(MUSE) Muse of the world
Saturday 6th September 2003
Rock trio Muse have enjoyed a significant surge in popularity over the last six months - without releasing a record.
The unexpected rise in the following has meant the three piece announcing details of their first arena tour of the UK.
Yet bass player Chris Wolstenholme is perplexed as to how the transition from 2,000 capacity venue to 14,500 capacity arena band has occurred.
"It is very strange what has happened. I would like to think that we now have a reputation for putting on a show and people have realised what we are about and what we do. But it's not like we have released loads of new material and our fanbase has boomed because of that. So it is all slightly baffling."
But 24-year-old Chris promised fans a show to remember when they eventually take to the stage. The nine date tour will include a gig at the Manchester Evening News Arena on Saturday 29 November.
Invest
"We have decided to invest all the money we are getting paid for the gigs into the show," he revealed. "Arena shows can be difficult because if you are stood at the back you get a totally different experience. We want to compensate for that with set design and moving screens and such like, but at the minute we are still in the planning stages."
In the meantime the band are now looking forward to the release of their third studio album.
Absolution is due to hit the shops later this month and follows in the footsteps of the band's critically acclaimed predecessors Origin of Symmetry and Showbiz.
The 24-year-old, who originally hails from Rotherham in South Yorkshire, said the band's latest creative efforts are a more personal collection of tracks compared with their previous offerings.
Concentrate.
"With this album we converted a warehouse into work space and a flat so it was more on one level and a continuous process. The other albums were a lot more stop start and interrupted with gigs. But this time round we had a chance to take a step back and concentrate on writing and recording and not have to deal with constant interruptions."
The album includes the band's latest assault on the singles charts, Time Is Running Out, which is due to hit the shops on Monday.
The band have recently been embracing the power of the Internet to release their music. When Stockholm Syndrome was released as a download only single during the summer thousands of fans worldwide logged on to buy the music.
Chris says the band were surprised by the success of the internet only release which if chart eligible would have charted at number 14.
"There are fans who like to buy CDs for the packaging and artwork and then there are those who just want the music. That is what it was all about. The charts at the moment are just about people who buy records in the shops and not necessarily representative of what people are listening to. I think it would be great to marry the two together."
Direction.
As to the long term Chris knows in which direction the band are heading - geographically at least.
"Next year we are going for America," says Chris, "We are in the process of signing a new record deal out there. We have been thinking about it for a while and the time now feels right. It is a huge commitment but we are going to give it a good show and see where it takes us."
Muse's new single, Time is Running Out, is due to be released this Monday, on the Taste/East West Records label. The band's new album Absolution is due to be released on Monday 22 September.
Picture credit: Yorkshire Evening Post
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