makes the album stuff, or how we do our live shows. If I was directing a video for a band and a record company asked me to submit a treatment, then I’d have to obviously appeal to other people’s personalities, and they all want input, and then it all starts to get watered down. The only person I have to show it to is Damon, and if he’s happy then we’re happy. We have complete freedom…. We can be whatever we want to be.”
Comments
There are no comments