I was approached by Oxfam to go to Mali as their ambassador and get involved in their various initiatives out there. But I felt that was missing the point of using me, a musician.

The Gorillaz cartoons seem more real to me than the actual people on TV. Because at least you know that there's some intelligence behind the cartoons, and there's a lot of work that's gone into it, so it can't all be just a lie.

And there are no stars and that you're never really sure who's doing what and what voice is what and, you know what I mean? It's supposed to be quite elusive.

As a musician usually music is your way out.

As soon as it sounds fine, I'm on to the next thing, man.

When you're doing a deal with someone in the southern Sahara, it's a very different way of doing business than in London. You can't sign them in the usual way because they'd end up getting ripped off, which would defeat the object of setting up a label like this.

I hope we can keep doing it this way - making music and art that are pure products of our influences while not really having to let the whole celebrity side of it get in the way. Then maybe more virtual bands will come out and do the same thing.

I was approached by Oxfam to go to Mali as their ambassador and get involved in their various initiatives out there. But I felt that was missing the point of using me, a musician.

It's not like my old self - I'm not in character anymore, I'm me. I'm not hiding behind that anymore.

Being in Blur has allowed me to travel and hear the music that's being made all over the world.

The cartoon is a metaphor really for the fact that it's almost impossible in our celebrity obsessed culture to move around genres and sort of change you ideas, change your face, you know?

I can't be bothered anymore about giving songs titles.

The things that make me happy most are my family and working.

You know, there are many alter egos and Gorillaz is a collective of alter egos, really. I think anyone who gets involved in it has to sort of accept that nothing is really as it seems.

No, every album is something like a snapshot. It only shows one moment in time. It shows what we feel and think right at that point in time, nothing more and nothing less.

I'm not really one of those people who believes that if you're a musician you can just leave that behind and start getting into politics.

The whole period has taught me that I enjoy being part of an ensemble rather than just a front man. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy that too, but I get more enjoyment out of really listening to everyone.

More and more, cultural groups are cross-pollinating, and we're getting much more interesting art as a result.

China is one of those vast, continental conglomerates that... I mean, if they were to start a tourist trade in China, they'd just bus people in from another province, you know what I mean? They're very self-contained.

I don't need to be a frontman all the time, and in fact, the older I get, the less of an urge it is inside me to play that role. I've still got it inside me, and I do occasionally allow it out.

I like to go to Africa purely with something to do. I'm not very comfortable getting into an armor-plated Land Rover and going to see things, with my hand gel, you know, it's not me at all. So I like to hang out and you know, really get to know people and try and do something that resonates with them.

I spent two years figuring out how I could turn it into something that would satisfy me as a musician but also make some kind of cross-cultural link. I feel that I kind of at least touched on the possibilities of cross-cultural music, but it is a lifetime's work, and I don't profess to be anything other than a novice at it.

I want to be a better person in every aspect. I really don't feel I've in anyway fulfilled my potential in every area of my life. But I'm optimistic.

I'm a working musician, so it's what I do. I kind of always have lots of plates spinning, and it's the ones that keep spinning the longest that I end up doing.

I'm not a monarchist. But I'm English. And I have an irrational emotion for my country.

If you don't see something as a career but as an important part of your life, you don't know how you're going to feel about it.

It always struck me that Africa was, in a strange way, a futuristic place and had elements and vibes and spirits that were going to inform the future. Africa Express is an attempt to engage that power outside Africa, and for everyone to benefit from it.

Music is something that should speak for itself, straight from the heart. It took me a long time to understand that.

What you learn from working with other performers and musicians is invaluable, really, and can only help you grow. I mean, if you spend your whole life focusing on yourself, you're not really learning much.

Whenever you're writing something that's reflective, you have to put yourself through some sort of ordeal just to understand the way you're feeling.

I want to be a better person in every aspect. I really dont feel Ive in anyway fulfilled my potential in every area of my life. But Im optimistic.

I'm a businesswoman, and Ms. is an appropriate form of address.

One of the significant things that's happened, which shouldn't be looked at as lightly as it might sound, is that women over 45, over 50, are now allowed to be sexy.

It is the habitual, not the periodical thought that decides your destiny.

I felt unworthy to play Jesus. I just accepted the responsibility and said, 'What actor wouldn't want to play this role?'

We need to be sincere in our practice, but at the same time we can't take ourselves too seriously.

Innovation can only occur where you can breathe free.

I'm not trying to snowboard for other people anymore. That just kind of comes with age and growing up. That's helped me a lot.

When I grew up, people said, 'You'll never be the man your dad was.' And I said, 'Gee, I hope not.'

I think any girl would throw me under a bus to be within five feet of Robert Pattinson. I actually think he's an attractive guy. And I watched most of 'Twilight,' and I think he was really intriguing.

I work so hard that I forget to take care of myself.

The Internet is a collective hallucination: one of the best humanity has ever generated.

As governor, there isn't a lot I can do beyond that to crack down on crime. Law enforcement is really a local issue. It's the cops' job to tighten down on criminals.

No attempt at ethical or social seduction can eradicate from my heart a deep burning hatred for the Tory Party. So far as I am concerned they are lower than vermin.

Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing, only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness; So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another, only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.

He who goes against the fashion is himself its slave.

No one was interested in picking up a midlist series, even though I have a decent fanbase and respectable numbers.

When I was working with Tom Ford, he would just look at me and ask, 'Will you wear it?' I'd say, 'Ah, too long, too short, lower waist, deeper V, unbutton' - that sort of thing. I don't create clothes, but I definitely know how to make them come alive.

It is helpful to think of people as having two fundamental motivations the desire to see ourselves as honest good people and the desire to gain the benefits that come from cheating on our taxes or on the football field.