It’s not every day that a band of cartoon characters are bold enough to launch a full nationwide tour that doesn’t involve screenings at movie theaters or Disney-style holidays on ice. Then again, it’s not often you find a cartoon band who have the kind of, uh, "backing" boasted by Gorillaz, a ragtag bunch of animated hitmakers comprising bassist Murdoc (a shady delinquent), guitarist Noodles (a tiny Japanese dynamo), keyboardist 2D (a cute but vacant Brit), and drummer Russel (hip-hop aficionado and the lone American). Or the chart success. The human guest musicians listed on Gorillaz’ homonymous Virgin debut, which has now been certified platinum on the strength of a quirky hit single called "Clint Eastwood," include Blur singer Damon Albarn, DJ whiz Dan "The Automator" Nakamura, rapper Del tha Funky Homosapien, and Cibo Matto’s Miho Hatori. And it seems fair to assume that Damon, Dan, Del, and Miho are going to be called on to do most of the work when Gorillaz hit Avalon this Monday for a sold-out show, especially since the funky party tunes filled with hip-hop beats, languid electronica, playful lyrics, and laid-back experimentalism that characterize Gorillaz are an awful lot like the kind of tunes you’d expect those four characters to come up with if they were, say, given cartoon alter egos to hide behind (no word yet on how the cartoons and the "people" will interact on stage at Avalon).

Nevertheless, the charade remains fully in place for the e-mail interview the "band" consent to, with Nakamura pointing out that it’s been a challenge to work with this motley cartoon crew. "They don’t really listen too much. They’re good people in general, and you gotta make allowances for their quirkiness. They have their upside, too, because they’re willing to work all the time. They don’t feel the need to slow down or anything like that, but they’re also sometimes difficult to deal with."

Indeed, the answers I get back from the group’s animated principals are as freeform and amusing as the album’s postmodern pastiche. A simple question about what they’ve been listening to recently brings about the following exchange:

Murdoc: "Lift music. I don’t have a great deal of time for what anyone else is up to."

Russel: "I won’t get in lifts."

Murdoc: "You can’t get in lifts, unless they’re going down."

2D: "Steven Tyler from Aerosmith only goes down in lifts."

Murdoc: "And your mum goes up and down in alleyways."

On the other hand, Murdoc reveals that there are some things he takes seriously when I bring up the current state of pop music and the surprising success Gorillaz have had here in the US with their debut CD. And he proves a bit touchy when the novelty aspect of a cartoon band is mentioned. "Music was on its way to becoming yet another turgid formulaic arse offering before I came along. You’d think that people would take a hint and do something, I dunno, inventive, but no, they’d prefer to plow on moaning about us being a gimmick."

Despite this wise-ass Gorillaz exterior, the band’s formation really did have a lot to do with the add-water-and-stir insta-band phenomenon that teen pop has so nakedly embraced. Nakamura explains, "Our intention was to work with a cartoon band because we figured, you know, there’s already a lot of cartoon bands out there, like ’N Sync and O-Town. So we figured, ‘What the heck.’ It wasn’t going to be that bad of a deal. We can put together a cartoon band as easily or better hopefully than they can put together an ’N Sync, you know? The Gorillaz were cooperative. I think they saw the virtue in the whole idea. It just made sense."

So much that there are already plans for a second Gorillaz album, which Nakamura says is likely to be the soundtrack to an accompanying Gorillaz movie. That would, of course, thrust the animated stars farther into the spotlight, leaving Nakamura and the rest of the humans involved in the project to languish in the background, which is where they intend to stay even during live performances. "We try to do our best to stay in the back. It’s kind of like a Mel Blanc thing."

But the set-up is not without its drawbacks. "The chicks don’t know us," Nakamura jokes. "The cartoons get all the love and we just have to do the hard work. This is the worst band for us because we have to help participate, but we don’t get any of the glory. The original idea was like, ‘Let’s create a cartoon band because in that way we won’t have to go on tour, they can do all the work, and we’ll just kind of sit back and collect royalty checks.’ But it didn’t really work out that way. We’ve had to work harder to do it than if we had just been doing it ourselves."

Gorillaz perform this Monday, February 25, at Avalon. The show is officially sold out.