When life was loud

Birmingham Daily Post Friday 25th May 2001  Muse Birmingham Academy   Anyone who owns a copy of Muse's debut album Showbiz will know it's a melancholic musical masterpiece full of indie anthems.    So their performance at the Academy may well have been a shock to the system for many new fans, as Matt Bellamy (looking like a demonic Ritchie Neville of Five) launched into a blistering aural assault.   Last time I saw the band play was on a small stage in a festival field where the crowd was too big for the tent.   Despite the harder sound of their new album, Origin of Symmetry, which has already spawned the hit single Plug In Baby, Muse have already outgrown venues like the Academy.  Keeping pleasantries to an absolute minimum, they created a wall of sound with their opening tracks which included Cave and Uno.   One of the early highlights was an interesting cover of Nina Simone's Feeling Good.   I'm not sure what ...

c.Late 2004 Toazted Q: Could you please introduce yourself? PAUL: Uh Paul. Play bass in Slipknot. Number 2. Q: Number 2. PAUL: Number 2. Whatever. Yeah. Paul. The bass player. Q: How are you doing? PAUL: I am doing awesome. Doing awesome. Tired, but good. Yeah (laughs).  Q: Why are you tired?  PAUL: I'm getting over getting sick, that's why..I was...I've been sick for the last few days, so like you know, I'm still kind of bogged down. But you know, starting to feel a little bit better. Q: When did you finish recording the new album? PAUL: Um. Shit. Couple of...two weeks ago. Like, two weeks ago just finished... Q: Recording? PAUL: Yeah, recording and everything. Yeah, uh, their mixing right now, and uh yeah...we started, uh, not actual recording...but we went in and uh, started writing and everything, and on August 5th we moved out to LA and started working on the album, and yeah, we had some stuff written a little bit before that, but uh... Q: How many songs? PAUL: Umm...

Sandwell Chronicle Thursday 22nd November 2001 THE voice of an angel against a wall of guitar noise and touching piano melodies, Muse are amongst the finest British bands around.   Frontman Matthew Bellamy crooned, wailed and growled his way through tracks from the Devon trio's two albums, thrilling a sell-out crowd with his arching guitar and piano solos on Sunday evening.   But the venue's poor acoustics made some of their grandiose art-rock tracks sound like they came from a poor quality cassette tape.   Much of Bellamy's more complex piano work was lost through the numerous open doors leading to the bar, and that being a bar purveying cans of lager at £2.70, you would be forgiven for thinking the Civic could afford to spend a little more cash on protecting the sound quality.   Despite, that Muse were in fine form, belting out tracks from debut album Showbiz , though the night was obviously for pushing the new heavier Origin of Symmetry . ...

Metro Books - 2010 Michael Heatley Futuristic  Parker Guitars claim to be "the most elegant and advanced guitars on the planet-" and seeing is believing. The unmistakable Parker silhouette with its distinctive body shape and peghead is loved by some, hated by others, but it's certain that Parker has been the most distinctive series of designs to come on to the mass market in the last decade and a half.   Apart from their looks, what makes them different is the use of composite materials like resin and carbon glass skin to reinforce a thin carved body and neck. This results in a weight reduction that makes Parker guitars the lightest on the scene.   Matt Bellamy of Muse plays a Parker. It's futuristic construction is worlds away from the guitars his father George played when a member of Sixties hit instrumental group the Tornados of "Telstar" fame.  The picture blurb reads: Matt Bellamy from Muse playing a Manson MIDI with a Kaoss Korg pad "Dynamic Real-...

Modern Drummer  March 2009 "When we put the Black Alphas up, they ruled the kit. Unreal!" "The Black Alpha "Slipknot Edition" was created in collaboration with drummer extraordinaire Joey Jordison.  The "Slipknot Edition" consists of Joey's personal selection of Alpha models - creating a Black Alpha Set that features the core look and sound of Joey’s 2008/09 touring set.  The cymbal set consists of the 20" Metal Ride, 1 T\18'1 and 19U flock Crashes,I an 18M Rock China, a 14” Sound Edge Hf-Hat and a 10M Metal Splash. The core set consists of a metallic Ride with an icy wash, coupled with powerfully cutting, sturdy Crashes and energetic, roaring Hi-Hats. The set is rounded out by a loud, shattering China and a Splash with a wild, smashing attack."

c.2000 (MATTHEW has the microphone, the sound is not always easy to make out) Q: You've been very busy the last year or so, and you're finally getting quite a lot of acclaim. Apparently you've done fifty festivals is it, this summer?  MATTHEW: I've heard a rumour.  DOMINIC: Apparently so. Yeah, um, we've done loads...this summer, apparently we have done about fifty. And um, we've been everywhere, all over Europe, Japan, um...  MATTHEW: Everywhere in Europe. Most countries that Europe has to offer. And also we've been to... CHRISTOPHER: Uhhh...yeah, we went to The States in March....toured with Chilli Peppers, Foo Fighters, generally everywhere.  DOMINIC: It's been non stop, a year and a half of touring. Q: So, how are you feeling now? MATTHEW: I'm feeling like you know, a little bit sort of blurry, but it's a good feeling. It's nice. Confused. I don't really understand what's happening. But, no. I do. I think I know what it is...I thi...

Guitar World - January 2008 For those who like tech, I have included the advert blurb below; 'Mick Thomson. Number Seven. The sonic powerhouse driving Slipknot with his uber-tight riffing. With Blackouts - Seymour Duncan's new aggressive active pickups - Mick's riffing got even tighter. Thanks to a circuit design that uses balanced inputs, not only do Blackouts have up to 14dB less hum than other active pickups, but they give Mick more highs, more lows, and more output.  Simply put, more tone. Blackouts. The new black.'  

Hit Parader July 2007 Burly tattooist Paul Booth was in the middle of permanently etching ink onto a customer's epidermis. We didn’t need to see it, because we already had a pretty good idea of what it would look like, since Booth’s style is as distinct as a finger-print: dark, brooding, haunting, and unsettling to say the least. But we were glad that e extremely busy man — his waiting list is approximately two years long and he works by appointment only- was taking a break from his work to talk to us about as his role not only as master tattooist, but as tattoist to some of the biggest names in heavy metal.  “My hand was getting tired, so it’s good to take a break,” laughs Booth in his notoriously popular Last Rites studio in New York City. The studio has an atmosphere. that imbibes all the senses: incense, a smoke machine and, of course, blasting hard rock music. Booth has been tattooing for 18 of his 39 years on this planet, and has provided custom, freehand tattoos for Down’s P...

Q Magazine  July 2010 In a turn up for the books, Matt Bellamy is no longer their most bonkers member.  Top of your list for queries for the Teignmouth Trio: Alien abduction, getting jiggy with Lily Allen and what we can expect from their Glastonbury set. Assuming the "little goblins" don't get them first.  Located just off of Sunset Boulevard in the swanky Mondrian Hotel, the Skybar is one of Los Angeles' hippest hang-outs. The views of the city are impressive, the vibe discreetly opulent. Sweet-talk your way past the famously selective door staff and you could well find your ribbing with rock royalty or Hollywood's A-list.   It's safe to say that it's a world away from the green fields and pagan vibes of Glastonbury Festival, but this is exactly where we find Saturday night's headliners Muse, dipping their toes into the pool and partaking in some midday sushi.   "It's the best festival in the world," says frontman Matt Bellamy. "Wh...

Modern Drummer - Issue 374 January 2011 Slipknot's ever active drummer - who's recently added new Murderdolls and Rob Zombie projects to his already significant workload - puts down the mask and gets us closer to understanding his unusual methods and motivations.  When I first met Joey Jordison, at the 2010 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Aside from the aura of mystery that has long accompanied Slipknot, here was the drummer who had powered the musical juggernaut to platinum-selling albums and a Grammy award, who had played with everyone from Rob Zombie to Metallica, who perennially ranks in Modern Drummer's Readers Poll, and who's an all-around inspiration to a new generation of skins bashers, me included. It's easy to assume a drummer with such an impressive resume would sport a hot-air-balloon-size head. Not Jordison. He carried himself with well-earned confidence while at the same time being thoughtful and down to e...