Location from Gorillaz by Damon Albarn & Jamie Hewlett
The basement recording studio at Kong Studios — where the music actually gets made, under conditions that would concern most producers.
This is where Gorillaz actually exists — not in the mythology, not in the phases, but in the room where the sounds are made. The studio has been operational through multiple phases of the band's history, surviving Murdoc's imprisonment, Noodle's absence, and at least three structural incidents that no one documented officially. The mixing desk has been used by Murdoc, various producers, and once by Del, who emerged from Russel to adjust a specific hi-hat sample and then retreated without comment. The live room has remarkable acoustics for a converted wine cellar. 2D records his vocals in the corner nearest the stairs, which is technically the worst position acoustically but the one where he feels least trapped.
A large basement space with good acoustic treatment overlaid on Victorian stonework — foam panels over brick, cables running in organized chaos across a floor that was once a wine cellar. The mixing desk is enormous and complicated. The live room beyond the glass has Russel's kit permanently set up; guitar amps line the walls. The lighting is perpetually set to a late-evening amber. It smells like solder and old coffee.
Also known as: The Recording Studio, The Studio, The Basement