Blur: New World Towers (2015) - full transcript
A story about the British rock band Blur and the recording of their most unexpected music album, Magic Whip, which captured in only five days, in Hong Kong.
A BILINK TV PRODUCTION
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
It was really fortuitous.
It might as well not have happened.
It just happened
exactly in the right place,
when we had the right spirit.
I mean, I was just
got off the plane,
totally drunk since the
end of the tour party,
and immediately we started
to write and resume
and was obviously trying to avoid
to be a member of Blur.
The idea of building an album
around it was actually born as a joke.
It is ridiculous to think that you can
put together an album in five days.
Is giving to someone
a second,
a third opportunity and then see
waste it and drop it again.
Makes you say, "My God, I can't
I can't do this, enough, again? "
Well, yes, you know how it is...
Interpersonal relationships are
scary and people do strange things,
no? And, just when you
think everything is going
smooth as oil,
suddenly something unexpected happens.
Well, they will always be there
times when you don't do the right thing.
That's how you grow up and learn what it is
the right thing.
Good.
And now
we'll play songs about your city.
Thank you!
In 2009, there was a
kind of reconciliation.
I don't think any of us did
because I was short of money or homesick.
It would have been awful.
In many ways,
I had accepted the fact
that I would never do
anything with Blur again.
And then the Olympics came.
It was thanks to the Olympics.
Who they have
asked to do a great
show on the last day
at Hyde Park.
The atmosphere was right,
it seemed like a very
special occasion.
IS
I think that
we had a great show.
We all think
- that hadn't been bad at all!
- And then we thought, "Well,
if we have to get together for that
show, we can also go to places
where we've never played before.
And I think that's why
we met in Hong Kong.
Right now we’re
all calm and no one
he feels obliged to be part of the Blur.
You understand?
We touch God only know how much now
and we have the golden opportunity to be able
do what interests us most.
I remember...
I remember when you were just starting.
IS
And now it's more fun?
Making music is always special.
It is true. When the four of us are together, in
the studio or on stage, it's something special.
And we still have to
do a series of shows, big and small
and that's what makes it interesting.
Why do you still remember
the first shows, right?
- Well, just a few.
- Only a few, yes. Of the best.
We went to Hong Kong and shared.
After that, we should go to Taipei.
Damon will say for sure that it was
another city, but it was Taipei, Damon.
We were actually going to
Tokyo,
but the show was canceled.
They shot the organizer or something,
I don't know, but they canceled.
"OK."
We spent five days in Hong Kong.
The opportunity presented itself
to create music.
It happened like this... "We are
in Hong Kong, we have nothing to do.
Let's go to the recording studio!
You know, I would have
preferred to stay calm and
relax for a few days and
improvising in the studio can be
an unpleasant, claustrophobic,
smelly and exhausting experience,
compared, for example,
in a hotel pool.
Therefore...
That week, we could have
spend time on board an open bus,
to admire the view.
But you know how it is...
when musicians get bored, it's easy
to remove the tools.
It's more or less
that's how it works.
We might as well have
taken a vacation.
But on the one hand there was a work ethic,
in the other
I was courteous. I wanted to find
out if there was something there
differently,
we could do instead of continuing
being in a band called Blur until
we couldn't do that anymore.
It was like the first tests.
that was
so much fun spending
time like that.
It was nothing too elaborate.
We were feeling something,
if it didn't work, we tried something else.
And then there were a lot of ideas,
and you don't need anything else.
So the rest just
it comes naturally as a result.
Better not really,
because you know what it is...
is
- Well, there are many different things.
- Yes.
But this is...
Truth?
It doesn't change anything.
You have to approach it with the
idea of trying something different,
and it seemed like a very
exciting thing to do,
making music in Hong Kong.
And in a way they were not there
pressures of any kind. We feel
to be part of a band that
did something vaguely
transgressive.
Record music without anyone knowing.
It was a very anonymous building,
it was called the Acme building.
It had no windows.
It was very small, it was tight.
I think if we were in one of
those big superchic rooms with
Pharrell Williams,
to record our return record, none of us
there would be,
but as everything was fine between us
and we had fun playing together,
we thought "Well, come on
let's go to the living room to make music!
Because we like it! Why
that's what we like to
do and we're good at it!
I didn't want this album to escape us.
I thought it would be...
It would have been
sad, because the
sensations were perfect,
while recording those sessions.
- Hey, we have something here! - Yes!
We were all stuck in Hong
Kong, outside
of the complicated lives that each of us
he built for himself.
I think that was very important.
There were no distractions.
We missed our families.
And I think the album
also carries that.
To hell with the record company and
all these people. That kind of pressure
is something you can
try to rebel against,
but you can never
rebel against the path
where you are seen from
a musical point of view.
Hour after hour,
day by day,
along with your friends.
Because they know when you suck.
You feel yourself sucking.
You feel very vulnerable.
You are in a very difficult situation
unstable. Even if you're
kidding and laughing.
I think we made an effort to go somewhere.
You have to go somewhere.
You must feel that you are
on some kind of journey,
when you're playing jam sessions.
The good thing is that
there were no distractions.
It was just some kind of thing
paramount, because we all had to
we took the subway
together every day and
and we went to work, and then
we were going out together.
Every day, when we took the
subway, we said things like:
"Hey! Yes! It was great!"
But none of us really wanted
admits. Maybe we still think...
"Yes, it went well, but let's try"
don't let us get too excited.
- He was cool! - OK.
It is the system that was used
in the 1950s to make records,
before cinemas became so big
large and bulky
technological machines.
You take a group of musicians who really
know how to play and put them in a room
and see what happens.
We used the same approach that
we used in the early days.
In just five days, we bake
any ideas that we could.
It is important to feel free to
be able to set your mind free.
Dave started in the
recording booth,
but he felt he was
too far away from us.
So is
he came to the room where we were playing.
But he did not bring all the equipment
and was not properly microphoned.
It was just putting ideas down,
but it was the most spontaneous session
that we received from...
I believe that from Modern Life Is Rubbish, or
Parklife.
Five days later, we had
about 20 songs. And it felt like
the best thing we've ever done.
It was a creative impulse,
a relief. I felt very happy.
All the basic atmospheres
were practically in place.
There were a whole series of
visions, ideas and things like that.
The lyrics have always
been a problem for me.
I can't go down
and write all day.
So, I hadn't written the lyrics.
Yes, we're done and then...
Do you know...
Steve Sedgewick came,
the Studio 13 engineer, and he
he must have put everything in his bag,
then he ran away home.
And that's how it ended.
I don't know if it ended up in a box or
on a flash drive or...
Not where it was
placed, but somewhere.
It was filed somewhere.
In my mind,
it was a failed experiment,
because we weren't done.
After those five days in Hong
Kong, we resumed the tour
and put everything aside.
It must be said.
- Thanks, Vicky. - See you later.
- Hey, thanks, honey.
- See you in Jakarta.
- I'll pick you up tomorrow
at half past one. - Thank you.
See you.
Well, we should be fine then.
- Come here.
- Closer. Stay here.
I experienced a moment of true tranquility
is calm,
on here.
And suddenly
the phone rings.
"Ah, you play at Hyde Park
tonight and it's sold out."
"Graham made a new album for you."
It was like reliving a story with
an ex, in a situation
completely confused,
and then be spit back
in my normal life.
When everything is over, it is said:
"What happened?"
We were like a bubble,
each on their own.
You know, we were creating
something, with these sessions,
and I think we forgot
that when we got back
we would be finished
in our different
professional,
domestic and geographical situations.
Damon made a beautiful metaphor.
It's like
didn't wash the dishes
for one day.
They start to bother you. And if you don't wash for several
days, you don't want to go back to the kitchen, right?
Six months have passed.
And nothing happened.
Another six months passed and nothing
happened. And then another six months passed.
And nothing happened.
And then I remembered that I had a
video camera in the recording room.
And I thought, "Oh, now I'm
watching these videos." And even if
there was a big microphone
on the camera, you could
you could feel, feel.
I woke up with the New
World Tower in my head,
that song, for some
reason, haunted me.
Do you prefer the four to the floor?
There was something good
about those four on the floor.
It was terrible to know that
I did something very good
that
he would probably never
see the light of day.
I poured myself a good glass of wine,
watched all those videos and thought
to pour me another glass.
I looked at them
and found it a pity.
It is a great privilege
to be part of Blur and
I try to have fun
at most when I'm
involved in the project,
and when it’s all over,
I move away from it again.
I don't expect anything, understand?
In doing so,
whatever happens is great and
positive.
We can play some instruments
in a small room too
or play for 80,000 people,
we are not the ones
who make this change,
but what happens
around us.
There is a cause and effect relationship.
When I play a big show
the important thing is to have the necessary security,
to know
almost innately
that it is essential to be
explosive during the first few
five minutes.
You have to seduce the
audience, in a way.
There are many positive aspects
to playing close to home.
Playing Hyde Park is not easy
it's a huge park and i love it.
It's Hyde Park and it really is
quintessential.
But it is not easy. Going on stage
once doesn't make things any easier.
It is the fourth time that I play
and every time it is difficult.
I always feel some kind of...
horror.
It was of great importance for Blur.
The concert
for the Olympics it was absurd,
because London couldn't
be more ready than that.
Therefore
I hope tonight is
equally special.
It is very difficult to define the
elements that make a show magical.
For Blur, it's about getting
in tune with the audience.
It’s a pretty overwhelming experience,
take the stage in front of 65,000 people.
It always has this incredible feeling,
that kidnaps not only us,
but also the public.
It is like a feeling of total
liberation and communion.
It is the union of four different
people, each with...
characters, mentality,
lives, concerns,
different problems.
And they all try to have the
same bizarre experience together
together.
Now we all just think about
having fun and nothing else.
There is no duty, none
pressure is just
an incredible thing!
Let's do a great rock show!
I thought about money and children,
and it was good that
Graham called me saying:
"Do you know those songs
we wrote in Hong Kong?"
And I said, "Yes!"
"I can see what we can do with this."
There is a standard, but strange
doing things,
not a hierarchy, but a way
do the things you usually do
there is Damon saying, "Hi,
what if we do that? "
You are not sure if Damon likes
to have that responsibility.
So I tested it
and I took the initiative, saying to him:
"I would like to take everything"
and take a look at it.
It was not easy to prepare
for this conversation,
interestingly,
but I shouldn't have worried about that.
I've known him for
longer than anyone else.
I think they are quite rude.
- Then that's it.
- Damon's mom gave it to me.
When I was in the hospital, with anemia.
When I was 18 years old.
I lost control, what a pity.
But the cup remained,
with some beads, the remains of the
necklace Damon made for me at the hospital.
They still have every
reason to think that
I could add a lot of
guitars or make a big mess.
Send Graham
in the studio with the experts is a little bit
how to send my 11 year
old son to the supermarket
supermarket shopping.
"Did you use distortion for everything?"
"You used"
the flanger of everything?
- OK.
- I was excited, it's great
not having to think about everything.
In short, on several
occasions I said to myself:
"Why am I doing everything here?"
And for me it was, well, it was
it was really a surprise
very good it
was prepared and ready for it.
And that he was capable of that too.
It really made me
good that my oldest
friend felt again
so optimistic and self-confident.
It's fantastic.
I didn't know if it would work
but I didn't have much to lose and
I put it in those terms. I said
people are confused, we are confused
for what happened
to Think Tank and
is...
so long ago
we avoid confusing
and do something
great, and he replied,
"Okay, let's go!"
Are you ready?
I WANT TO BE WITH YOU
I WANT TO BE WITH YOU
You know, in old friendships there are
always difficulties, there will always be
times when you don't do the right thing.
But this is how you grow and learn to do
the right thing.
I was wrong and admitted it, more or less.
But it wasn't my fault,
it actually is...
I mean, it was hard for me to react.
I was a spoiled brat
and neighing in the 90s.
And when I was 21, 22, it was like
if I was 10.
I had no idea, it was distant.
At 19, I had just left the house.
Two years later, on my 21st
birthday, I was playing for Marque.
So we signed and then we went
on tour in America.
It's a strange thing to metabolize.
Is weird.
At this age, you don't know
your limits when you party.
You just know
this is granted to you. And it's mind-blowing.
You enter a room where
there is a lot of alcohol
and they say to you, "Drink!"
You do, and you become a fool.
Then, the next day, another show
and another room with a pile of spirits.
"Beverage!"
And then you start to try a little.
I thought, you know, if
about your stuff and something comes out,
it would be kind of...
in other words, a recovery of balance
after the shame of those years.
I think it is
The masterstroke was
having Steven Street
as an aid. Because Steven
is incredibly meticulous
and patient, really,
and he knows the dynamics
of Blur better than anyone,
having produced
most of our records.
It is always a pleasure to talk to
the crowd, I feel very close to them.
But that news came suddenly,
I haven't heard from them in a while.
Graham picked up the phone,
like this, and said to me:
"Steven, I have an idea, I want to
do something with these recordings"
we did in Hong Kong.
They are ready for production.
When you go to the studio with Steven,
it never happens that you go to
him one day and he gets hysterical.
Or you never go to him and
find him crying at your desk.
Go to him and find everything ready
and have a coffee and it
will be Steven Street.
It’s so easy to try several things,
no?
With technology, if something doesn't
work, you start from scratch.
I think it's a beautiful thing.
Great sound, right?
After two days,
we knew we were working on this album
it would have been very worth it.
is
but we work a lot on it,
we keep working on it.
It was very intense,
but very fun.
I would go home, sit with the guitar
and continue rehearsing the chords.
But I was basically going home
in a really good mood, you know?
I love longer and more contemplative things
and I love that sometimes
it doesn't sound familiar
compared to other Blur albums.
My idea, my attitude
was to be very sensitive
and keep most
things in Hong Kong.
We make it very presentable,
but I was anyway
aware that I should have made
it feel for Damon and had to be
a striking thing,
something that should have attracted you.
We sat next to him and said:
"Listen to her, listen to her" and he was...
It couldn't be,
I didn't think that
can be very embarrassing
or stressful
Do you know.
We were listening to Lonesome
Street and he didn't look convinced,
so Go Out...
He was very fond of Go Out.
And suddenly he says,
"Wow!" And then he said:
"Yeah, fucking brilliant," and
started jumping and spinning
swear, and...
It was just like that.
Damon is like that.
Or behaves that way,
or suddenly he realizes
be very convinced
and very expansive,
but it was really a relief.
It was a relief.
But it was a very good
sound, anyway.
You could make an entire album
with some of those songs.
It's the first thing
I heard about music
I thought I was an astronaut,
and they were all...
Yes well...
It was like this or...
Maybe I had
sang a melody as a chorus,
and I didn't know if there was a melody or not,
or I entered a middle eighth
or changed the chord sequence
as in the chorus of Go Out,
at the end, to give more rhythm.
There were many creative
decisions, many writing moments,
I didn't know how
Damon would react.
He would have been honest, he would have said
- what he thought.
- He was always good.
You know, I think
he was
definitely a better musician
than I was at the time.
I think we are now
we are equal, but
I had to fight and recover
for many years to achieve
level, I think.
Graham and Steven
they arrived,
we sit
and we hear everything.
I had totally forgotten
about some things.
But in the end, I thought:
"Oh, wow. This is great."
And then...
"Does that mean I have to...
Oh God."
We launch in the future
and I was back at Blur.
Again!
I just want to say...
i really wanted
thank you Graham,
for molding
The magic whip.
Your turn!
It is not enough!
More difficult!
I think one of my
strongest emotions was
when they came back with the album.
I felt like we were back
a set
completely
Working.
It was beautifully articulated,
and everything really had
the essence of Graham,
which was great.
I was really really proud of your work.
For me, the most interesting thing about
the lyrics on this album was asking me
"What am I singing about?"
All fragments of lyrics
that were on the album
that Graham returned to
me, so to speak,
they were taken from experiences
we had while working in Hong Kong.
I completely dived,
retraced my steps,
I thought about all the emotional
experiences I’ve ever had,
about Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong, I managed
dystopian levels of
personal isolation and
anguish and fear.
The spirit of these
crazy and claustrophobic
cities throwing you
in a dream state that
takes you out of your mind.
Despite being an
incredibly busy place,
everything goes so fast
that somehow decreases
and it’s really interesting.
There were a lot of escalators, so you
no longer have to climb steep hills.
You can live...
in a completely static way,
like you're in a dream.
You always have a chance to escape.
You can just take the
ferry and go to these
divine islands. There are hundreds of them.
All the songs I really like
they have a geographical connotation.
Songs like Waterloo Sunset
or the Beatles in general.
I like songs that meditate
in somewhat prosaic things, how to say.
A story that had a noticeable
effect on me as a young man is
Patrick Hamilton's Hangover Square
with its juxtaposition
of a hangover in the square.
I've always been fascinated
by that kind of idea.
There are also strong
links with Britain
with British culture,
but at the same time it is
is within something
totally incomprehensible.
It's very exciting, very modern.
It's beautiful, busy, crazy.
The food is crazy.
I mean, thank God we are
not stuck in Düsseldorf.
Keeping a secret is very difficult
in the 21st century, and
as the fateful date approached,
and we had to share the
secret with other people,
everything became very difficult.
We put the finishing
touches on the day before
of the press conference in Chinatown.
Live, right now,
anywhere in the world.
- And we are in a room with...
- We welcome you...
Here we are again with Blur.
- Who would have believed it?
- Who would have believed it?
Come and go this afternoon:
there will be a new Blur album
A beautiful new album
called The Magic Whip.
During today's press
conference in London,
the British band has revealed that
it will come out of a long hiatus
with the new album The Magic Whip.
- How are you?
- We met to announce to the world
that we had made a new record.
It's been 16 years since
his last album as a quartet,
twelve years since his last album
in three, like Blur.
And today they join us with some news.
I remember noting, five minutes
after the press conference started,
seeing Graham restless,
Damon bragging,
Dave sucking his finger, I thought:
- "I remember this."
- The whole thing is his fault.
Ladies and gentlemen, Graham Coxon.
I thought I played
my last final.
What do you think, Graham,
do you think it's all over?
No, I would say no. I think something was
missing, period at the end of the sentence.
And that’s why we should
put this album together.
You know, after what was a
gradual process on Graham’s part,
he felt comfortable becoming
Graham of the Blur again.
He said, "I want to do something
with this." You know, something big.
Because that was how the band was born.
So, in that sense,
he tied the whole thing up
to be together again in a
band, and then
brought the narrative, the metaphor
back to the point of creation.
It will be a fascinating thing.
And here we are in Hong Kong again,
for such a short period
to play these songs that were
designed here. This is strange.
You know clearly
there is a long story about how
we ended up doing The Magic
Whip, but it's all true.
And this city was the inspiration for that.
This is a song about Happy Valley.
It's the audience
to be in control
of everything.
You can establish some kind of
understanding with the front rows.
I love going to watch people
in the eyes, to touch your hand,
feel that warm feeling
that literally increases
of the public.
Are we feeding them? We are
to feed us, or is it just the opposite?
Are we the ones who feed on the public
or is it the public that feeds on us?
It is very intense to be there with
thousands of people who
they crowd.
You start to think
that, with any luck,
you have the right spirit within
you and you know how to express it.
The coolest thing
is that kind of strange alchemy
between the band and the audience,
and what happens at that moment...
You cannot follow a pattern,
it cannot be forced.
If we hadn't made a record now...
Hong Kong was our chance.
I don't think we would have another one.
And, if we hadn't
produced another album,
I believe that no one...
It would have been
a little absurd
walk down the avenue of memories and that's it.
Thank you!
One of the characteristics of
this record is that despite
used Hong Kong as a metaphor,
I talk a lot about our relationship,
especially about the relationship
between me and Graham.
Because this seemed to be the
very essence of the album,
follow me? If there is any kind of
sentimental truth,
has to do with rapprochement
between us.
My Terracotta Heart is all about
about the relationship between me and Graham.
He...
he had some
insecurity at the end
five days of enrollment
and I thought:
"Here we go."
Because sometimes getting to know each other for
a long time and having faced so many together is
a little embarrassing,
because you have so many memories,
and you think,
"I did this to them,"
we went crazy,
we found ourselves in certain
situations, absurd moments,
particular periods and everything.
Sometimes...
My God, it's like we're
carrying a huge baggage with us.
It's always there and I think
that we will never get rid of it.
But maybe it will help us
to play better together.
Everything happens
within two hours.
We love each other again, we think:
"God, if you can play that drums!"
Or things like "What
you did was great!"
Or like, "You were phenomenal!"
"Oh, really? Thank you."
And other things like,
"You are an idiot."
Etc, et cetera, but, yes,
everything happens in those two hours.
There are for sure
a logic that guides us
when we play a piece.
The music that the four
of us make together comes
the fact that we all
like it and we are all
involved,
and that’s what has kept us
together all these years.
It is an element that goes beyond
each band member.
But then,
normally, everything is set
aside when you step on stage.
I believe that each of us becomes
Blur, when we're on stage.
We leave our identities
off the stage,
and then take them back
when we leave the stage.
While we're on stage, we're
i Blur.
We are the Blur!
As we’ve known each
other since we were 19,
something almost magical is created between us.
The rest of the world disappears.
And there is nothing else
the music. It is a unique exaltation.
Well, I feel very
comfortable these days.
I think that after Glastonbury in
2009, I no longer have
looking forward to doing important shows.
And then I ask myself, "Have I done enough"
being able to share this experience
with such a large audience?
And I think that’s what we all think.
It is not all about us.
Blur is both the
audience and the band.
It wouldn't be us, without our fans.
Playing together, whether in the
studio or live, is always special,
and I think that's what still
keeps us together as a band.
Why we spend so much
years together,
looking for our sound,
do nothing but play,
we are completely immersed
in what we do, each one
single gram of our
being is expressed
what we play.
The pathos keeps
growing, during the show,
to the point that you
are amazed at how much
this common experience
it became powerful.
It always gets me excited,
a little bit because
it's like you're in a
bubble when you're on stage
and it looks like a dream.
Thank you all!
You are fantastic!
It's great, I get off the stage and listen
to know why I love being
part of this band. I know why
I love these guys.
I am proud and honored
be where I am.
I don't know if it's a habit or if
I was too old to be affected.
They are far from
agitated as he was
before, with these things.
It's not like you can do much about it
about what's going to happen. You have to search
to see it as fun, not as
a potential disaster.
I believe that when you are at a new
stage, you still have to
try to solve this
and in the end,
you can go automatic with the
parts and everything, but...
I enjoyed that!
But you can relax after
a while and that's it
something beautiful comes out
and is a surprise for everyone.
What came out is what
I wanted to leave,
what?
In my dreams
I wanted you to leave.
Another Blur album
came out and looked great.
And the four of us
we created beautiful pieces
and did beautiful shows,
is
and that was what we had to do.
is
I think I was fundamental
and it is fantastic.
And that was what mattered to me.
None of us need to stay on
Blur, we all have our lives,
Therefore
is something that each of us chooses to
do, and that undoubtedly
makes everything special.
But
the spark, for me, was clear
since the first time
the four of us met.
That spark... who knows if they
will understand what it is, why
put four people together
and all of this immediately goes well...
Is it just luck?
Were they just lucky?
It’s that kind of inexplicable chemistry that
all human relationships are based, right?
Why do you like your friends?
In fact, I don't like them.
Friendship, all the emphasis on friendship,
This "we're all friends
again" thing...
Yes that's not it
we are all like
Dick Van Dyke!
We are not close friends,
we are still human beings and we are
older, stranger, ruder.
We don't feel obligated to each
other, or we wouldn't.
We don't even have to
worry about our friendship.
If we want to work together,
we do it, otherwise we don't.
For me, each show is the last,
because you never know. Graham can
freak out, Damon can get pissed,
Dave can
lose temper.
It's just... being alone in
Hong Kong for five days was right
what had to happen.
The favorite moment of the week
was on the bus, from Scotland
to Wales, with Graham,
sitting looking out the window
laughing at our jokes.
IS,
yes,
They are my best friends.
Those idiots!
Here we are, here we are, here we are, damn it!
Here we are, here we are, here we are, damn it!
There’s something really special,
FIG,
carefree, almost scary,
in a rock band that plays ball.
Here we are, here we are, here we are, damn it!
The good thing is that the disc is very good!
If we didn't have this strange
and long time, if we had
yielding to pressure, etc.,
would be great nonsense.
I'm glad we didn't do that.
It's all very unstable, actually.
It might as well not have happened.
It happened
in the right place in the
world, in the right mood
for five incredible days.
I think Damon got it right.
All of these lyrics
express what I feel.
I think he's a genius.
It is someone who
expresses exactly what you always
thought, without knowing it.
It’s a huge privilege to be able
play these songs and have
that kind of reaction.
I certainly don't take it for granted.
I was afraid to be there without
being able to understand if it was
it went well or not.
I couldn't have endured this.
Pretending that nothing
would have been easier.
Instead, it was so good
make the last record and tour
so that we can be
tempted to try again.
Part of me thinks,
"How can I live without all of this?"
And another part of me:
"I can't think of doing this forever."
And it makes me sad, because
"forever" sounds much better than
"not forever."
What happens next?
I don't know the answer to this question.
It is a splendid chapter.
Whether it is the most recent or not, I have no idea.
The relationship between the four of
us is the most important thing, and if
maintaining this relationship means "arrive
with Blur", then "arrive with Blur".
I like everything,
as long as it's an adventure, and
there is still a lot of adventure
in Blur.
Hyde Park, thank you!
Good return home!
We love you!
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
It was really fortuitous.
It might as well not have happened.
It just happened
exactly in the right place,
when we had the right spirit.
I mean, I was just
got off the plane,
totally drunk since the
end of the tour party,
and immediately we started
to write and resume
and was obviously trying to avoid
to be a member of Blur.
The idea of building an album
around it was actually born as a joke.
It is ridiculous to think that you can
put together an album in five days.
Is giving to someone
a second,
a third opportunity and then see
waste it and drop it again.
Makes you say, "My God, I can't
I can't do this, enough, again? "
Well, yes, you know how it is...
Interpersonal relationships are
scary and people do strange things,
no? And, just when you
think everything is going
smooth as oil,
suddenly something unexpected happens.
Well, they will always be there
times when you don't do the right thing.
That's how you grow up and learn what it is
the right thing.
Good.
And now
we'll play songs about your city.
Thank you!
In 2009, there was a
kind of reconciliation.
I don't think any of us did
because I was short of money or homesick.
It would have been awful.
In many ways,
I had accepted the fact
that I would never do
anything with Blur again.
And then the Olympics came.
It was thanks to the Olympics.
Who they have
asked to do a great
show on the last day
at Hyde Park.
The atmosphere was right,
it seemed like a very
special occasion.
IS
I think that
we had a great show.
We all think
- that hadn't been bad at all!
- And then we thought, "Well,
if we have to get together for that
show, we can also go to places
where we've never played before.
And I think that's why
we met in Hong Kong.
Right now we’re
all calm and no one
he feels obliged to be part of the Blur.
You understand?
We touch God only know how much now
and we have the golden opportunity to be able
do what interests us most.
I remember...
I remember when you were just starting.
IS
And now it's more fun?
Making music is always special.
It is true. When the four of us are together, in
the studio or on stage, it's something special.
And we still have to
do a series of shows, big and small
and that's what makes it interesting.
Why do you still remember
the first shows, right?
- Well, just a few.
- Only a few, yes. Of the best.
We went to Hong Kong and shared.
After that, we should go to Taipei.
Damon will say for sure that it was
another city, but it was Taipei, Damon.
We were actually going to
Tokyo,
but the show was canceled.
They shot the organizer or something,
I don't know, but they canceled.
"OK."
We spent five days in Hong Kong.
The opportunity presented itself
to create music.
It happened like this... "We are
in Hong Kong, we have nothing to do.
Let's go to the recording studio!
You know, I would have
preferred to stay calm and
relax for a few days and
improvising in the studio can be
an unpleasant, claustrophobic,
smelly and exhausting experience,
compared, for example,
in a hotel pool.
Therefore...
That week, we could have
spend time on board an open bus,
to admire the view.
But you know how it is...
when musicians get bored, it's easy
to remove the tools.
It's more or less
that's how it works.
We might as well have
taken a vacation.
But on the one hand there was a work ethic,
in the other
I was courteous. I wanted to find
out if there was something there
differently,
we could do instead of continuing
being in a band called Blur until
we couldn't do that anymore.
It was like the first tests.
that was
so much fun spending
time like that.
It was nothing too elaborate.
We were feeling something,
if it didn't work, we tried something else.
And then there were a lot of ideas,
and you don't need anything else.
So the rest just
it comes naturally as a result.
Better not really,
because you know what it is...
is
- Well, there are many different things.
- Yes.
But this is...
Truth?
It doesn't change anything.
You have to approach it with the
idea of trying something different,
and it seemed like a very
exciting thing to do,
making music in Hong Kong.
And in a way they were not there
pressures of any kind. We feel
to be part of a band that
did something vaguely
transgressive.
Record music without anyone knowing.
It was a very anonymous building,
it was called the Acme building.
It had no windows.
It was very small, it was tight.
I think if we were in one of
those big superchic rooms with
Pharrell Williams,
to record our return record, none of us
there would be,
but as everything was fine between us
and we had fun playing together,
we thought "Well, come on
let's go to the living room to make music!
Because we like it! Why
that's what we like to
do and we're good at it!
I didn't want this album to escape us.
I thought it would be...
It would have been
sad, because the
sensations were perfect,
while recording those sessions.
- Hey, we have something here! - Yes!
We were all stuck in Hong
Kong, outside
of the complicated lives that each of us
he built for himself.
I think that was very important.
There were no distractions.
We missed our families.
And I think the album
also carries that.
To hell with the record company and
all these people. That kind of pressure
is something you can
try to rebel against,
but you can never
rebel against the path
where you are seen from
a musical point of view.
Hour after hour,
day by day,
along with your friends.
Because they know when you suck.
You feel yourself sucking.
You feel very vulnerable.
You are in a very difficult situation
unstable. Even if you're
kidding and laughing.
I think we made an effort to go somewhere.
You have to go somewhere.
You must feel that you are
on some kind of journey,
when you're playing jam sessions.
The good thing is that
there were no distractions.
It was just some kind of thing
paramount, because we all had to
we took the subway
together every day and
and we went to work, and then
we were going out together.
Every day, when we took the
subway, we said things like:
"Hey! Yes! It was great!"
But none of us really wanted
admits. Maybe we still think...
"Yes, it went well, but let's try"
don't let us get too excited.
- He was cool! - OK.
It is the system that was used
in the 1950s to make records,
before cinemas became so big
large and bulky
technological machines.
You take a group of musicians who really
know how to play and put them in a room
and see what happens.
We used the same approach that
we used in the early days.
In just five days, we bake
any ideas that we could.
It is important to feel free to
be able to set your mind free.
Dave started in the
recording booth,
but he felt he was
too far away from us.
So is
he came to the room where we were playing.
But he did not bring all the equipment
and was not properly microphoned.
It was just putting ideas down,
but it was the most spontaneous session
that we received from...
I believe that from Modern Life Is Rubbish, or
Parklife.
Five days later, we had
about 20 songs. And it felt like
the best thing we've ever done.
It was a creative impulse,
a relief. I felt very happy.
All the basic atmospheres
were practically in place.
There were a whole series of
visions, ideas and things like that.
The lyrics have always
been a problem for me.
I can't go down
and write all day.
So, I hadn't written the lyrics.
Yes, we're done and then...
Do you know...
Steve Sedgewick came,
the Studio 13 engineer, and he
he must have put everything in his bag,
then he ran away home.
And that's how it ended.
I don't know if it ended up in a box or
on a flash drive or...
Not where it was
placed, but somewhere.
It was filed somewhere.
In my mind,
it was a failed experiment,
because we weren't done.
After those five days in Hong
Kong, we resumed the tour
and put everything aside.
It must be said.
- Thanks, Vicky. - See you later.
- Hey, thanks, honey.
- See you in Jakarta.
- I'll pick you up tomorrow
at half past one. - Thank you.
See you.
Well, we should be fine then.
- Come here.
- Closer. Stay here.
I experienced a moment of true tranquility
is calm,
on here.
And suddenly
the phone rings.
"Ah, you play at Hyde Park
tonight and it's sold out."
"Graham made a new album for you."
It was like reliving a story with
an ex, in a situation
completely confused,
and then be spit back
in my normal life.
When everything is over, it is said:
"What happened?"
We were like a bubble,
each on their own.
You know, we were creating
something, with these sessions,
and I think we forgot
that when we got back
we would be finished
in our different
professional,
domestic and geographical situations.
Damon made a beautiful metaphor.
It's like
didn't wash the dishes
for one day.
They start to bother you. And if you don't wash for several
days, you don't want to go back to the kitchen, right?
Six months have passed.
And nothing happened.
Another six months passed and nothing
happened. And then another six months passed.
And nothing happened.
And then I remembered that I had a
video camera in the recording room.
And I thought, "Oh, now I'm
watching these videos." And even if
there was a big microphone
on the camera, you could
you could feel, feel.
I woke up with the New
World Tower in my head,
that song, for some
reason, haunted me.
Do you prefer the four to the floor?
There was something good
about those four on the floor.
It was terrible to know that
I did something very good
that
he would probably never
see the light of day.
I poured myself a good glass of wine,
watched all those videos and thought
to pour me another glass.
I looked at them
and found it a pity.
It is a great privilege
to be part of Blur and
I try to have fun
at most when I'm
involved in the project,
and when it’s all over,
I move away from it again.
I don't expect anything, understand?
In doing so,
whatever happens is great and
positive.
We can play some instruments
in a small room too
or play for 80,000 people,
we are not the ones
who make this change,
but what happens
around us.
There is a cause and effect relationship.
When I play a big show
the important thing is to have the necessary security,
to know
almost innately
that it is essential to be
explosive during the first few
five minutes.
You have to seduce the
audience, in a way.
There are many positive aspects
to playing close to home.
Playing Hyde Park is not easy
it's a huge park and i love it.
It's Hyde Park and it really is
quintessential.
But it is not easy. Going on stage
once doesn't make things any easier.
It is the fourth time that I play
and every time it is difficult.
I always feel some kind of...
horror.
It was of great importance for Blur.
The concert
for the Olympics it was absurd,
because London couldn't
be more ready than that.
Therefore
I hope tonight is
equally special.
It is very difficult to define the
elements that make a show magical.
For Blur, it's about getting
in tune with the audience.
It’s a pretty overwhelming experience,
take the stage in front of 65,000 people.
It always has this incredible feeling,
that kidnaps not only us,
but also the public.
It is like a feeling of total
liberation and communion.
It is the union of four different
people, each with...
characters, mentality,
lives, concerns,
different problems.
And they all try to have the
same bizarre experience together
together.
Now we all just think about
having fun and nothing else.
There is no duty, none
pressure is just
an incredible thing!
Let's do a great rock show!
I thought about money and children,
and it was good that
Graham called me saying:
"Do you know those songs
we wrote in Hong Kong?"
And I said, "Yes!"
"I can see what we can do with this."
There is a standard, but strange
doing things,
not a hierarchy, but a way
do the things you usually do
there is Damon saying, "Hi,
what if we do that? "
You are not sure if Damon likes
to have that responsibility.
So I tested it
and I took the initiative, saying to him:
"I would like to take everything"
and take a look at it.
It was not easy to prepare
for this conversation,
interestingly,
but I shouldn't have worried about that.
I've known him for
longer than anyone else.
I think they are quite rude.
- Then that's it.
- Damon's mom gave it to me.
When I was in the hospital, with anemia.
When I was 18 years old.
I lost control, what a pity.
But the cup remained,
with some beads, the remains of the
necklace Damon made for me at the hospital.
They still have every
reason to think that
I could add a lot of
guitars or make a big mess.
Send Graham
in the studio with the experts is a little bit
how to send my 11 year
old son to the supermarket
supermarket shopping.
"Did you use distortion for everything?"
"You used"
the flanger of everything?
- OK.
- I was excited, it's great
not having to think about everything.
In short, on several
occasions I said to myself:
"Why am I doing everything here?"
And for me it was, well, it was
it was really a surprise
very good it
was prepared and ready for it.
And that he was capable of that too.
It really made me
good that my oldest
friend felt again
so optimistic and self-confident.
It's fantastic.
I didn't know if it would work
but I didn't have much to lose and
I put it in those terms. I said
people are confused, we are confused
for what happened
to Think Tank and
is...
so long ago
we avoid confusing
and do something
great, and he replied,
"Okay, let's go!"
Are you ready?
I WANT TO BE WITH YOU
I WANT TO BE WITH YOU
You know, in old friendships there are
always difficulties, there will always be
times when you don't do the right thing.
But this is how you grow and learn to do
the right thing.
I was wrong and admitted it, more or less.
But it wasn't my fault,
it actually is...
I mean, it was hard for me to react.
I was a spoiled brat
and neighing in the 90s.
And when I was 21, 22, it was like
if I was 10.
I had no idea, it was distant.
At 19, I had just left the house.
Two years later, on my 21st
birthday, I was playing for Marque.
So we signed and then we went
on tour in America.
It's a strange thing to metabolize.
Is weird.
At this age, you don't know
your limits when you party.
You just know
this is granted to you. And it's mind-blowing.
You enter a room where
there is a lot of alcohol
and they say to you, "Drink!"
You do, and you become a fool.
Then, the next day, another show
and another room with a pile of spirits.
"Beverage!"
And then you start to try a little.
I thought, you know, if
about your stuff and something comes out,
it would be kind of...
in other words, a recovery of balance
after the shame of those years.
I think it is
The masterstroke was
having Steven Street
as an aid. Because Steven
is incredibly meticulous
and patient, really,
and he knows the dynamics
of Blur better than anyone,
having produced
most of our records.
It is always a pleasure to talk to
the crowd, I feel very close to them.
But that news came suddenly,
I haven't heard from them in a while.
Graham picked up the phone,
like this, and said to me:
"Steven, I have an idea, I want to
do something with these recordings"
we did in Hong Kong.
They are ready for production.
When you go to the studio with Steven,
it never happens that you go to
him one day and he gets hysterical.
Or you never go to him and
find him crying at your desk.
Go to him and find everything ready
and have a coffee and it
will be Steven Street.
It’s so easy to try several things,
no?
With technology, if something doesn't
work, you start from scratch.
I think it's a beautiful thing.
Great sound, right?
After two days,
we knew we were working on this album
it would have been very worth it.
is
but we work a lot on it,
we keep working on it.
It was very intense,
but very fun.
I would go home, sit with the guitar
and continue rehearsing the chords.
But I was basically going home
in a really good mood, you know?
I love longer and more contemplative things
and I love that sometimes
it doesn't sound familiar
compared to other Blur albums.
My idea, my attitude
was to be very sensitive
and keep most
things in Hong Kong.
We make it very presentable,
but I was anyway
aware that I should have made
it feel for Damon and had to be
a striking thing,
something that should have attracted you.
We sat next to him and said:
"Listen to her, listen to her" and he was...
It couldn't be,
I didn't think that
can be very embarrassing
or stressful
Do you know.
We were listening to Lonesome
Street and he didn't look convinced,
so Go Out...
He was very fond of Go Out.
And suddenly he says,
"Wow!" And then he said:
"Yeah, fucking brilliant," and
started jumping and spinning
swear, and...
It was just like that.
Damon is like that.
Or behaves that way,
or suddenly he realizes
be very convinced
and very expansive,
but it was really a relief.
It was a relief.
But it was a very good
sound, anyway.
You could make an entire album
with some of those songs.
It's the first thing
I heard about music
I thought I was an astronaut,
and they were all...
Yes well...
It was like this or...
Maybe I had
sang a melody as a chorus,
and I didn't know if there was a melody or not,
or I entered a middle eighth
or changed the chord sequence
as in the chorus of Go Out,
at the end, to give more rhythm.
There were many creative
decisions, many writing moments,
I didn't know how
Damon would react.
He would have been honest, he would have said
- what he thought.
- He was always good.
You know, I think
he was
definitely a better musician
than I was at the time.
I think we are now
we are equal, but
I had to fight and recover
for many years to achieve
level, I think.
Graham and Steven
they arrived,
we sit
and we hear everything.
I had totally forgotten
about some things.
But in the end, I thought:
"Oh, wow. This is great."
And then...
"Does that mean I have to...
Oh God."
We launch in the future
and I was back at Blur.
Again!
I just want to say...
i really wanted
thank you Graham,
for molding
The magic whip.
Your turn!
It is not enough!
More difficult!
I think one of my
strongest emotions was
when they came back with the album.
I felt like we were back
a set
completely
Working.
It was beautifully articulated,
and everything really had
the essence of Graham,
which was great.
I was really really proud of your work.
For me, the most interesting thing about
the lyrics on this album was asking me
"What am I singing about?"
All fragments of lyrics
that were on the album
that Graham returned to
me, so to speak,
they were taken from experiences
we had while working in Hong Kong.
I completely dived,
retraced my steps,
I thought about all the emotional
experiences I’ve ever had,
about Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong, I managed
dystopian levels of
personal isolation and
anguish and fear.
The spirit of these
crazy and claustrophobic
cities throwing you
in a dream state that
takes you out of your mind.
Despite being an
incredibly busy place,
everything goes so fast
that somehow decreases
and it’s really interesting.
There were a lot of escalators, so you
no longer have to climb steep hills.
You can live...
in a completely static way,
like you're in a dream.
You always have a chance to escape.
You can just take the
ferry and go to these
divine islands. There are hundreds of them.
All the songs I really like
they have a geographical connotation.
Songs like Waterloo Sunset
or the Beatles in general.
I like songs that meditate
in somewhat prosaic things, how to say.
A story that had a noticeable
effect on me as a young man is
Patrick Hamilton's Hangover Square
with its juxtaposition
of a hangover in the square.
I've always been fascinated
by that kind of idea.
There are also strong
links with Britain
with British culture,
but at the same time it is
is within something
totally incomprehensible.
It's very exciting, very modern.
It's beautiful, busy, crazy.
The food is crazy.
I mean, thank God we are
not stuck in Düsseldorf.
Keeping a secret is very difficult
in the 21st century, and
as the fateful date approached,
and we had to share the
secret with other people,
everything became very difficult.
We put the finishing
touches on the day before
of the press conference in Chinatown.
Live, right now,
anywhere in the world.
- And we are in a room with...
- We welcome you...
Here we are again with Blur.
- Who would have believed it?
- Who would have believed it?
Come and go this afternoon:
there will be a new Blur album
A beautiful new album
called The Magic Whip.
During today's press
conference in London,
the British band has revealed that
it will come out of a long hiatus
with the new album The Magic Whip.
- How are you?
- We met to announce to the world
that we had made a new record.
It's been 16 years since
his last album as a quartet,
twelve years since his last album
in three, like Blur.
And today they join us with some news.
I remember noting, five minutes
after the press conference started,
seeing Graham restless,
Damon bragging,
Dave sucking his finger, I thought:
- "I remember this."
- The whole thing is his fault.
Ladies and gentlemen, Graham Coxon.
I thought I played
my last final.
What do you think, Graham,
do you think it's all over?
No, I would say no. I think something was
missing, period at the end of the sentence.
And that’s why we should
put this album together.
You know, after what was a
gradual process on Graham’s part,
he felt comfortable becoming
Graham of the Blur again.
He said, "I want to do something
with this." You know, something big.
Because that was how the band was born.
So, in that sense,
he tied the whole thing up
to be together again in a
band, and then
brought the narrative, the metaphor
back to the point of creation.
It will be a fascinating thing.
And here we are in Hong Kong again,
for such a short period
to play these songs that were
designed here. This is strange.
You know clearly
there is a long story about how
we ended up doing The Magic
Whip, but it's all true.
And this city was the inspiration for that.
This is a song about Happy Valley.
It's the audience
to be in control
of everything.
You can establish some kind of
understanding with the front rows.
I love going to watch people
in the eyes, to touch your hand,
feel that warm feeling
that literally increases
of the public.
Are we feeding them? We are
to feed us, or is it just the opposite?
Are we the ones who feed on the public
or is it the public that feeds on us?
It is very intense to be there with
thousands of people who
they crowd.
You start to think
that, with any luck,
you have the right spirit within
you and you know how to express it.
The coolest thing
is that kind of strange alchemy
between the band and the audience,
and what happens at that moment...
You cannot follow a pattern,
it cannot be forced.
If we hadn't made a record now...
Hong Kong was our chance.
I don't think we would have another one.
And, if we hadn't
produced another album,
I believe that no one...
It would have been
a little absurd
walk down the avenue of memories and that's it.
Thank you!
One of the characteristics of
this record is that despite
used Hong Kong as a metaphor,
I talk a lot about our relationship,
especially about the relationship
between me and Graham.
Because this seemed to be the
very essence of the album,
follow me? If there is any kind of
sentimental truth,
has to do with rapprochement
between us.
My Terracotta Heart is all about
about the relationship between me and Graham.
He...
he had some
insecurity at the end
five days of enrollment
and I thought:
"Here we go."
Because sometimes getting to know each other for
a long time and having faced so many together is
a little embarrassing,
because you have so many memories,
and you think,
"I did this to them,"
we went crazy,
we found ourselves in certain
situations, absurd moments,
particular periods and everything.
Sometimes...
My God, it's like we're
carrying a huge baggage with us.
It's always there and I think
that we will never get rid of it.
But maybe it will help us
to play better together.
Everything happens
within two hours.
We love each other again, we think:
"God, if you can play that drums!"
Or things like "What
you did was great!"
Or like, "You were phenomenal!"
"Oh, really? Thank you."
And other things like,
"You are an idiot."
Etc, et cetera, but, yes,
everything happens in those two hours.
There are for sure
a logic that guides us
when we play a piece.
The music that the four
of us make together comes
the fact that we all
like it and we are all
involved,
and that’s what has kept us
together all these years.
It is an element that goes beyond
each band member.
But then,
normally, everything is set
aside when you step on stage.
I believe that each of us becomes
Blur, when we're on stage.
We leave our identities
off the stage,
and then take them back
when we leave the stage.
While we're on stage, we're
i Blur.
We are the Blur!
As we’ve known each
other since we were 19,
something almost magical is created between us.
The rest of the world disappears.
And there is nothing else
the music. It is a unique exaltation.
Well, I feel very
comfortable these days.
I think that after Glastonbury in
2009, I no longer have
looking forward to doing important shows.
And then I ask myself, "Have I done enough"
being able to share this experience
with such a large audience?
And I think that’s what we all think.
It is not all about us.
Blur is both the
audience and the band.
It wouldn't be us, without our fans.
Playing together, whether in the
studio or live, is always special,
and I think that's what still
keeps us together as a band.
Why we spend so much
years together,
looking for our sound,
do nothing but play,
we are completely immersed
in what we do, each one
single gram of our
being is expressed
what we play.
The pathos keeps
growing, during the show,
to the point that you
are amazed at how much
this common experience
it became powerful.
It always gets me excited,
a little bit because
it's like you're in a
bubble when you're on stage
and it looks like a dream.
Thank you all!
You are fantastic!
It's great, I get off the stage and listen
to know why I love being
part of this band. I know why
I love these guys.
I am proud and honored
be where I am.
I don't know if it's a habit or if
I was too old to be affected.
They are far from
agitated as he was
before, with these things.
It's not like you can do much about it
about what's going to happen. You have to search
to see it as fun, not as
a potential disaster.
I believe that when you are at a new
stage, you still have to
try to solve this
and in the end,
you can go automatic with the
parts and everything, but...
I enjoyed that!
But you can relax after
a while and that's it
something beautiful comes out
and is a surprise for everyone.
What came out is what
I wanted to leave,
what?
In my dreams
I wanted you to leave.
Another Blur album
came out and looked great.
And the four of us
we created beautiful pieces
and did beautiful shows,
is
and that was what we had to do.
is
I think I was fundamental
and it is fantastic.
And that was what mattered to me.
None of us need to stay on
Blur, we all have our lives,
Therefore
is something that each of us chooses to
do, and that undoubtedly
makes everything special.
But
the spark, for me, was clear
since the first time
the four of us met.
That spark... who knows if they
will understand what it is, why
put four people together
and all of this immediately goes well...
Is it just luck?
Were they just lucky?
It’s that kind of inexplicable chemistry that
all human relationships are based, right?
Why do you like your friends?
In fact, I don't like them.
Friendship, all the emphasis on friendship,
This "we're all friends
again" thing...
Yes that's not it
we are all like
Dick Van Dyke!
We are not close friends,
we are still human beings and we are
older, stranger, ruder.
We don't feel obligated to each
other, or we wouldn't.
We don't even have to
worry about our friendship.
If we want to work together,
we do it, otherwise we don't.
For me, each show is the last,
because you never know. Graham can
freak out, Damon can get pissed,
Dave can
lose temper.
It's just... being alone in
Hong Kong for five days was right
what had to happen.
The favorite moment of the week
was on the bus, from Scotland
to Wales, with Graham,
sitting looking out the window
laughing at our jokes.
IS,
yes,
They are my best friends.
Those idiots!
Here we are, here we are, here we are, damn it!
Here we are, here we are, here we are, damn it!
There’s something really special,
FIG,
carefree, almost scary,
in a rock band that plays ball.
Here we are, here we are, here we are, damn it!
The good thing is that the disc is very good!
If we didn't have this strange
and long time, if we had
yielding to pressure, etc.,
would be great nonsense.
I'm glad we didn't do that.
It's all very unstable, actually.
It might as well not have happened.
It happened
in the right place in the
world, in the right mood
for five incredible days.
I think Damon got it right.
All of these lyrics
express what I feel.
I think he's a genius.
It is someone who
expresses exactly what you always
thought, without knowing it.
It’s a huge privilege to be able
play these songs and have
that kind of reaction.
I certainly don't take it for granted.
I was afraid to be there without
being able to understand if it was
it went well or not.
I couldn't have endured this.
Pretending that nothing
would have been easier.
Instead, it was so good
make the last record and tour
so that we can be
tempted to try again.
Part of me thinks,
"How can I live without all of this?"
And another part of me:
"I can't think of doing this forever."
And it makes me sad, because
"forever" sounds much better than
"not forever."
What happens next?
I don't know the answer to this question.
It is a splendid chapter.
Whether it is the most recent or not, I have no idea.
The relationship between the four of
us is the most important thing, and if
maintaining this relationship means "arrive
with Blur", then "arrive with Blur".
I like everything,
as long as it's an adventure, and
there is still a lot of adventure
in Blur.
Hyde Park, thank you!
Good return home!
We love you!