Interviews

Gorillaz Interview

Interview from Figurescom

--You have your first line of action figures coming out this year. Will they have any special features, like kung-fu grips or rocket launchers?

Murdoc: I’ve been avoiding talking about this like the black-plague if I can be perfectly honest with you. I mean it’s hardly very rock n roll is it? You never heard Motley Crew banging on about their toys did you. I’ll come clean though I’ve got a few dolls y’know, the Kiss ones were alright, I even had a little wheelchair made for my little plastic Peter Criss so that he could make it to his kit easier. I’ve got this other doll that has loads of "Special Features," it can please me with it’s satisfying penetrating suction mouth of love, sensuous soft luscious lips, quivering velvet-touch tongue or inviting deep throat! It also has a special vibrating love grip pleasure hand.

--If your action figures and a bunch of "Star Wars" action figures got in a fight, who would win?

2D: It depends who owned them. If the person with the Star Wars figures had a sledgehammer, some petrol and matches or something then they’d win but I can tell you this much…

Murdoc: Aright Einstein we get the point!

Russel: My figure ain’t about fighting! Such toys teach children to accept a militarised world. They teach children that people who look or think differently should be defeated and that war and killing are acceptable ways of dealing with conflict. They create the impression that might is right, and in doing so, denigrate kindness, conciliation, co-operation, skill, and thoughtfulness toward others.

Murdoc: Too right you’re figure isn’t about fighting! You’re a big man but you’re out of shape! You feeling a bit right on today Russ? I don’t envy the interviewers job, there’s nothing worse than Russel with a political correctness beef in his bonnet. Makes for a good laugh from my point of view though, nothing funnier than an over educated Hip Hopper laying down the law.

--Do you collect toys or any sort of memorabilia?

2D: I bought the complete set of the Seven Samurai action figures when we played in New York. I’ve also got a jar full of my old toenails, it really stinks.

--If human entertainers are eventually replaced by cartoons, what do you foresee replacing cartoons? Monkeys?

2D: What do monkeys have to do with anything?

Murdoc: Oh I dunno, about as much as toe nails at a guess.

--Will the world eventually be taken over by monkeys, like in "Planet of the Apes"? If so, is that a good or bad thing? Discuss.

Russel: I’m afraid you’re missing the point! It’s already happened, after the extinction of dinosaurs the planet was indeed taken over by apes, us. LA PLANÈTE DES SINGES has more in common with the social commentary of Jonathan Swift and the scientific pessimism of H. G. Wells than any of the other science fiction published in the early ‘60s. Boulle's themes deal with the human pretension of believing that we are at the centre of the universe and with the nature of intelligence. The apes in the book are simply humans in disguise, with human foibles and fears. It's also an amazingly chilling satire — at the same time as you're laughing at the apes' pompous statements that they are the only creatures with souls, you realise that we've heard these statements before from our own theologians and philosophers.

Murdoc: Told you. Go on Russ’ lets see who else you can bore!

--Supposedly if you put 100 monkeys at 100 typewriters for 100 years, one of them will type a Shakespeare play. Do you blame the current state of popular music on monkeys secretly being employed to write songs? Or are the problems associated with "Nu metal" and teen pop actually due to "Lack Of Monkeys"?

Russel: It’s an infinite amount of monkeys at an infinite amount of typewriters and the play they’d come up with is Hamlet. Like Douglas Adams wrote in his book The HitchHikers Guide to the Galaxy "There's an infinite number of monkeys outside who want to talk to us about this script for Hamlet they've worked out." This joke is no more ridiculous than the initial concept itself as the universe is not infinite, but what this underlines is that Shakespeare’s work could not come into creation without the intervention of the artists intelligence. This has lead some people to come to the conclusion that as Shakespeare's birth within a finite universe is just as unlikely and random a possibility then this itself is proof for a creative intelligence behind the universe. As to your second point I blame the current state of world affairs on the monkeys that we have put in charge, in contrast with this madness "Nu Metal" and pop pale in comparison.

Murdoc: I’d give up with the funnies if I were you nobodies listening to either of you.

2D: Yeah and the monkeys, I really don’t know what anyone’s going on about now.

--Will The Gorillaz ever pursue solo careers? If so, what would each of you like to do outside of the band?

Murdoc: I of course am the only person in the band who stands a fart’s chance in hell of making it on the outside. Be it in metal, rock or new jack swing, the world is my instrument waiting for me to be ready to play. I’m not blowing my own trumpet, as there’s an orderly queue waiting to do that for me.

--Are you folks going to do a movie? And if you had to cast humans to portray you, who would each of you choose?

Murdoc: Yep, we’ve started work on a script. It’s got the working title of "The Celebrity Harvest." There’s no one out there who could play me unless of course we did it like our live show with the actors behind the screen. Then I guess Gene Hackman would fit the bill or Pacino.

--Will you ever release Gorillaz comic books? Please?

Murdoc: When it’s time to flog us like a dead horse who knows what level of dross we’ll authorise until then we’ll keep on with the records, oh and the movie…not forgetting the toys of course.

--When will you be back on tour in America?

Russel: We don’t have any plans to at the moment but as soon as we do we won’t be keeping it secret. We’re thinking about playing Russia next.

--I really enjoyed your concert here in Seattle. Got any fond memories of Seattle?

Russel: I think it was in Seattle that an interviewer remarked to me that neither Napoleon nor Kraftwerk ever pretended to be monkeys, what is it with you guys and simians?

Murdoc: He’s off again, who rattled your cage Kong boy?

--Finally, is there any credo or manifesto which guides the band?

2D: I’ve got the first edition Gredo figure, that’s the sort of thing you’re interested in isn’t it? Oh and Monkeys, I nearly forgot. Well I’ve got a one of Mike Nesmith’s original green woolly hats too. Cool or what!?

Gorillaz Webchat

Webchat from BBC Radio 1

Hira: Do you think the Brits are a load of crap?
2D: I don't know what you mean - I'm British.
Russel: What is it with you Brits? You're always talking about your asses. If you're not talking about them, you're talking out of them.
Murdoc: Shut up, fat boy! You've got more ass than anybody! I've heard of fourbellies but you're fivearses!
Noodle through intepreter Alan: I don't understand that.
Murdoc: What sort of interpreter are you, Alan? You're not a touch on Dr Stanley Unwin.
2D: Are you all sitting comftibold? Too square on your botty.
Alan the intepreter: Eh?

Abi Hemingway: What are you wearing for the Brits? What will your tipple be for the evening?
2D: I'm gonna be wearing my Free Tibet T-shirt.
Russel: I was thinking of wearing a T-shirt that says 'I was nominated for six Brits but all I got was this lousy T-shirt'.
Murdoc: Yeah, but it wasn't funny. It's not WHAT I'll be drinking - the question is, what WON'T I be drinking? If there were more hours in the day, I'd drink more.
Russel: That's a bad example to set.
Murdoc: Look who's talking, gutlord!
2D: Isn't that a Blur quote?
Murdoc: Shut up you idiot!

Erik Newton: Will there be a second album, or was this a one-off experimental collaboration that got a lot bigger than anyone imagined?
2D: Erik Newton. Are you like Marilyn Manson?
Murdoc: Yeah, yeah, are you the ******* son of Eric Sykes and Isaac Newton? Just imagine Fattie Jacques falling on your head!
2D: Sorry, what did you ask?
Russel: Will there be a second album. I'm sorry for these two doctors of ha ha. Yeah sure, Erik, there's gonna be a second album. We're gonna be hitting you with some fresh flavours and some chunky beats.
Murdoc: The only thing that's got bigger than I'd expected...no, I don't think I'll finish that sentence.

Rob Copestick: Murdoc, so you're a Satan worshiper and you were brave enough to work with D12. Ever thought of working with Marilyn Manson?
Murdoc: Yeah, I love Brian's work. Especially when he got those two girls to ingest sea monkeys. Maybe when I get over to California on our US tour at the end of this month. I'm gonna see if he'll introduce me to Anton Le Vay.

Joella: Does Noodle mind being the only girl in the band, especially as she is only 10?
Noodle through intepreter Alan: What is there to mind about? It's a dream come true. I've got three big brothers - one who smells like butterscotch, one who smells like box-fresh trainers, and the other one that smells like halitosis on toast.

Spicy J: How much is money a motivation in what you do?
Russel: If money was a motivator, do you honestly think we'd sound the way we do? Just like Francis Ford Coppola, this is one from the heart.
Murdoc: Nice reference, Russ - I love that movie! The Tom Waits soundtrack moved me to tears the first time...it could have been because I got my old fella caught in my flies.

Jim: I've just started a band with my mates from school and we're finding it really hard to sound different - we just sound like a bad Coldplay. Any ideas on equipment or ways of doing things that can make us sound different?
Murdoc: One bad Coldplay is enough for the world already.
Russel: Jim, all you've got to do is try really hard to make your music say what you feel. Then you won't sound like anyone else. But there's nothing wrong with having influences - that's how everyone starts.
Murdoc: Yeah, Russ, when we first met you sounded just like Weird Al Jankovic.
2D: I loved 'Eat It' - I thought that was brilliant.
Russel: Yeah, D, I think that was the point that Murdoc was trying to make. Ha ha ha I'm fat, ha ha ha.

Kev: You are all about your image, without it, you wouldn't exist. Do you think there is a lesson to be learned by indie bands who really don't worry too much about they look.
Murdoc: Yeah, I had to go to the record label the other day, and I was caught in a lift with the bass player from Coldplay, the drummer from Radiohead, and some other no-faced plonker from some other band, The Flip-Flops or something, I don't know.

Lisa: Do you ever get nervous before recording your songs in the studio. How do you calm yourself down?
Russel: It depends what we're working on. There wasn't any pressure or nerves when we recorded the album because we were just working with each other and experimenting. I think Murdoc was quite nervous when D-12 came in...
Murdoc: Yeah, I thought he was gonna bring his dirty mattress with him, and I didn't wanna try.(I was talking about Bizarre...)

Sam: Would you ever consider touring - do you think you would encounter the same ups and downs that other bands do?
Murdoc: Sam, what planet are you from? We are touring. After the Brits, we're touring the States, starting in Toronto, and ending up in Mexico City. We've played Japan, France and the Camden Brownhouse and it was wik wik wikker, man!

Joe: You're going on tour in America soon - what are your top three tips for having a good tour?
Murdoc: Clean pants to begin with, dirty pants to end with...
Russel: Dirty pants never stopped you before...
Murdoc: True. Scrub that. Start with dirty pants - start as you mean to go on...
Russel: Scrubbing your pants isn't a good idea, it's only the stubborn understains that are holding them together.

Meryl: Is it important to have a gimmick if you're in a guitar band or should the music speak for itself?
Murdoc: How do you define a gimmick? Jimi Hendrix set fire to his guitar and played it with his teeth - but don't try this at home kids. Michael Jackson gave it a go and look at the state of him.
Russel: Being entertaining isn't a gimmick.

cuppatea: What other cartoons do you reckon you could take in a fight?
Murdoc: What you on about, cuppatea? Cartoons are for kids, and they're not real, you know. Postmodernism will get you nowhere.
2D: I was on a road to nowhere once... but luckily David Byrne came along and gave me a lift home.
Russel: That's how you met Tina was it?
2D: Yeah.

tree_dee: Gorillaz, who would you most like to date, Wilma Flinstone or Judy Jetson?
2D: That's not 3D - you haven't got a Westcountry accent. Who would you rather be - Daddy G or Mushroom?
Murdoc: I bet Liam Gallagher regrets the day he called George Harrison a mouldy old mushroom.

Stumbo: Will us Winnebago hunters ever get resolution to the perp who nicked the porn transporter?
Murdoc: Speak of the westcountry, and it will appear... How are you doing, Stumbo, you skiver? I'm as much in the dark as you lot are about who took the rustbucket... All I know is I've got it back and I've restocked the porn.

Emma_S: Did any of u get a Valentines card then?
Murdoc: Yep, 2D got one from Rachel S Club.
2D: Did I? I never saw it.
Murdoc: Yeah, that's cos I got to it first, just like her - unlucky!
2D: Shut up! Love her...

you_da: would any of you like to get it on with Kylie?
Murdoc: Kylie wants to get it on with me. When we met at the MTV awards in Frankfurt, she had a little bit of a cold, bless her. Fortunately she was wearing a tissue, so she had something to blow her cute little nose on.

Mexican_Bob: Which one of you is the best dancer?
All: Alan (Noodle's interpreter)

Sherbet: Have you ever seen Tank Girl- what did you think?
Russel: Yeah, that was the end of the line for old Tracey Marrow, when that immortal line "there ain't gonna be no crumpets and tea" fell out of his kangaroo mouth, I knew it was curtains for the brother.
Murdoc: Tank Girl... I'm sure Hewlett meant to spell that with a 'W'. Pathetic - a grown man spending all of his days drawing pictures of girls in bras.

Gerald Anderson: What's all this about the second album being the soundtrack to your movie?
Russel: Well, Gerald Anderson, it kind of makes sense. Two birds with one stone.
Murdoc: A hand in the bush and all that.

dodgy dave: Come on the Gorillaz, every band has one... which one of you is gay?
Murdoc: Come on, Russ - time to let your Imelda Marcos secret out of the closet!
Russel: Just because a brother likes diamonte shoes, doesn't mean he bats for the other team.
Murdoc: Look, enough of the sporting analogies, if you're not in bat, it's time you came into the outfield.
2D: Oh, I get it. Closets, outfield, coming out of the closet... brilliant!
Russel & Murdoc: Shut up, D!

Tricky: What would be your comeback to Alex James' saying that you were the Banana Splitz?
Murdoc: He didn't even spell it with a 'Z' - if he's gonna be funny, at least he could make us laugh. Why doesn't he tell us all the story about the baked beans?

Emmza from Sweden: Do any of you in Gorillaz have a girl/boyfriend?
Murdoc: There's too many ladies in the world to love just the one. And whereabouts in Sweden do you live, Emmza? You're only an hour flight away... saunas and pine are my favourites.

Graffiti Gorilla: 2-D, if your from Crawley, then how come you have a monkey nose?
2D: I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't got a monkey's nose. My grandad gave me a rabbit's foot once because he said it was lucky. It went mouldy and made my poorly.
Murdoc: A mouldy rabbit's foot? Brilliant, have you still got it? I could use that to summon up Baphomet.
Russel: That's Satan with a capital 'B'. A bit like Derek B.
Murdoc: Yeah, but Lucifer's a really bad young brother, rather than an idiot in a baseball cap that lives with his mum.

Tom: There's a rumour that you have been seeing Japanese international superstar footballer Nakata, is this true?
Russel: It had better not be true, little sister. You're too young to be seeing boys. I'm not having you turn into another Jordan. Footballers are a no-go zone, and while you're at it, I'm not gonna let you have any football implants either.
2D: I think it's horrible that Jordan's planning to do a live webcast of her childbirth. What's the girl thinking of?
Murdoc: You have to pay by the minute, and I've paid for 15 hours upfront.
Noodle through intepreter Alan: No, I don't like footballers. I love Justin Timberlake.

Pipps: Howdie Gorillaz, I have always wondered what your backstage demands are when on tour...does noodles require noodles?
Murdoc: We get four chickens. Two are deep-fried for Russel, and the other two are alive, til I bite their heads off on stage.
2D: I always ask for clean socks. It's brilliant. You can ask for anything.
Murdoc: If you can ask for anything, why do you ask for socks?
2D: Because you can't beat that comfy-toe foot feeling.
Murdoc: Oh.

Tracie Henningsen: Hey 2D, your hair changes colors from blue to green to purple. What shampoo do you use to make it do that, or are you just a true zombie?
2D: I dunno. It's always been blue. I haven't had a rinse or anything.
Murdoc: Mike Reid's always been a bit blue. But mums and grans love him. You can't beat a bit of sauce with the ladies.

Jordan Savage Do you suffer the Mary Poppins-style problem of smudging in the rain?
Murdoc: The only problem with Mary Poppins was Dick Van Dyke's awful cockney accent. The only one I've ever heard worse than that is Daman Albarn's.

Tenshu: 2D, why do you wear such tight trousers, it's gotta be painful?
2D: Tenshu? Is that a bit like Poo Man Shoe?
Murdoc: That's Fu Man Shu, you idiot. I love that film. Fu Man Shu and the Cabinet of Doctor Kalimari.
Russel: I like Kalimari too.
2D: No, that wasn't Dr Kalimari, that was Dr Alimantado. The old 70s Jamaican toaster.
Russel: I've got a really old toaster. It only does the bread on one side, but it looks really cool.

Chris Holloran: Whos your idol Rus? Is it Will or Gareth?
Murdoc: Who gives a flying rat's arse about those two? The one who won, whatshisface, looks just like one of Desperate Dan's kids. I quite liked the other one. Only kidding! He's rubbish.

Chris Holloran: 2d and Murdoc, what's goin' with you two? Why do you hate each other?
2D: I don't hate him. He's my best mate.
Murdoc: Told you before, I'm not gonna say it again - I saved your life, you owe me your soul.
2D: Okay.

Bubbles: Who´s Noodle's favorite Powerpuffgirl?
Noodle through intepreter Alan: I love Mojo Jojo. My favourite at the moment is Samurai Sam.

Mookie Hurdle:do you have any bad behaviour planned for the Brits?
Murdoc: Mucky hurdle? I like the sound of that. I'm not quite sure what it means but I'll give it a go.
Russel: We've been rehearsing the last month for the Brits. Our performance is gonna blow everyone else off the stage.
2D: I blew-off on stage once. It was really wiffy. Did you smell it Murdoc? Did you? Did you?
Murdoc: Shut up.

Graham: Doesn't Dave Rowntree (from Blur) have such a horrible neck! Which of you has a despicable feature?
Russel: Hello Graham. You've made Noodle blush.
Noodle: through intepreter Alan: *giggle*
Murdoc: Yeah, but Dave's neck has got nothing on Damon's arse.

Radio1-Host: That's all we have time for. Here's The Gorillaz with a final word.
2D: xoxoxoxoxox2Dxoxoxoxoxoxo
Russel: Peace. We out of here.
Murdoc: Hail Satan.
Alan (Noodle's interpreter): I'm on Radio 1, and I've always wanted to say this - this is the Hairy Monster coming at you through the cornflakes...
2D: Oh yeah, is Arnold anywhere?
Murdoc: No, he's buried in the Blue Peter garden next to Shep, Goldie and Percy Thrower.
Noodle through intepreter Alan: Bye bye!

Gorillaz Interview

by The Guardian

Q) In a sentence, tell me what the Gorillaz are all about.

Murdoc
I’ll leave the commentary on contemporary popular culture to you mate and I’ll stick to making it.

Russel
Media friendly wouldn’t you say? We call our sound Dark Pop or Zombie Hip-Hop and we’re here to save the nation from soulless, record company puppet, pop stars. How’s that for a sound bite?

Q) Are you keeping it real?

Murdoc
What on earth do you mean by that? That’s just the type of second hand, meaningless arse offering I’d expect to hear from some middle class, west London tit in a pair of engineered Levi’s, buying the latest Snoop Diggidy Dog album on import while shouting down his Nokia 7110 to his retarded east end, media, coke, flip-flop, whore of a girl friend.

Russel
There you go, the Niccals does it again.

Murdoc
Hail Satan!

Q) Your music contains an interesting mix of styles - including hip-hop and garage. how did this evolve?

Russel
What else would you expect of a group of musicians from our varying musical and cultural backgrounds? To paraphrase post structural theory, I think it’s fair to say that we are all products of our environment.

2D
No, what happened was Murdoc got carried away, high on Rum Punch, at Carnival and forced his way onto the Middle Row Records sound system with an acetate of Clint Eastwood. He then dribbled his way through an impromptu two step version of Clint before stumbling off to get some goat curry, leaving the vinyl with Ed Case who knocked out a remix.

Murdoc
Stick to showing yourself up face ache, don’t ever try to question my methods or musical genius in public again.

Q) How is del tha funkee homosapien finding being a ghost?

Murdoc
You want to tread carefully when you ask a nineteen stone, NYC brother, how the phantom of his brutally slaughtered best friend might be feeling.

Q) what do you think of the current state of pop music?

Murdoc
I notice that our pal Damon has been chipping in on this one recently. We’re current pop music so it can’t be all bad can it?

Q) Who would win in a fight: tank girl or lara croft?

Murdoc
Shut up, you sad toss pot. I tell you what though, I wish someone would pick a fight with those two mindless cows on the Big Breakfast. What’s her face and Donna Air deserve to be tied up and thrown into a small pit, covered in goose fat, with a couple of randy Great Danes.

Russel
Of what relevance is either of those two late twentieth century, consumer society anti-heroes? Thinking of publishing a fifteen years too late, post-modern, deconstruction of simulacra?

2D
Donna Air isn’t in her late twenties is she?

Q) What’s your preference: oasis or blur?

Murdoc
What is this, 1995?

2D
Super Furry Animals.

Noodle
Graham Coxon-san.

Q) 2D - who is the captain howdy on your T-shirt, and where can i get one?

2D
Captain Howdy is the name that Reagan gives to the spirit she contacts on the Ouija board in William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist.

Murdoc
You got his name off of the cover of the DVD, admit it, you’ve never read any books.

Q) Noodle - what was it like being in that fed-ex box for so long?

Russel
You’ll be lucky, that girl keeps her shit to herself. Anyway I think she’s had her MP3 hat turned on all the way through the interview. It’s all a bit boring for a ten-year-old who doesn’t speak any English.

Q) Russel - what's it like having a ghost in your head?

Russel
Despite what Murdoc may have said earlier, I’m just happy that my years of possession as a child made it possible for Del to stick around when we were caught up in the drive by. Don’t push it too far though.

Q) murdoch - why so angry?

Murdoc
Because you spelt my name wrong.