"As soon as they played 'Punk', I knew I'd seen the future of music." So says Whiffy Smiffy, EMI A&R ace, who witnessed Gorillaz' first ever gig at the Camden Brownhouse in late 1998. There was a riot, natch: Whiffy, with inimitable style, let off a few rounds from his pump-action sawn-off, forced his way through the crowds and grabbed those all-important signatures. He set Murdoc, 2D, Russel and Noodle to task: ten months and close to thirty tracks later, they delivered their dark pop classic. Kinky, wild, seductive with far-flung influences ranging from Jamaican Dub to New-York Hip-Hop, from Cuban love songs to South London scum-punk, the Gorillaz first long player was an eye-ear-and-mind openerand a genuine milestone along rock's long highway. Gorillaz meld their diverse backgrounds and far-flung influences, their various styles and impressive talent to make a subversive, modern, yet utterly accessible sound. This is the record you'll put on to get up, get down, get off and get it on with the lover of your dreams. A shoo-in for the Mercury Prize were it not for the fact that half of Gorillaz are Johnny Foriegners. Totally hot. Totally cool.

The story of Gorillaz is a characteristally messy one. Saturday Boy Stu-Pot, a keyboard obsessive and nice kid dullard, is the star employee at Uncle Norm's Organ Emporium, on course to make regional manager. But then comes a Saturday to end all weeks (just like a Sunday, but with shopping). Murdoc, with his nasty bad boy crew, ramraids the shop in a tatty Vauxhall Astra. His plan: to seize the synths and form a chart topping band with the booty. He drives... SMASH!... through the shop window and... SMASH!... into Stu-Pot's head, fracturing his eyeball. Result: 30,000 hours of community service for Murdoc, plus 10 hours every week of caring for the vegetabilised Stu-Pot. Soon, Murdoc's rotten driving skills again force life to take a different turn. While attempting a 360 doughnut spin in Nottingham's Tesco carpark, he catapults Stu-Pot through the windscreen and into a kerb. Stu-Pot's other eye is fractured, his mind is revived and he stands a young, black eyed god, with hedgehog hair and a vacant stare. Not only that, but his synth playing takes a serious turn for the weird. Perfect pop material. Stu-Pot is renamed 2D (because he's got two dents in his head). Now Murdoc needs a drummer. Rewind a few years. In New York State, Russel, a middle-class kid, is forced out of his posh private school due to his being possessed by a demon. He lies in a coma for four years, until an elaborate exorcism sets him free. Russel joins Brooklyn High, where he falls in with a group of talented street musicians, rappers and DJs. Hip-Hop saves his soul. For a time. A random drive-by shooting kills all of his friends and as Russel, the lone survivor, lies in a state of shock, the spirits of his chums invade his body, turning Russel's eyes a spooky white and giving him amazing drumming, rapping and general hip-hop skills. His parents move him to England, where they hope he'll have the chance of a quieter life. They hadn't reckoned on Murdoc, who tracks Russel down in a Soho Rap Record Store.Now, all the fledgling group need is a guitarist. They place an ad in the NME. The day the ad is published, a Fed-Ex'd freight container is delivered to their door. Out jumps a small Japanese person carrying a Les Paul. She jabbers at them incomprehensibly, before launching into a riff to end all riffs, rounding it off with a hi-karate jump. The boys are speechless. Noodle has one word for them. It is Noodle. Gorillaz are born, and signed amidst the mayhem of their very first gig. Such is the way legends are created.

TOMORROW COMES TODAY PROMO
When the call went out to directors for Gorillaz first promotional film, one voice came came back loud and clear above the others, that of Paulo Skinbackio, auteur and founder of the noew infamous "Quattro Frammagio Manifesto" technique of film making. The legendary Italian director behind such landmarks in contemporary Latin cinema as; "Boom Ho-Lio (My Mind And Her Mother)", and "Stop Now, It's Hurting". Whose Cannes Grand Prize winning documentary following Pope John Paul II's aborted mission to remake Michael Ritchie's 1976 masterpiece "The Bad News Bears", where his holiness intended to re-enact both Walter Matthau's and Tatum O'Neal's roles, shot him onto the global stage. For Gorillaz and Tomorrow Comes Today, Skinbackio has created a seminal piece of pop video history which (in his own words) "Releases the tormented gypsy sould deep within the burning heart of the music, like a suppository in the frenetic love-lorn nights of our lives."

WWW.GORILLAZ.COM
Here, Gorillaz can be found in their natural habitat: a multi-storeyed studio complex, rehearsal rooms and unpleasant toilets. You can visit each Gorilla's room, admire their dubious decor, check what they're up to on their computers, visit their favourite websites, email them. The more investigative visitor can also find tracks in progress scattered around the building on various pieces of recording equipment. You can even peek into their studio, and remix their tunes. And, when nature calls, there's a spray can left in each cubicle so that you can express yourself, while expressing whatever's in yourself. Nice.

Official biography 2 (source: enhanced section of Tomorrow Comes Today single, first published February 2002)
Gorillaz were originally described as a turbo-boosted four piece in over-drive. Seventeen months on and they've had their F1 Kong fine-tuned and customised! New spoilers, neon under-lighting, extra bass bins in the back and fur-lined wheels. Where this will take them who knows. They don't even know who's driving. Laugh now, they heralded, because the future belonged to them and with a multi-million selling album, numerous awards and a ground breaking web site somehow in the bag, it seems they are in a position to take over the asylum. If the future still belongs to them, duck! But hey, "Tomorrow Comes Today" - where it all started - has come around again, so at least this time we get a warning! As for now, we have four individuals from one great group. But which one would you take home?

Official biography 3 (source: Gorillaz promo booklet published March 2005) Gorillaz
Gorillaz
The Return 05.05 (electronic version)
FIRE COMING OUT OF THE MONKEY'S HEAD (print version)
“Every greatt band is destroyed by their success… cartoon bands are no exception.” – Noodle

HISTORY SO FAR
THE GORILLAZ STORY IS NOW SOMETHING OF A LEGEND. The tale of a world-storming band born out of the sick mind of foul-smelling bassplayer and ego-driven mastermind Murdoc Nicalls. Satan-worshipping Murdoc (5ft 9 in his Cuban Heels, stinks of cigarettes, hey ladies what a catch!) assembled the exceptional band members in his own unique style.
The good-natured pretty-boy 2D was made singer when Murdoc’s beaten up Vauxhall Astra came crashing through the window on an instrument ram-raiding mission, landing squarely on the side of 2D's head (Real name Stu-pot). Immediately spotting his potential as a frontman and amiable eye-candy Murdoc recruited 2D as the Gorillaz Singer. After nicking all his dinner money, that is.
Brooklyn based-hip Hop hardman Russel Hobbs has brought to England for his own safety after his friends were killed dead in a drive-by shooting. Well-educated, beautifully spoken and a truly gifted musician, Russel was quickly tracked down by Murdoc in a Soho Rap Record store, joining Gorillaz as the drummer. It was soon discovered that Russel had the ghost of his friend, Del, living inside him, who was more than happy to assist with guest raps for the Gorillaz records. Bonus.
And finally Noodle the ten-year-old Japanese kid with no past, who was hand-delivered to the door of Kong Studios in a FedEx crate! A Zen master of guitar, her awesome capabilities outshone even the deftest of axemen.
The story of their whirlwind ascent to stardom was equally controversial. The media frenzy that was their first gig at the Camden Brown House, the sick-figure record deal, drafting in superlative collaborators to record the award-winning debut album ‘Gorillaz’, a fantastic collision of dub reggae, punk and hip-hop and then the subsequent relase of a relentless array of top-notc videos. Gorillaz won countless awards around the globe. Then followed the gob-smacking Brits performance and the trawl of shame that was The Gorillaz American Tour. Like Dresden on ice.
AN EGO IS A DANGEROUS THING TO FEED AND A 6 MILLION - SELLING DEBUT ALBUM CAN CAUSE A WHOLE HEAP OF TROUBLE!!
THEN SILENCE….

HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD
With the American tour over and offers of film deals falling out of their collective arse, Gorillaz decamped to L.A. for a six month descent into darkness and screen tests that stretched the band’s patience to breaking point.
“THIS IS A WIND-UP!”
Inhabiting a rented house high up in the Hollywood Hills, things go from bad to weird. At first it seems fun. 2D talking art with Stallone. Noodle power-lunching with the midget who played Yoda. Murdoc being booted out the Playboy Mansion for nicking ashtrays. But soon every crank and croney from Longbeach to Burbank begain using the Gorillaz new pad as some kind of black-magic flophouse. Pill-popping starlets and sandal-wearing nob jockeys all come to 'hang' with the Gorillaz. This throws the animated four piece right off their game.
BALLS UP!
THINGS ON SET TAKE A NOSEDIVE! Murdoc's refusal to learn lines, Russel's inability to leave his trailer, his weight ballooning out of control. 2D's inability to tell film from reality. Noodle's intolerance of cigar-chomping cockwafflers. Nightmare. The last straw comes after three months of intensive Kyak practice, the big 'Deliverance' water ride scene gets cut
Gorillaz decided to blow out the movie moguls, call the film off and go their separate ways to recooperate [sic]. This leaves Hollywood tosspot and shortarse egomaniac director Mr.C Klinker fuming into his Double Grande Latte!
CLOSE SHAVE FOR GORILLAZ.
WHAT HAVE THEY BEEN UP TO? C’MON KIDS! LET’S CATCH UP!! [separate biographies follow in promo booklet]

THE HISTORY OF KONG STUDIOS INTERLUDE (Cue Music)...
Ever wondered who the Gorillaz managed to pick up such a large property before they had even sold a record? So did Noodle. She discovered the answer late one night whilst exploring the darker recesses of their sprawling hilltop masnsion-cum studio.
Deep in the bowels of Kong, Noodle comes across an archive library room, where she learns the terrible legend of Kong Studios, a building with a checkered history that stretches far back...
Before the building was built the original site was a druids' meeting point, picked specially for its unique alignment of dark energies and hideous lelines. Various members of 'The Goat Klan' would converge on the Essex hill top site at certain points in the lunar cycle and inhale vaopurs while chanting into makeshift cauldrons.
The first 'Khong' building was erected on top of an old disuses cemetery. Many of the people who died in the Great plague of 1665 were dumpred there, in shallow graves and burial pits. Eeew!
The 'Khong' Mansion which still stands today was built in 1749 to house the decadent hedonist Sir Emerick Khong, a giant brute of a man who would host the debauched, sadistic meetings of his 'King Khong Klub'. Having satisfied their more physical desires, he and his fellow club members would sit around talking rubbish far into the night. It is said that his ghost still wanders around Kong Kitchens in the early hours, moaning in deep haunting tones for 'a glass of water'.
The current building is also sitauted next to one of the biggest landfill sites in the country. It's not just fridges, washing machines and tractor tyres. We're talking about old nappies, colostomy bags, mad cows, and rotten alien torsos. In the middle of summer when the heat rises, the stench that oozes up through the soil from this pit is unbelievable! Like someone cooking turds or somthing.
The most recent owners were a bunch of Hell's Angels, a biker gang who called themselves 'The Nomads', who used the building as their clubhouse. One night back in '93 they held a massive party and invited Hell's angels from all over the Midlands. The local police chief reckoned there must have been nearly two thousand bikers crammed into the Hangar Room of Basement Number 3. However when some of their meth-drinking frolics went haywire, a fire started. Someone had locked the main doors so no-one could escape. They all go burnt to a crisp!
This place is more full of dead stuff than Bruce Campbell's third movie! so full of bar karma and sick vibrations it's no wonder the place breeds people like Murdoc. It was in the cold winter of '99 when the fledgling, but aging, rock star Murdoc picked the keys up after scouring the internet for cheap property. And it's got a South Facing Garden too! Bargain!
HEY! WAIT THERE'S MORE THERE'S MUCH MORE
On furhter investigation, it turned out that underneath the wallpaper and false walls lay whole parts of Kong never seen! Rooms full of murder, mystery and suspense. Rooms full of trapped photographers, empty haunted Casions, elongated corridors, muffled moans, forgotten turrets, rooms that seem to change every time you open the doors and a tunnel that leads from the mansion right down to the graveyard. Creepy! And... by the way... what is it with the power in this studio?

NOODLE'S RETURN TO KONG
Noodle's return to Kong Studios preceded the others by a good six months! Which is probably just as well. What was once a well-equipped studio ona hilltop in Essex has now in their absence degenerated into a terifying horror-filled hourse of blood, guts and infestation from Zombies. Death, disease and the undead now roam the corridors and enclaves of the studios.
The young warrior Noodle, although shocked, wastes no time in dispensing enough of these flesh-craving automatons in order to seal herself up in the TV room. Arming herself with a massive array of zombie deflecting weapons, flame-throwers, flares and a a zombie proof body suit, she takes refuge while awaiting the return of the others.
Now that Noodle can understand English, she uses this time to research and soak up the culture, Dear God! Just as Noodle suspected! As the multiple T.V. sets flicker out an endless stream of useless info, history and garbage, the evidence is all there. Subliminal drivel! Talent shows, game shows, reality shows. The disease is spreading!
Noodle films the zombies of Kong and releases this as the proof of the illness, under the guise of a Satelite Gorillaz broadcast video entitled 'ROCK IT'.
This revelation becomes the seed for her fresh assault on the world, and the drive behind the new Gorillaz offensive. Noodle immediately launches her own 'Search for a Star' mission, sending out her coded signal and looking for real sentient life out in the airwaves. A call to arms for all genuine talent and like-minded creators! The dark is rising, there is a day of reckoning coming and maybe the harvest is almost upon us!!

NEW ALBUM NEW DANGER
So, one by one, the four Gorillaz have returned home to Kong, inexplicably drawn back to the hub of this horribly, haunted house. Dr.Murdoc was the first to arrive, armed to the teeth with duty free tequila, sombreros and with his two Mexican mates not far behind. Murdoc's opening gambit of "Hey! What the hell is going on here!?!" speaks volumes.
Not far behind him jumped-up teddy-boy 2D offered a cheeky response in his muted mockeny accent. 'Well, you know. When there's no more room in Hull the dead will walk the earth'.
Lastly mental man-mountain Russel stumbled in, looking like a crazy cross between Isaac Hayes and David Bellamy. The jaws drop wide open. 'Er.. Russel?' This ain't looking good. So the fun loving foursome are finally re-united, each with their own story to tell. Fo' Shizzle.
Noodle lost no time updating them on the grevious situation they were in, and a swifty breakdown of the most relevant points of their forthcoming mission. Obviously it all went in one ear, straight out the other.
A DRUNK, A DIM-WIT AND A CRAZY MAN IS A HARD WAY TO START A REVOLUTION.

So what now…?
Only Noodle knows the real reason for the recruitment of a ‘creative army’ and the truth of the battle ahead. Who or what is it that she is looking for?
But with Noodle now at the helm, can she steer this ship of fools? Will Murdoc kick 2D's head in? will Russel be too demented to keep a beat?!
I mean. What do you do when half your band's crazy, your studios full of dead stuff, you're being blackmailed by banditos and your time leader's a ten year old kid with the devastating killing abilities of an atom bomb! Huh?!
Why! Make a new album of course!! Nae Bother.
Jail, Death, Tequila, Exorcism, Breakdowns, Zombies, Ravens, Teddy Boys, Paranoia, Pills and Renegade Bandits!
WELCOME BACK GORILLAZ. YOU SAUCY BASTARDS.

Gorillaz-Unofficial says: The story behind the band's formation is pretty well covered in the official biography. Only one other fact has been excluded, that, according to Dr.Wurzel at least (an official character in the Gorillaz universe, who was made out to be a fan by the creators, but the content on his website, including an mp3 of Ghost Train waaay before it came out, an exclusive early pic of Gorillaz in development and a movie of Murdoc's Winnebago that would later appear on the Celebrity Take Down DVD credited to MATT WATKINS, webmaster of Gorillaz.com, revealed him to be an official part of the story, as did later reference to him) the Gorillaz line-up originally included a girl called Paula before Noodle joined (which has been removed from the official strory). She left after Russel caught her having sex with Murdoc in the studio toilets, which was shocking as she was going out with 2D at the time. Gorillaz made their worldwide media debut in Dazed and Confused magazine in November 2000, releasing their debut single in the same month. Their Studios also opened its doors to the public in early November. Clint Eastwood the worldwide hit followed in March, accompanied by a video of the band in the graveyard around Kong Studios, being chased by dancing Zombie Gorillaz. The Gorillaz debut album followed, released first in Europe and Japan in a flurry of press activity. They played their second gig at the Scala in London in March, to the British press and a host of celebrities. On the day of the album's release, Murdoc's Winnebago was stolen (it has been implied this was by Dr.Wurzel). Two live dates in Ireland and Paris followed in June, and they also released their second single '19/2000' which would also become a massive hit around the globe. On the back of Clint Eastwood's success stateside, the debut got a full release there coupled with two bonus tracks. The album was also re-released in Europe to include the Soulchild Remix of 19/2000. August saw an appearance at the UK dance festival Creamfields and two Japanese dates, and in September the band took to the road in the UK for a 4-date mini tour. The band collaborated with the rap act D-12 in September to produce the track '911' about the September 11th attacks. November saw the release of the single Rock The House in the UK and in December the band played two anti-war gigs, one in Bristol, England and the other in London, where their live shows were altered to incorporate photographs from the Afghanistan war. In late December a compilation of the B-sides of the singles so far was released in Japan, 'G-Sides' which would also be released in all other territories a few months later. The new year saw them off to a flying start with an appearance at the Brit Awards in London, opening the show. They were to go away empty-handed but they would win many other awards at other shows, and gave their acceptance speech (recorded live on video) at some of them. Their debut album would go on to sell just under 5 million copies worldwide, including over a million copies in the US. In February 2002 the band undertook a 11 date tour of North America, with an altered live show (two screens this time, and a new rapper). They also re-released the track 'Tomorrow Comes Today' as a single in the UK. Work on a dub-reworking of the Gorillaz debut album was completed by the Spacemonkeyz and released in June of that year, with an accompanying single 'Lil' Dub Chefin'' a reworking of the track M1 A1. July saw the last Gorillaz show of what became known as Phase One. On October 31st 2002 a naked man was seen running through the marshes screaming near Gorillaz studios, Kong Studios in Districtshire, and the police cordoned off the area. They later found evidence of paranormal activity (that the Gorillaz had noticed themselves when they were working on their second album in the studio, and had complained to the police about). A compilation of 'video evidence' collected in the studio was released as the Gorillaz first DVD, containing all their videos to date and much other material besides. The Gorillaz continued to inform the fan community about making their new album and working on their new movie throughout 2003, but nothing was heard after November 2003 - at this time the Gorillaz took time out and went their separate ways, all going on voyages of self-discovery for a year and taking time out from working. Russel had Del exorcised and took a year to recover, Noodle went back to Japan to find out the truth about her past. The studio would remain closed for over a year. On 25th November 2004 the portacabin that the police had been using as an office was removed and the cordon taken down. On 1st December Noodle returned to the studios (the first member oF Gorillaz to do so), immediately publicising a new competition 'Search For A Star' a talent contest to find a new collaborator for Gorillaz, that the band would judge. The studios opened their doors again on 8th December. The reason the police cleared off was supposedly that they had cleared out most of the worst of the paranormal activity, yet some unsavoury characters were certainly left behing in the studios. The other band members returned to the studio by mid-December.

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