{"id":41165,"date":"2026-08-12T16:22:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T11:22:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=41165"},"modified":"2026-08-12T16:22:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T11:22:32","slug":"blurs-graham-coxon-remembers-the-mad-genius-of-william-orbit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=41165","title":{"rendered":"Blur&#8217;s Graham Coxon Remembers the Mad Genius of William Orbit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<em>The news last week that producer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/william-orbit\/\" id=\"auto-tag_william-orbit\" data-tag=\"william-orbit\">William Orbit<\/a> had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/william-orbit-producer-madonna-ray-of-light-dead-obituary-1235605106\/\">died<\/a> at age 69 sent people back to revisit one of the most remarkable catalogs in Nineties pop. Along with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/madonna\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/madonna\">Madonna<\/a>\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/madonna-tribute-ray-of-light-producer-william-orbit-1235605882\/\">\u201cRay of Light,\u201d<\/a> Orbit\u2019s greatest achievement in the studio might have been producing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/blur\/\" id=\"auto-tag_blur\" data-tag=\"blur\">Blur<\/a>\u2019s \u201c13,\u201d the sprawling, experimental 1999 album on which the British rock band exploded everything they were known for at that time, incorporating new electronic and noise influences.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<em>Blur first encountered Orbit when he contributed an eight-minute reimagining of their 1997 song <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2phR_5TMA5k\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cMovin\u2019 On\u201d<\/a> to a remix project. \u201cWe really liked what he did,\u201d recalls Blur guitarist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/graham-coxon\/\" id=\"auto-tag_graham-coxon\" data-tag=\"graham-coxon\">Graham Coxon<\/a>. \u201cI picked up on some sort of perversion in him musically, and I thought, \u2018This will be interesting.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<em>Singer Damon Albarn, bassist Alex James, drummer Dave Rowntree, and Coxon spent the summer and fall of 1998 working with Orbit at studios in London and Reykjav\u00edk, Iceland. It was their first time pairing with a producer other than Stephen Street, who had helmed the band\u2019s first five LPs, and the collaboration yielded a mesmerizing and intense new sound. \u201c13\u201d won rave reviews and spun off two of Blur\u2019s best-loved hits in \u201cTender\u201d and \u201cCoffee &amp; TV.\u201d It was also the last Blur album to include Coxon as a full-time member until 2015\u2019s \u201cThe Magic Whip.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<em>Coxon called from the instrument-filled room in London\u2019s Muswell Hill region where he and Rose Elinor Dougall make music as the Waeve to share his memories of working<\/em> <em>with the producer he calls a \u201cgenius.\u201d<\/em> <em>This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity and ease of reading.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tI instantly liked William. He was a very elfin-looking guy. He wouldn\u2019t have looked out of place in the Moomins \u2014 if he had a big green felt hat on, he\u2019d look like <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Snufkin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Snufkin<\/a>. And he had this very intense look, but his mouth would ripple into this strange, beautiful grin every now and then. I think he found all of us quite funny. Instantly, I could tell that he was up for approaching sound in any kind of weird way. He really liked heavy sounds, whether that was coming from a guitar or some sort of synth. Sound excited him. We got the measure of him that it was going to be anarchy. We thought he was this genius who was a bit tinged by madness\u00a0\u2014 but, well, that\u2019s what genius does.<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ editors-pick-module lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tWe knew the songs loosely when we went in. We\u2019d have the chords or the riffs, and then for 40 minutes we\u2019d just improvise. We went until the end, until there was absolutely nothing left in us, no more ideas, and the jam would collapse. We\u2019d record all day, and then he\u2019d stay up all night organizing it all. William would structure the songs \u2014 he would get the good bits out and bring them down to a more palatable length \u2014 and the next day, he\u2019d go, \u201cOh, this is what I did with that.\u201d It was amazing. The next day, you don\u2019t really remember anything that you\u2019ve done in the heat of battle, so to speak. It was like listening to songs that magically appeared.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tHe was very courageous with sound, and that\u2019s what I liked about him. Nothing would scare him, and I tried a lot. He was unshakeable, really. You couldn\u2019t rattle him with sound. He\u2019d completely embrace it and use whatever you\u2019ve done in the most intelligent and brilliant way. \u201cBugman\u201d was totally nuts. He\u2019d make the dirtiest of my guitar sounds even dirtier. If a guitar is that fast and it\u2019s in tune, it\u2019s not that far away from synthesizers, really\u00a0\u2014 it\u2019s just a filthy sound. I think he liked the chaos.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bugman\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bUlJ4XwhcTM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tWith <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=UwW86i79CxA\">\u201cBattle,\u201d<\/a> I remember I got into the studio early and finished off the mixing with William. On the second or third chorus, when the big guitar comes in, it was just heavenly to me. With <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rnzmywg0pSU\">\u201c1992,\u201d<\/a> I did the same thing, I got in earlier than everybody else. I was so excited. There\u2019s this little harmonic, this note that came up in the guitar. I said, \u201cCan we grab that and put some reverb on it?\u201d And he put it through a plate, and it was the funniest thing. He\u2019s wrestling with this big desk, turning these knobs up. That little note turned into this absolute cacophonous thunderstorm, all from that one note on the guitar. I remember his eyes really wide and laughing his head off, and me laughing my head off as well at the sound he was managing to get out of it. He was playing the desk like some huge musical instrument. And the results are just incredible. It\u2019s one of my favorite things that Blur ever did.<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Blur - Coffee And TV (Official Music Video)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6oqXVx3sBOk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cCoffee &amp; TV\u201d was a song where we had a rough chord sequence, and Damon might\u2019ve had a little bit of a melody. I said, \u201cWell, I\u2019ll tell you what, I\u2019ll go out tonight and I\u2019ll write some lyrics and I\u2019ll come back.\u201d He says, \u201cWell, if you write lyrics, then you\u2019re going to sing it.\u201d So I wrote the lyrics that night and came back. I had a couple of tries on the vocals. Finally got the vocal kind of right. There was an instrumental section after the second chorus. I was like, \u201cI\u2019ll stick something in there. That\u2019s my bit.\u201d And I grabbed a guitar and hit it. I was bending down to my pedal board and hitting buttons. I wasn\u2019t really looking at the guitar, I was just bending notes, and then looking down at my fingers again, and then clicking other pedals. Later on, mixing it, I was like, \u201cBloody hell, that solo\u2019s great.\u201d It was completely abstract expressionist. William got that solo, which really is one of my favorite guitar solos ever, and it was done off the cuff.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tMadonna dropped in when we were recording. I was in the live room doing some silly guitars, knocking around, and then I looked through into the control room and Madonna was standing in there. I was like, \u201cOh, shit. Do I stay here or do I get the courage to go and say hi?\u201d We all said hi. And I remember at some point during the sessions for <em>13<\/em>, we had a go at doing something over a beat that William had put together. I remember really, really liking jamming over it, but we didn\u2019t get anywhere with it. And then later on that same year, Madonna came out with <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Dsh0TfIKhoE\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Dsh0TfIKhoE\">\u201cBeautiful Stranger.\u201d<\/a> I\u2019m like, \u201cOh, that\u2019s that track!\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules trending-in-article lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThere were lots of laughs with William. There was a lot of grinning. He would always make us feel good about what we\u2019d done, and that was enough, really. By the late Nineties, we were all completely burned out. I was probably drinking quite a lot. But what was so good about recording with William is that it was so loose. You could get an awful lot out of your system during those improvisations. It was just like therapy. It was amazing, really, for me to be let loose, not told to turn down, not told to tune up, not told there\u2019s too much distortion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tWe\u2019d bump into him after that, but he was so in demand. It was a real shock the other day when I heard. We\u2019re all getting on now, but I had no idea that he was that age. I always thought he was our age. His enthusiasm and his energy for making music were insane. Rose and I are mixing the next Waeve album now, and I\u2019m doing a few gigs later on in the wintertime. Who knows? We may even do a William Orbit-related Blur song.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The news last week that producer William Orbit had died at age 69 sent people back to revisit one of the most remarkable catalogs in Nineties pop. Along with Madonna\u2019s \u201cRay of Light,\u201d Orbit\u2019s greatest achievement in the studio might have been producing Blur\u2019s \u201c13,\u201d the sprawling, experimental 1999 album on which the British rock&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/graham-remembers-william.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C1800px%2C1014px&resize=1600%2C900","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-gossip"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}