And on top of all that, there's been Gorillaz, a project which has yielded a top 10 album and a massive hit single in the shape of 'Clint Eastwood'. The studio has been extended to incorporate what was the adjoining unit, with the control room completely rebuilt around a new desk - a task which inevitably fell mainly to Girling and Cox. There has been two more film soundtracks, Ordinary Decent Criminal and 101 Reykjavik, and a lengthy trip to Mali to record material for an Oxfam‑sponsored project drawing together musicians from every nation on the Greenwich Meridian. Although the only Blur activity in the meantime has been a Greatest Hits album, Albarn had set up the studio (also named 13) mainly to handle his own side projects - and these have proliferated during the band's time off. Since then, however, Blur have only entered the studio to record one more single, so Girling and Cox have been able to put their feet up and take it easy.Įr, no. The studio had also been used to record Albarn's equally experimental collaboration with composer Michael Nyman, the soundtrack to the film Ravenous. Two years ago, when Sound On Sound last visited resident engineers Tom Girling and Jason Cox at Damon Albarn's West London studio, Albarn's band Blur had recently finished working with producer William Orbit on their album 13, a recording which involved bizarre instruments, experimental recording techniques and endless Pro Tools editing. Sam Inglis tracks them down to find out how they recorded their debut hit. Behind the animated characters, however, lurk real engineers and musicians. Gorillaz have made waves as the first 'virtual band' to achieve real chart success.

Tom Girling (left) and Jason Cox in the new control room at 13.

Gorillaz clint eastwood single