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Gorillaz

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File:Gorillaz group.jpg
Gorillaz: Russel, Noodle, 2D and Murdoc

Gorillaz is an animated hip-hop/dark pop collective or supergroup and virtual band, comprising four animated band members: 2D, Murdoc, Noodle and Russel. The band was created by Damon Albarn (of Blur) and Jamie Hewlett, the creator of Tank Girl.

Gorillaz have earned the Guinness World Record for being the Most Successful Virtual Band.

History

Early career (1998-2000)

Gorillaz formed as a band in April, 1998. The first song they recorded was "Ghost Train", later released as a B-side on their single "Rock the House". The band's first release was the EP Tomorrow Comes Today, which was very well received in the UK underground music scene, generating a lot of word-of-mouth advertising, as well as a large shroud of mystery over who was behind Gorillaz and what could be expected from the band in the months to come. A promotional booklet was sold at record stores to promote the backstory behind the band. The band's official website, www.gorillaz.com, was a virtual representation of Kong Studios, the band's fictional studio and home, in the fullest sense of the word: inside, you could browse through each member's bedroom, their recording environment and even the hallways and bathrooms. Each room also had bonus surprises and games to play: for example, the lobby had a remix machine, the cafeteria contained the message board on the wall and Murdoc's Winnebago (accessible only by using the enhanced section of the first album) contained a voodoo doll of 2D. Each member also had their own computer which contained pictures, sound bits from various takes of songs and their e-mail inboxes. Because of the nature of the site, an official fansite, fans.gorillaz.com, was created to hold the standard band website information, including news, a discography and the band's touring schedules.

Phase One: Celebrity Take Down (2001-2002)

File:Gorillaz Phase 1.jpg

The band's first single, "Clint Eastwood", was released on March 5 2001. The blend of raw hip-hop, cheesy horror music and a haunting melodica solo struck chords around the world, thrusting Gorillaz into the global limelight. Due to this, the fictional band members' Hotmail accounts were abandoned (and later hacked) and the inboxes on the site were never updated. Later that same month, their first full-length album, the self-titled Gorillaz was released, producing four singles: "Clint Eastwood", "19-2000", "Rock the House" and "Tomorrow Comes Today". Each of the singles' videos contained humorous and often ridiculous storylines and imagery, though "Clint Eastwood" and "19-2000" were the only singles to break through the American music scene. "19-2000" became popular after being featured in an Icebreakers commercial. The only time the video for "Tomorrow Comes Today" was played in the States was when Toonami broadcasted a "Midnight Run" special where they played animated music videos from Gorillaz, Daft Punk, and Kenna.

Around this time, a half-hour TV mockumentary entitled Charts Of Darkness was released, which follows Channel 4 news reporter Krishnan Guru-Murthy attempting to track down Albarn and Hewlett after they were placed in an insane asylum. The special also interviews Rachel Stevens of S Club 7 fame and a few of the band's voice talents, who had been given roles to play. The end of the year brought the song "911", a collaboration between the Gorillaz and rap artists D12 (sans Eminem) and Terry Hall about the September 11, 2001 attacks. Meanwhile G-Sides, a compilation of the b-sides from the first three singles was released in Japan and quickly followed with international releases in early 2002. The new year also saw a spectacular performance at the 2002 Brit Awards, featuring the band in 3D animation, weaving in and out of each other on four large screens along with rap accompaniment by Phi Life Cypher. Finally, Laika Come Home, a dub remix album, containing most of the tracks from Gorillaz reworked by Spacemonkeyz, was released in June 2002. The single to follow, "Lil' Dub Chefin'", contained an original track by the Spacemonkeyz titled "Spacemonkeyz Theme".

Along with the November 2002 release of the DVD Phase One: Celebrity Take Down the band's website closed almost completely down, with the fictional Kong Studio no longer accessible. The DVD contains all five videos (including the abandoned video "5/4"), the "Charts Of Darkness" documentary, the five Gorilla Bites (short vignettes), a tour of the website by the MEL 9000 server and much more. The DVD's menu was designed much like the bands website and depicts an abandoned Kong Studios (only eight rooms, including the lobby, are accessible.)

Rumours were circulating around this time that Gorillaz were busy preparing a film, but an EMI interview later revealed that plans for the film were abandoned. In an interview with Haruka Kuroda (the voice of Noodle), Kuroda stated that Jamie Hewlett rejected many scripts before giving up on the movie.

Phase Two: Demon Days (2004-now)

File:Gorillaz Phase 2.jpg

On December 8 2004, the website reopened with an exclusive video entitled "Rock It" (which has not been released anywhere else as of August 2005) and the announcement of a new album on the way, including production by DJ Danger Mouse and a guest appearance by De La Soul. A contest entitled Search For A Star was also announced, allowing fans to send in a minute-long clip of video or audio they had made. The prize included collaborating with the band in some way, shape or form, as well as getting their own virtual room on the newly rebuilt Kong Studios website.

Soon a second promotional booklet was issued, recapping the previously issued booklet, as well as detailing the failed movie production in Hollywood and the breakup and reforming of Gorillaz. A culture jamming project named Reject False Icons was formed to strike down modern pop figures. The new album was first reported to be released in March 2005, but was later changed to May of the same year. The name of the album was originally reported to be We Are Happy Landfill, but has been changed to Demon Days. The first release off the album was a white label 12" promotional single of the song "Dirty Harry" featuring Bootie Brown and the San Fernandez Youth Chorus.

The first proper single off the album was "Feel Good Inc.", released as an EP in Japan and as a CD single in Europe and Australia. The single entered the UK Singles Chart at #22, several weeks before the CD single was released, because the single was released as a 7" vinyl in April and new charts regulations included sales at online music stores, where the song had been available since March 22, if there is a physical equivalent. "Feel Good Inc." managed to reach #2 in the UK Singles Chart the week it was released, being the bands highest ever positioned single. The single stayed in the top ten for eight consecutive weeks.

The Album, Demon Days, was #1 in the Album Charts on it's first week but fell as low as #29 in just seven weeks. However, as the music video for the second single "DARE" started getting played on MTV and other music channels, Demon Days rose up to the top 10 again. DARE was released on August 29 2005 in the UK, where it debuted at #1. A Japanese EP will follow on September 7.

There will be a Gorillaz film, currently untitled, released in 2007. [1]

Fictional band history

The storyline of the Gorillaz, as established by Albarn and Hewlett.

Stu-Pot (his full name is rumored to be "Stuart Tusspot" but it cannot be confirmed as it has never once been mentioned in any interview or article), was a mentally deficient keyboard enthusiast and star employee at Uncle Norm's Organ Emporium, until a chance encounter with Satanist hoodlum Murdoc Niccals. Murdoc had decided to ramraid Uncle Norm's Organ Emporium to procure synthesizer equipment in order to establish a "chart topping" musical group. However, Murdoc ended up driving his Vauxhall Astra through the building and directly into Stu-Pot, permanently damaging Stu-Pot's left eye and putting him into a catatonic state. Murdoc was sentenced to "30,000 hours of community service, plus 10 hours every week of caring for the vegetabilised Stu-Pot". Not long after, Murdoc again injured Stu-Pot in an accident in Nottingham's Tesco parking lot, permanently damaging Stu-Pot's right eye, but reviving him from his coma. Murdoc then recruited the newly recovered (albeit still mentally defective) Stu-Pot as the keyboardist and vocalist for his group, re-dubbing him 2D for the matching pair of dents in his head from the accidents.

Murdoc then found a drummer for the group in a Soho rap record store, African-American expatriate Russel Hobbs. Russel was a middle-class New York native and a deeply troubled youth, having been expelled from an expensive private school for suffering from demonic possession. The trauma of said possession resulted in a four year coma from which Russel was roused only by an elaborately executed exorcism. After his recovery, Russel began attending Brooklyn High, where he quickly cultivated friendships with a group of rappers, DJs, and street musicians. Some would say that "hip-hop saved his soul." This was a short-lived respite, however, as all of Russel's newfound friends would be gunned-down in a drive-by shooting. Being that he was the sole survivor, he became the unwilling receptacle for the spirits of all of his slain compatriots, most notable of whom was the rhyme dropping blue phantom of his late friend Del. With their latent possession of his body, Russel gained incredible musical prowess in percussion, rap, and hip-hop as well as a disturbing side-effect: his eyes now glow an eerie white. With this new and violent turn of events, Russel's family shipped him off to England in hopes of helping him recover from his traumas quietly, not realizing they'd put him directly into the path of Murdoc's aspirations to superstardom, and the excesses that came along with it.

At that point, all the fledgling group needed was a guitarist. Like so many british bands before them, the trio placed an advertisement in NME. The very day the ad ran, a FedEx freight container from Japan was delivered to their doorstep and out jumped a mysterious amnesiac 10-year-old wielding a Gibson Les Paul and an MP3 player helmet. The tiny girl made an incomprehensible introduction and tore into a "riff to end all riffs" which ended with an impressive ninjutsu kick to the air, she then spoke a single word to the stunned boys in english, which became her moniker, "Noodle". In the later part of 1998, the Gorillaz played their first show at the Camden Brownhouse which ended prematurely due to a riot during their song "Punk". EMI A&R man Whiffy Smiffy discharged several rounds from shotgun to disperse the crowd enough to make his way to the stage and quickly signed them to the label. Ten months later they had recorded their self-titled debut LP.

In the winter of 1999 Murdoc acquired the property of Kong Studios, a sprawling haunted studio with a rather shady history, situated atop a hill in the midst of a run-down cemetery and landfill in Districtshire, Essex. The Gorillaz lived and recorded in Kong Studios up until their 2002 11-date tour of North America. At the end of July of that year, the Gorillaz took a six month break in L.A.. There they attempted to get a movie project off the ground. Meanwhile, that Halloween, Kong Studios had been shut down tight in its owner's absence by local law enforcement after an unknown man was seen running, naked and in hysterics, in the marshes near the studio. The police proceeded to keep the area secured while they investigated the strange paranormal events surrounding Kong. The Gorillaz spent the interim period working on their movie, while living in a large rented home in the Hollywood Hills.

Alas, the film was not meant to be, due in part to extensive over-partying, in-fighting, and disagreements with producers, directors, and a notable incident of Murdoc getting himself banned from the Playboy Mansion for stealing ashtrays. Understandably, at this point the Gorillaz went on a year and half hiatus, each of the members going their separate ways to find themselves. Murdoc headed to Mexico to booze it up in Tijuana brothels, getting himself arrested for passing bad checks in the process, and enjoying little company in his Mexican jail cell aside from his raven, Cortez. 2D went back home to work with his father at a carnival, re-establish his grip on reality, and come to terms with his newfound pop icon status with the ladies. Russel disappeared into the States to literally and figuratively exorcise his personal demons, regrettably including the ghost of Del, leaving Russel a mentally and spiritually exhausted wandering shadow of the man he once was. Eventually, after shambling around Los Angeles for long enough, he was taken in by Ike Turner and helped to recover, while recording his own album which was shelved due to Russel's fears of "cosmic disruption". Noodle shipped herself off to Japan, where she uncovered the secrets of her own past that included not only the revelation that she was a test subject in a secret government super soldier project, but that she also spoke fluent English. Armed with her newfound knowledge and iron resolve, Noodle was the first to return to Kong Studios. There she went to task battling the zombie and monster-infested darkness of the building, set up the "Search For A Star" contest, and began the process of pulling the band back together to record their new album, Demon Days.

Members

Actual members

There have been waves of speculation and controversy surrounding who is actually behind Gorillaz ever since "Tomorrow Comes Today" was first released. In the half-hour TV mockumentary Charts Of Darkness it was explicitly stated that Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett were behind the project; quoting Albarn, "There could be fifty [people] here, but there's two." Many fans have simply assumed that the guest artists in the liner notes of the first album (including Cibo Matto vocalist Miho Hatori, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien and producer Dan "The Automator" Nakamura) complete the band. In fact, the only permanent member behind the music happens to be Albarn, while all artwork and music videos are created by Zombie Flesh Eaters (Hewlett's own company) and Passion Pictures.

During the "hidden" credits to the DVD Phase One: Celebrity Take Down, it states the names of the creators, the voice talents and those responsible for performing live. The list of integral performers in the group changed drastically for the second album, with the exception of Albarn himself.

For a more or less complete list of people involved in Gorillaz, see this site.

Live performances

For the tours affiliated with the debut album, the physical band played behind a specially designed screen which covers the stage area. Videos, animatics and image collages were projected onto the audience side of the screen, while choreographed lights behind the screen lit up silhouettes of the physical band, creating a meld of the physical and animated. For their first tour of the United States, two screens were used; one was simply the animatics, while the second, lower screen displayed the band's silhouettes along with various quotes from interviews.

2005 radio tour

Following the release of their Demon Days album, Gorillaz began an American radio tour. In keeping with the style of the band the Demon Detour featured a set of pre-recorded songs played on select radio stations, along with comments by the four band members.

Future live tours

Gorillaz have hinted and confirmed the intention to tour again since before Demon Days was released, but no official dates or locations have been announced yet. It would appear from numerous interviews of both Albarn and Hewlett and Gorillaz themselves that they are having a hard time deciding how to structure and conduct this second tour - they intend on having it more elaborate, or at least somewhat different, from the 2003 tour. From where it stands now, any live shows or tour will be during the winter of 2005/2006.

A seven day festival in Manchester, England has been announced, and a number of the guest artists that appeared on both the first and second album are expected to attend. No official, definitive dates have been confirmed as of yet.

Horror references

The band's art is deeply rooted in horror film imagery and ideals. Here are a few of the films they refer to in their photos, videos and songs:

Gorilla Bites

There is a series of animated shorts, called Gorilla Bites, starring the Gorillaz. They are available at various places, some on the enhanced CD, DVD versions of the records or as bonus content available upon buying the "Feel Good Inc." single (as an album) on iTunes, others on the band's official homepage. Most of them were released on the DVD Phase One: Celebrity Take Down.

  • "The Eel"
  • "Hey Our Toys Have Arrived"
  • "Fancy Dress"
  • "Free Tibet Campaign"
  • "Game Of Death"
  • "Gorillaz Talent Quest"
  • "Gorillaz On Set"
  • "Jump The Gut"


Discography

Albums

EPs

DVDs

Singles

Year Title Chart positions Album
US Hot 100 US Modern Rock US Mainstream Rock UK
2000 "Tomorrow Comes Today" - ?? ?? #33 Gorillaz
2001 "Clint Eastwood" #57 ?? ?? #4 Gorillaz
2001 "19-2000" - ?? ?? #6 Gorillaz
2001 "Rock the House" - ?? ?? #18 Gorillaz
2001 "911" (with D12 feat. Terry Hall) - ?? ?? - Non-album Single
2002 "Lil' Dub Chefin'" - ?? ?? #73 Laika Come Home
2005 "Feel Good Inc." (feat. De La Soul) #14 #1 (3 weeks) - #2 Demon Days
2005 "DARE" - - - - Demon Days


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