Are Blur and Gorillaz both finished? No. That comes from an article which was an interesting take on a very long conversation. I don’t know how we’ll feel when we play Hyde Park. Some days I feel one way and other days I feel the other. If you don’t see something as a career but as an important part of your life, you don’t know how you’re going to feel about it. We want to put on a great performance but nothing’s been said between us about the beginning or the end.
What about Gorillaz? When Jamie [Hewlett] and I have worked out our differences, I’m sure we’ll make another record.
Will that be difficult? I don’t think so. We’ve been through too much together for it to be that big of a mountain to climb. We’ve just fallen out like mates do sometimes. I’m not the only person to fall out with mates and then make up again – everyone does it.
Are you looking forward to the Hyde Park gig in August? Very much so. I love playing with Blur – it’s one of the best feelings I’ve ever had. At the same time, though, I don’t want to cock it all up by staying around too long and making a fool of myself. At 44, there’s a little trepidation about jumping around on stage but I love it.
Were you happy with your performance at the Brits? Yes. I went there to thank our manager, Chris Morrison, and to have a laugh. I enjoyed myself. We take ourselves a lot less seriously now in the context of things like awards.
What’s the worst gig you’ve done? There have been a few but when things did go wrong we immediately rectified them for the next night. One stage in Spain was blown away in a storm but we weren’t on it, thankfully.
What are you proudest of achieving? Pride isn’t something I indulge in. I think everything could have been better. I could definitely improve on my interview technique. [<-- what interview technique]
Have you visited Alex James’s cheese farm? Yes I have. I’ve tasted his cheese. It’s very good. What can I say? I’m not a cheese expert but it tasted like cheese to me.
What are people’s misconceptions of you? That everything that comes out of my mouth is serious.
What’s been your most extravagant purchase? I’ve bought a lot of bicycles over the years but mainly because they keep getting nicked. I don’t go too high-end, just keep it basic. I usually buy them from a shop on Golborne Road [west London] and they’ve seen a few of my bikes cycling down the road with someone else on them. Every time they see it happen, they say: ‘Damon will be in again to buy another one.’
What’s the album about? It’s a collection of strange pastoral folk songs. It’s about England and me connecting with a more invisible, darker, historic side of our culture than some of the other stuff I’ve done.
What inspired it? Dr John Dee, a 17th-century polymath, astrologer and advisor to Queen Elizabeth. He became obsessed with talking to angels and believed they could help him change the destiny of Britain. He lived in that period before the enlightenment, where the lines between superstition, magic and science were blurred.
Have you had any mystical experiences? We’re all open to those moments. I got up early a lot while writing this. Cycling around London at 4am in May is quite mystical. It’s very still. There’s beautiful bird song everywhere.
One of the song’s lyrics was inspired by the royal wedding – did it fill you with patriotism? It was inspired by the flypast over Wembley. I could see the planes from the window in my studio. Then the TV commentary turned to the bombers. There was the moment when it was happening outside my window and on TV at the same time. It was like looking in ever decreasing mirrors. I’m not a patriot in that sense of the word but I have a deep love of my country and the countryside, the people and the history. I love it as it is now – I’m not harking back for a bygone era but I’m interested in the past.
You’ve said you went through physical and mental trials to write this. In what way? It’s very quiet and reflective. Whenever you’re writing something that’s reflective, you have to put yourself through some sort of ordeal just to understand the way you’re feeling. There’s a lot of soul searching in the songs and that journey takes a while. Being quiet can be difficult as it’s at odds with the modern idiom. Trying to write music that’s sensitive to 400 years ago takes a bit of madness as it’s such a long stretch of time.
This is a departure from your usual stuff. What sort of audience is this aimed at? Anyone who is into Blur will recognise elements of my songwriting. It’s not too much of a departure from my more melancholic songwriting, so people who like my music will like this.
Dr Dee is out on May 7 on Parlophone.
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