Damon Albarn on politicians vs musicians, a People's Vote and his new album

[@Barefoot_Joe]

Out of focus.. Cameraman being kind or just a fan of Blur?

[@versioncity1]

Burum de dum de dum....

[@LewisCraggs]

autofocus is the devils work

[@Marina-pe1gx]

👏👏👏

[@misstembo2000]

Plot twist: there's no one behind the lens, only a cam on a tripod.

[@AGrrrlsTwoSoundCents]

I love how humble he is and how much he cares about acknowledging his collaborators. They are the lifeblood of his projects. He may come up with a lot of the ideas but so do the people he works with, and they are equally important. Always loved that about him

[@Qwazin]

Damon "uuh kind of sort of uh y'know" Albarn

[@user-gg2sg58jl58l]

R u a water sign

[@Noahwalter-e7b]

Yes

[@chump3399]

The microphone in perfect focus but Albarn is ever so slightly blurred.

[@thesoulservice]

lol i love how this isn't even a pun

[@jimmywheelo]

Parklife

[@mike-wi8wm]

Always loved Blur and Gorillaz. After I saw him play in Amsterdam was completely sold, you can tell he lives and breathes it.

[@filmsonsong]

I like Damon and I like his orange hat.

[@duganetwork5159]

It's a beanie

[@Marble_Tree]

DUGA NETWORK a beanie is a type of hat

[@ashyclaret]

Think he's going for the Mark Hollis look.

[@David-h4z2s]

He looks knackered here He needs good sleep here What's with all the whip talk

[@asuka-ryo]

His voice is so calming

[@jenwhite8832]

Great interview. I always find him very thoughtful, and I appreciate hearing his views on things

[@hijudey]

My question is why are people hating on him?

[@johnnyforeigner4768]

U not listen 2 his interview here?

[@rattyren7323]

Haterz

[@blackmore4]

Because while he's one of the best English songwriters of the last thirty years, he's also a total fraud (class, accent etc) and his 'social justice' politics are so rock star clichéd.

[@misstembo2000]

@@blackmore4 Correct. Lefties stars like him wanted Killary Clinton to win an election. This would be a total utter disaster and the WW3.

[@David-h4z2s]

Albarns a out of touch London woke elite type He can't seem get over the Brexit vote Corbyn would have been a nightmare

[@justmadeit2]

He looks a bit down here. Its the time of year, December in England, going dark at 4 pm. Many of us wish we were someone else, or that we had the life of a famous person, some of us imagine that "their life" would be amazing. I say, based on experience, be happy with who you are. Be yourself.

[@bonahate]

absolute genius. wonderful interview.

[@jaimecura8138]

@Mark Lewis 15 million worldwide sales with Blur, 18 million with Gorillaz, what a moronic comment !

[@soozimay]

Damon's an excellent musician and humanitarian. Always fascinating to hear the thoughts behind his work. Just look at the lyrics for Merrie Land 👍

[@laneparker1219]

If someone who just eats vegetables is a vegetarian... Does that mean.... He EATS PEOPLE?!

[@TheeReturn]

RE: Social Media. Damon: 'Music has seen that coming for a long time' First thing I thought was The Universal. 1995. He DID see it coming.

[@GSXK4]

His smile is so mischievous, like a little kid's -stealing a cookie from the cookie jar!

[@juliejames8449]

He's slipped into rambling mode make me feel slllleeeeepppppyyyyy he has a cosy voice ...

[@Char10tti3]

Conversation is key to sorting a lot of modern issue I think, I have had loads of chats with older people coming up to me at bus stops and it’s so enlightening. There is just no communication between generations and use of technology has probably made that worse for a lot of people. If people are willing to talk, they should be willing to listen and not think they have the moral or ethical high ground, especially if they are also just thinking everyone thinks the same way.

[@lillianconstantine6287]

I think he's great. You who write the negative comments, I pity you.

[@wnapholi]

Pay not notice to them. They are bots and/or groups who patrol KZbin and bombard videos like this with painfully repetitive and moronic comments.

[@El-Tel63-Terry.]

@@wnapholi No we don't.

[@patjackson8649]

Thank you for calling out the haters👍🏼

[@remaininginlight]

I think he's great too. Been following him since Modern Life is Rubbish but he's also become very effected and pretentious. that doesn't take away from his creative output but like Noel Gallagher (excuse the comparison) he's gone right up his own arsehole.

[@otterhero6229]

I simultaneously detest and feel sorry for the toxic right-wing hordes. Hopefully one day they'll get out of the circlejerk of hatred that the political right is.

[@amongus-oi1bv]

I never knew Damon's thoughts on politics till now, and I completely agree with every single thing that came out of his mouth. I love this man even more

[@Guadeloop]

An absolute delight to listen to Damon's ideas, I've been very critical of some of Gorillaz more recent outputs artistically, but I could listen to this man pour out his views about the world all day long. Very thoughtful man, I identify with his world views a lot.

[@Alex-lc9vq]

Murdoc coming out at the end: "I can't...I can't reveal" 28:46

[@jaggass]

He looks well for 50.

[@wafak1390]

i am living for the big gay this interviewer has for damon

[@Char10tti3]

22:25 ithat laughing in the background or part of the song? I think it comes at the part it does in the song so I’m wondering if this is a different version? Maybe it just some people laughing

[@TheScottGillies]

From now on, I'll think of Damon when I wear my orange beanie of the same shade of the color!

[@jacksprat3009]

Don't know he is (yeah, I'm an American) but good to see a musician speak out. I'd say after listening to politicians it's even "refreshing" to hear him speak - if he'd get a good night's sleep.

[@dancelittlesquire]

Come on C4, I'd've thought you'd be able to hire someone who knows how to use a camera, getting Damon in focus rather than microphone in front of him...

[@Buz-Lunch-Punx]

26:01 Why does Damon have a bizarre faith in the EU? Why does he think they care about him?

[@andrew4127]

What a lovely interview, much appreciated.

[@joeking8262]

Out of focus, and the audio is out of sync. Wow.

[@1967RTMOPAR]

If only Tony Benn was still alive to have a chat with him ,

[@antifolkhero]

Damon Albarn seems to interview the same way Harrison Ford does.

[@miamibeach8814]

He’s so smart

[@LyndonDykes64]

He’s on the sniff you fools

[@laurensims2627]

watching this after Liz made me remember how badly things have gone. Imagine the main political concern being brexit, makes me nostalgic for 2014

[@evolassunglasses4673]

The Metrolibs NEVER got over losing the referendum to the working class.

[@Char10tti3]

Clayton Wiffen it was basically 50/50 so would have been more working class split though

[@larryquokka]

great interview

[@peterl1981]

This is, stunningly, one of the worst interviews ever committed

[@Buz-Lunch-Punx]

Yep, absolute garbage

[@David-h4z2s]

The orange hat needs to go he looks very silly in it

[@MidnightRambler]

People’s vote? We had one 2016.

[@KodakKid]

Yes, a very hasty one where people didn't have enough time to learn and consider the facts. To say that the people made their choice is wrong because many who voted changed their mind quickly afterwards.

[@NuYiDao]

Should we be questioning the democratic principle of "one perspective, one vote?" All of us only have a partial view of the greater reality of any matter. Don't kid yourself that your referendum perspective is superior: although that would exemplify the New Labour program. And of course our elders should be heard. Most children have grandparents, and it would be absurd to posit that there is insufficient generational interest from the wisest cross-section of our society.

[@theecatalogue]

anyone else here the dialtone sound?

[@justmadeit2]

The last questiion, he should have said.....the arms trade needs to stop their production

[@AnGoosen]

Love Damon, he looks a bit like "Methadone Mick" from "Still game" on the pic to this vid. :)

[@Humvee369]

I fucking love how grumpy he is.

[@ingleshelloenglish6783]

What does he say in 3:50? "..and that´s the truth of the whole world really? I´m really curious about what he said!

[@theecatalogue]

'That's the truth of it all, really.' I believe

[@klausscherbarth7862]

i like his typical british akzent in his songs as a german. Some songs from "13" sounds like nirvana. He is more a independant singer than mainstream. He likes "pavement", this great american indie-band. The simple riff-rock of oasis is not his thing.

[@blackmore4]

His "typical" British accent is too typical. It's fake.

[@blackmore4]

@Jkiouz Jkiouz Of course it is. It's the standard middle class fake accent of those born to Che Guevara poster type parents in the 1960s.

[@mike-wi8wm]

I agree with Damon. Which ever way you look at it Brexit, the fantasy Rees-Mogg version, is not going happen. We are going be far poorer after Brexit. Even if you want that, all the mess leading to that point, at the time wasted and effort spent detracts from what we should be doing: saving the environment. There will be no planet to have any politics unless we decarbonise our economy and create new green jobs.

[@versioncity1]

absolutely.

[@matchbox555]

The Parklife album is up there with Sgt Pepper

[@kevcatnip7589]

Sit in A CORNER AND THINK ON ,,,,

[@nickmoran1]

matchbox555 ..up there on a shelf somewhere I'm sure.

[@matchbox555]

@@nickmoran1 Nah, you're wrong. Look at the album again and compare it with Sgt Pepper. "This Is a Low" compares well with "A Day in the Life". "To The End" is an amazing track and compares well with "Shes Leaving Home". "Tracy Jacks" is the equivalent of "Lovely Rita". "Parklife" the song is easily as good as "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!". But the Parklife album is full of great tracks and weirdness ("Far Out") just like Pepper. Seriously I was blown away by it when it came out.

[@somamusika]

nick moran hahahah yeah man!!!

[@stevebb2915]

Pisses over sgt pepper. The most overrated album and band ever. Parkllife is essential

[@miguelcrtz]

i like his hat ill get one for me

[@George67795]

ah reminds me ! must tip the dustman this xmas

[@jamskof]

cameraman.. you had one job. focus the camera.

[@holydigital]

Really like that Donkey Jacket :-)

[@jimmywheelo]

It's an absolute Joke that Albarn is in any way compared to those Thunderbird Puppets. He has everything neither of them have, talent, intelligence and originality.

[@trimmtrabb23]

How you love these interviews darling😂😘😉.. but I love u still..then now and forever

[@simonperry8569]

I like Damon, but gave up halfway way through, because he trampled the corn around the questions, rather than giving answers. When every answer is so abstract and rambling it soon becomes tiresome. Even if he had said what he and Blair talked about in the dressing room, it would have been something tangible to hold on to, but instead we got some long-winded metaphor on New Labour.

[@johnwatson4961]

THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE QUEEN

[@AaronVlogggs]

11:30

[@miguelcrtz]

i need an orange beanie

[@AndRew-of4wh]

im knot a politition

[@Avidcomp]

Great musician. Politically uninformed. Philosophically contradicted and clearly Kant influenced if he knows it or not. Stick to music.

[@Tuffetti]

In your opinion, of course. I happen to think he's absolutely spot on with his political views. What do you know?

[@Avidcomp]

@@Tuffetti What do I know? I know that I do not condone the initiation of force. Government has a legal monopoly of the use of force. That isn't my opinion it is fact. And because of this I believe it is moral that government must have it's powers limited to retaliatory force only, and to that extent against the initiator(s). Anything outside amounts to the twofold mechanism of expansion of intervention by removing individual liberty. There's nothing I've said so far that cannot be demonstrated. However, it can be disagreed with, and so at least be honest and recognise that whilst you, Damon and most others argue over just how much individual liberty should be removed by force, it is none the less advocating it as such. I'm not an anarchist, I'm not an isolationist, and I'm most certainly not a collectivist, so as long as whatever you decide to attribute to me doesn't fall in those three categories, you might be able to identify and justifiably criticise me. But if those attributes fall into any of those three categories, then any criticise is immediately invalid. Perhaps you'd like to expand on what uses of force you're fine with and why?

[@JamieWood-o7h]

Is Damon Alban a spaz?

[@stevenmcnamara5676]

I like Albarn but hes wrongheaded on the war criminal Blair

[@celestialteapot3310]

Who'd have thought he'd end up working on the bins?

[@dmanntube]

Portland Bill

[@peterl1981]

Gildrap Haver Murphy

[@helioz4886]

Haha this is the guy who make go mad rdj

[@David-h4z2s]

He looks knackered he's to woke at times

[@peterlyon8424]

Damon nice but dim 💡

[@queenofhearts6127]

He seems a bit melancholy here.

[@malpreece5008]

First album I ever bought was ‘Parklife’ in 1994, and it was a great album. Shame Albarn knows little about politics, and is totally out of touch with the average British voter. It’s not ‘liberal’ to support an organisation such as the EU, which is an undemocratic bloated bureaucracy. Also, his comments on Tony Blair clearly show how he’s suffering with cognitive dissonance. Just like Noel Gallagher, Albarn was fooled by all that New Labour garbage in the 90’s and supported Blair, and even after he acknowledges that Tony Blair committed the nation to an ‘unnecessary’ war in the Middle East he can’t admit that he was wrong for supporting Blair’s government. He was wrong about New Labour, he’s wrong about the need for a second referendum, and he’s wrong about Brexit.

[@amandahds8164]

On Blair, Albarn said, “I met Tony Blair and had a sort of premature insight into the dark mechanics of politics and at that point I honestly felt terrified about Tony Blair.” He continued, “I picked up on something kind of odd about him that I didn’t understand. I was a bit scared of him, if I’m honest with you.” Albarn also revealed that he voted for Labour in the recent UK General Election, but didn’t side with the party back in 1997 - when Blair successfully ran for office. The full article : www.nme.com/news/music/blur-36-1216385#XQcg1VIIdxyLxMsr.99

[@malpreece5008]

Amanda Hds Thanks for sharing that. Yes, in more recent years Damon has done his best to distance himself from Blair and New Labour, but in the run up to the 1997 general election he was quite happy to cosy up to Blair. He ‘sipped gin and tonic’ with him in the House of Commons in 1995, and certainly gave his fans the impression that he supported Labour. If he really felt Blair was sinister he said nothing about it at the time. So you’ll have to forgive me for thinking he may not be telling the entire truth in some of his more recent interviews. I’m sure Damon will go along with supporting Corbyn’s Labour, and regret it in years to come. His band mate Dave Rowntree was actually elected as a Labour councillor in Norfolk last year! Left wing politics seems to be the choice of out of touch celebs. They support socialist parties because I’m sure they’re inclined to think it’s the virtuous thing to do, because after all the Labour Party were set up to protect the interests of the working classes. Unfortunately, for the past 30 years the Labour Party has consistently advocated policies that have undermined the interests of the working classes.

[@soozimay]

No, Damon Albarn shunned Blair's Cool Brittania party, whilst Noel Gallagher attended. From the Independent: "Some were mocked by their peers, but Gallagher subsequently said that "when the fookin' Prime Minister [sends you an invite], fookin' 'ell, you've got to go." His brother, Liam, Oasis's singer, claimed he wasn't invited - and would not have gone anyway - while Damon Albarn, leader of their great rivals, Blur, did not accept his invitation, saying later: "I knew by then we had all been taken for a ride."

[@malpreece5008]

soozimay Yes, you’re right, he didn’t go to Downing Street when Blair was elected in 1997. I think he talked about that in the ‘Live Forever’ documentary. But like I said in my second comment, Damon had previously met with Blair in 1995, and he didn’t make public any of his reservations about him at the time. It’s easy in retrospect for him to say he always knew Blair was sinister, but at the time he gave the impression that he was on board with New Labour. Noel was a total sellout, and he’s subsequently acknowledged that he was used by Blair. The lesson is never look to ‘celebrities’ for advice on anything outside their chosen field. In fact, as a rule it’s probably a good idea to do the exact opposite of what celebrities are advising you to do!

[@latenightlogic]

Fingers crossed the UK remains in the EU.

[@omegatafkal]

Damon Albarn is a cool guy but he knows NOTHING about politics! Trump is a GREAT man!

[@jaypeckay5898]

hehe......the english........you fell for it - Europa Europa.........such fools - we have you now

[@MidnightRambler]

Jay Peckay I’m sure Greece is enjoying their poverty

[@handcrafted30]

Damon Albarn is so self indulgent it’s painful. His views on Brexit are to be respected but I dare say they would be different had the world not afforded him the luxury of his opinions.

[@redgremlin2162]

handcrafted30 what makes him self indulgent?

[@jameswhiteley6843]

Another day, another public figure with the same lefty views. Is C4 supposed to be impartial?

[@MostlyLoveOfMusic]

Answer me this: what is there to like about right-leaning viewpoints?

[@jameswhiteley6843]

MostlyLoveOfMusic answer me this: what is there to like about left-wing viewpoints?

[@WillScarlet1991]

Tell us which news channel is impartial. There isn't one. They've all got their agenda(s) to follow.

[@MostlyLoveOfMusic]

I believe in increasing personal freedoms. Right-wing views are conservative and seek to limit personal freedom

[@jameswhiteley6843]

@@WillScarlet1991 true. But the BBC and C4 claim to be impartial as they are publicly funded.

[@AndRew-of4wh]

ad a pub lik co m en t, no pwelll

[@poolieboy6403]

Singers should stick to singing, he’s out of touch with the working man and why we voted for Brexit, he’s stuck in his Southern bubble!

[@latenightlogic]

Nonesense.

[@sjpallnighter6973]

I'm a working class man. I didn't vote for Brexit. Life's hard enough as it is. Don't pretend you speak for the working class.

[@Buz-Lunch-Punx]

@@sjpallnighter6973 you're not working class

[@bennozoid1]

OUT OF FOCUS!!!!

[@thecrusader6790]

SAY NO TO UN MIGRATION PACT FOR REGULAR ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION!

[@dancelittlesquire]

Come on C4, I'd've thought you'd be able to hire someone who knows how to use a camera, getting Damon in focus rather than microphone in front of him...

[@JamieWood-o7h]

Is Damon Albarn a spaz?