Damon interview with the National Post - updated visuals, recording plans, 19/2000

orion70 sends news of a new Damon interview with the National Post (a Canadian paper). Check it out online here.

There is lots of exciting news revealed in the interview, including:- New/updated visuals for the tour, 19-2000 will be played at N.Y., maybe at other dates, Damon plans to record additional material on the tour (in a studio setting) to accompany / go with / supplement unreleased material from the Plastic Beach sessions (though nothing is stated about how this may see a release).








Leah Collins, Postmedia News

If the technology to create King Kong-sized 3-D holograms doesn’t exist, sometimes you just have to make do. And sometimes, if you’re Gorillaz, that makeshift solution is even better.

Since 2D, Murdoc, Noodle and their various demented pals were spawned from the shared flat of Blur front man Damon Albarn and Tank Girl creator Jamie Hewlett in 1998, the band/art project has released three albums, collected seven Grammy nominations (with one win) — and still has yet to complete a wide-scale world tour. That changes for the genre-smashing group Oct. 3 when they invade Montreal for the start of a trek that reaches the U.S., Europe, Hong Kong and Australia before the end of 2010 — all in support of current album, Plastic Beach.

Their last attempt, for 2005 album Demon Days, was infamously scuttled before it began due to expense and the sheer impossibility of realizing their vision of bringing Gorillaz’s animated stars around the world as 3-D
holograms.

“You still can’t make holograms work the way we want to. It still hasn’t happened,” Albarn says over the phone from England — not that he didn’t try. Apparently the vibration of a bass guitar is enough to interfere with the holographic projections — and surely fans would take Paul Simonon (formerly of The Clash, currently of Gorillaz) over some Murdoc-shaped smoke and mirrors.

That seems to be the idea, anyway; Gorillaz are embracing their humanity this time out. “What’s exciting for us is that the band is very — very real,” Albarn says, chuckling upon landing on the right word.

Similar to their summer shows at festivals such as Coachella and Glastonbury, gigs Albarn refers to as “very public rehearsals,” the band will be front and centre, while a cinematic backdrop of Gorillaz animations — “far more cohesive” than the “work in progress” that was on display this summer — plays throughout.

With five tour buses (just for the musicians) in their North American caravan, Gorillaz’s human delegation is hard to ignore — made more difficult still by their extensive lineup. In addition to Albarn (Gorillaz’s ringmaster and sole constant musical contributor), the roll call includes Mick Jones and Paul Simonon of The Clash, De La Soul, Little Dragon, Bobby Womack, the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Bashy, Kano — and then there are reports that bonus contributor Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto (and 2001 Gorillaz hit 19-2000) will turn up in select cities New York and L.A.. “I think it was the commitment that I was given by all people involved to play live — it felt like an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed,” Albarn says in response to why the timing was right for a Gorillaz world tour after a decade-long career.

And Albarn has a surplus of material for Gorillaz. He confirms that 80 songs were recorded during the making of Plastic Beach, the band’s latest, released in March. “I’m going to be recording on the road. I’m taking a sort of mobile studio along for the whole of the American tour and I’ll probably pull some of that stuff up again,” he says, referring to those Plastic Beach outtakes. Plus, the idea is to incorporate the Plastic Beach collaborators that’ll be on tour anyway. “That’s part of it, just to allow collaborations to happen in a sort of less formal atmosphere,” he says.

And they’ll be thinking of their virtual bandmates throughout, especially as their partnership has become more balanced as of this tour. “I’ve been around with them for so long now. I feel very comfortable in their presence,” Albarn says with a chuckle, “and I hope they feel the same about us.”

Gorillaz play the Bell Centre in Montreal on Oct. 3; the Rogers Centre in Toronto on Oct. 14; and the Rogers Arena in Vancouver on Nov. 3. Rhinestone Eyes by Gorillaz is featured on Dose.ca’s Essential Mix. Download it on iTunes at dose.ca/mix