Let Gorillaz’ Noodle be your Internet guide
Gorillaz’ Japanese guitar prodigy Noodle has many strings to her bow: trained as an assassin from a young age, she fled to the United Kingdom in a FedEx crate and was delivered to the doorstep of Kong Studios in 1998. Springing out of the box in the studio to perform guitar, she ended her solo with “a 20-foot high karate kick and said the word noodle”, she earned her given name and a founding spot in the crew. Replacing Paula Cracker as the band’s lead guitarist, Noodle hasn’t looked back since: now a style icon and philanthropist, she’s perhaps the most iconic member of the band. Starring on the cover of Numero China in Balenciaga, Chanel and Prada, she’s also an avid feminist. Noodle fronted the Jaguar campaign to encourage women and girls to take on careers in engineering, breaking down peoples expectations one sass at a time. Dropping their fifth studio album, Humanz, last year Gorillaz are ready to knock your socks off with a sixth, The Now Now. So get ready and in the meantime let Noodle be your Internet guide…
What would you like to see more of online? What about less of?
Less selfies. More videos of cute kittens being massaged.
What or who is the best account you follow? The worst?
My favourite is @idnitsocute, think he’s a Goldendoodle. It was good fun having him around in the studio, even though I prefer cats.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve read about yourself online?
There were initially a lot of stories flying around about me having affairs with all the boys in the band. #TIMESUP on that kind of gossip, I say.
What’s your favourite meme?
What’s your earliest memory of the Internet?
When I first arrived at Kong Studios, after I was packed off in a crate from Japan. Murdoc was trying to connect to get on a chatroom for green threesomes. The dialup tone – it was something I’d never heard before.
Is the Internet a good or bad thing for music?
Definitely good. Girls like Sky Ferreira, Tommy Genesis, Rina Sawayama and Kali Uchis who broke through online were able to craft their image and music on their own terms – this wouldn’t have been possible without the freedom the Internet affords.
How many followers represent success?
Success measured in numbers is only an illusion.
Finally…what’s going on in your life?
I’m practising jiu-jitsu and meditation and currently on the road, getting ready to unleash our new album “The Now Now”. Really looking forward to playing Boomtown too!
Gorrilaz new album, The Now Now, is out next Friday the 29th June 2018.
