Blur tease some "squirmy" moments and a few tantrums in To The End documentary

18 July 2024, 16:51 | Updated: 19 July 2024, 14:01

Alex James, Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon and Dave Rowntree at the blur: To The End London Premiere in 2024. Picture: Getty

By Jenny Mensah

Graham Coxon spoke to Radio X on the red carpet for the Britpop band's documentary, which is released in UK & Irish cinemas this Friday 19th July.

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Blur's Graham Coxon has hinted that the band's upcoming To The End film consists of a few uncomfortable moments.

Named after their 1994 single, the Toby L-directed documentary charts the Britpop band's most recent reunion, the making of their first album in eight years, The Ballad of Darren and their two huge shows at Wembley Stadium.

Asked how it felt to let the fans behind the curtain of the band in the intimate film, guitarist Graham Coxon told Radio X at the premiere: "It’s fine, I’ve never had a problem with that. I think it covers all emotions."

"I think there’s some nice paddies being thrown," he added. "I think there’s some sentimental moments. I think it has something from all the emotional food groups.”

Watch the trailer for Blur's To The End documentary here:

Blur – To The End documentary trailer

Asked about working with the director Toby L., who's been involved in various music films, including Liam Gallagher: Kneboworth 22, the rocker said: "We just trusted him, because we like him and he’s got the most... He’s so committed to music generally and he’s so enthusiastic that we just trusted him to the most extent. And some of the interviews and the questions weren’t exactly easy and a bit squirmy, but I think that’s a good thing."

The 55-year-old rocker went on: “He manages to ask some questions that have quite a lot of emotional weight and are a bit tricky to answer, but [...] none of us has been offended by anything we said about each other, so we hopefully got away with it.."

"He’s a good bloke," he added. "We know he’d do a good job.”

Asked what it means to be here tonight, the Song 2 guitarist said: "Well it’s Toby’s film. Hopefully he’s happy with it. We’re all happy with it and like I said, there’s a couple of moments where I’m embarrassed because I’m in a bad mood, but that is what it was meant to be about really.

"I don’t think any of us are ashamed of ourselves anymore and our different emotions and showing them. We’re just as human as the next person."

Quizzed on what it was like working with the band - completed by frontman Damon Albarn, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree behind the scenes, he said: "We’re really annoying as people, but we’re a lot nicer as people probably now, because we’re more relaxed about it and we have a lot more gratitude possibly than we did when we were younger.

“We see it that we’re sort of lucky to be doing something we still love when we’re knocking on a bit and people are still interested in seeing us and I mean... that’s pretty good."

The film also features the band's epic Wembley Stadium gigs, and though Coxon revealed he wasn't overly nervous to play the gig at the time, he admits he was probably in a state of shock or disbelief.

The guitarist said: "I’m sort of amazed when I watch the footage back, because it’s like, ‘Is that really me?’ I couldn’t quite [believe it]. The whole weekend was an out of body experience really... Amazing, obviously. Probably the best gig ever."

Asked if he had any surprises watching the film back, Coxon joked: "Be careful when you’re throwing your guitar up in the air, because you can slice your thumbnail off when it comes back down."

Quizzed if it hurt, he replied: “Yeah, but if you’re going to do something silly things like that you expect something silly to happen to you.”

Blur: To The End is released in cinemas across the UK and Ireland from Friday 19th July.

A separate film, Live At Wembley, which showcases Blur's duo of dates at England's football ground, is also due from the same team (directed by Toby L and produced by Josh Connolly) via UK production company Up The Game.