Gorillaz Break Into the Real World in Weird BBC Radio Live Chat About New Album

This article is over 7 years old and may contain outdated information

Recommended Videos

In another weird first, Gorillaz have just participated in a live chat with BBC Radio 1’s Mistajam.

It’s weird because, well, the band’s members are all animated characters. For this chat, though, 2D and Murdoc came through and had a chat with Mistajam about things like their creative process and what it was like to make their new upcoming album, Humanz.

The interview’s plenty entertaining and well worth watching, even if only as a quirky look at how augmented reality is blurring the line between worlds. Another member of the band, Russel Hobbs, called in to join them by phone but didn’t stick around too long.

The technology reminds me a lot of the “Turtle Talk with Crush” attraction at Disneyland and Epcot. You’ve got live talent hooked up to a rig offstage somewhere just kind of hanging out and reacting to the audience or host. Black Mirror touched on a similar concept in their episode, “The Waldo Moment,” which featured a voice actor whose animated bear character ends up taking over the world.

These kinds of campaigns I always find kind of interesting, if only because trying to market and advertise an entirely animated band seems like such an intriguing challenge. Of course, that’s not an entirely new concept; Japan’s been doing that with vocaloid stars like Hatsune Miku for quite some time now.

As well, the idea that Gorillaz are trying to “break out” of the confines of their animated world tickles me a bit. This weekend, you might even get a chance to step into their world, as “Spirit Houses” are opening in a few select locations, allowing guests to actually enter the house shown in their “Saturnz Barz (Spirit House)” music video.

Neat.

(via A.V. Club)

Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!

The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—


The Mary Sue is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
Author
Image of Jessica Lachenal
Jessica Lachenal
Jessica Lachenal is a writer who doesn’t talk about herself a lot, so she isn’t quite sure how biographical info panels should work. But here we go anyway. She's the Weekend Editor for The Mary Sue, a Contributing Writer for The Bold Italic (thebolditalic.com), and a Staff Writer for Spinning Platters (spinningplatters.com). She's also been featured in Model View Culture and Frontiers LA magazine, and on Autostraddle. She hopes this has been as awkward for you as it has been for her.
twitter