Gorillaz talk to triplew.me

triplew.me sat down with members of the new Gorillaz line-up before their historic concert in Damascus on July 25th. The gig was the first time a major international name has played in Syria. Here Damon Albarn, Mick Jones of The Clash, Eslam Jawaad, Issam Rafea and rappers Bashy and Kano speak to Stephen Starr hours before the gig.

You’ve played a number of large concerts recently, most notably headlining Glastonbury, you’re now in a country, and a part of the world, that doesn’t see many western pop acts, let alone a concept like Gorillaz. How do you expect the audience to respond?

Damon Albarn: For the whole country I’m not sure this [concert] means anything at all. For us and for the people we have been in a dialogue with from here I do think it is an important thing by virtue of being pretty much the first western act to arrive in Damascus. We enjoy playing together tremendously. Every gig we’ve done has been an amazing experience and always different because the dynamic changes every time and it’s wonderful in that sense – no one gig can ever be the same. We very rarely have everyone together and at Glastonbury I didn’t really introduce everyone – which I should have – I mean, a lot of people there didn’t even know who Lou Reed was and maybe I should have been a bit more personal with the whole thing, but I learnt from that. I enjoyed it a lot and on television it looked an amazing thing but in the field it lacked a bit of a personal touch which I love doing, actually. From now on I’ll be doing everything from right up the front and I’m not going to take for granted that anybody gets it. And I don’t say that very often.

Eslam Jawaad: I don’t think anyone knows exactly what to expect but I think it’s probably safe to say most of the people coming to our concerts are either expats or Arabs who lived abroad. I think it’s more about the fact that even if people know we’re here creates a big buzz for the country and also the fact that Syrian musicians are involved with the project which is good for the country.

What does it mean to have a group as big as Gorillaz perform here in Damascus to you, someone from the region?

Issam Rafea: One word: fantastic. We play this track – White Flag – and [it's] conducted [by] the Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music – some people think we are Lebanese and I want to point out we are not. It has been great working with them. We find something in our own musical experience to give and take – we give and take from each other.

Tell us what we can expect from the show, is there something special in store for this concert?

Mick Jones: Well we have more of the Syrian National Orchestra [for Arabic Music] than we’ve had before so we have more people to work with, I think we have about 70 people on stage – it’s a real variety show, it’s very diverse.

'A lot of people gauge how good or successful bands are by the hits they get on YouTube. It’s almost as good as radio right now'...Kano

How did you manage to pull this together?

Damon Albarn: An awful lot of amazing people who work around us really.

The latest album has been a great success, both creatively and commercially, how difficult was it to put something like this together with so many collaborators and so many locations?

Kano: All this has been the brainchild of Damon and Jamie but I imagine organising this has been difficult. I imagine getting word out was quite easy because when you put out the phone calls everyone jumped at the chance to be a part of this and to be involved. I’ve been a fan of Gorillaz anyway and when Damon asked me to be on the album I was like, ‘what time, let’s do it’.

The music industry has been under a lot of pressure from the online world recently. Your website, has a lot of interactive elements, but it also contains some pay-per-use items – do you think this revenue source is essential to the industry surviving or is it value-adding that allows you to be more free, creatively?

Kano: I think a lot of acts have to capitalise on their material. Record sales are going lower and lower and artists are always trying to think of different ways to make revenue. I think that in the time we live in extra content is huge. People don’t want to just hear the song they want to know how it was made and the same for video – people want to see behind the scenes. So yeah, I think they could sell that content – it’s just an extension of the business. People can take music for free, but, you know, in this case, this is something they have to pay for.

Damon Albarn: Well, you can still earn money by playing live so they can’t take that away from us! Maybe the other way has just changed and that’s the way it should be. I’d like it to be the way the old system worked, it was beneficial for some bands. Maybe it’s just a democratisation of the industry and that’s evolution, maybe.

We have a section for musicians and film-makers on our website to get noticed across the Middle East, do you have any advice for bands or film-makers on how to get noticed on the world stage?

Bashy: There is a lot happening in the music industry at the moment. Some people are making some good moves, some are making bad ones. But really, I think things like YouTube are huge.

Mick Jones: It’s interesting you say that – I just saw this thing about rappers in Yemen – it surprised me but people are people. Talent is talent wherever in the world it is, I do believe that. If people want to do something they can do it.

Eslam Jawaad: First of all if you live here and are from around here stick with the Arabic unless you’ve got your English in check because if you don’t really have a strong command of English it could turn out really mediocre. Make sure pre-production is tight – there’s a lot of weak production actually. There are a lot of great rappers in the region and I think if you took them into a professional studio or environment they’d come out a lot better because they don’t have that industry support behind them. Stick to what you know best. You can pick up some good beats on-line – do some research.

I would like to go back and tell everybody how great it is here...Mick Jones

MCing and rap are probably on the best developed of the western musical forms in the Middle East. Have you guys got any advice for people who have a talent for this type of music or are interested in this?

Bashy: My advice would be not to conform to the western way of rapping. Don’t try and sound like your favourite rapper in England or France or wherever they are because you have something unique and that’s what’s going to stand out and make people look to you. For example, rapping over Arabic music is instantly something unique. So I would say, don’t try and be the Jay-Z or whoever, just be yourself.

Kano: I think people here should focus on what they have here. Don’t think about going to England or trying to crack wherever, think about home and when you’ve got that sort of energy from home the west picks up on it naturally. It’s a pity you guys haven’t got Youtube here [in Syria]. Youtube is such a big marketing tool – for us – and for every artist. A lot of people gauge how good or successful bands are by the hits they get on Youtube. It’s almost as good as radio right now.

Were you guys surprised by how you’ve been received here in the Middle East and particularly in Lebanon?

Kano: It was crazy son, it’s mad! Obviously we’re on such a unique path you never know how people are going to react. When our track came out [White Flag] in London, in Glastonbury it was great but every single time we don’t know how it’s going to go. We know we’re doing something that hasn’t really been done before. When the music starts they’re [the audience] feeling it. The song has something you can’t really put your finger on, it’s beyond us a little.

Bashy: Every show I’m just as nervous as I was on the first show, you just never know. It’s not one of the better known singles so it’s hard to know how people will react.

Any message would you like to get across to our readers?

Damon Albarn: Well we’re here; we’ve brought our concept here, so just go out and enjoy it.

Any plans for a feature film?

Kano: I don’t really know. As a fan I’d really like to see it; it’s up to the guys.

Bashy: It would be a lot of work.

As you’re working with Paul [Simonon] on this project are there any plans for a Clash get-together in the future?

Mick Jones: No I don’t think so, it’s been great working with Paul but I don’t think it could be anything without Joe [Strummer].

Is the tour all work? Or are you getting out and seeing some of Syria while you’re here?

Mick Jones: This is like a holiday with gigs! I’ve been down the souk twice and that was amazing and just been wandering around. It’s been a wonderful experience and the friendships between the group have gone deeper as we’ve shared experiences together. I haven’t been here before – everything is instantly recognisable but totally different for me. I didn’t really have any expectations of what to expect here. Slightly looking forward to it and slightly uncertain because of not knowing what to expect but I’ve been pleasantly surprised and I would like to go back and tell everybody how great it is here.

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