Muse MTV Five Night Stand Interview


c. April/May 2000
(Interviewer is Zane Lowe)

ZANE: All right boys, how are you?
MATTHEW: Well...
DOMINIC: Good...
MATTHEW: And how are you?
ZANE: I'm fine...
*Giggles*
ZANE: It's been a while since we caught up...it was the beginning of the year, in Paris right? At the ???, and there's a lot to talk about. You guys have been in America. I guess sort, you know, most famously doing a gig with Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Foo Fighters around The States? 
MATTHEW: Yeah...
DOMINIC: It was amazing...
MATTHEW: Absolutely. Yeah. We had a good time over there. Big arenas, you know. Arena rock, and all that. So it was good to see what that was all about.
ZANE: Was it easy to adjust? You know, to the arenas?
DOMINIC (quietly): It took a couple of gigs
MATTHEW: It took a couple of gigs...
DOMINIC: But you know, the first few were a little bit nerve wracking, it was like, "Jesus...massive view..."
MATTHEW: To play in front of that many people who don't know you, is quite scary stuff. And when they are all waiting for another band, you know what I mean? But we got some really brilliant reactions actually.
ZANE: So what's it like coming back to the sort of more intimate environments of places like Shepherd's Bush Empire, and smaller gigs? I know that sounds ludicrous, because approximately six months ago this would have been a really big venue for you guys to play?
MATTHEW: Yeah, I really like to be playing here. This is one of my favourite venues in London. Never played it before, and I saw Ben Folds Five here. That was one of the first gigs I saw. I really like the environment here. You can stand anywhere and it all sounds really good... 
ZANE: Exactly. So, reunited with Bush, again. You guys have toured with them before, and they have had a lot of really lovely things to say about you this morning. 
DOMINIC: Really?
ZANE: No. Thinks you are rubbish. 
(LAUGHTER)
MATTHEW: He's a good man (Note - there was an edit here that trimmed the interview, so presumably Gavin Rossdale was mentioned)
ZANE: There is a really good line up tonight, obviously you guys have played with SoulWax as well. I think this is probably the most cohesive line up out of any of the five nights. 
MATTHEW: Yeah. Well we all toured with each other. 
ZANE: One of the things that a lot of people register with you guys, is that you are really into your rock music. I think they see you as these kind of really thoughtful guys that sit down and write everything on acoustic guitar, but you know, you seriously wail man...um, you know, is that something you try and strive for when you're going on stage, to try and rock up the songs and bring them more out of them? 
DOMINIC: Um..
MATTHEW: I think we've always done that, yeah...
DOMINIC: Yeah, um we've always uh, it's just always been heavier and rawer live, and uh especially in the States, we just like thrown in a load of sort of riffs...
MATTHEW: I suppose there is only three of us. There is three of us on stage...we've all got to work hard to get that kind of bigness that is on the album, live, because on the album we sound like a six piece, because I've put all these extra instruments on...experimented around with stuff...but live it's just raw.
ZANE: Have you thought about actually expanding the line up, because I was talking to a band before...(I can't think who it was)...the other day, and they were thinking about at one point they may have to expand their line up to you know, be able to progress and keep the music moving forward and stuff like that.
MATTHEW: I think it would always be nicer to be known as a very powerful three piece, than an average four piece. 
ZANE: Yeah, fair enough. 
MATTHEW: I'd like to carry on with this line up for as long as we can, but I am sure eventually, maybe down the line it would be nice to bring a piano on or something like that, but right now I'm not really concerned with it.
ZANE: So no roadies backstage doing solos were no one can see them? (Laughs) So, this forthcoming UK tour, it's your biggest headlining tour, yeah?
DOMINIC: Yeah
MATTHEW: Yeah
ZANE: A couple of nights at The Astoria. Both sold out. So it's all going really good?
DOMINIC: It is
MATTHEW: Yeah, cool. 
ZANE: Thanks for coming down and catching up. 
DOMINIC: Thanks for having us.
MATTHEW: Cheers. 

Footage of Sunburn being played live at The Shepherds Bush Empire follows. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

(MUSE) Matt Bellamy: the ONLY guitar interview!

Image
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...
Read more

Muse summer single announced

Image
NME 6th April 2002 Single and DVD set for June Release  “We've got a new single coming which is really fucking heavy rock" — Matt Bellamy  Muse release a brand new double A-side single this summer, and also hope to finish their third album this year, NME can reveal.  Speaking exclusively to NME , singer Matt Bellamy said that the group had started recording demos for the follow-up to their 'Origins Of Symmetry' album, and will release double A-side single, 'Dead Star'/'In Your World' on June 3. Both tracks are taken from a new DVD, Hullabaloo , which follows on June 17.   Hullabaloo is a double DVD release, with one disc featuring 18 live songs from their 2001 tour, recorded over two nights at the Paris Zenith, and the second containing documentary footage from a number of dates across the world.   Bellamy said, "We did a concert in Paris which we recorded for a DVD. One ( disc ) is the concert and the other is loads of us getting up to weird ant...
Read more

(MUSE) Muse Update

Image
Yorkshire Evening Post Friday 2nd March 2001 By Jon Rhodes  After you have lived through the most incendiary 24 hours in rock's recent history and then had a white hot year yourselves you would think it was probably time to chill. But fans of Muse will not be disappointed as their heroes crank up the temperature and tempo with their first release of 2001. And if the new single Plug in Baby is any indication of what is to come then someone better call the fire brigade because this three-piece are cooking on gas. As guitarist and lead singer Matt Bellamy explained that the band wanted to push on from the success of debut album Showbiz , but stay true to their loud and lewd beliefs. He said: "We've just finished recording the new album, which should be out in the not too distant future."   "We are very pleased with the sound of it, and think it's the best thing we've ever done. I know we should be saying that, but's true. There's quite a lot of heav...
Read more