"It`s extraordinary that 16 year olds thrust their breasts at me and ask me to sign them. But they do."

"I once owned up to flooding the toilets when it wasn`t me. I got the slipper from the teacher for it, too. No one else would own up and we weren`t allowed to go home, so I just owned up. I can`t remember whether it was for anyone in particular, or whether it was a random act of chivalry - or just play stupidity."

"It was quite a relief not to win the Mercury prize, because people are going to start getting fed up with us for winning everything. It`s good not to achieve every time and it`s important to remain some kind of underdog because there`s nothing worse than a big-head."

" My grandad said `Smile and the world will smile with you."

"The most drunk I ever got was at a private view for a college art show. I think I had two bottles of tequila and completely lost about ten hours. I woke up in a cell and, when my vision cleared, I found myself staring at a Nepalese soldier in full uniform. He didn`t speak any English and he was just very alarmed that I was in there with him. When I asked the coppers what had happened, they said, `Well we found you at Euston station, unconscious and surrounded by a group of tramps, so we thought we`d bring you here for your own good.` I`d had all my money taken, so I had to walk home."

"I`ve got people camping outside my place in Kensington. In sleeping bags. It`s not that irritating, except we haven`t got any curtains in the front room, so we can`t walk around in the nude."

"We were young, good looking and in the best band in the world."

"I wouldn`t get a hard on looking at a bloke but I like the idea of bisexuality. I`m more homosexual than Brett Anderson. And as far as bisexuality goes, I`ve had a little taste of that particular fruit, or I`ve been tasted, you might say. But when you get down to it, you can`t beat a good pair of tits."

"The British like sex to be a naughty thing. I think it`s because we have an asexual Queen.

"I am genuinely inspired by my mum. I love and respect my mum and I think she`s great. She always makes me laugh and I trust her totally. Both my parents are artists and I grew up in quite a liberal home; I was allowed to do what I wanted, but all based on a strong moral foundation. I think it`s really important that parents allow you to do what you like when you`re young because you`re more likely to get it all out of your system. I do love my mum."

" We`ve said nothing in any of our interviews - we`re probably the only band in history to do that. Dave just says nothing. Alex says nothing in an Alex way. Graham says nothing in a very negative way. I say nothing in a roundabout way. We do it on purpose because there is very little to say; it`s all about feeling. Our generation doesn`t need a spokesman."

" Oh yeah, we`ve got all these Japanese girls that follow us around. They`re completely mad. They`re so polite and they`ve got these incredibly expensive video cameras. They love waving too, when you get on the bus they all wave. It`s like their idea of sex is waving and bowing."

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.

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.

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

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.

I can`t be bothered anymore about giving songs titles.

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.

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.

As a musician usually music is your way out.

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.

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

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.

Well, I made fun of the people in the government and then realized that even if we got rid of them, they were replaced by exactly the same guys.

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.

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

It`s also why I don`t print lyrics anymore. I figure if you can`t get the feeling across adequately with the song, then you`ve failed anyway.

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 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.

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

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

"We were approaching Madrid airport on an Iberia flight from Barcelona when our tour manager, who was sitting next to me, grabbed hold of my left leg. I said, `Fuck off Ian,` but he wouldn`t let go so I hit him. I then looked at the other passengers and noticed they had the same look of complete panic on their faces as he did. I asked him what was wrong and he said, `We nearly died.` Apparently, the plane had approached the runway almost on its side with the left wing no more than six feet off the ground. Just before impact, the pilot had managed to right the plane so avoiding disaster and probably our death. For the rest of the day, everyone got completely drunk and told all and sundry how much they loved them. I felt strangely distant as I had not shared the experience."

"It`s important that Oasis are rude about everybody and that they get drunk. That`s what people like you want, and you encourage them. Fair enough. It`s nice, isn`t it? But it`s nothing to do with me. They came to see us in Manchester and they were very pleasant boys. Very nice. I`d like to see that as a quote. Oasis are very nice boys."

"I couldn`t fit in with the lads at school. I was the weirdo. Post-stroke-gay. I always got called gay."