#this is from the phase 4 demon dayz interview i think

[anon-agent]

The Gorillaz interviews are quite funny and I desperately want visuals for some of them, so I guess I'll do it myself then

Anyway Live, Laugh, Love Russel

[greywindys]

It’s that time of year again! I, and possibly a good number of you reading this, just spent the whole of 2018 in the Gorillaz fandom. Congratulations! You made it! Because this year...kinda sucked. Not just for the Gorillaz fandom but, if this Washington Post article is any indication, for the rest of the world too. Maybe on an individual level there were moments of light. Maybe Gorillaz was your moment of light. If it was I’m genuinely happy because that means you probably found a way to avoid or ignore all the chaos that went down this year. But overall? Fandom was rife with disappointments, confusion and conflict with some good parts (for me, at least) sprinkled in here and there. Below is a personal reflection on the top 10 significant events in fandom of 2018.

1. Murdoc Goes to Prison

2018 started out peacefully for fandom. We were just finishing up sharing our scans of G-Magazine and theorizing over the next album when we’re treated with this - a nineteen second mocap of a frantic Murdoc accepting a Brit Award with an “oh by the way I’m going to prison.” We didn’t know why or for how long, and, though fans were confused and Murdoc going to prison is a tired, overplayed storyline at this point, it was cherished as any new Gorillaz content, especially animation, is cherished. Memes were made, most notably the #FreeMurdoc hashtag complete with a petition which was acknowledged by creators and caused the first big outburst in fandom for its messy tag. I did what I always do with Murdoc videos and went through the entire thing frame by frame to collect screenshots. Little did I know that this would be the only time I would get to indulge in this beloved past time. Little did I know that I would be wearing the same expression as Murdoc is in this screencap this entire phase.

2. Murdoc hate

Murdoc hate has always existed. It’s also generally accepted. However, when it was confirmed that Murdoc was going to be in prison for an undetermined amount of time and that he may not even speak this phase (thanks a lot, phase 5 plot!) it reached unprecedented levels of viciousness. Some fans took every opportunity to drag him in the main tag, start debates with anyone who might mention one positive thing about him and expressed how they genuinely wanted him to die and/or never come back. It kinda reminded me of this season of MTV’s The Challenge when everyone ganged up on Johnny Bananas. Like, yes he’s an asshole and yes this was probably long overdue but also omg when is there and end point? Is there an end point? It was like some people hated Murdoc more than they liked Gorillaz. For some additional context - this tense environment was born out of an astoundingly severe conflict that happened in spring where three separate fandom storms that had been brewing since late 2017 collided into one huge mess. Discords were raided, friendships were lost, the police were called (I’m not even exaggerating). I won’t go into it more but if you were there, you know what i’m talking about. Murdoc wasn’t the cause of this, but his character was at the center of one of those storms and the canon sending him to prison only reignited the ire towards him. For awhile Murdoc fans weren’t sure were exactly they stood with the greater fandom, and new fans were confused as to why this one green character was the source of so much grief for haters and fans alike. This continued for most of the year (and still continues today), hence why it’s getting a mention now.

3. Ace

Believe it or not Murdoc and Ace are confirmed #friends. You wouldn’t know that from all the Murdoc vs Ace content that sprung out of this year but Ace was the one who joined Murdoc for hot chocolate after he got out of prison, “they go way back” etc etc. Ace was a big deal because it was probably the only time the fandom guessed something correctly this entire year. Jamie began posting cryptic pictures of Noodle with this unidentified man, then another with only the Ace card visible. “It a Powerpuff Girls crossover!” Some people claimed. But that seemed so random? Really? A B-list cartoon villain from a cartoon targeting an entirely different demographic? More likely than you think! Ace never spoke a word and he wasn’t allowed to smoke or have sex. People obsessed over him anyways. To this day I still have no idea who he is or what kind of personality he has or really anything. But he wasn’t a bad guy (more on that later) and he was Murdoc’s friend so he’s alright with me.

4. Messaging Denholm

By now the fandom was fraught with distress on so many levels. We were lost. We needed someone to guide us, to show us the way, to show us the #truth. I don’t know exactly who started this trend but it soon spread around Reddit and other social media sites that Jamie’s son Denholm was replying to dm’s on Instagram and soon, he was graced with a deluge of of inquiries from casual fans and Murdoc stans alike. The thing is though - he actually *did* answer them. Many of us had spoilers re: Murdoc and Ace’s friendship, Murdoc getting out of prison, etc. MONTHS before they happened. I believe he even told us that 2D was fine back in like, June or something. Denholm knew! Eventually we pissed him off but it didn’t stop him from answering. He just answered angrier. It also caused fans to argue more because people started accusing others of photoshopping his responses and nothing can ever be done peacefully here. I haven’t followed up on this story singe the end of summer but I think fans have finally scaled back on the messaging. But I hear he’s working on a Gorillaz documentary for 2019 so...I’m sure we’ll be talking again soon.

5. Noodle

I want to take a moment here to also acknowledge the struggle AMA Gorillaz hosted on, of all places, Youtube. Thankfully, diligent redditors compiled a google doc of all the answers otherwise they would lost thanks to Youtube’s confusing interface. ANYHOW. The answer that stirred up the biggest milieu of debate and confusion came from Noodle. This isn’t exactly my lane - I don’t wade into Noodle issues and I don’t id as part of the LGBT community - so I’m not going to say much here other than, at the very least, this was the second or third time she has officially denied any interest in dating her bandmates.

6. 2D’s journal/2Doc

Okay first of all: 2DOC...jk, jk...jk? But no, honestly, this actually did become a big story this year, much bigger than expected. The release of 2D’s journal was the catalyst here, revealing a number of drawings and images of Murdoc. “Souk Eye,” a song that came with visuals featuring close ups of Murdoc’s face and vaguely romantic lyrics was depicted in 2D’s journal next to yet another drawing of Murdoc. We were confused! 2D didn’t care that Murdoc was gone, right? 2Doc shippers were intrigued. I was hesitant. We were all called delusional. However, “Souk Eye” was later confirmed to be a love song by Damon Albarn, and Murdoc and 2D have both claimed their relationship is “better” since the end of phase 5 (hhMmMmM). Obvi, take this with a grain of salt because it’s Gorillaz but the journal was instrumental in confirming how closely The Now Now (and the entire plot of phase 5, really) was tied to Murdoc and 2D’s relationship, particularly what 2D thinks of Murdoc. Think of it as platonic if you want but they share a closeness on SOME level and the content of 2018, from interviews to the Murdoc chats to the album itself, supports this. I rest my case.

7. Lost theories

Pour one out for all the lost theories. If you were a new fan this year you probably came up with a theory, or you got really invested in a theory. Some examples: HIM from PPG orchestrating the destruction of Gorillaz by possessing 2D and getting Murdoc framed with Ace as a double agent, or Murdoc’s imprisonment being tied to his trouble with EMI from phase 4, or phase 5 being about time travel, or Murdoc crashing Demon Dayz fest and fighting El Mierda on stage, or 2D being the one to frame Murdoc or Murdoc’s inmate number (24602) being a Les Mis reference implying that he’d get a character arc similar to Jean Valjean...you get the idea. But there are dreams that cannot beeee, and there are storms we cannot weather. You can argue about the budget or G-Shock or whatever but the truth is Gorillaz is just disorganized. This is their Brand™.

8. The Murdoc Chatbot

Gorillaz did an interesting thing this year - it let us talk to Murdoc! Sometime around June, he writers decided that the plot of phase 5 would be best spent, not on exploring the band’s dynamic with Murdoc gone or developing Ace’s personality, but on Murdoc! Fandom spent most of the summer following Murdoc’s experience in prison and helping to “free” him via a chatbot you could access through Kik, Instagram or Facebook. Basically, Murdoc was Paddington from Paddington 2, and we the fans were supposed to be the Browns trying to break him out and prove his innocence. Other fans begrudgingly used the chatbot to make fun of him or tell him to die and follow along with the story (it was the only place you could get plot updates). It was a neat idea as well as a funny experience to pretend to be talking to him, and the plot was very engaging at times. It was the chatbot that revealed the very dissatisfying (albeit happy) conclusion that Murdoc is no Paddington and had lied about everything - being framed, El Mierda etc. - but felt really bad about it. His apology was basically this. I’m going to also tag the #FreeMurdoc merchandise debacle, how overpriced it was and how it ended up being pointless anyways because Murdoc wasn’t framed and didn’t need to be “freed” onto this, because it all falls under the same event. Oh, and you got to talk to Noodle sometimes, too. 

9. G-shock ends phase 5

I put “ends phase 5″ in strikethrough because G-Shock on its own is actually pretty cool, and made up for the lack of videos (2 in total) that were released this year. The now Murdoc inclusive band goes to space and starts an alien war! That’s fun! Completely removed from whatever phase 5 was, but fun! (And I say that genuinely) What was messy about G-shock was that it came out of nowhere. The final Murdoc chat, that was SUPPOSED to reveal the ending to the prison arc, hadn’t even happened but suddenly, Murdoc was back to sell watches to aliens with the rest of the band and Ace was gone. But the final chat was delayed by a month and G-Shock came out anyways. Out of this came memes about how phase 5 ended so Gorillaz could try to sell us watches.

10. Cass Browne Tells us the True Plastic Beach Ending

We ended 2018 with not one but two major interviews from the fancast, Hallelujah Monkeyz but I’m choosing to cover their latest interview with Cass Browne, writer of Rise of the Ogre. If you were new this year you probably heard older fans mention ad nauseam how much they missed this guy name Cass. Well, Cass came back and dropped actual bombs about the true ending of phase 3, Murdoc’s lost backstory and the Plastic Beach book he found AND that a sequel to ROTO was planned and dropped. Understandably, this sparked a lot of discussion and also revealed just how important Cass was to the continuity of the Gorillaz storyline. Back then, we had ROTO and Plastic Beach. Today, we have “Murdoc drowns in poop and reunites with the band offscreen”

And that’s the year! And look I’m not saying this because I’m a stan but this was a Murdoc year. He was at the center of like, at least 80% of the angst and joy of fandom and I could make separate “top 10 Murdoc moments” or  “top 10 2Doc moments.” I guess for me, on an individual level, it was an alright year. For one, I actually talked to more people this year and met some really great friends (something I don’t typically do in fandom). I also get to check “write a fanfic” off my bucket list (it’s still a WIP but it’s the first WIP I’ve ever had so I’m counting it). And personally, my life has changed and without getting into too many details I’ve overcome a lot, grown professionally and...I think I can be kinda proud of myself for that. I expect 2019 to be a slower year than this one, and, I think the fandom needs that. Hopefully I’ll still see some of you around because I’m going to be here for at least the next few months while I finish up you know what. 

Honorable mentions: 2D “Dies” of Ligma and other 2D memes, 2D writes The Now Now, Benjamin Clementine says he regrets working with Gorillaz, Noodles old VA confirms Jamie ghosted her and recast Noodle without telling her, Gorillaz delay the final Murdoc chat by a month, Demon Dayz doesn’t get streamed, Music video releases - “Humilty” and “Tranz”, Cyborg Noodle returns with boobs and causes debate, the “Let Ace Speak” petition,

[greywindys]

Gorillaz | 2017 in Review

Ayyy happy new year!!! Relative to the entire year of waiting that was 2016, 2017 was a pretty packed year for Gorillaz and consequently, for me as a fan. To sum it up in three words- They came back! (Finally, someone let them out of their cage?) And there was a surplus of content- good, quality content. But there were also some letdowns. Which release falls into which category depends on who you ask. Like, pretty much every move Gorillaz made this year was met with both applause on one side and boos on the other. If I had to pick a word of the year for them, it would be “polarizing.” However, polarizing isn’t always bad, and there were many well thought out conversations, theories and fan content that resulted. Add in some scandal and disorganization and you’ve got a pretty wild twelve months. Under the cut I list some notable and memorable momentz.mp3 of the year, mostly for my own records but anyone is welcome to read.

Hallelujah Money (1/19/17)

Gorillaz started their year off with what was probably the most polarizing move of the year. Some backstory: January 2017 we still had no idea when the album was coming out. Actually, we didn’t even know IF the album was coming out like, we basically didn’t know wtf Gorillaz was doing. Then, on the day before the US inauguration they drop the video for Hallelujah Money, a video punctuated with Orwellian imagery for a song that sounded like a funeral march. Benjamin Clementine took a prominent role while 2D took a backseat (a trend that would persist throughout the singles) and, after the initial excitement, fans began to complain. “What happened to the fast paced music Damon promised?,” “Where is 2D? This doesn’t feel like Gorillaz?,” “Why do they need to make their music so political?” This only drove other fans to passionately defend the song. There is still no consensus on this song/video other than the agreement that “it makes more sense in the context of the album.” My personal take is that whatever point this video was trying to make is obscured by their backtracking in the form of bleeping out any mention of Trump’s name on the album. Go big or go home. And at this point in the year I think we can say it- Trump fucking sucks, okay? Trump sucks.

Dylan leaks the album (Mid-March 2017)

This is like, probably my favorite story. By the time March was upon us, we knew the album was coming soon but we still didn’t know when. The album was like a cryptid, rumored but never found. And then Dylan happened. Now to clarify, he didn’t leak the entire album and he didn’t do it on purpose but he did leak more than we were ready for. After the tracklist leaked, fans began googling the songs on video sites like youtube and dailymotion. When one fan google’d “Saturnz Barz” on vimeo, they were met with a mysterious password protected video. A couple tries later (the password was “2017″), they had access to “Saturnz Barz” one month before the album came out. And they found more- “Charger,” “Busted and Blue” to name a few. All of which were uploaded by Dylan Byrne, a lighting  technician connected to Gorillaz who apparently didn’t know his private videos could still be found on search engines such as google. The fandom collectively lost its mind, some with excitement over the new music, others with indignation at fans who dare “disrespect Damon and Jamie” and that those listening to the leaks were going to be responsible for Humanz flopping. It was wild. Oh yeah, and I downloaded the leakz and Humanz didn’t flop. 

Giant content drop of 2017 (3/23/17)

I use this particular picture of 2D here because I that we, on some level, were all 2D by the end of that fourth week in March. I’m using the “Saturnz Barz” video release date because that’s when it all began. I distinctly remember waking up on that day expecting to listen to a Damon Albarn interview and some new tracks on a UK radio show but by the end of the day we not only had new music (4 tracks, specifically) and the interview but we were also blessed with the perfect “Saturnz Barz” video which featured the band in the starring roles, gave us “the bath” meme (though that’s more of a curse now) AND an upcoming announcement of a “secret show” set to take place the very next day where the live band would play the entire new album. I think this was also the period where we finally learned the album’s name and release date. It was so much. Too much, but a good too much. Everyone felt alive. Phase 4 had officially begun.

Mocaps (April 2017- present)

Gorillaz debuted many new ways to depict the band this year but by far the most hilariously amazing method was through motion capture, abbreviated “mocap.” 2017 was in many ways the year of the mocap, specifically, 2D and Murdoc mocaps. Mocap Murdoc and mocap 2D graced us with the weather, Deezer ads, app videos, multi-lingual announcements, and even walked us around the Demon Dayz tour. My personal favorite moment was 2D telling Murdoc he fed a stray cat a kinder egg. I also want to give a special shoutout to Murdoc’s wonky eye. There was a time when we were all trying to find meaning in it. Was it an artistic choice? Had Murdoc gone blind in one eye? Was he possessed? The truth is none of the above. It was just, in the true spirit of what the mocaps models came to represent, wonky. I don’t think we all truly gave the mocaps the credit they deserved. In my eyes they are on the same level as the puppets AT LEAST. And I maintain that their potential has yet to be truly realized- Mocap carpool karaoke? Mocap SNL skit? The possibilities are endless.

Murdoc and 2D answer fan questions....live (4/20/17)

This also falls under the umbrella of the previous moment but I think it deserves its own mention because this was like, peak mocap utilization. Fans were allowed to submit questions that would them be answered by Murdoc and 2D live while we all watched. Their VA’s not only improvised these answers but also finally got the change to live out their personal headcanons. This interview was the first time we ever saw wiggly Murdoc. Much essential information was learned in this half hour event- 2D knows how to make theremin noises! Murdoc said “meme” and “twerk”! 2D sold the geep! Cyborg Noodle has taken to cycling! A lot of you seem to think I’ve been critical this phase which, while totally true, it also makes me think you possibly weren’t aware of this blog at this time because I love this interview and died when it was first released. And then I continued to love each and every subsequent awkward interview they had with actual human interviewers. The first quarter of the year was great (for me).

Reddit AMAs with the entire band, Noodle, 2D (2017)

I wasn’t an active fan during previous phases but my impression is that they didn’t have as many q&a’s with the band as this phase. The characters were very accessible this phase and, as I’ve mentioned above, at first this was great! But nothing good it forever. The Reddit AMAs, while highly entertaining, soon came to contradict past events and even past answers to earlier interviews. For example, we learned during the band’s AMA that Cyborg Noodle was NOT actually cycling somewhere in England but decapitated and being used as a pot in Noodle’s room. What was the truth? Later on, 2D had his own AMA which was cute but yielded significant nit-picking and criticism from fans including myself. For me,personally, the 2D AMA was the turning point. I didn’t mourn the loss of Cass Browne with other fans until that AMA. The difference in writing was and is glaring. For that reason, I didn’t pay much attention to the Noodle AMA but from what I saw, similar debate over her characterization (or lack thereof) took place. Tbh, I can’t picture a Noodle that types out “YAASS GURL!!1″ (or w/e it was) unironically but...I’m happy it brought joy to some fans. That all being said, regardless of writing quality the AMAs did a great job of engaging the fandom and initiating some interesting conversations.

Fans miss 2D so much that he gets his own impromptu video (6/8/17)

By far the most frequent concern over Humanz was the “lack of 2D.” It was on Tumblr, Reddit, Twitter, pretty much all social media. Despite this, no one ever expected Damon and Co. do acknowledge this let alone actually respond to it. Then, out of nowhere, 2D makes an announcement on the Gorillaz app and there it is- “Sleeping Powder” an exclusively 2D music video by 2D, starring 2D and some dorky dance moves. It was 2D’s “Dare.” The song was cute and even had its place on the tour set list. And that’s the power of 2D. And everyone was happy until people started joking that “Sleeping Powder” was written in a day and was still better than all of Humanz, and others chastising everyone for “making Damon feel bad enough to write a new song.”

Strobelite (8/6/17)

I’m not going to get into “Strobelite” too much. If you were there, you know what happened and what it led to (a certain liked Youtube comment and the later, Noodle’s answer during her AMA). “Strobelite” was also hyped up as a the band’s first official mocap video (despite “Sleeping Powder’s” release a month earlier) but unfortunately, was underwhelming to a significant portion of the fandom. Reasons included but were not limited to: no Russel mocap, very little plot, very little Murdoc, rumored cut scenes that DID involve Russel, and, yes, controversial shipping fuel. I don’t think “Strobelite” charted nor do I remember it being involved in any promo. I actually don’t know what happened to “Strobelite” outside of the, um, for lack of a better word,the discussion it spawned. There were also many theories about what Murdoc was doing at the bar. To this day, we still have no answers. What’s the plot for phase four again?

Gorillaz in Media (2017)

This isn’t exactly a singular moment but I want to highlight it anyways because the length to which they went to make this phase an immersive experience deserves a lot of credit. Not one but two apps were developed, one of which gave fans access to the band’s home and hosted events such as live listening parties so that fans could potentially meet. The other provided new content, art and access to secret concert locations. BUT THEY DIDN’T STOP THERE. With one of their sponsors they were able to construct actual, real “Spirit House” models for fans to walk through. Additionally, the band is accessible through their own music mixes on Spotify, Noodle has an instagram, G Magazine etc. I’m going to fit in the amount of sponsors they had under this category as well because, as annoying as they were to some, it did give us some cool new animation and ads (”We Got the Power” comes to mind, along with the Lenz ad). They put in work, they really did (though the topic of social media  #justice4MurdocTube).

The Super Deluxe is never released...until it is (September 2017-November 2017)

I forget when the original release date was but what I do know it that it didn’t happen. Phase four slowed down in the latter half of the year, and I think this made everyone hyper-aware of what content was yet to come and that content was the Super Deluxe with *bonus tracks*. But then it never came. It was delayed until October, then October came and it STILL wasn’t there. Finally,in November, orders began arriving and songs were ripped and uploaded. Reactions ranged from elated to disappointed to simply confounded that the the entire thing cost around $400. You could say that it was very polarizing.

Honorable mentions

Humanz being released (I know, why isn’t this on the list? I decided against it because it leaked a week early  so by the time it WAS released mostly everyone had already heard it), Demon Dayz fest streamed live, “Garage Palace” surprise video drop, G Magazine, G-Foot pop up shop steal fanart, Fans strike the fear of god into the Gorillaz team for forgetting Russel’s birthday, Humanz revealed as the fourth album title, Gorillaz announce a TV show, probably more that I’m forgetting.

Anyhow, what a year. I like to stay vague about my personal life here but to keep it simple, despite everything happening the world, on a personal level, it was a good year. I did a lot of growing, got some really great feedback at my field placement, tapped into some new hobbies and recently adopted two cats, brother and sister, whose names I’m still deciding lmao (leaning towards Oberyn and Elia). So yeah...here’s to that. I hope 2018 treats us all well <3.