The Gorillaz

The Gorillaz are a 'virtual' band created as the brain child of Damon Albarn, lead singer of Blur, and Jamie Hewlett, ex-2000AD Artist and creator of Hewligan's Haircut and Tank Girl. Their first album, self-titled, was released in 2000 and sold over 6 million copies and was released in three (remixed) versions. The band is 2D, Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs, and Noodle.

They've recently released a new album, 'Demon Days', and in Wired (Issue 13.07) there's an interview by Neil Gaiman with Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, here.

They touch a little on one of the ideas that makes this band kind of interesting:

Not that it matters - Gorillaz is a virtual band. It doesn't quite exist. Its four members (2D, Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs, and Noodle), designed and drawn by Hewlett, are fictional. The group inhabits Kong Studios, high on a mountain in Essex, northeast of London. There are no mountains in Essex. The band exists enough to make music, to produce videos, to remix, and to be remixed.

It's a virtual band - there are no actual 'real' members, like the Idoru in William Gibson's novel, they exist only in the virtual. The Gorillaz website includes interviews, commentary, pictures and develops the identities of the band and by selling music, producing music, 'touring' in the 'real world' they are transgressing the divide between the virtual and the real. And yet the interview is with Albarn and Hewlett reflecting the need for human intervention in the virtual.

Gorillaz also ties into some of the stuff about creative commons, where permission is given to reuse material for remixing. Dj Danger Mouse, who did the Grey album (remixing the Beatles white album with Jay-Z's black album), is also involved with the new album showing that there is an ethos to the creation of Gorillaz that exists beyond just making music. While not directly challenging the status quo (they sell through napster and itunes on their website, are used for an advertisments by itunes and are signed to a commercial label) there is still a transgression in their work through their sampling and intent to be remixed, their virtuality and their support of other entries into the genre (Search for a Star - needs flash).