Interview with Chris Wolstenholme

An interview of Chris is available in the last Rock mag (French Magazine). Here is a transcript:

Silent since their last interview in May 2005, the English Muse worked hard and are finishing the after Absolution, which could land near the 27th of May. From the mixing studio, Chris Wolstenholme speaks the first to give us a first taste of their 4th album.

RM : How long have you been in studio ?
CW : We entered in August in the Miraval Studio, in soutern France, after a break to rest after the Tour. We had several songs we wanted to work while writing other ones. We lived in the studio provided with a wonderful site. During a big month, we essentially rehearsed while recording from time to time, when ideas were getting concreted. In fact, the most big part of this recording took place in New York until Christmas. It was greatly concentrated on the album, in the hotel to think about new ideas or in the studio to work them. We hardly disconnected from the album. After Christmas rest, we went to London to mix and we are still there to do it. If it goes on, we shall have spent almost as much time mixing as recording !!

RM : you take your time, we can see...
CW : Yes, we decided to do so for this album. We wanted to take our time to put down our ideas, try things and be sure until the end we could get a pleasant result, without hurrying. Showbiz and Origin of Symetry had been recorded rapidly and since Absolution, we prefer have a cooler pace. We have already 20 finished songs, but nothing is definitive. We are going to mix them before choosing what will appear or won’t in the album.

RM : you work with Rich Costley, who produced your last album.
CW : yes, we keep him because he really did a good job for Absolution. We had many producers until now, working on two following albums with the same one is a little bit different. Rich’s main quality is a very good technician doubled with a real musician. As a matter of fact, he gets involved more in what we are creating, and his advices about arrangements, as melodies, are constructive. He perfectly understands music which is not the same situation about other producers.

RM : Did you give a title to the album ? Rumours on Internet talked about Equilibrium...
CW : We don’t want to think about it now. We shall see later about it, about the presentation, the single, the clip and such things. First of all, we must decide a definitive tracklisting, et then finish the mixing. In fact, we are not sure at all about the album date release !

RM : What were you listening to while you were in studio ?
CW : To be frank, we were exclusively concentrated about our own music. When we listened to stuff, it was rather music from the 50’s and 60’s, in the style of Joe Meek’s produces (the first English independent producer, he particularly founded the Tornados, the band where Matt’s father, Georges played). Kill Bill’s music also marked us as well as Nancy Sinatra’s influences on one or two songs of the album.

RM : During the treasure hunt you organized during this even Tour, you showed that you love codes, anagrams, enigmas and hidden secrets. Will there be those kinds of things in the album or in the presentation ?
CW : This treasure hunt was a big frenzy, a game. It was great to see so many people were taking part into it. Will we do it in the album ? Probably no. But we never know, it could be funny after all.

RM : The last communiqué noticed in your site from the 23rd of February nevertheless gives a feeling of secret where we hardly understand what is written… Since last week, many fans in forum try to decipher.
CW (while laughing) : Seriously ? No, there is no message at all. Defining an album, above all in which we have been drowned into it since months, this is not so simple. So, we decided to put anything in the communiqué, private jokes as well as completely invented things, we don’t even know what we meant while writing them !

RM : Did you try new stuffs during those sessions ?
CW : We put trumpet in two songs… and we also used much Buchla synthetizers (created in 1963, the Buchla was the first one especially done for a musician, without the help of a professional electronics engineer).

RM : How would you define the new album ?
CW : It is once more difficult to answer, all the more than we don’t know which songs will be in it. We can’t say it is a rock album, nor a piano album… What is sure, it is less oriented in classics than Absolution and it is mainly more positive. Anyway, it ought to be difficult to do a more negative one than Absolution ! (laughs).

RM : when do you intend to set off on Tour ?
CW : As soon as the album release. During the last Tour, we have much stayed in USA. We haven’t participated in gigs in Europe for a long time, and we miss them a lot. This summer, if everything is alright, we shall play in several festivals.

RM : Before we leave, do you have something to tell to our RockMag readers ?
CW : Yes, We long to meet you all on the road !