Bass Thumpin Thursdays - Gorillaz on Deck

You can look long and you can look far, but you still may not be able to find a group as inspired and original as The Gorillaz. Started as a musical project in 1998 by Damon Albarn (The lead singer and songwriter of Blur) and cartoonist Jamie Hewlett, co-creator of the comic book Tank Girl, The Gorillaz were conceived while the two were living together in London.

Hewlett: We were flatmates. One day, we were home watching MTV with our eyes just kind of glazed. Because if you watch MTV for too long, it's a bit like hell - there's nothing of substance there. So we got this idea for a cartoon band, something that would be a comment on that.

Albarn: We're the generation whose stars come from Pop Idol and celebrity-wrestling shows. And it's all a bit like a cartoon, really.

The result was a Virtual Band that lived in a fantasy world filled with wonder, amazement, and beauty and an eclectic sound that incorporates a diverse selection of styles, as well as artists, into their music. The formula has proved successful, selling millions of records worldwide and solidifying The Gorillaz as a headlining act and one of the most inspiring groups to ever make music videos.