Sadly, Snoop Dogg won't be there but a 13m high version of the rapper welcomes punters "to the world of the Plastic Beach" at the beginning of the show also absent are the likes of Lou Reed ("He did a few shows but he doesn't really like leaving New York."), Mark E. These include guitarist Mick Jones and bass player Paul Simonon of the Clash ("Paul and Mick are neighbours with me and Damon in West London, so we drink at the same local pub.") who feature on the latest Gorillaz album Plastic Beach, as does soul legend Bobby Womack (who sings on spacey soul single Stylo) and American happy hip-hoppers De La Soul (who also guested on Feelgood Inc. There's staunch and dreamy singer 2D (the first character Hewlett came up with in 1998 who's based on a bloke called Stuart who works in the Gorillaz office), self-proclaimed band leader and bass player Murdoc Niccals, 10-year-old Japanese guitarist and martial arts exponent Noodle, and unhinged yet intelligent drummer Russel Hobbs.Īnd this motley, and often cheeky lot, will also have some of the many guest musicians they've played with over the years in tow. And when Gorillaz play in New Zealand for the first time next Tuesday at Vector Arena, the whole band of cartoon characters will be there - albeit beamed on to a giant screen. The cartoonist and comics freak, whose first claim to fame was co-creating the Tank Girl comic in the late 80s, is the visuals man.
That's the beauty of our relationship," he continues with a wicked chuckle on the phone from Adelaide where Gorillaz are on tour.
"We discuss things but he's very good at it. "I'm not musical and he doesn't draw so it would be foolish," says Hewlett bluntly. He leaves it entirely up to Damon Albarn, the Blur frontman and prolific music eccentric. Jamie Hewlett - the lesser known of the two brains behind virtual band Gorillaz - has nothing to do with the music. Scott Kara talks to co-founder Jamie Hewlett. The world's best cartoon band, Gorillaz, bring their unique stage show to Auckland next week.