Gnarls Barkley: frocked poprock

Thu 22nd Mar, 2007 in Features

Cee-Lo Green  declares he’s a lover and a fighter.  The frontman and songwriter for the highly celebrated soul pop outfit, Gnarls Barkley, in which he shares the spotlight with much vaunted producer,  Danger Mouse, is also a full-time father of three children, aged 6, 13, and 16. They flew out to watch him front the expanded touring line-up on New Year’s Eve at a show in LA when it shared the bill with The Flaming Lips. Now there’s a line-up and a little competition.

The desire to plays dress-ups is strong with both acts. In fact, Gnarls Barkley rarely wears the same outfit. “Oh yes,”  Cee-Lo says, “we have a propensity to appear in costume.” That is an understatement. So far the group has appeared as an airline flight crew,  characters from The Wizard Oz, Star Wars and Austin Powers, a glam metal band, gladiators,, chefs, scientists, tennis players, in pajamas, bathrobes, graduation caps and gowns. The list goes on.  For the New Year’s Eve show (and subsequently for several shows with the Red Hot Chili Peppers) the Gnarls wore astronaut jumpsuits. “That was the best way to bring in New Year’s,” Cee-Lo says. “But the Lips give us pretty stiff competition when it comes to a stage show. They  have the crown. 

“Actually, we’re running out of things to. I honestly don’t know what we are going to do next. Maybe we’ll do a Spinal Tap, do a take on cock rock at its finest. 

“One of these days it’s going to be quite a fright to come out as ourselves.”

It’s hard to imagine. Outside of Gnarls Barkley, Cee-Lo – real name Thomas Callaway,  has appeared as or used the following monikers: Suga Baby, Eldorado Lo, Ralo Eight, Lorilla, Cee-Lo Sinatra, HenniCee-Lo, Car Belly, Lil’ Buddah and Cookie Monster. It’s a wonder he doesn’t confused. “Oh, I’m a complicated guy,” he says drolly.

He certainly wears enough hats: hip-hop, funk, soul, and R&B musician. Singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer,there’s not much Cee-Lo can’t do or hasn’t done. He has appeared as a featured vocalist on songs by artists such as Kelis, Everlast, Common, Carlos Santana, Royce Da 5’9”, Twista, OutKast, Rehab, Seeed, Black Eyed Peas, Musiq, Cunninlynguists, Diddy and Trick Daddy, and sings background vocals on TLC’s hit monster  single Waterfalls. He was also an original member of the Atlanta hip-hop group Goodie Mob. However, it was his collaboration with Danger Mouse and their critically-acclaimed album, St Elsewhere, that really put him in the public eye.

“Danger is the yin to my yang,” he says. “I’m a wildflower and he’s the picket fence around the garden.” It’s beautiful. I think. And they don’t even see much of each other when they aren’t touring. “We’ve been in different places when we’ve created a lot of our music,” Cee-Lo says. “For instance, he did the track for Crazy [St Elsewhere’s big worldwide hit – but doesn’t it sound just like Fine Young Cannibals and Roland Gift? Oh well] when he was in Iceland working on Gorillaz [the similarly popular side-project for Blur’s Damon Albarn].

“We’ll email stuff back and forth. We don’t talk about music actually – there’s nothing left to say. He plays me a track and if I like it he puts it on a CD and allows me to live with it.”

Cee-Lo says what does surprise him is not how well the pair work as a creative outfit but the hype that surrounds Gnarls Barkley. “Not to insult what we do, but I didn’t realise it was that much of a stretch from what I’d done for a great part of my career,” he says.

“I guess Danger was the missing link.  Because he edits and produces the songs and albums, I can focus on the lyrics. I like the fact that I can do both as I see fit. I’m a team player in Gnarls but I’m accomplished enough to be able to do that – and he’s the same.  What’s important is that the music was there, right from the beginning and there was a trust between us. There’s no way he could have orchestrated me nor I him.”

This individuality is important to Cee-Lo.  He may be a team player but he also likes to be recognised for his talents: “I have percussion and melody at my finger tips and harmony and songs on the tip of my tongue. I’m a real producer and I’m an idealist. I’m the jack of several trades.

“I want to contribute. That’s what I want out of life – to meet that bar of quality and originality. I want to keep the [musical] roads open for those after me to travel down. I’m rich in possibility.”

It’s hard to dislike the man; confidence isn’t, after all, a crime. Fortunately, for fans of Gnarls Barkley, there will be a second album. “Technically, it’s a solo record of mine but not literally because the production itself makes a statement,” Cee-Lo says. “And I’ll have another formal solo album out when I have the time to write and record it.”

The new Gnarls album is well underway, Green says. But while St Elsewhere took three years to finish this – due to prior commitments for both men -  one will be ready a lot faster, for obvious reasons. St Elsewhere’s sweet meld of pop and soul with a touch of funk and hip-hop is redolent of the classic Motown and Chess work of the 1960s. There is a sniff of something special about Gnarls Barkley although whether Danger and Cee-Lo go on with it remains to be seen.

“At the moment I’m having fun and it’s comfortable,” Cee-Lo says. “We even travel well together. Danger’s a good guy. He’s interesting and opinionated and so am I. That leads to some long and illuminating discussions. We agree and disagree about a lot of things but when we do agree, we agree wholeheartedly.”

Hard to argue with that.

You can see Gnarls Barkley performing at the V Festival and Best of V Festival respectively.

Want to see the full coverage of V festival? Click here
For the Best of V Festival click here