February 4, 2015

6 things you didn't know about Gorillaz

With all the news about a new Gorillaz album in 2015 or 2016, here are 6 facts that you didn't know about the band's tumultuous and interesting history.

  1. Damon Albarn formed Gorillaz after his last Blur album, having settled down with his girlfriend and even becoming a father. Gorillaz was the first product of Albarn's rebirth, which was the project fronted by four cartoon characters.
  2.  Jamie Hewlett was the artist with whom he shared a house in between the end of his relationship with ex-girlfriend Justine Frischmann and the decisive start of his life with current girlfriend Suzi Winstanley. Essentially this was a roommates' collaboration.
  3. Jamie Hewlett hated Damon Albarn at first- quoting Jamie: "Damon was very competitive, and I had the whole Tank Girl thing going. Then in the late Nineties I split up with Jane, around the same time Damon broke up with Justine, and for some reason we decided to get a flat together. We'd spend hours watching MTV and wondering why everything on it was so terrible. I think Damon was tired of being the frontman for Blur, and I was just aghast at how boring most pop groups are when they're interviewed. Look at them, on television, all sat on the couch with nothing to say. So we said, "Let's make up a fake band".
  4. In 2010, the two co-founders had yet another fallout. Jamie stated that he felt that people were starting care more about the music and less about his characters and art. The two creators had many disagreements while on tour in 2010 and were growing apart. Although they didn't split then, it spurred rumours about the split several years later. 
  5. In 2011, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett had an argument, which led to the news that row "basically ended things" for the group. They have been hit with rumours of break-ups and split-ups, with some insiders commenting that Gorillaz are always "dogged with angry rows".
  6. Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett have  broken up a few times over 2011-2015, allegedly over personal issues. Damon also once said that he was "less than impressed with Jamie’s party lifestyle."


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