When life was loud

c.2001 Interviewer is Edith Bowman Q: I listened to your album, new album, coming up on the train today. And I just wanted to hear it live basically after listening to the album. Is that pretty much how you recorded it? Pretty much live? MATTHEW: Yeah, yeah. Yeah we sort of got like a PA system and everything, so when Dom was playing drums, it felt like we were on stage.  DOMINIC: Mic'd up the whole room n'stuff, and set it up in like a stage situation as well.  MATTHEW: Yeah, we were trying to capture the energy of like a three piece thing, sound, that we get on stage. We were trying to transfer that a bit better than we did on the first album this time, so... Q: Yeah, because I've read that you said in interviews that for people to really get what you are about, they have to see you live. Is that...    MATTHEW: Well yeah, I think that playing live is...I got into a band in order to play live, that is what I like doing most, so I think they will see us for what we r...

 Although not specifically stated, given that she is holding a lyre, this is probably Erato.

Aberdeen Evening Express  Thursday 8th June 2000  The much raved about Muse brighten up the rock scene this week by releasing Unintended, another corker from their Showbiz album.  This year Muse landed their first award in the shape of Best New Act at the NME Brats.  They've never been off the touring circuit, what with sell-out UK dates, shows in France, Japan and Australia, plus a support slot in Europe with Bush.  America got the Muse treatment too, when they joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters and Stereophonics* for a succession of different dates. Muse are back in Scotland - following their sold out show at Glow 303 earlier this year - at Glasgow's Garage tomorrow.   They play T in the Park on Sunday July 9.  Links to other articles Touring with Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chilli Peppers T in the Park Notes Stereophonics: In 2001, Kelly Jones would start a minor feud with Muse, saying that a "Radiohead tribute band cost less" when he ...

Total Guitar December 2003 (Issue 117)  As anthemic as it is experimental, Absolution is Muse's greatest achievement yet. Matt Bellamy tells us about taking chords apart, getting the ultimate tone, and the making of a masterpiece.   It starts with the sound of massed armies approaching, and ends with a single dying power chord. It's called " Apocalypse Please " and it's the opening track on Muse's extraordinary new album, Absolution . From here on in it's a non-stop lunatic ride through some of the grandest, most unashamedly epic guitar music ever created, taking in mournful death marches ( Blackout ), sound-and-fury riffing ( Stockholm Syndrome ), as well as thunderous end of the world anthems ( Time Is Running Out ).   In the months leading up to the album's release, Matt Bellamy told the press that the coming Muse record would be more 'uplifting' than previous efforts. We needn't have worried. From it's portentous opening bars to its...

Portsmouth Evening News - Monday 13 December 1999   JJ72 - October Swimmer (Lakota): There haven't been many new bands to rave about this year, but JJ72 are definitely one. At first listen, names such as Radiohead, Mansun, Muse, and even Suede bandy themselves around in your head, but the fact is they aren't quite like any of them. Link to original article (subscription required to view) Muse archive index

2000 KARINA: Hello again... (She introduces Muse, and we cut to live footage, and then the interview. MATTHEW is holding the microphone) CHRISTOPHER: Hello, my name's Chris DOMINIC: My name's Dominic MATTHEW: My name is Matt, and we're from a band called Muse DOMINIC: And we would like to say hello to the viewers of Webfree TV END OF AN ERA? (DOMINIC'S NAME IS SPELT "DOMENIC" - EVERYONE ELSE GETS DIMINUTIVES I.E. "MATT" AND "CHRIS") DOMINIC: I think five times we've been to Austria? Something like that? I don't know. Maybe they're going to miss some sort of end of "Showbiz", some sort of end of an era. Anyway...because you know we're just about...we're going to come back next year with a whole load of new songs, and um won't be playing as many old songs as we are now so, they're just going to miss the end, not the death, just the end of "Showbiz". (Everyone chuckles) DOMINIC (dramatic whisper)...

Sunday Life  Sunday 28th December 2003 (Taste/EastWest):  Muse delivered the purest rock'n'roll thrills of the year as they married a new found maturity and discipline to their previously unrestrained melodrama and ambition. The results were concise, dynamic, and almost absurdly exciting. Link to original article (subscription required to view)

(Sorry about the quality of the picture. The footage is over twenty years old, and trying to clean it up with the limited tools I have, does not make it look any better) 2001 dotmusic.com  Q: What's the mood in the band when you finished touring, and got back in the studio? MATTHEW: I went swimming. I went on holiday for a while. DOMINIC: We had a little bit of time off to sort of relax after touring hard, so...I think..,well, we went in the studio in October straight after tour, straight off festivals, and we did a few tracks with Dave Bottrill... MATTHEW (teasing his enthusiasm): And that was "All right, what have we got to do this year, boys? Let's make a plan. Let's make an album to remember." Do something that has got to be remembered for the rest of time...let's change the face of music...that was our general approach...with that sort of approach...literally that approach...do you know what I mean? With like, yeah, on the one hand, we are having a bit of...

Rhythm Magazine Slipknot’s masked sticksman, music obsessive and multi-instrumentalist constantly tops polls as one of the world’s finest exponents of modern metal drumming The metal drum superstar was voted Greatest Drummer Of The Last 25 Years in a 2010 Rhythm poll. Joey’s a busy man, too, playing not only with masked metal madmen Slipknot but his own band Murderdolls and Rob Zombie, sometimes on the same gig... Q: Joey, is it odd to find yourself considered as influential a player as the guys you grew up listening to? JOEY: It is, totally. It’s weird to realise that when I put something out - with any band I play with - the fans study it, just like I did with Black Sabbath or Mott The Hoople or Iron Maiden or Slayer. They’re totally into it and it’s a great feeling. Q: You have said that you're obsessed with music. JOEY: It’s an addiction man. Music really does fuel me, it’s my lifeblood. I wake up and it’s there - I’ll have a random song running through my head first thing in t...

Rhythm Magazine Dom Howard provides the musical beats that propel indie rock power trio Muse’s expansive and ambitious sound When Rhythm meet up with the very, very busy man behind Muse’s powerful grooves, Dom Howard is on excellent form - despite nursing something of a hangover from a rare night off the evening before.  Even a numbness of head doesn’t derail Dom’s thoughtful, considered conversation, in which he’s very happy to talk about taking the production reins for their most recent album "The Resistance" and how, even now, he usually tenses up on stage. In the same way that the band deliver their wide-ranging, ambitious music with panache, Dom talks with incisive clarity. It’s this kind of no-messing, deliberate approach that has propelled Muse to the peak of their game. Which is why it’s almost a surprise that the band haven’t taken the plunge and produced a record themselves before. Q: Did producing "The Resistance" feel like a big step forward as a band? D...

Torbay Express and South Devon Echo  Monday 28th February 1994 BRING on the Stereo MPs!  Teignbridge MP Patrick Nicholls, above, got down to a session of rhythm and true blues when he popped in at Battle of the Bands contest at Teignmouth's Broadmeadow Leisure Centre. Mr Nicholls, a vice-chairman of the Conservative Party, strapped on a guitar and later sat on drums as young bands did their stuff.   The contest was won by Teignmouth's own Rocket Baby Doll*, with Mr Nicholls getting plaudits for having a go - but not in the running for the "battle". Notes Yes - they missed off the "S" Link to original article (subscription needed to view)

 

Thursday 13th June 2002 Mid-Ulster Mail  SHOCK rockers Slipknot will be appearing at the Odyssey Arena, Belfast, on Tuesday, August 27th.   Tickets priced £27.50 (inc. booking fee) are now on sale from Odyssey Arena, Virgin and usual Ticketmaster outlets or on line at www.wonderlandpromotions.co.uk.  Hailing from Des Moines, Iowa. Slipknot are nine men in nine different masks united with one common goal - world domination.   Fortified with an arsenal of blistering music saturated with screams, drums, searing riffs, sampling, scratches and melody. Slipknot's music runs the scale from eerily thought-provoking to utterly terrifying.   Their self-titled debut album having gone platinum - the first in Roadrunner Records history - the band released their second effort, IOWA, which was called by many "one of the most anticipated albums of 2001".  Slipknot, collectively, are DJ Sid Wilson, drummer Joey Jordison, bassist Paul Grey, percussionist Chris...

STERN: This is another band that wanted to come down and see you. This is called Slipknot. Their new album is called "Livin' La Vida Loco" ROBIN: Oh no! ASSISTANT: These are the guys we needed security for... STERN: These guys, right?  ROBIN: Slipknot, "Livin' La Vida Loca?"  STERN: "La Vida Loco" ROBIN: "La Vida Loco?" STERN: These guys might be crazy...I don't know Little 5'3 JOEY enters balanced on SHAWN'S shoulders*, the others follow. Joey will remain on his shoulders for the whole interview.  STERN: I've seen these guys... SHAWN: Hi guys. Thanks for making us wait for fucking ever STERN: Oh no, don't give any F words. Don't say the F word. JOEY: I would like to say (to Stern??) that contributing to my age factor, I'm gonna have a beard and a comb by the time I walk out of this place SHAWN: Wassup. You're the king man. We love you.  STERN: Thank you. Now guys... SHAWN:...We love you and your the king, ...

August 2000 (Interview is with MATTHEW and DOMINIC) Q: We've got Muse playing live. Has any weird stuff happened to you playing live? Do you get weird stuff thrown up on the stage? Do fans do weird things? MATTHEW: Roses seem to be a thing in England. For some reason, we seem to get a lot of roses thrown. I don't know why...  DOMINIC: A pair of knickers here and there in the UK Q: That's useful... DOMINIC: Coins in Italy MATTHEW: The best thing I ever got was a pair of pink fluffy handcuffs thrown at me at a gig in London, that was erm, the most useful item I've ever had thrown at me... Q: Right, we are going to have a look at "Unintended" now. Now, I understand that came about in a certain way in the studio? MATTHEW: Yeah, yeah that's right...that song...that's one of the songs, I think it is that song and "Hate This and I'll Love You" and "Sunburn" were songs that where made up in the studio. And that song was maybe the first ...

West Lancashire Evening Gazette Friday 27th August 2004  The Darkness triumphed at the Kerrang! Awards last night by scooping two gongs.   The spandex-clad rockers were named best British band, beating the likes of Muse and Ash.  Link to original article (subscription required to view)

Friday 6th May 2005 Drogheda Argus and Leinster Journal  ...They are joined on Saturday night by Sunscarred a three piece Dundalk based alternative rock band whose innovative sound has been compared to such as Soundgarden, Muse, and Radiohead. Link to original article (subscription needed to view) Muse archive index

Friday 20th February 2004 Evening Herald (Dublin) There's a lot to be said for bands forming and developing in out of way locations. For while there are undoubted disadvantages in being away from the industry's main centres of influence, not to mention the extra expense involved in travelling to gigs, the isolation can help an act to forge a singular identity.  One wonders whether the Manic Street Preachers would have raged quite so hard had they grown up in, say Bermondsey rather than building up good grudges in Blackwood, South Wales and the same individualistic streak applies to Muse.   Formed in the small Devon town of Taignton, Muse's distance from whatever trends were sweeping London during their formative years allowed them to develop an idiosyncratic musical style which was way out of step with anything being attempted by their contemporaries.   Over the the course of three albums they've gone from being compared to a more bombastic Radiohead (as if that...

(Apologies for the picture - the original was extremely low quality, and this is the best I can clean it up) The Scotsman - Friday 23 August 2002 Slipknot are back - revealing their caring, sharing side. Fiona Shepherd stands amazed.   While some desperate people chase celebrity like a thirsty man in a desert, the real coup is to achieve international distinction but still be able to enjoy some privacy. Slipknot, the nine masked metal marauders from Des Moines, Iowa, who have taken the nu-metal genre by the scruff of the neck in the past three years, enjoy the best of both worlds. There's a child wearing a Slipknot T-shirt on every corner of every small town, but most of them have no idea of what their heroes look like without their trademark Halloween masks and customised boiler suits.   But recently some band members have broken cover with a couple of side projects. Singer Corey Taylor and guitarist Jim Root have resurrected their previous band Stone Sour for some ...