Damon Albarn On Playing To Cows At Glastonbury 2021

 Damon Albarn recently spoke out about playing to the "cows not the crowds" at this year's Glastonbury 2021. Damon was recently featured on ITV News talking about Brexit, Covid and playing at this year's live streaming event during Glastonbury 2021.

In response to what it was like playing to the cows instead of crowds, Damon responded that he quite "liked" playing to the cows. Dressed in a beanie cap, sunglasses and golden necklace, the singer gave a good-natured interview to the media and also discussed the challenges facing musicians during the pandemic outbreak. 

Damon also talked about Brexit. He talked about how a lack of travel and ties to Europe is hurting musicians' ability to travel to play. He concluded that if we can "meditate" on these serious issues during these tough times, then people can move forward and continue to create good music. 

On streaming culture, Damon said that the deals between the industry and artists has always been "outrageous" and "unbalanced". Damon empathised with how difficult it must be to have a livelihood when main source of income for musicians have evaporated. 

Watch the full interview below. 

Best Damon Albarn Quotes Of All Time

Damon Albarn has always had a way with words. He has said so many memorable things over his musical career. Here are some of the highlights from the man himself. 

1. "I must admit that I always found it incredibly easy to get off with girls. When you’re a teenager, picking up girls is a bit like getting run over by a large vehicle. You see a juggernaut approaching and you have to know when to throw yourself under it. I always seemed to know when to throw myself on the floor and get what I wanted." (on getting girls)

2. "I don’t feel anything with a passion. I’m not a very passionate bloke. I can’t bring myself to actually believe in passion." (on his interests)

3. "Life is very different in my home. My status is extremely different. I’m not taken very seriously, in a good way. I walk around in my pants, which my daughter finds highly embarrassing. I’m just a normal, down-to-earth dad." (on fatherhood)

4."I’m actually really passionate about puppets. I had these puppets made of me when I was in Jakarta. I originally wanted to use them in a video for a song on the album, 'Hollow Ponds', which has a strong dateline of me growing up. So now I’ve got these ten puppets of me at home – and one of Barack Obama. I may turn it into a puppet show for kids. I love puppets." (on his passions)

5."That’s just been lost this year. I think that, even though we’re not necessarily aware of it at the time, we all evolve when something like this happens." (on Covid lockdowns)

6."When you’re in an indie band it’s like a marriage, you know? You’re married to everything about it. I was just at the front being a fucking knobhead frontman for quite a long period of time." (on Blur)

7."I was always accused of being a bit of a dilettante back in the day. I never really saw it like that. I was just interested in lots of different things, and I wanted to see how I could somehow articulate my own thing through other things. No one actually comes up with something that reinvents music." (on music)

8."Rock is the easy option. You can write mediocre songs, mumble words, put a lot of attitude into it and be successful. But pop is so much more of an expose. If 'Girls and Boys hadn't had something to say and the sounds that we used hadn't been thought through, it would have been embarrassing." (on writing pop songs)

9. "I don't think anybody understood the irony. I seriously doubt it. Modern Life Is Rubbish [1993] and Parklife [1994] were angry records. The Great Escape [1995, number one in the UK, and Blur's biggest-selling album worldwide to date] was a rather cynical album, everything seemed to be going down hill, and I was cynical, too cynical." (on his albums)

10. "We were together for eight years. Eight years are a long time, a very long time. Especially if the relationship is as public as our relationship was. I went through a phase where I thought I've got to justify my feelings, everything I invested in that relationship. As a musician usually music is your way out." (on his ex-girlfriend Justine Frischmann)

Gorillaz to play in the O2 London in August 2021- Buy Tickets Now

Head's up for all Gorillaz fans out there. Gorillaz the biggest virtual band in the world is set to play one of the biggest shows ever in The O2 in London on 11th August 2021. 

Gorillaz has embarked on a tour to promote their latest offering Song Machine: Season One - Strange Timez – one of their most well-received albums that has debuted online in 2020. 

In reviewing their album, the NME wrote: “‘Strange Timez’ is a varied affair that pulls from Albarn and the band’s perchance for exploration: punk rock sits effortlessly next to glitzy piano ballads, while playful hip-hop and melancholic post-rave ambience soothe our pounding heads. It’s a further reminder that while the post-genre mindset is now crucial to mainstream success, Gorillaz have always been ken to encourage emerging artists to embrace their diverse inspirations.”

Notable tracks from Song Machine include MLS, Aries and The Pink Phantom (featuring Elton John). The album is interesting in that it features many famous collaborators, such as Peter Hook, Beck, Slaves, GoldLink, St Vincent and others. 

Gorillaz have also announced a wide range of other new collaborations such as their new Fred Perry clothing line coming soon. 

Get tickets and reserve your place at the band's 2021 tour HERE! 

Versace Mixes Up Blur and Blue For Fashion Show

If you have been a Blur fan for long enough, you'll understand the familiar problem: you search for "Blur" songs and out pops "Blue", another 90s boy band with several hit singles. We have certainly had this problem before, but this time one of the members of Blue has spoken up about just how often the two bands have been mixed up. 

Blue has recently admitted that they once "stole" Blur's golden tickets to the fashion show in Milan. Apparently, Blur was invited to fly via private jet to the esteemed fashion show and was invited to meet Donatella Versace personally. However, there was a huge mix-up which resulted in the band Blue getting chauffeured all the way to Milan- and back. 

Antony Costa from Blue has regaled a hilarious story about his band getting mixed up with Blur near 20 years ago. "In 2001 we released our first single ('All Rise'), it was going really well for us and we got invited to Milan Fashion Week by Donatella Versace.” Costa told Ben Hanlin's Ben Behaving Dadly podcast.

“So we got kitted out by Versace at Bond Street. We got a private plane out there, they flew us out there. We landed, went to the fashion show, and afterwards they were like 'Look, we want you to meet Donatella’.” 

He said: “So we lined up, like we were meeting the Queen, and she looked at us. I said to Simon (Webbe), 'This is a bit weird, we're supposed to be one of the guests. Why wouldn't she want to say hello?' "Anyway, to cut a long story short, when we get back to London, and she had invited Blur and not Blue."

Costa continued: "The mad thing was I meant Alex James years later and he was mucking about and was like 'Oi you. You took or tickets!' I was like 'Mate, I didn't know!'"