Damon Albarn, frontman of Blur and Gorillaz, recently invited Apple Music's Zane Lowe to his Studio 13 building in West London for an interview to promote Gorillaz' newly-released Cracker Island album. In the coarse of the conversation, which saw Albarn open up about his inspirations and influences, the 54-year-old musician revealed the source of the iconic hook from Gorillaz's debut single Clint Eastwood is a preset on a Suzuki Omnichord.
While showing Lowe around the studio, Albarn presses the Rock One preset on the Japanese instrument, and the instantly recognisable beat and riff from the song plays through the instrument's built-in speakers.
"It just came like that?" asks an incredulous Lowe asks.
"That’s it," says Albarn. "It's the Rock One preset… that’s the whole song."
The admission has taken some Gorillaz fans by surprise.
"Wow I was obsessed with this track - and this reveal kinda sucks," tweeted London-based musician Morgan Hislop, sparking a debate in his replies.
"Definitely think this actually makes the track cooler imo," responded Canadian EDM musician Jacques Greene.
"Always rated damon albarn," tweeted Dublin musician det boi, "but he’s gone up tenfold in my book after this."
"Originality is overrated," replies Twitter user 'guybrush999'. "It still takes a lot of skill to take samples and make something unique and interesting out of it."
Hislop brings the discussion to a possible close by linking to his own music, and tweeting, "And seeing as this ran away with itself you’re more than welcome to go judge my own music - I’m a walking contradiction so you’ll most likely hear sampled presets, stock sounds and see that I’ve shown myself up throughout."
You can watch the whole interview with Damon Albarn below:
Wow I was obsessed with this track - and this reveal kinda sucks 🫠 pic.twitter.com/rTBVk4chF3February 25, 2023
