“Between that and the ABBA hologram show there’s really nothing left of our ideas": Damon Albarn suggests that Gorillaz helped to lay the groundwork for the success of KPop Demon Hunters, and reflects on the "mismatch" that led to Blur's Coachella debacle

MADRID, SPAIN - SEPTEMBER 20: The band Gorillaz during their performance at the Pulse of Gaia Festival, at the Universidad Autonoma, on September 20, 2025, in Madrid, Spain. Gorillaz, the iconic virtual band led by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, is in the spotlight this 2025 for the announcement of their new album, "The Mountain," which will be released worldwide on March 20, 2026 through their own label, KONG. The band is celebrating its 25th anniversary with special concerts in London and the tour to present the new album, which in 2026 will tour Manchester, Birmingham, Dublin and culminate at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. (Photo By A. Perez Meca/Europa Press via Getty Images).

Damon Albarn has been talking Gorillaz and reflecting on Blur’s now-infamous show at Coachella back in 2024 when, with their greatest hits set being greeted with quiet bemusement, he turned on the crowd and told them that "you’re never seeing us again".

In a new interview with Rolling Stone to promote the upcoming Gorillaz album, The Mountain, Albarn said: "We did feel at Coachella, when we came over with Blur, that maybe it was a slight mismatch, us being at that festival. It’s kind of the embodiment of social media now, isn’t it?”