| “ | I never really thought about anything as far as I can remember. | „ |
| ~ 2-D, Rise Of The Ogre |
Stuart Pot (born Stuart Harold Tusspot, 23 May 1978), better known by his nickname 2-D, is the fictional lead vocalist, keyboardist and frontman of British virtual band Gorillaz.
His singing voice is provided by the band's real-life frontman, Damon Albarn, and his speaking voice was provided by actor Nelson De Freitas from 2001 to 2017 and from 2017 onwards by Kevin Bishop.
Development
Creation and characterization
2-D was the very first member created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett for Gorillaz in 1998 as a representation of the "classic stupid pretty boy singer" stereotype that Hewlett found to be in many bands at the time. He was loosely based on Stuart 'Stu' Lowbridge, a longtime friend of both Damon and Jamie's who has worked as Damon's stage engineer and live music co-ordinator for all of his projects since the beginnings of Albarn's other band Blur, and guitarist Chris Gentry from English rock band MenswearW. Before Gorillaz, Hewlett originally had the idea of forming a cartoon band called "Sour Grapes", conceptualized in 1995, with Gentry and Graham Coxon of Blur. 2-D has been described by the band's former drummer and writer Cass Browne as being a "composite of Chris, Damon, and lots of other rock frontmen".[1][2][3]
Initially, auditions were held to find a singing voice for 2-D, with one serious final contender being musician Earl ZingerW. However, Damon quickly realized that was not the way he wanted Gorillaz to work, and quickly decided against this idea and to provide 2-D's singing voice himself, bringing various other collaborators whenever needed.
Looks and appearance
2-D is tall and very thin, standing at 6'2 (though this has not at all been consistently depicted throughout the years). He has long limbs and fingers. His eyes were completely black due to eye trauma (more specifically, due to 8-ball fractures, as broken blood vessels in both of his eyes caused his irises to fill with blood). He has had naturally blue hair ever since he was eleven, after he fell out of a tree, which caused all his hair to fall out and grow back deep azure blue. His original hair colour used to be brown.
Like the band's guitarist, Noodle, 2-D's looks have evolved heavily throughout the years. Throughout Phase 1, he is seen with very geometric and almost purple hair at times, unlike in Phase 2, where his hair has seemed to gain a more realistic, lined tone and turned to an almost teal colour. In Phase 3, 2-D is seen with much more realistic hair, larger eyes, and more tanned skin. In Phase 4, his hair starts thinning and becomes dark blue, his nose shape changes, and his eyes become more oval. He also has one of his front teeth back and has started painting his nails.
In the first two phases, 2-D's eyes were primarily pitch black, though close-up shots in the latter depicted them as dark red, a result of the blood present in the anterior chamber of his eyes. Phases 3 and 4 occasionally depicted him with white eyes, though from Phase 5 onwards, his eyes now appear to be completely white most of the time.
Despite missing a front tooth, 2-D can sing clearly. His speaking and singing voices contrast significantly and have changed considerably throughout the years. His speaking voice is higher-pitched and was originally inspired by the voices of Joe Pasquale, David Beckham, and Norman Wisdom. In some early spoken recordings, his speaking voice was lower and softer than the high-pitched, squeaky voice he would develop later on. He speaks in a mockney accent and originally had a mild speech impediment that seems to have waned as he got older. During Phase 1, 2-D's singing voice was often in a much higher falsetto voice that has become somewhat more subdued since Demon Days. This voice, however, has occasionally reappeared on some tracks on The Now Now, such as Tranz and Sorcererz.
Personality
2-D has consistently been depicted as a soft and gentle person, the kind who "would never hurt a fly", but also as extremely passive and easily distracted, being often described (mostly by Murdoc) as behaving akin to a lobotomized person (though he has never actually got one). This led him to suffer intense bullying throughout his childhood and become Murdoc's preferred target when committing his physical and psychological abuse from Phases 1 to 3 (as Russel was significantly stronger than him and Noodle was still a mere child). He has, however, been shown to be able to stand up for himself when needed, such as while being held captive for the shooting of the On Melancholy Hill music video and when confronting Murdoc after the band's reunion in Phase 4 or his return in Phase 5.
Being labelled as 'stupid' since childhood, 2-D is often depicted as being slower than his fellow bandmates, often failing to understand analogies or metaphors. This, however, does not apply to his knowledge on music, as he has repeatedly displayed incredible songwriting prowess, great technical skill on multiple different instruments (keyboard, guitar and melodica) and vast knowledge on rock bands from Britain and beyond. During Phase 7, however, 2-D was made significantly dumber than before, quickly falling victim to the manipulation of The Forever Cult and being seemingly unable to write coherent poetry despite being the band's main songwriter.
Relationship with Murdoc
During Phase 1, 2-D greatly respected and idolised Murdoc, who he believed had "saved his life" by waking him up from his coma (which the bassist himself induced). This perspective, however, gradually shifted after Phase 1, as the constant abuse and contempt he experienced from Murdoc led 2-D to change his opinion on the bass player, to a necessary evil who he merely tolerated during Phase 2 (a similar perspective to that of Russel, the band's drummer, who held this stance for the longest time) to outright hate during Phase 3 after being kidnapped, dragged across the ocean and held captive in an underwater room being constantly watched by one of his greatest fears — a giant whale — all without Russel or Noodle to look after him.
The two reconciled during Phase 4, though 2-D still felt immense relief and satisfaction from being away from Murdoc once more while the bassist was incarcerated during Phase 5. Their relationship has since grown friendlier, though this has not stopped him from being used as a servant to Murdoc within The Last Cult or as a guinea pig for his experiments with the Essence of Murdoc.
Background
Pre-Phase 1
Stuart was born in Hertfordshire, England, to parents David and Rachel Tusspot, though his father changed his name to 'Stuart Pot' to prevent him from being bullied at school (a decision which ultimately led to Stuart being nicknamed 'Stu-Pot' instead). He spent most of his childhood and his early teen years in Hertfordshire before he and his family moved to Crawley, West Sussex following a lawsuit after he broke his piano teacher's hand.
He was educated at St. Wilfrid's School (the same school that educated the members of The CureW). His father, David Tusspot, worked as a mechanic and owner of the Tusspot's Fairground. His mother, Rachel Tusspot, was a nurse who supplied Stuart with migraine pills from his tree accident. While Stuart wasn't a very intelligent boy (indeed, he was often described as being "a bit thick"), he was known as a kind person and had a general love of music. His parents recall a little ten-year-old Stuart bouncing around in his room listening to The ClashW, Augustus PabloW, The Human LeagueW (his favorite band) and many other musicians of the sort. One day, he hit his head when falling from a tree at the age of eleven, causing all of his hair to fall out. When it came back it was a deep 'azure blue'.[4]
An old photo of Stuart (foreground center) during his days at St. Wilfrid's School
On 15 August 1997, when Stuart was 19, his life changed forever after hooligan Murdoc Niccals, age 31, purposefully crashed his Vauxhall Astra through the wall of Uncle Norm's Organ Emporium, where Stuart had been working, in an attempt to ram-raid the store and steal the synthesizers. Murdoc's bumper crashed into Stuart's face[5], landing him with an 8-ball fracture also known as hyphemaW, although he could still see through his injured eye. Murdoc was arrested and sentenced to carry out 30,000 hours (1250 days) of community service as well as care for the incapacitated Stuart for 10 hours every week.
One year later, in a poor attempt to impress some women, Murdoc performed a 360° spin in a Tesco car park in Nottingham with his vehicle. This sent Stuart crashing through the windscreen, hitting his head on the curb, and fracturing his other eye. When Stuart awoke after sliding through the cement for about a mile, he turned to look at Murdoc. This was the moment when Murdoc knew he had his frontman. "A blue-haired, black-eyed god", Murdoc called him. Murdoc nicknamed Stuart '2-D', which stands for the 'Two Dents'. Rather amusingly, Stuart adored his new nickname, dropping the use of his birth name completely and even signing formal letters with the first name "Two" and surname "D". 2-D would appear to have a chronic history of violent blows to the head, coupled with a complete lack of natural intelligence. Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett commented on this, saying that he has a blank sheet of paper where a brain should be. Despite this, he serves as Gorillaz's lead vocalist and songwriter for most of the band's albums.[6]
Phase 1: 1998-2002
In 1998, 2-D and Murdoc moved into Kong Studios and assembled Russel Hobbs to join them. 2-D's girlfriend, Paula Cracker, was originally the group's first guitar player but was soon fired after Russel caught her giving Murdoc a blowjob in the studio toilets. 2-D was upset about this and he and Paula broke up. Later, 2-D began dating Rachel Stevens, a former member of S-Club 7 and invited her to the band's first gig at the Camden Brownhouse. She, however, broke up with him the day after the label signing party, after Murdoc spent most of the evening hitting on her.
After Gorillaz played their last gig at the Isle of MTV in Portugal, Gorillaz moved to Los Angeles to write a film and tension began to grow between the band members. After suggesting many crazy ideas for the film, Murdoc snapped and attacked 2-D, almost choking him. Luckily, Russel saved him, but after that fight, the band split up.
Post-Phase 1 to Pre-Phase 2: 2002-2004
2-D standing on a dodgem at his father's funfair.
During the Gorillaz hiatus, 2-D stayed in Los Angeles. He spent a couple of nights at Britt EklandW's flat, but he left because of her habit of running around naked, banging on the walls and never getting any sleep. 2-D finally left L.A. to work at his father's funfair in Eastbourne. He used to collect money for a ride called 'The Switchback Ride', and there he met Shane Lynch, a former member of BoyzoneW, and they became good friends. By the time they met, 2-D adopted a teddy boy style and used to stroll the city along with Shane. 2-D didn't really think about Gorillaz until a couple of years later, when he received a text message from Noodle and, with that, he decided to return to Kong with fully restored confidence after he realized he was responsible for the Gorillaz' success.
| “ | I started thinking about Noodle, about Russel, my mates, Gorillaz ain't something you can just walk away from, so I came back to do my vocals on the album, I saw Murdoc walking in just before me armed to the teeth with duty-free tequila, sombreros and with his two Mexican mates not far behind. | „ |
Phase 2: 2005-2007
2-D's feelings of misery and dread caused by Murdoc's abuse appear to have returned during this phase, as he is shown to be visibly depressed in the music video for Feel Good Inc. and bothered by his presence in the MTV Cribs episode, though he is also shown to no longer be so heavily dependent on his painkillers. His bond with Noodle has also strengthened into a brotherly-like relationship (as described by Noodle herself), which is most evident on the music video for Rockit.
Following the release of Feel Good Inc., an email addressed to him was sent from the UK's Child Maintenance Service noticing him about several missed child support payments due to his various different children, and that the results of DNA tests had proven his paternity of at least five different children, who all had 'spiky blue hair' like him, to who he sent 'fantastic Gorillaz goodies' as compensation for the delay. This email could be found on his computer at his room on the interactive Kong Studios website throughout most of Phase 2.
After the El Mañana incident, 2-D and Russel were frantic about Noodle's supposed death, though Murdoc brushed it off by lying and claiming she had escaped by parachute. 2-D and Murdoc attended the Apollo Theater concerts held by Damon Albarn and the Gorillaz live band from the 2nd to the 6th of April of 2006, but left the group almost immediately after, leaving full control of the band and its assets exclusively to Murdoc. 2-D was, according to Murdoc, "...pouncing off somewhere. He's probably gonna try and become an actor or a model or whatever...".
According to an official mail-out from 31 October 2007, Murdoc said that 2-D was "away on a vacation at a Jamaican beach." On 13 November, however, the D-Sides text in the G-Shop stated that 2-D was currently completing a law degree in Oxford.
Phase 3: 2008-2012
After failing to get a degree in law, 2-D left Oxford and headed off to Beirut, in Lebanon, to live by himself. He forcefully returned to the band during the events of Plastic Beach after being forcefully kidnapped by the Boogieman under Murdoc's command.
Murdoc revealed that he had 2-D kidnapped and was holding him against his will on Plastic Beach, enlisting his vocal talents for use on the third Gorillaz album, Plastic Beach. In the Plastic Beach adventure game on the Gorillaz website, 2-D stated that Murdoc had "kindly" gassed him and shipped him to Plastic Beach, where he was forced to sing for Murdoc's new demos. His room was located underwater, on floor B2, where the player wound find him trembling on his bed because of his immense fear of whales (cetaphobia). 2-D seemed unaware that there were other people on the insland besides himself, Murdoc and Cyborg Noodle, though he knew Murdoc had been gassing up and kidnapping various other musicians to have them as collaborators on the band's new album.
Throughout the iTunes Session interview, 2-D deliberately insults Murdoc just to spite him for the horrible things he has done to him, and physically attacked him when Murdoc brought up the Paula Cracker incident, a sore subject for 2-D.
| “ | I only really joined the band to make music, and now, I'm being held captive by a bastard bass player in an underwater submarine, being attacked by sodding pirates who are trying to take over this rotten piece of broken plastic in the ocean that Gorillaz call 'home'. All this, just to make a video. It's making me want to die![7]
|
„ |
During the Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour, 2-D wrote a new Gorillaz album, The Fall, all by himself, which Murdoc apparently knew nothing about until it was already finished. The Fall had been set to release at the same time Rick Black's new record shop at Plastic Beach was to open, which never came to be. Upon returning to Plastic Beach after the end of the tour, Murdoc broadcasted the fifth episode of his Pirate Radio series to both promote the album and get the attention of the Boogieman and The Black Clouds, underground network of pirates and assassins with a long lasting feud with Murdoc. The pirates then proceeded to shoot down the island, though 2-D managed to escape after being swallowed in a single bite by Massive Dick, the whale that had been haunting him for the past three years.
2-D, however, did not spend much time inside Massive Dick, as just a few weeks later the whale died due to excessive consume of ocean garbage and ended up washed up on the shore of a seemingly deserted island. He emerged from the whale's carcass and spent months surviving solely off of its dead body. In the meantime, he appeared to have overcome his massive fear of whales thanks to growing an emotional attachment to Dick.
One day, he spotted a plane flying along the coast and walked towards its directions for a few minutes before finding a beach resort and discovering that he was actually on Guadalupe Island off the coast of Mexico. He then spent the rest of the year there on vacation before finally heading home to England where he was picked up by a driver Murdoc hired and was reunited with the band.[note 1]
Gorillaz - The Book of 2D
Now reunited after the attack on the island, the band moved to 212 Wobble Street, London, which became their residence until the shooting of the DoYaThing music video, they received a notice of eviction from the building. To him, the eventual eviction meant that there was no reason to stay there anymore, especially with the possibility of Murdoc being arrested for repeatedly breaking his contract with EMI. As such, he decided to leave the band unannounced right after the shooting of the video, and the other band members followed suit only a few days later after confronting Murdoc for his actions.
Phase 4: 2016-2017
2-D continued to live in England after leaving the band, though it is unknown what he had been doing during these years. After he heard that Murdoc and Russel were getting back together, possibly leading to the band reuining once more, he decided to go on a silent retreat in the Himalayas for the next six months as a way to prepare for seeing Murdoc again and being able to stand up for himself if he needed to. He planned on staying there for longer but was excommunicated from his group of monks in just a few months for talking too much.
2-D on the Humanz album cover
2-D was the last band member to reuine with the others, on the 29th of July 2015. During this period, Russel, Noodle and 2-D made several comments and remarks on how Murdoc seemed vastly different after staying in prison for over two years, showing regret for his past actions (but still occasionally teasing the others). With that, Gorillaz was reunited once again and were ready for a new album, which went on to become Humanz.
Phase 5: 2018-2019
2-D at NME Offices in June 2018.
Following Murdoc's incarceration, 2-D became the temporary leader of the band, with Ace of the Gangreen Gang temporarily taking his place as the band's bassist and designated green man. With Murdoc holding 2-D captive, both figuratively and literally, for over a decade, his confidence in his own abilities grew substantially enough that he went on to record and release The Now Now, described as his own solo album... Sort of.
| “ | Han Solo has always been a massive inspiration to me, and I guess he's somewhere in all my music, but I wouldn't say this album is only about him. Although both share themes of loneliness and isolation about a lone traveller drifting through the galaxy without a home. So actually, I guess this is my Solo album. Cool![8] | „ |
During this phase, 2-D began to gain a considerable amount of confidence in himself to the point of appearing rude and arrogant. Russel and Noodle initially accepted this as a part of his transformation after being free from the shackles of Murdoc's abuse. However, as time progressed, his ego became more prominent and Noodle became concerned and speculated that El Mierda was perhaps related to this, theorizing that something was changing inside 2-D, though they swiftly discovered he had actually nothing to do with the crime lord.
In the music video for Humility, 2-D is seen roller-skating happily around Venice Beach, California while Noodle plays chess with Remi Kabaka Jr. and Ace subsides in a basketball court. 2-D has been depicted as having a high affinity towards Ace compared to Murdoc, stating that "he's cool and really respects me". Despite this, Ace has still been known to tease 2-D as much as the others. For instance, at one point, Ace once stole a toaster from 2-D and sold it to Russel for $5, who then sold it back to 2-D for $10. 2-D once recalled a moment where he greeted Ace and he responded with "Please, will you get out of my way?". In the Tranz music video, 2-D sings and plays keyboard alongside the rest of the band members all playing their respective instruments. Originally 2-D was going to have a conversation with Ace at the beginning of this video, but this had to be scrapped to save the budget.
Phase 6: 2019-2021
After receiving a post-card from Noodle on the 7th of September 2019, 2-D sent a post-card to the band while visiting Beirut. He informed Noodle that he received parts for a machine that she had previously mentioned building, and asked what the machine would be used for. The post-card arrived at Studio 13 on the 24th of September.[9]
The machine (revealed as the "Song Machine") was activated on the 28th of January. The following day, the band announced their next project, Song Machine, a multimedia series of songs/music videos released episodically through 2020, as a continuously-updating playlist via streaming services.
In Momentary Bliss, he is shown recording the song with the rest of the band members as well as Slowthai and Slaves in Kong. In the Machine Bitez for the single, he conducts interviews with Slowthai and Slaves about the song and its meaning. In Désolé, 2-D opens a portal door at Kong Studios that transports him to a pier in Lake Cuomo, Italy with the rest of the band, where he then goes on a boat ride with Damon and Fatoumata Diawara, leaving a confused and saddened Murdoc behind by himself at Kong. In the following Machine Bitez, he interviews the song's collaborator Fatoumata Diawara.[10]
In Aries, he rides a motorcycle with Murdoc as the band races each other around Lotissement Doha, Morocco, completely oblivious to Murdoc's plans to inject him with a truth serum syringe along the way.[11] After being injected with the syringe in his side, Russel gets out of his vehicle and punches Murdoc in the nose again for hurting 2-D, with Noodle pulling him off. In the Machine Bitez preceding Aries, 2-D explains the portals in the new Kong to a confused and curious Murdoc after teasing him about crying because he was left behind. Russel theorizes that 2-D was injected because Murdoc wanted control of the portals in Kong and believed 2-D was keeping secrets from him about them.[12] "Friday 13th" shows the injuries 2-D and the other band members received as a result of the fight in the aftermath of Aries. In PAC-MAN, 2-D becomes addicted to a Pac-ManW arcade machine built just for him by Murdoc in order to distract him while he builds his own portal for Kong (he claimed to want to redeem himself after the events of Aries), playing the game for a total of nine hours before Noodle unplugs the machine. The Gorillaz edition of Pac-Man that 2-D plays in the video feature himself as Pac-Man and the others as ghosts. After Noodle unplugged the machine, 2-D decided to take a rest, since playing for so long made his hands sore.
In Strange Timez, 2-D rides Murdoc's flying Winnebago through outer space and explores the moon with the rest of the band. In The Pink Phantom, 2-D and an animated Elton John perform with a holographic 6LACK as Murdoc attempts to catch The Pink Phantom, a ghost who's haunting Kong Studios. In The Lost Chord, 2-D saves Murdoc's life after he almost drowns following the destruction of Plastic Beach (it is most likely that the music video was staged and shot with the use of digital and practical effects due to the absurdity of the events depicted, instead of them actually travelling to Plastic Beach, which would have long since been destroyed by that point).
As part of promotion for Song Machine Live, 2-D DJ'd an hour-long set for Apple Music's Song Machine Radio, where he spoke with Georgia about his performance on the album. At one point he got very thirsty and began asking for some tea: to his surprise, Murdoc stopped by the studio and gave him some. A few days later Noodle was in the middle of speaking on-air up on the roof when 2-D came by and asked if she wanted a cup of tea later.
Phase 7: 2022-2024
In July 2022, the band moved to Silver Lake, Los Angeles while Kong Studios was undergoing restorations. During this time Murdoc became increasingly interested with the occult, and eventually founded a cult focusing on the supernatural, dubbed The Last Cult. 2-D was appointed as one of the high elders of the cult. He became "The Chosen One" and was given a dictaphone to record the first days of The Last Cult. However he used it mainly to record his daily life in Silver Lake, which he eventually turned into the Stuart Potcast.
2-D has been tasked with many jobs, including digging holes, painting Murdoc's giant obelisk and finding books for Noodle.
Sometime later he met their neighbor, lady known as Moon Flower, who is the high priestess of her own cult, the Forever Cult. They seem to have become good friends, which annoyed Murdoc, who has been attracted to Moon Flower.
Moon Flower soon started treating him way better than Murdoc has. 2-D started doing all sorts of stuff involving Moon Flower. He wanted Noodle to go with him for a free aura check and he started wearing the Forever Cult's colors (mainly blue). This made Murdoc believe that he was betraying the Last Cult and started calling him a non-believer.
After being away from the mansion for days, the band started to make theories on what happened to him. They planned to get him back in February.
One day at Moon Flower's mansion, she offered him a cup of tea. He drank it and explained on his podcast that it tasted funny, he started losing his track of thought and ate his microphone confusing it for an ice cream, while the other members of the cult started setting up a wheel so they can sacrifice him.
In the Silent Running music video, he's on the wheel the cult built and being lowered into a monster's mouth. (The monster eats someone every 25 years and the cult stays young.) He starts to cry, which makes Moon Flower second guess her actions. She pushes one of the members who is lifting a rope, she then pulls the rope down. The band pretend to be cult member's, but others catch on. Russel and Noodle start fighting the members while Murdoc tries to save 2-D and use it as charm for Moon Flower. She's disgusted and Murdoc almost breaks his nuts and his fragrance falls into the monster's mouth which saves 2-D from being eaten. 2-D, Russel and Noodle are arrested by the police at the end.
In the Cracker Island music video (which takes place after Silent Running, despite being released first), 2-D was escorted by the police to the Los Angeles County Hospital. He and Noodle were questioned by the police, while Russel spent this time staring blankly at the TV. 2-D was seemingly hallucinating visions of Thundercat until Murdoc arrived at the hospital.
While Gorillaz was at Coachella to promote the Cracker Island album, 2-D fell asleep on the ferris wheel. He woke up to hear a song coming from the mainstage that he enjoyed, only to realize to his horror that it was the opening bassline from Feel Good Inc., and that he was missing the performance.
Not long after the concert, the Los Angeles Police Department issued a search warrant at the Silver Lake Mansion, leaving the band members with no choice but to flee to New York where they picked up fake passports from an old friend of Murdoc's before heading out to Mumbai.
Quotes
| “ | I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad. I got sunshine, in a bag. I'm useless, but not for long. My future, is coming on. | „ |
| ~ 2-D on the single Clint Eastwood. |
| “ | Just a peppermint tea for me. | „ |
| “ | Sometimes, I don't realize an event was traumatic until I tell it as a funny story and notice everyone is staring at me weird. | „ |
| “ | Many of our songs come from us just being Gorillaz. Chaos follows us around, and we try to draw inspiration from it while trying not to die getting shot by pirates or eaten by zombies.[13] | „ |
| “ | Times are changing. All the time. Now becomes then in the blink of an eye. That's why we called the album 'The Now Now' and not the 'The Now Then'. 'Cos things need to change right now.[8] | „ |
| “ | Music comes from inside, like thoughts and trapped wind. I guess I’m saying I inspire myself, but not in an arrogant way. A man shouldn’t ever idolise himself. That’s the motto written on the fresco I commissioned of myself on our living-room ceiling.[14] | „ |
| “ | Don't be the first, be the latest. | „ |
Trivia
- 2-D's birthday may have been based on Albarn's, since he is exactly 10 years and 2 months younger than him.
- 2-D's allergic to pickles.[15]
- 2-D's top three favorite musical artists are The Human League, The Clash, and Augustus Pablo.
- 2-D's father being an employee at a fairground is perhaps a reference to Damon Albarn's father Keith Albarn, who was also a designer for Ekistikit, an attraction at the amusement park for Margate Dreamland in Kent, England that was the world's first psychedelic Fun Palace.[16]
- Gorillaz would go on to launch their first-ever Demon Dayz Festival in Dreamland, the same amusement park that Albarn's father built his attraction for.[17]
- According to a page in the Gorillaz autobiography Rise of The Ogre, 2-D found out his father's original surname was Tusspot through the Gorillaz fan website Gorillaz-Unofficial.
- Before they were able to cast the voice actors, Damon Albarn provided 2-D's voice alongside Jamie Hewlett as Murdoc and Remi Kabaka Jr. as Russel for the first American press interview with Rolling Stone. However, Albarn was unable to keep up 2-D's voice and he ultimately stopped trying three questions in.[18] Portions of this interview, including Jamie's annoyed reaction to Damon dropping the act and their brief argument over whether or not they needed to spell out what Gorillaz was to the American press, is depicted in the documentary Bananaz. Damon can be heard attempting 2-D's voice a few times in recordings of the first Gorillaz tour.
- 2-D was originally going to have a conversation with Ace at the beginning of the music video for Tranz.
- In the Sleeping Powder music video, Damon is the one who is wearing the motion capture bodysuit for 2-D, as confirmed by Damon himself.[19]
- 2-D's current voice actor, Kevin Bishop, is best known for his role as Jim Hawkins in Muppet Treasure Island and Sam Spalding from Grange Hill.[20]
- 2-D's original voice actor Nelson De Freitas apparently still works with Damon Albarn outside of Gorillaz. They worked together under Electric Wave Bureau on the soundtrack for the 2019 film The Kid Who Woud Be King.[21]
- Nelson De Freitas also voiced several Gorillaz side characters (such as Whiffy Smiffy and Tony Chopper) in the Rise of The Ogre audiobook.
- In the Humility music video, the live-action stand-in for 2-D is an actor and model named Edgar Khachaturian.[22]
- The Now Now has been described by Damon Albarn as being 'from the perspective of 2-D'. Albarn often emphasized the impact 2-D's storyline of being temporarily free from Murdoc had on the creative process for the album, saying that the idea behind The Now Now was to do an album purely about the cartoon characters.[23][24][25]
- In the visual for Gorillaz's Brit Awards performance of Dirty Harry, 2-D is wearing a shirt of the album cover for Danger Mouse and MF DOOM's Adult Swim-themed project Danger Doom.
- 2-D's speaking voice was originally inspired by the voices of figures such as Joe Pasquale, David Beckham, and Norman Wisdon.[26]
- 2-D's name was originally Terry, according to the first-ever doodles of Gorillaz.[27] This is perhaps a reference to Terry Hall of The Specials, whom Damon Albarn has often cited as a key influence on Gorillaz, and who even went on to collaborate with the band in the songs 911 with D12 and Lil' Dub Chefin' with the Spacemonkeyz.
- 2-D was originally going to be nineteen years old, and the rest of the band were originally all teenagers as well.[28]
- 2-D seemingly went back to dating Paula in Gorillaz's first-ever interview with Dazed Magazine from 2000 as well as during the European leg of Gorillaz Live in 2001.[29]
- 2-D looks strikingly similar to Earl Monkey, a character from a scrapped comic strip called The 16s created by Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin that predates Gorillaz by a couple of years.
- Although 2-D's primary instruments apart from vocals are keyboards and synthesizers, he has been shown being able to play other instruments as well. For example, he is depicted playing an acoustic guitar on the cover for The Now Now. He also recorded The Fall all by himself without the help of Murdoc or Cyborg Noodle.[30]
- His eyes don't turn white for any particular reason other than when he feels like it.[citation needed]
- During a Reddit AMA in 2020, Jamie later specified that his eyes change colour depending on his mood, with black being anger and white being curiosity.[31]
- 2-D is named after Robert '3-D' Del Naja, a founding member of the famed trip-hop band Massive Attack, whom Damon Albarn frequently cites as a primary influence on the creation of Gorillaz and have even featured 2-D on their song 'Small Time Shot Away' from their 2003 studio album 100th Window.
- 2-D's name is also a reference to Gorillaz being cartoon characters, despite what the character claims.
- Before Phase 4, 2-D's name hadn't been spelled with a hyphen ('2D') since Phase 1. In 2017, Gorillaz started spelling 2-D's name with a hyphen again for the first time in 15 years.
- His signature is also spelled with a hyphen (hence why it is the spelling adopted by this Wiki).
- In the hiatus between Phase 1 and Phase 2, 2-D appeared as a featured artist on Nathan Haines' Squire For Hire on the track FM, and on the previously mentioned Massive Attack track Small Time Shot Away', from the album 100th Window. There were also plans to have him as a featured artist on a Horace Andy track, but that song never came to fruition.
- 2-D's singing voice is actually produced using a very distinct vocal effect produced by hardware in Studio 13, according to Damon Albarn. He says it's 'not autotune, but a very early form of synthetic voice'.
- 2-D's voice actor Nelson De Freitas receives additional songwriting credits on Doncamatic, alongside Damon Albarn's partner Suzi Winstanley.
- 2-D is the only member of Gorillaz to canonically appear on every studio album released, as Murdoc was in prison during The Now Now, and both Russel and Noodle did not appear on Plastic Beach. In addition, no members of Gorillaz, except for 2-D himself, took part in The Fall.
Gallery
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| The full image gallery for 2-D may be viewed at 2-D/Gallery. |
Notes
- ↑ This part of the timeline, as narrated by The Book of Gorillaz, originally lead to the band's reunion towards Humanz, though it was later retconned in between Phases 6 and 7 to properly fit in within the pre-established canon and the events of The Singles Collection and DoYaThing.