10 Bands That Have Musical Alter Egos

As the Britpop movement started to fade from relevance at the beginning of the ‘00s, Damon Albarn had another idea in mind for his future. Once Blur decided to take a break from each other to focus on solo outings, he and Jamie Hewlett began hatching a plan for what would become Gorillaz, one of the most successful virtual rock bands to ever hit the airwaves. Damon may have been providing all the vocals, but his personality now had to be filtered through the lens of 2-D.

Then again, the legacy of Mr. Stuart Potts isn’t necessarily the most pleasant of origins or anything. Before Gorillaz had even got the ball rolling, bass player and occultist Murdoc rammed his car into the shop where Stuart was working, permanently knocking out one of his eyes. As part of his community service, Murdoc was expected to care for Stuart, only to get into another car wreck where the other eye was knocked out, hence the name 2-D standing for “two dents.”

Although Murdoc may be the de facto frontman in videos, Damon’s role as 2-D has always had a dark sadness behind it, even when you’re listening to the danceable elements of their material. Outside of the great sounds of De La Soul on Feel Good Inc., the verses from Damon are drenched in melancholy, as he talks about towns that never smile and trying to find some sort of artificial happiness. Most artists are supposed to always sing from the heart, but as far as Damon is concerned, this almost feels more like screenwriting than songwriting half the time.