In early Gorillaz performances, the live band hid behind screens so audiences could focus on the abstract band, who were presented in a tough and cool style of animation on giant screens. Given this, the band’s inclusion in Illuminate Adelaide – a festival of art and light – feels almost destined. It all paid off, because unless you count Alvin and the Chipmunks, Gorillaz are the most successful virtual band in the history of the world. In 2006, alongside the release of their album Demon Days, they published an autobiographical book (written by the “real” drummer Cass Browne), adding further fiction to the Gorillaz concept. With the release of their self-titled album in 2001, Hewlett directed a series of videos to introduce audiences to the band and created an interactive website that showed off their home and studio.

The very nature of a virtual band demands a visual narrative, a fiction made up of avatars, so let me begin again: Gorillaz are a four-piece band made up of the animated characters 2-D (vocals and keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar, keyboards and vocals) and Russel Hobbs (drums). Fears Gulf desal plant will devastate giant cuttlefish breeding grounds Search All categoriesįormed in 1998 as a commentary on manufactured boy bands and MTV’s consumeristic world, Gorillaz are an interchangeable supergroup of sorts, founded by and made up of Damon Albarn (vocalist of Blur) and artist Jamie Hewlett of the Tank Girl comics.

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