Gorillaz

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For the Gorillaz's self-titled debut album, see Gorillaz (album).
Gorillaz
Gorillaz (left to right): Russel (back), Noodle, 2D and Murdoc
Gorillaz (left to right): Russel (back), Noodle, 2D and Murdoc
Background information
Origin Essex, England
Genre(s) Alternative rock
Alternative hip hop
Electronica
Trip hop
Years active 1998–present
Label(s) Parlophone Records
Virgin Records
EMI Music Canada
Associated acts Blur
The Good, the Bad & the Queen
Website www.gorillaz.com
Members
2D
Noodle
Russel Hobbs
Murdoc Niccals
Former members
Paula Cracker
Del tha Funkee Homosapien

Gorillaz are a virtual band created in 1998 by Damon Albarn of Britpop band Blur, and Jamie Hewlett, co-creator of the comic book Tank Girl. The band is composed of four animated band members: 2D, Murdoc, Noodle and Russel. The band's music is a collaboration between various musicians with Albarn being the only permanent musical contributor. Their style is broadly alternative rock, but with a large number of other influences including hip hop, electronica, dub and pop.[1][2]

The band's first album, 2001's Gorillaz, sold over seven million copies and earned them an entry in the Guinness Book of Records as the Most Successful Virtual Band.[3] It was nominated for the Mercury Prize 2001, but the nomination was later withdrawn at the band's request.[4] Their second studio album, Demon Days, was released in 2005 and included the hit singles "Feel Good Inc.", "DARE", "Dirty Harry" and "Kids With Guns / El Mañana". Demon Days went five times platinum in the UK,[5] double platinum in the United States[6] and earned five Grammy Award nominations for 2006[7] and won one of them in the Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals category.[8] Gorillaz have also released two B-sides albums and a remix album.

Contents

[edit] History

Albarn in 2007
Albarn in 2007

[edit] Early years (1998 – 1999)

Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett formed the group in 1998. At the time, the two were living together in a flat on Westbourne Grove.[9] The band originally identified themselves as "Gorilla", and the first song they recorded was "Ghost Train",[10] later released as a B-side on their single "Rock the House" and the B-side compilation G-Sides. It has been suggested that the subsequent misspelling of 'gorillas' is a reference to the misspelling of 'monkeys' by 60s US band The Monkees. The trio of musicians behind Gorillaz' first incarnation, Damon Albarn, Del tha Funkee Homosapien and Dan the Automator, had previously worked together on the track "Time Keeps on Slipping" for Deltron 3030's eponymous debut album. The song can be seen as the genesis of the musical style that continued into Gorillaz' first album.[11]

[edit] Phase One: Celebrity Takedown (2000 – 2002)

The band's first release was Tomorrow Comes Today EP, released in 2000. It was very well received in the UK underground music scene and generated 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. Promo outlets circulated a booklet with the fictional backstory behind the cartoon band.

The band's official website, www.gorillaz.com, is a virtual representation of Kong Studios, the band's studio and home. Inside, visitors can browse through each member's bedroom, their recording environment and even the hallways and bathrooms. Each room also has bonus surprises and games to play: for example, the lobby has a remix machine, the cafeteria contains the message board on the wall and Murdoc's Winnebago contains a voodoo doll of 2D. Each member also has their own computer which contains pictures, samples used in various Gorillaz songs, their favorite websites 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.

The band's first single, Clint Eastwood, was released on March 5, 2001. It became a smash hit and put Gorillaz into the global spotlight. Due to this, the 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", "Tomorrow Comes Today", and "Rock the House".

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 (Soulchild Remix)" became popular after being featured in both an Ice Breakers commercial, as well as in EA Sports' FIFA 2002. The video for "Tomorrow Comes Today" was only broadcast once in the United States on Toonami as a "Midnight Run" special.

Around this time, a half-hour TV mockumentary entitled Charts of Darkness was released. It 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 (without 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 on December 12, 2001 and quickly followed with international releases in early 2002. The new year also saw a complicated 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".

In November 2002, a DVD titled Phase One: Celebrity Take Down was released. The DVD contains the four Phase One promos, the abandoned video for "5/4", the Charts of Darkness documentary, the five Gorilla Bites (short vignettes), a tour of the website by the MEL 9000 server(in reference to the book 2001:A Space Odyssey: Hal 9000) and much more. The DVD's menu was designed much like the band's website and depicts an abandoned Kong Studios.

Along with the release of the DVD, the band's website closed down almost completely. Kong Studios was no longer accessible, instead, visitors could only enter a police cabin, where the message board and chats were still accessible. From there, a small robot called G.R.3.G. could be used to explore the abandoned Kong Studios in a 3-D shockwave environment, though doing so would only grant access to a few games. The Abandoned Gorillaz Site

Rumors were circulating at this time that the Gorillaz team 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.[12] Hewlett later explained why the film was abandoned, "We lost all interest in doing it as soon as we started meeting with studios and talking to these Hollywood executive types, we just weren't on the same page. We said, fuck it, we'll sit on the idea until we can do it ourselves, and maybe even raise the money ourselves."[13]

[edit] Phase Two: Slowboat to Hades (2004 – 2007)

On December 8, 2004, the band's website reopened with an exclusive video entitled "Rock It". Along with the music video, there was an announcement of a new album on the way, which would be produced by Danger Mouse. A talent contest entitled Search for a Star was also announced, allowing fans to send in a minute-long clip of video or audio or an image file. The prize included collaborating with the band to create the music and video for "El Mañana", the fourth single for the new album, as well as getting their own room on the newly rebuilt Kong Studios website. 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 viral marketing project named Reject False Icons was formed criticizing modern pop figures.

The first single from 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 due to the single being 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. "Feel Good Inc." managed to reach #2 in the UK Singles Chart the week it was released, being the band's highest ever positioned single up to that point in time. The single stayed in the top ten for eight consecutive weeks. In the United States, it peaked at #14. The song also garnered a Record of the Year nomination for the 2006 Grammy Awards later that year.

The album, Demon Days, was released on May 11, 2005 in Japan, May 23 in the United Kingdom and Australia, and on May 24 in the United States. The album debuted at #1 on the UK Album Charts, but fell as low as #29 in just seven weeks.[14] 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 followed on September 7. "DARE" eventually reached #87 in the United States, also becoming a Top 10 hit on the Modern Rock listings. Shortly afterwards, Gorillaz contributed an exclusive track entitled "Hong Kong" to the charity compilation Help: A Day in the Life released on September 10, 2005.

The third single off Demon Days was "Dirty Harry", which had already been released as a promotional single earlier that year. It was released in the United Kingdom on November 21, 2005. On its first week, it charted at #6. The release of the single raised the album once again back up to the top 10. The fourth and final single was the double A-side, "Kids With Guns"/"El Mañana". It was released in the UK on April 10, 2006.[15] Unlike its Top 10 predecessors, "Kids With Guns" / "El Mañana" reached #27 upon its release in the UK. A week later, the single had fallen out of the Top 40 in the UK (see 2006 in British music). By the end of 2005, Demon Days had sold over a million copies in the UK, making it the fifth best selling album of 2005. Demon Days has since gone five times platinum in the UK,[5] double platinum in the United States,[6] triple platinum in Australia[16] and has sold over 6 million copies worldwide.[6]

Plans were unveiled for Gorillaz to go on a holographic world tour in 2007 and 2008. The cartoon members would be shown as holograms on stage using Musion Eyeliner technology, giving them a life-like appearance on stage. The holograms were first used at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards on November 3, 2005[17] and again at the 2006 Grammy Awards on February 8, 2006 with the addition of a virtual Madonna, where the band played a pre-recorded version of "Feel Good Inc."[17] However, the tour was eventually called off due to budget issues. Jamie Hewlett has stated that "...it was extremely expensive, extremely difficult, a million and one things can go wrong, every second that the thing's playing."[18]

On September 21, 2006 the main lobby of Kong Studios was destroyed for unknown reasons and a teaser clip for Slowboat to Hades appeared and could be played on a TV screen. The Phase Two: Slowboat to Hades DVD was released on October 30 in the United Kingdom, and October 31 in the United States. The official Gorillaz illustrated autobiography, titled Rise of the Ogre, was released on October 31, 2006 in the United Kingdom, and November 2 in the United States.

In a 2006 interview with Verbicide magazine, band members were asked if a new remix album would be produced for Demon Days as there was for Gorillaz. They answered that it was a possibility and that might involve the Space Monkeyz again. In the same interview, they were asked if there might also be another G-Sides. Again, their answer was that it might be possible.[19] In January 2007, websites began listing a March release date for a Phase 2 B-sides album.[20][21] One of the websites, musictap.net, later pushed this back to April 3.[22] According to Gorillaz-Unofficial, the reaction of official parties behind Gorillaz is that the release date is just a rumour for now.[23] On August 29, 2007, musictap.net reported that the B-side album would be titled D-Sides and will be released on November 20, 2007.[24] On September 18, 2007 the official Gorillaz fansite confirmed the release of the album, as well as unveiling the album artwork and track listing. The two-CD compilation has B-sides on its first disc and remixes on the second. D-Sides was released on November 19, 2007 in the UK and on November 20, 2007 in the U.S.[25][26]

On October 24, 2007, after the announcement of the D-Sides compilation album, the official Gorillaz fansite announced that a documentary film about the Gorillaz, titled Bananaz, would be released.

A quote on the official fan site stated,

“ Screen International will be announcing today [24 October 2007] the release and debut of the Ceri Levy film Bananaz. The definitive Gorillaz documentary, Bananaz is the product of seven years and hundreds of hours of film as Levy followed the band and their friends Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn through a whirlwind of successes.[27] ”


[edit] Future Plans

[edit] Gorillaz feature film

In 2002, there were plans made for a Gorillaz film, but it was soon abandoned due to Jamie Hewlett's dissatisfaction with many of the proposed scripts.[12] However, in 2006, Hewlett stated that they will produce the film on their own. American film producer and Weinstein Company co-chairman, Harvey Weinstein, is also said to be collaborating with Albarn and Hewlett.[28] In a September 2006 interview with Uncut magazine, Albarn was reported saying "[Gorillaz] has been a fantastic journey which isn't over, because we're making a film. We've got Terry Gilliam involved. But as far as being in a big band and putting pop music out there, it's finished. We won't be doing that any more."[29] In an interview with the Gorillaz-Unofficial fansite, Jamie Hewlett and Cass Browne revealed that in the movie the band members will act as other characters presenting a new story, instead of playing themselves. Hewlett also said that the movie's soundtrack will be the next Gorillaz album. "The soundtrack will be the third album. Damon will do the soundtrack, which will be the soundtrack, which will be the third album."[30] As of April 2007, Cass Browne is still finishing the script and Albarn has said that he hopes production of the film will begin in September 2007.[31][32]

However, in a more recent interview with Gorillaz-Unofficial, Hewlett stated that since the time of the previous interview, Damon and Jamie's fixation on the film had lessened.

[edit] Fictional band history

 This article or section describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style.
Please rewrite this article or section to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective.
The backstory of the animated band members of Gorillaz, as established by Albarn and Hewlett.

The story of Gorillaz begins on 15 August 1997. Stu-Pot was a not-so-bright but all-around great guy who led a somewhat unremarkable and uneventful life. A keyboard enthusiast, he worked as the star employee of Uncle Norm's Organ Emporium. Hoodlum Murdoc Niccals 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 ("fracturing") 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 a car accident in Nottingham's Tesco car park when attempting a 360°, which permanently damaged Stu-Pot's right eye, but revived him from his coma. Murdoc then recruited the newly recovered Stu-Pot as the keyboardist and vocalist for his group, re-dubbing him '2D' for the fact that Stu-Pot now had two similar dents above his eyes.

Murdoc then found a drummer for the group in a SoHo rap record store: black expatriate Russel Hobbs. A middle-class native of New York, Russel was deeply troubled as a youth. He was 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 School, where he quickly cultivated friendships with a group of rappers, DJs, and street musicians. (He has been quoted as saying that "hip-hop saved [his] soul.")

This was but a short-lived respite, however, as all of Russel's newfound friends were suddenly gunned down one night in a drive-by shooting. Russel, the sole survivor, became the unwilling receptacle for the spirits of all of his slain compatriots, most notable of whom was the rhyme-dropping blue phantom Del. Thanks to the spirits' 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 glowed 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. The three's first choice was 2D's then-girlfriend Paula Cracker. After Russel discovered that Paula had had sex with Murdoc in one of the studio's toilets, she dropped out of the band. (Another result was that Russel broke Murdoc's nose in five places.) So, like so many British bands before them, the trio placed an advertisement in NME. The very day the ad ran, a "DedEx" (Play on words from FedEx) freight container from Japan was delivered to their doorstep. Out jumped a mysterious amnesiac 10-year-old wielding a Gibson Les Paul. The tiny girl made an incomprehensible introduction in Japanese and tore into a "riff to end all riffs" which ended with an impressive karate kick to the air. She then spoke a single word in English to the stunned boys, "Noodle", which was to become her moniker.

In the later part of 1998, the Gorillaz played their first show at the Camden Brownhouse. Although it ended prematurely due to a riot during the song "Punk", EMI A&R man Whiffy Smiffy, discharging several rounds from his shotgun to disperse the crowd, was able to make his way to the stage and slowly sign them to the label. Ten months later the Gorillaz 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-month 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 cheques in the process. He enjoyed little company in his Mexican jail cell aside from his raven, Cortez, and two Mexican mobsters who would later help break him out. 2D went back home to work for his father at his 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. After shambling around Los Angeles for some time, Russel was taken in by Ike Turner and helped to recover, and while living in Turner's basement Russel recorded his own solo album which was shelved due to strange supernatural activity inherent in the music itself, which Russel described as something of a "cosmic disruption".

Noodle travelled to Japan, in a fruitful attempt to uncover the secrets of her own past which included not only the revelation that she was a test subject in a secret government super soldier project, but that she also speaks 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.

After the mystery surrounding El Mañana, the band seemed to have disbanded, with Noodle's room on gorillaz.com becoming empty and derelict and her voice appearing in the room of Brian's, desperately pleading for Murdoc to come and rescue her from some hidden danger. Murdoc was later to clarify this with a special Facebook chat on his very own Facebook Profile. When asked about the band's current status, he replied thus:

“ Well…It's funny. After the first album Russel had this big mad breakdown. He had the spirit of Del exorcised out of him by the Grim Reaper. Which kind of sent him mental. He tried to record a solo album but then he was saying that all these demons were flying out the speakers trying to eat him. Everyone thought he'd just gone loopy. “Living in a basement with Ike Turner”. Turns out tho he was right. The Demons were real! You couldn't really make it up. So next thing we know is after Noodle disappeared after The El Manana video incident, we hear this voice coming out of the basin basement room of Kong. Out of a radio. Turns out that when these demons couldn't get hold of Russ, they grabbed Noodle instead. Dragged her downstairs, to Hades! So of course it fell to muggings here, (that's me), to go on some epic Odysseus type journey into The Underworld to try and rescue her. It's all tied up with contract I signed with Beelzebub that shoe-horned Gorillaz up the charts in the first place. He was cocked off about some late payment of my eternal soul, or something stupid.


—Murdoc Niccals on Facebook [33]

 ”

Murdoc went on to say that he is selling Kong Studios as it is apparently built on a pile of excrement, added that he is still in the middle of rescuing Noodle from hell, again confirmed that he has no sexual attraction to 2D, but refused to elaborate on any future albums or the upcoming Gorillaz movie, other than to joke about the subject so as to avoid it.

[edit] Band members

[edit] Additional members

  • Del - vocals: A ghostly depiction of Del tha Funkee Homosapien, and the blue phantom in the "Clint Eastwood" and "Rock the House" music videos and the Gorilla Bite "Jump The Gut" was, one could say, another band member. In 2003, he was finally separated from Russel when the Grim Reaper turned up to claim him; he appeared as a mass of living ectoplasm and said his final goodbye to his old friend before leaving. The shock of losing the friend who had hidden inside his body all that time, coupled with Russel's continuing belief that the Reaper was stalking him, lead to a trauma that took Russel an entire year to recuperate.
  • Paula Cracker - guitar: 2D's ex-girlfriend and the band's original guitarist. In the Gorillaz storyline, she was ultimately dropped and replaced with Noodle after Paula was caught having an affair with Murdoc in the studio toilet. Later, Paula Cracker is one of several people hired by Jimmy Manson to eliminate Gorillaz. Her status post-Jimmy Manson is unknown. It was stated in Rise of the Ogre that Paula was sick in the head, on strong medication, and has a personal vendetta against current guitarist Noodle. During her brief time in Gorillaz, she was described as "the weak link" by the rest of the band; Murdoc called her "depressingly ugly" and 2D never disagreed, only saying that it was the principle (of Murdoc stealing his girlfriend).

[edit] 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. However, many people work on various aspects of Gorillaz. To quote Albarn, "There could be fifty [people] here, but there's two." In short, the Gorillaz as real, singular human beings do not exist. Rather, they represent the many people working on the project. More or less, the only thing that has remained constant in every song is that Albarn performs the singing voice for 2D.

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. This list of the group's integral performers has changed drastically since the first album, with the exception of Albarn himself. For a more or less complete list of people involved in Gorillaz, see this site.

In the most recent live performances (Demon Days Live), the roles of 2D (vocals and piano) are assigned to Damon Albarn as 2D, Noodle's (guitar and backing vocals) to Simon Tong and Rosie Wilson respectively, Murdoc's (bass guitar) to Morgan Nicholls, and Russel's (drums) to Cass Browne. However, there are two touring keyboardists (one on a piano and the other on a synthesizer), so one could say that both of these people also perform the role of 2D. Similarly, there is both a drummer and percussionist on the tour, both at a drum kit, so these people are essentially both Russel.

The band's artwork and music videos are created by Zombie Flesh Eaters (Hewlett's own company) and Passion Pictures (animators including Pete Candeland and 2000AD artist Rufus Dayglo).

[edit] Discography

Further information: Gorillaz discography

[edit] Live performances

[edit] Phase One live shows

For the tours affiliated with the debut album, the physical band played behind a specially designed screen which covered the entire 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.

[edit] Demon Detour 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 songs played on select radio stations, along with comments by the four band members.

[edit] Demon Days Live

De La Soul performing at the Demon Days Live concert in Manchester.
De La Soul performing at the Demon Days Live concert in Manchester.

Between November 1 and November 5, 2005, there was a Gorillaz "festival" billed as Demon Days Live with collaborators from Demon Days (Neneh Cherry, Bootie Brown, De La Soul, Ike Turner, Roots Manuva, Martina Topley-Bird and Shaun Ryder all appeared live; for other collaborators such as Dennis Hopper and Ibrahim Ferrer, recordings were used) and Damon Albarn performing songs from the album live on those five nights at the Manchester Opera House. The visual element of the evenings was provided by Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett and displayed on screens on the stage, and the artists performed in front of the screens, with Damon Albarn in silhouette form for most of the concert (unlike previous concerts, where the musicians were behind the screens, with only silhouettes visible). The event was filmed by an EMI film crew for a DVD release, Demon Days Live, in late March 2006. It was later announced that an American version of the event would take place from April 2 to April 6, 2006 at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem. Within an hour of release tickets were sold out.[34] The April 6 show was filmed for a live webcast at MSN Video.[35] MHD also broadcasted an Apollo Theater show in HDTV on December 31, 2006.[36]

[edit] Phase Two live performances

For the band's live performances at the 2005/2006 award shows, a different visual effects technique was used to project the band onto the stage: similar to the Pepper's ghost trick, 3D animations of the band are projected on transparent film placed on stage, creating the appearance that the band members were actually present on the stage. The first such performance by the band was made on November 3, 2005, the third night of the Demon Days Live performances, when the band simultaneously appeared at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon, Portugal and performed their song "Feel Good Inc.".

At the 2006 Grammy Awards, held on February 8, 2006, Gorillaz opened the show using the same technique, sharing the stage with a virtual Madonna.[17] Their performance was a mash-up of the Gorillaz' "Feel Good Inc." and Madonna's "Hung Up".

However, there was a slight problem concerning the projections. The music on all of these occasions was rather low in volume, which Jamie Hewlett revealed to be a flaw with the Pepper's ghost technique: if the music was too loud, the screens reflecting the band on stage would vibrate, making their images blurry. This happened with the mash-up performance with Madonna's "Hung Up".

A week later, on February 15, 2006, Gorillaz performed their song "Dirty Harry" at the 2006 BRIT Awards, with Bootie Brown and the Children's Choir San Fernandez. This concert had giant versions of the video clips on large screens, with Bootie Brown and the Children's Choir San Fernandez to either side of the screens. A similar, but not completely identical, version of this performance was shown on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and the video was projected at the 2006 Designer of the Year Award exhibition, which Hewlett later won.[37]

A world tour was planned using the hologram technology described above. However, due to extreme costs and fine technical difficulties, the tour was cancelled.[18]

[edit] Related projects

[edit] Reject False Icons

The phrase 'Reject False Icons' was first mentioned on November 24, 2004 on a Gorillaz mail out to fans.[38] On December 8, the Gorillaz website was re-opened with a brand new music video, "Rock It", which has the saying "Reject False Icons" at the end.[39] On December 19 the 'Reject False Icons' campaign kicked off with the launch of rejectfalseicons.com. Fans could submit their photos of ways to spread the message by using graffiti or by sticking 'Reject False Icons' stickers that were available for a limited period from the site and from selected record shops in the UK. It was first Respect False Icons, but Albarn changed it to Reject False Icons. Noodle said it is both 'Respect' and 'Reject'.

[edit] Search for a Star

In December 2004, the Gorillaz launched their own talent contest, Search for a Star, to find an artist to collaborate with.[40] There were on average over 100 entries per week whittled down to around 10 to be put forward for the public vote. The 200+ entries were viewed over a million times. A gallery room was added to Kong Studios which displayed all of the entries. Originally, Gorillaz' competition, was initially run to pick just one winner from entries submitted to Gorillaz.com. However, at the end of the competition, it was announced that two further entries—one from the submitted images, and one from the submitted audio files—would be chosen by online vote.

The winners for each entries are as followed:

  • Video: "Table Manners" by Carlos "Sourbee" Sowerby
  • Audio: "Indian Dance" by Danny "Asidus" Gonzalez
  • Image: "2D and Paula" by Irina "Schneeflocke" Bolshakova

All three collaborated on the fourth single release of Phase Two, "Kids With Guns" / "El Mañana". Sourbee provided his animated incarnation of the "Don't Get Lost In Heaven (Original Demo Version)" B-side, featured on the DVD version of the single. Asidus made a "Dirty Harry" remix called "Uno Quatro" featured on the Gorillaz website. Schneeflocke created her own artistic interpretation of "El Mañana", featured on an insert included on the DVD version of the single.

[edit] Gorillaz Entertainment System

A Gorillaz mobile phone game called Gorillaz Entertainment System (GES) was published by Gorillaz Partnership under license to RealNetworks in the spring of 2006 in Europe, and summer of 2006 in the United States. The game was developed by Gorillaz Partnership in association with Zombie Flesh Eaters and Mr. Goodliving Ltd.[41] Gorillaz Entertainment System (GES) features four character-based games, each with their own individual gameplay and style. The games are a unique combination of classic arcade style games and contemporary Gorillaz artwork.[42] The name is a reference to the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) video game console.

[edit] Kidrobot vinyl figures

In 2005 a set of Gorillaz figures were released by Kidrobot to coincide with the release of Demon Days. Two variations of the set were released, known as the Red and Black editions, and a limited edition Noodle from the music video for "DARE" was also released. Two new sets of Gorillaz vinyl figure were released in 2006. The CMYK set was released on October 26, 2006 on Kidrobot and the White edition set were released on November 2 on Gorillaz.com and Play.com. These sets were far less expensive than their predecessors, although being made by the same company and having the same limited release.

[edit] Gorillaz Sound System

Apparently, a group called "Gorillaz Sound System" is an audio-visual party band. The first known time they played was during an MTV Send Off Party at the Bloomsbury Ballroom in London, UK on October 23rd, 2007. The story on MTV.co.uk said:

“ Our favourite MTV presenter Emma Griffith will be hosting the knees up with several DJs and live bands, including a performance from the multi-million selling Gorillaz and their DJ Sound System – but the best thing is you and your mates can be there too![43] ”

Their second known performance will be at the UK musical festival Creamfields on August 23rd and 24th of August, 2008. This is the review of what they will do according to the official Creamfields website:

“ Emerging from the cartoon underworld into the dazzling hills of Creamfields, Gorillaz Sound System have just confirmed they will be performing at this years event. Unleashing their wild beats in the stunning Cheshire valley accompanied by a spectacular visuals and lights show – a unique exhibit to wish Creamfields an incredible 10th anniversary! The phenomenal Gorillaz Sound System is the world’s premier audio-visual party experience! The eye-popping 360-degree Gorillaz visuals delivered from 20 old school projectors accompany 4 DJs in Gorillaz Sound System gear that will be delivering the biggest roof raising tracks with a one-of-a-kind spectacular.[44] ”

[edit] References

  1. ^ Mar, Alex (2005-06-02). Demon Days : Gorillaz : Review : Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
  2. ^ Steininger, Alex (November 2001). In Music We Trust - Gorillaz: Gorillaz. In Music We Trust. Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
  3. ^ Guinness Book of World Records online
  4. ^ Mercury Music Prize: The nominees. BBC News Online (2001-07-25). Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
  5. ^ a b Demon Days goes 5 x Platinum in the UK. Gorillaz-Unofficial (2006-04-02). Retrieved on 2007-02-13.
  6. ^ a b c Demon Days goes double platinum in the US. Gorillaz-Unofficial (2006-03-30). Retrieved on 2007-02-13.
  7. ^ EMI Music earns 54 Grammy nominations. EMI (2005-12-08). Retrieved on 2007-06-01.
  8. ^ EMI Music Publishing Wins Big At The Grammys!. EMI (2006-02-14). Retrieved on 2007-06-01.
  9. ^ Heath, Chris (November 2007 issue, pg 87). The 21 People Who Changed Music: Damon Albarn. Q. Retrieved on 2007-09-30.
  10. ^ Macnie, Jim (2005-06-09). Gorillaz: Who Can It Be Now?. VH1. Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
  11. ^ Huey, Steve. Deltron 3030 review. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-03-27.
  12. ^ a b Gorillaz-Unofficial meets Haruka Kuroda. Gorillaz-Unofficial (2005-04-18). Retrieved on 2007-01-08.
  13. ^ Joseph, Michael (2006-11-02, issue 604, pg 13). Gorillaz in the midst. The Big Issue in Scotland. Retrieved on 2007-03-08.
  14. ^ Gorillaz - Demon Days - Music Charts. αCharts.us. Retrieved on 2007-10-09.
  15. ^ El Mañana / Kids With Guns. fans.gorillaz.com (2006). Retrieved on 2007-03-07.
  16. ^ ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2006 Albums. Australian Recording Industry Association (2006). Retrieved on 2007-04-03.
  17. ^ a b c Gorillaz at the MTV Awards 2005. Dimensional Studios (2006). Retrieved on 2007-09-09.
  18. ^ a b Jamie Hewlett: The Fan Interview. Gorillaz-Unofficial (2006). Retrieved on 2007-01-07.
  19. ^ Pollard, Nate (2006 issue 16). The Greatest Band That Never Existed?. Verbicide. Retrieved on 2006-07-03.
  20. ^ Gorillaz new US Bsides album rumours. Gorillaz-Unofficial (2007-01-16). Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
  21. ^ 2007's Best Bets: Best of the Rest of 12 Months of Tunes. Billboard (2007-01-06). Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
  22. ^ CDs. Musictap.net (2007-01-29). Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
  23. ^ Musictap says US Gorillaz Bsides album pushed back / official reaction. Gorillaz-Unofficial (2007-01-31). Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
  24. ^ CDs. Musictap.net (2007-08-26). Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
  25. ^ D-Sides Confirmed. fans.gorillaz.com (2007-09-18). Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
  26. ^ D-Sides Deluxe Preview. fans.gorillaz.com (2007-10-20). Retrieved on 2007-11-03.
  27. ^ Gorillaz Go Bananaz. fans.gorillaz.com (2007-10-24). Retrieved on 2007-11-03.
  28. ^ Sciretta, Peter (2006-06-02). Gorillaz: The Movie. Slashfilm. Retrieved on 2006-10-01.
  29. ^ Williamson, Nigel (November 2006 issue, pg 88). West London Calling. Uncut. Retrieved on 2006-10-11.
  30. ^ Making a Gorillaz movie. Gorillaz-Unofficial (2006). Retrieved on 2006-10-01.
  31. ^ Gorillaz movie update / reports in the media / Jamie video. Gorillaz-Unofficial (2007-04-20). Retrieved on 2007-04-22.
  32. ^ Damon Albarn: 'no more Gorillaz albums'. NME (2007-04-20). Retrieved on 2007-04-22.
  33. ^ fans.gorillaz.com: q&a
  34. ^ NYC Sellout/GES Competition. fans.gorillaz.com (2006-03-14). Retrieved on 2007-01-07.
  35. ^ MSN Video to Stream Exclusive Live Broadcast of GORILLAZ "DEMON DAYS LIVE" Concert From the Apollo Theater. Microsoft (2006-04-05). Retrieved on 2007-01-07.
  36. ^ MTV Networks' MHD: Music High-Definition Rings in the New Year With Exclusive Premiere of 'Gorillaz: Live in Harlem' Concert in High-Def. PR Newswire (2006-12-19). Retrieved on 2007-01-07.
  37. ^ Jamie Hewlett named UK Designer Of The Year for Gorillaz work. Gorillaz-Unofficial (2006-05-23). Retrieved on 2007-01-07.
  38. ^ 'Reject False Icons' Gorillaz mailout / new site up 8th December. Gorillaz-Unofficial (2004-11-25). Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
  39. ^ 'Rock It' new Gorillaz video premiered on new site - possible single?. Gorillaz-Unofficial (2004-12-08). Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
  40. ^ Gorillaz launch 'Search For A Star competition' on Gorillaz.com and in NME. Gorillaz-Unofficial (2004-12-01). Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
  41. ^ Gorillaz Entertainment System phone game - world first review. Gorillaz-Unofficial (2006-03-30). Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
  42. ^ Real Gorillaz Games. fans.gorillaz.com (2006-02-17). Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
  43. ^ Win tickets to SKY and MTV's EMA Send Off Party! MTV UK. mtv.co.uk (2007-10-13). Retrieved on 2008-5-16.
  44. ^ Creamfields Official Site. creamfields.com (2008-5-16). Retrieved on 2008-5-16.

[edit] External links

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