By Mari Apazidis
The neat thing about having a band made up of four fictional characters is that they can go virtually anywhere. Damon Albarn (a real human person and the actual voice behind Gorillaz) and Jamie Hewlett (the artist behind the characters) have taken advantage of founding a fantasy band by taking them to fantasy settings.
The Feel Good Inc. Tower is the setting for the “Feel Good Inc.” music video, and it is built above a run-down industrial city. In the “Feel Good Inc.” music video, all of the band members are spread out throughout the tower. 2D, the fictional lead singer, is alone with a vacant gaze but yet tells the audience to “feel good.” The music video and location contrast the general vibe of the song, but this deliberate contrast brings out the harsh reality of the lyrics.
City’s breaking down on a camel’s back
“Feel Good Inc.” – Gorillaz
They just have to go, ’cause they don’t know wack
Here, Gorillaz criticizes how people are overworked, a message that could have been lost to one of the catchiest bass lines of all time if not for the crumbling, industrial visuals of Feel Good Inc. Tower.
Up next, we have Kong Studios. There is an MTV cribs video with Murdoc, the fictional leader of Gorillaz, giving the cameramen a tour of the first ever Gorillaz studio. The whole thing is animated and pretty funny, and also arguably Albarn’s satirical critique of MTV cribs in general, poking fun at how everyone shows off their rich and superfluous houses all the while Kong Studios is… kind of a dump. It’s a place that feels so real despite being fictional with cool songs to accompany it, like “19-2000.”
After Kong Studios was put up for sale and then burned to the ground (fun fact about the Gorillaz lore: Murdoc blamed the arson on a group of young kids who then got thrown in jail) Murdoc built the new Gorillaz studio on an island made of trash called Plastic Beach. The music video for “Rhinestone Eyes” is a storyboard film set on Plastic Beach, illustrating the fictional band members’ reunion and an epic battle. The song, “Empire Ants,” is a prayer of beautiful moments in the midst of a crumbling empire. These seemingly disparate stories are ultimately a commentary on the chaos of life, and the fleeting moments that we cherish in between chaos.
I have barely scratched the surface when it comes to all these fictional settings, and I haven’t even talked about all the different locations possible! It is so awesome that Damon Albarn created an entire universe with his music. Having fake band members fostered this creative flexibility that I have yet to see in other artists– when you’re listening to Gorillaz, you’re listening to a story.
