Ongoing History Daily: Before Gorillaz

Gorllaz—the virtual band of Blur frontman and comic book artist Jammie Hewlett—began in 1998 when Damon was looking for an escape from Britpop and Hewlett was looking to take his artwork to a different place.

The two of them first met in 1990 when Blur guitarist Graham Coxon introduced them. Hewlett interviewed the two of them for Deadline, the magazine that published Tank Girl, one of Hewlett’s strips. It got a little weird for a while, too. Damon and Albarn didn’t get along at all. Then Coxon started dating Hewlett’s ex-girlfriend, which created some tensions.

But by 1998, Damon and Hewlett were single and heartbroken. Their common misery saw them make up and they started sharing a flat. What was the inspiration for Gorillaz? Too many boy bands on MTV. They thought “If the world wants something manufactured like the Backstreet Boys, let’s build something ourselves!”

So they did.