Over the course of his 35-year career, Damon Albarn has reached international fame with two very different bands. In 1988, Damon created the rock band Blur with three friends in his native London. Blur started out as what Damon calls a “classic art school band.” They quickly moved to the forefront of the ‘90s Britpop explosion along with their formal rivals, Oasis.

After a series of successful albums with Blur, Damon started Gorillaz in 1998 with cartoonist Jamie Hewlett. Dubbed as the world’s first virtual band, the Gorillaz rotating lineup includes collaborations with De La Soul, Stevie Nicks, Bobby Womack and Lou Reed. The band pulls influence from electronic music, hip-hop and world music, and over the last 25 years, Gorillaz has been wildly successful—selling over 30 million albums worldwide.

Despite having found such success, Damon has never stopped exploring his artistic potential. He’s written an opera, released solo and side projects, and recently, he reunited with Blur to release the band’s latest album called The Ballad Of Darren.

On today’s episode Leah Rose talks to Damon Albarn about what it’s like for Blur to headline international music festivals in 2023. Damon also reveals how Gorillaz are about to undergo a major paradigm shift. And he explains how, according to family lore, John Lennon and Yoko Ono first met at his dad’s counterculture art gallery in London.

You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite Damon Albarn songs HERE.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episoder(373)

Tommy Emmanuel

Tommy Emmanuel

Tommy Emmanuel is an Australian guitarist who has spent over six decades mastering the art of fingerstyle acoustic guitar. He's now widely regarded as one of the best acoustic players in the world. Bo...

10 Mar 1h 16min

Rodney Crowell

Rodney Crowell

Rodney Crowell has been a fixture in Nashville's songwriting community for over 50 years. Born in Houston in 1950, he was influenced early on by songwriters Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt. In 1975, he...

3 Mar 1h 8min

FKA twigs

FKA twigs

FKA twigs has spent over a decade redefining the boundaries of pop music through her innovative blend of electronic production, experimental R&B, and striking visual art. Her albums LP1 and Magdalene ...

24 Feb 50min

Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses)

Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses)

Ben Bridwell has led Band of Horses for over two decades. He describes the band's sound as "y'all-ternative," a genre that tips its hat to Southern rock's deep myriad of musical influences. Next month...

17 Feb 1h 6min

Grant-Lee Phillips

Grant-Lee Phillips

Grant-Lee Phillips first made his name in the ‘90s as the frontman of Grant Lee Buffalo, a critically acclaimed band that released four albums and toured with Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins, and R.E...

10 Feb 43min

Peaches

Peaches

Peaches has spent more than two decades pushing boundaries in electronic music and performance art, inspiring the look and sound of edgy pop artists like Lady Gaga and Grimes. But long before she was ...

3 Feb 45min

Jacob Collier

Jacob Collier

Jacob Collier has built a remarkable career as a multi-instrumentalist and arranger known for his complex harmonic approach and collaborative spirit. He first gained attention as a teenager posting mu...

27 Jan 1h 3min

Don Was

Don Was

Don Was has had a remarkable career moving between different corners of the music world. In the 1980s, he fronted the eclectic band Was (Not Was), mixing funk, rock, and pop in unexpected ways. As a p...

20 Jan 1h 21min

Populært innen Underholdning

papaya
enkel-servering
harm-og-hegseth
storefri-med-mikkel-og-herman
tore-og-haralds-podkast
folk-flest-med-linn-og-nils
tusvik-tnne
topp-3-med-wold-og-fladseth
konspirasjonspodden
kjendiscrush-med-sofie-karlstad
nare-venner
hovla
ma-pa-behandling-med-morten-ramm
big-5-med-nils-og-harald-2
vitnemal
gi-meg-alle-detaljene
feedback-med-egon-holstad
christine-dancke
rss-gammal-maiden
humorprisen