Interviews

Metro newspaper:

Chris Wolstenholme is bassist in prog indie-rock mentalists Muse, whose fourth album, Black holes and Revelations, hit No. 1 in the UK album chart eailer this year. Winners of the best alternative act category at the MTV Europe awards, the trio play Nottingham arena tonight

Do you share Matt Bellamy's interest in conspiracy theories?
I agree with most of them but i'm not as well researched as Matt. He'll send us all links now and again but when i'm at home I've got my family to deal with, so i don't get an awful lot of time to research.

Have you endured any nightmares playing live?
Our first experience of doing live TV was seven or eight years ago for a Japanese programme. Everything that could of gone wrong did. On some songs there was no bass, on others the guitar cut out and Matt didn't have distortion pedals We've been cautious of live T.V since.

Is living apart from each other ever problematic?
I live in Teginmouth, Dom lives in London and Matt in Italy, but it doesn't matter too much because we're not at home that often anyway. When we have time off, we all spend it with out families

How do you avoid burn-out on tour?
You just have to look after yourself on the road. What usually causes burn-out is when everyone gets pissed every night: you start feeling like shit and can't play properly.

Is it good to be back in the UK?
Yeah. It's been non-stop touring but most of are best gigs have been in Europe and the UK, and it feels like a long time - Festivals aside - since we've played out own gigs here.

 

The Italian Job

INTERVIEW MUSE'S MATT BELLAMY BLOWS A FUSE AT HIS LAKESIDE HIDEAWAY

Matt Bellamy masterminds Muse, Britain's foremost insurgent prog rockers, from his secret hideaway on the shores of Lake Como, Italy. He moved here to be close to his girlfriend Gaia 18 months ago. Born locally, she met Matt when she was studying psychology in London. The course made her the perfect partner for a man known for going off his rocker.

"She helps me when I have my moments," admits Matt, 28. "When you are in a band you can lose your sense of reality from time to time. It's nice to have someone there to point out that you are losing your mind."

Thankfully, Bellamy keeps most of his "moments" for Muse albums such as the current Black Holes And Revelations and their fantastically crazed and OTT live shows. On the day we meet, Matt's Italian village is experiencing a blackout which he thinks may be caused by his preparations for the band's UK tour which, by the time you read this, will be under way.

"I just plugged my guitar rig in and I'm paranoid it might be the cause of the cut," he says. "They may not be used to having thousands of watts drained from the network. But I'm rather enjoying the quiet to be honest."

Since forming Muse along with pals Dom Howard (28, drums) and Chris Wolstenhome (27, bass) in Teignmouth, Devon, in 1994, Matt has been on the road almost constantly. The sleepy Italian setting provides a welcome respite from the rock 'n' rollercoaster life.

"We are a band who tours a lot so we spend a lot of time in cities," says Matt. "We spend so much time on the road and recording together - more than we do with our girlfriends - so our concept of home is probably different to most people's.

"Sometimes you just keep your head down trying to concentrate on getting through all the gigs. There's always someone who is up for having a good time, but you can also stay in the hotel and just read a book. There's no rule as to how it works."

Matt likes to read up on controversial ideas about how the world is controlled. One of several provocative theories he's fond of is the claim that The Beatles were a secret plot to brainwash the youth of America. The important question is did Paul McCartney know this was happening?

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure that John did," laughs Matt. "You can tell from the stuff he was saying before he was taken out by some crazed dude. But I'm sure whatever Paul thought, he is over it all at this stage. He has more pressing things on his mind."

As indeed does Matt, with the prospect of wedding bells ringing in the distance.

"I never thought I'd get married," he admits. "I thought I'd avoid it as my family doesn't have a great record on that score. But I like the idea of having kids and settling down one day. I'd like to get married underwater, make it something unusual to remember. But Italians are very religious, so we'll see what happens."

As even a passing acquaintance with Muse suggests, Matt has used mind-bending materials to fashion his songs.

"I think drugs can be used and not abused that's the key," he says. "We

certainly have seen and done it all. We've been down various roads and the psychedelic one is my favourite.

"I'm not into all the chemical stuff like coke and speed, but I do like to expand my horizons and see what is happening on the other side."

On the new Knights Of Cydonia single, Matt declares a fight back against the evil forces running the world, but with a broad grin rather than a clenched fist.

"The song is trying to get in touch with that fighting spirit and the will to fight back that is hopefully in a lot of people," he explains. "It's looking back at all the wars there's been and what is happening now while hoping that there's something in the human spirit that is going to transcend it all. On the album, it's an important song to end on.

It's not necessarily taking it all deadly seriously."

With power now restored to the rehearsal room, it's time for Matt to get back to preparing for the band's European tour.

"Playing live is the best experience," he grins. "It's easy to get lost in it. As soon as a tour is over it is very difficult to remember what it actually felt like to be up there. Another part of yourself comes out onstage and it only really exists there. The rest of the time it disappears."

Muse are currently touring the UK. See www.muse.mu for full details. The single Knights Of Cydonia is out on Nov 27.

Picture Caption: I'm not into coke or speed but I do like to expand my horizons.

 

" The Knights of Muse by John Earls

Halfway through their UK tour, even by Muse standards it's a spectacle. Have they ever thought "That's too OTT?"

"Loads of times," laughs Dom Howard. "We've got a second stage on this tour. We were going to 'fly' to it in a UFO. We started designing the UFO, realised after a few days 'This is just silly.' We try to top the past tours, but you can't do stunts for the sake of it."

Although they began touring arenas with their previous album Absolution, Muse say it's only with their current shows that they feel at home there.

"I prefer 2,000-capacity venues," says drummer Dom. "We played those size venues in the US last year. It was good for reminding us about intimate shows. I think it's only now we manage to mix the spectacle and intimacy the way we'd always wanted to achieve."

Festival headliners who can be relied on for a fabulous spectacle, are Muse thinking about playing stadiums yet?

"I'm not against the idea," ponders Dom Howard, 28. "When we started, stadiums were only for pop acts or dinosaurs. Now that you've got bands like Green Day and Chili Peppers playing stadiums, the idea of proper 'stadium rock' is back. Yeah, I guess we could play them now and get away with it."

Do Muse find it easy to write on tour?

"Not for the first year," admits Dom Howard. "Give us a chance, we're still trying to figure out how to play half the songs off Black Holes live! What usually happens is that, after a year on the road, ideas start coming - though usually the first songs we write on tour never make it on to the album. Black Holes didn't properly get going until we quit our first studio."

The idea for Muse's new single Knights of Cydonia came during their low-key tour of the US in summer last year.

"I woke up on the tourbus one morning in cactus country to see Matt bouncing about, going 'Listen to what I did last night!', recalls drummer Dom. "From the start, the way it changes every verse, Knights was shaping up to be epic. It's amazing to play, every night we lose ourselves in that one."

For a band known for their spectacular gigs, would Muse consider doing a stripped-back, simple tour?

"Funny you should ask, it's one of the ideas we've had for the next album," says Dom Howard. "The two ideas we've discussed most are doing something totally stripped back, or going all the way with the berserk stuff, pianos everywhere. One way or another, I think it might be extreme."