Interview with Matthew Bellamy

c. May 2001 

(Judging from the voice and the phrasing, it is possible this either a German or Dutch interview)

Q: About the start of Muse?  

MATTHEW: Um, we started with uh...I lived in a town called Teignmouth, which is like South-west countryside of England. It's quite a rural place, about a few hours from London, right, and um...it's quite...there's nothing really happening there, it's very boring. Especially for kids around thirteen...fifteen...you couldn't get into the bars, couldn't drink, and there was no nightlife. There's nothing to do really, so it's just...we used to drink a lot and stuff, and do stuff like that down on the seafront, you know...and it wasn't really....it wasn't very...very good. And I started hanging out with these girls, who were really hot, and they were like, um, they wanted to be witches, you know? And I thought I might have been on to something...because I thought it was a load of bullshit you know. Well, at the time I was doing all this Ouija board stuff with my mum, and I was thinking...so, I was involved with that. I don't believe that now, but at the time, I think when I met these girls, I thought, I thought it was a chance to get laid, you know? And um, they were talking about getting in bands and stuff, so we started getting bands together. We started wearing loads of makeup, actually, all this stupid hair and stuff and...I was just trying to get laid with these women really...but, but that was sort of how it started with these different bands. Um, but then as we got to the age of sixteen, most of the bands started splitting up, and people started losing interest and that, and me, Dom and Chris formed a band called 'Rocket Baby Dolls'. It was just the three of us, and we...only...we formed that name just for one week to...in order to...first of all try and get these women, you know what I mean? And they dressed us up and stuff. We started hanging out with them, and it was starting to happen, and we were still wearing all this stuff from Rocket Baby Dolls...and we went into the competition, like a Battle of The Bands contest with all these other bands, and uh, all the other bands were like really sort of funky...sort of pub rock you know, and they were like all older. So we went in there just to take the piss out it really, and we sort of chucked our instruments around, and did all this sort of thing, and we had all these women on stage naked and shit, and um, we did it all just to take the piss, you know? But we ended up winning. And when we won the competition, we suddenly thought 'Actually...maybe...maybe we should do this more seriously'...so, we started...we changed the name to 'Muse', and sort of mellowed out for a bit for a while. Not musically...the music is still real heavy, but we sort of just concentrated on making music for the next couple of years really. And we released our first EP when we were about nineteen.   

Q: Could you explain the name change? Why?

MATTHEW: Um...the...we were called 'Rocket Baby Dolls' because it was a Japanese porn film we saw, and um, we saw these girls and we were all dressing up together, you know? And um, it's just like a...at the time I was in other bands called 'Gothic Plague', which were different members, it wasn't Dom and Chris. When Dom and Chris got together we only got together to form this one thing for one week, you know...and it was but when we won...when we won the competition that we realized, actually we should stay together, and that was when we actually took it more seriously, and put together like an actual band, you know? Before that, it was more like a...a bit of theatrical fun...you know?   

Q: According to the press in Britain, you are quite...quite...upfront as persons, and uh, theatrical... 

MATTHEW: Yeah.... 

Q: Did you see yourself? 

MATTHEW (arms aloft): I see myself, not very often, really (laughs, goes back to rubbing his head) Um...I don't know...erm...I don't know, I don't know, um...I'm not sure, maybe as an element of...I think when we're on stage you know, when playing on stage, I think that's really who I am, that's like being...that's the most honest person I could be...it's like everything inside me, coming out, you know? And that's like...that's what I love about playing live...that's why I love playing live so much. It's one of the main reasons I got into a band, was to get that feeling, you know of like, of pure freedom. And um...the thing is, if you get...if you get used to doing...used to doing gigs like every day and stuff, you get used...you get used to living like that...I think you generally become a little bit more open, you become a bit more sort of...like that sort of way of thinking starts to rub off in your everyday life, you know? And um, you start...so I think it's probably something...maybe, maybe...I'm not sure about theatrical, but I don't think...I don't think anything different to other people, you know? It's just the same as anyone else really, but just having a good time as much as possible, really, and um...well, on stage, on stage...you're pushing yourself to your limits. You're finding your own physical limits, finding out what notes I can sing, and how you know you're pushing yourself...so in that process maybe, you know, you react in a way that's flamboyant, you know? I think that's just being on stage.    

Q: The press again, they accuse you of like, copying a famous called like the Thom Yorke band (Matthew, giggles)...like...you, um, react to that? 

MATTHEW: Erm, I don't really mind too much. I think...I think everyone's entitled to their own opinion, you know, everyone says what they want. I think that's what makes the world interesting though, some people love it, some people hate it, some people think you're face, some people think you're the realist thing. You know, it's just different opinions, and I think that conflict is interesting. I'd rather that than everything...everyone being the same, you know. I think everyone can say what they want, and I don't....you know...I'm interested, whether it's good or bad. 

Q: Could you describe your music? 

MATTHEW: Um...I'd say it's like a combination of modern rock styles. Things like Rage Against The Machine to um...(thinks)….Queen? Rage Against The Machine, a bit of Jeff Buckley maybe, or something, but a combination of modern rock combined with an appreciation for the history of the evolution of music, you know? I listened to a lot...I did...I did a lot of Flamenco guitar stuff...flamenco lessons...not lessons, I mean flamenco learning...um, Spanish guitar...that's like folk music, so some folk music from Europe...and like, I listened to a bit of classical music as well, so that's what I mean when I say the history...the history of the evolution of different musics from European history, because European has great you know, evolution of music over hundreds of years. Um, that probably combined with some modern American rock type stuff.     

Q: On stage, do you see yourself as a guitar God?

MATTHEW: Fuckin' hell (laughs) No, no...no, not at all. It's a bit of um...on stage, it's like it's a bit of tongue-in-cheek, you know, a bit...when you're dong the guitar thing...because the guitar thing is so done, and everyone's done it, you've got all the great guitarists...you see a band like Wheezer or something like that, you know they play their guitar and it's like (mimes playing guitar) they do all these like rraahh...all these rock poses, you know, it's like...it's a bit of fun really, it's not um (thinks)…I don't think that way you know, I'm sort of like taking the piss out of that sort of thing  you know...um...I mean, I like playing the guitar a lot, but it's um...I just sort of, I don't know...I don't think I'm like..I think there's so many good guitarists everywhere you know, everyone....anyone can...   

Q: So, we'll go back to the songs then. Um, you know the ideas for the songs you write from...from...

MATTHEW: Where do they come from? It's like um...(thinks) as...as I've become used to change I think in my life, when I was younger, when I was like when I lived with my mum for a while, I used to like move every house every six months you know, and I sort of became used to things changing all the time. Like, I learned to like it, you know. It got to the point where you travel, like you start to reduce the amount of possessions you have, so you start to, you know...if you live in one place, in the same house, in the same friends, the same job for years and years and years, and the same possessions and everything, you start to believe that is your identity, you know? Um...I...um...I have none of those things. I have no consistency, and I like that. Everything's changing all the time, so...but when everything does change around you, and you become used to changing, you become in touch with the one thing that is consistent, you know? And the thing that is consistent is something inside you which is like, not really that...it's not like a pure individual...something that everyone had inside them I think, and you realize that there's no such thing as an individual, we're just a collection of each other's influence on each other, you know? But everywhere, everyone says things to each other, you look to the television, your parents, your friends...that's all we are, is a collection of intermingling ideas as a collective, you know? We just get given this thing that I'm talking about inside, to make us perceive space-time from one point, um, in order to make each other activate with each other in a chaotic manner, and when there's chaos, there's evolution, and that's why we have that, is so we evolve, and um...I think that I write songs that is from that thing inside, trying to find meaning in all the chaotic and random images and memories...sort of searching for a purpose or meaning in that, and so sometimes it can be...if it's a feeling about...say you have the feeling of um...of...anger or something, then that feeling will search through all the random memories and pick out little bits you know, little moments...bits of music you've heard, bits from here, bits from there, a little bit of someone said something to you then...or it could be a memory of a girl you're with, or you know, a whole lot of things, and they will go into one song, you know, just like it's because...I'm I'm trying to look at the whole thing as one, you know? 

Q: The new stuff sounds quite hard compared to the old stuff, like it's really massive. That change, that's not like, it's not um, intended? 

MATTHEW: I think...nothing was really intended, you know, there's been no real grand plan to to to you know, sort of take it as it comes, and uh, and uh literally, taking it as it comes. Um, not really planning too much. So as I said, anything in the album, it's just how we felt at the time, you know, and sort of just put it down at the moment, and didn't really worry about anything, you know. Just did it. That's the best word, best way of doing it really, then it's more honest. 

Q: When live, why smash your stuff?

MATTHEW (who has been distracted by someone off screen during this question): Strange you should say that. That's my old guitar tech...that's my old guitar tech up there, and he left me, because I used to smash the guitars, and now he works for Feeder (laughs) I had to get a new one in. Um, and um...why? I don't definitely do it evert time. I've done it sometimes...maybe...it's just fun...sometimes...sometimes you have a very bad concert or something. Or sometimes you feel like...if you feel like you've exorcised negative energy, and it becomes negative still, then you need to do something like that. I know I've broken...it's not the case of breaking guitars, it's like um...it's like um...it's not breaking guitars, it's like...it's like an expression that comes out of you, and it's like it's physically...sometimes it's really serious, and it's like ah, you want to fuckin' destroy...destroy everything, and then sometimes its more like a bit of fun, you know like, just chucking it around, and like rolling. Sometimes I usually end up on top...sometimes you have a bundle, you know, me, Dom and Chris, we just want to get close...and we end up getting into a bundle and rolling around on the drums and stuff, and it's sort of like...it's like a finale, you know, but we...we only done that sometimes. The best concerts is when we don't do that, because when we don't do that, it means we feel everything through the music, and we don't need to go anywhere else you know. Sometimes you have a concert where you think you could have played better, and you end up losing the plot a little bit.          

Q: We know that you feel that it's a bad concert, you're just breaking stuff. 

MATTHEW (chuckles): Yeah. Not a 'bad concert' I mean, sometimes those concerts from the audience can seem better, because you see us like, maybe it's...maybe like my um...most typical time would be like, say the guitar, who was having problems or something, or the guitar was shit, you know, or something, but um, don't really do that now, you know. Now we're trying now...now we're trying to end the gigs on a really, in a more positive way. Like we have all these big weather balloons that come down, and everyone sort of pops them, and confetti goes everywhere and there's like balloons and generally a bit more...generally, a bit more happy, happy, and you know, happy ending...everyone wants a happy ending.    

Q: So, it's a party now? 

MATTHEW: A little bit more, yeah. 

Q: Like here, in this country, we read loads about all the...all the Brit bands fighting each other, why participate then? 

MATTHEW: Um, well I didn't...it's difficult when someone...it's difficult when someone attacks you, uh, it's difficult not to retaliate back, you know, but, I don't really participate in that. I try not to really. And um, it's silly, you know? It's English...a lot of English people are very...very uptight you know, and very boring (laughs) just so fucking boring, you know? And it's like, um, they should chill out a bit more and get pissed up. Yes, you know, just fuckin' get laid a bit more often. And I think that that's the problem really, everyone's so sort of...it's quite a small place, it's like a small...it's like quite a small country but with lots of people, so everyone's like squabbling for their little bit of space, you know. Um. So that's maybe something to do with it.  

Q: But again, I saw something with Muse and the Phonics*

MATTHEW: Hmmmm

Q: Where they attacked you, and then it came back to them, but can you, can you like tell about that co-incidence? 

MATTHEW: Um...I don't know...I'm...we've played with Stereophonics twice in USA. We did concerts with them and seemed very friendly, very nice people, and chatted with the singer...I chatted with the singer, he seemed like a nice guy you know (shrugs twitchily)...nice guy...and then...and then suddenly he started going to the press saying all sorts of stuff about us, and I just thought, "What a little fucking twat". Do you know what I mean? And he was very little. And um, I don't know why  

Q: I mean...

MATTHEW: I don't know why...I don't know why he did it...what should I do? Should I just ignore it? Yeah, yeah... (at top speed) The only reason...the only reason...yeah, okay...what it was...the thing with Stereophonics is that they're okay, I mean if someone says like "Oh you skinny pretentious wanker", you know, I can go, "Fair enough. I am", you know (laughs) but if someone says...if someone says like, you know, if someone's making an attack on me, I don't mind...that's fine...I can laugh that sort of thing off, but, but...he, he, he said something that was like illegal. He said that we'd...we'd asked for a concert for twenty thousand pounds, from him, and that we turned it down because we wanted to get more money, and that's not true. So it's okay like, if you say something like, "Oh their music's shit. I hate you" that's funny you know, but if they say like, oh, you, you tried to steal money from us, that's like there's a legal problem with that, you know? So I had to say something back to say that it was a lie, you know, because...because we could have been in trouble with our agents, you know, for booking concerts cos we were trying to book concerts for the summer, and all the booking agents were going, "Uh, we read what...we read that you demanded twenty-five thousand pounds and turned it down from Stereophonics", and it's not true, it's a complete lie. Absolute lie. And it turns out there's a misunderstanding between their agent and our agent. That was where the argument started, because they are booking a thing. And um, so I had to say something back to make it safe for us, you know? And erm, but also I added a couple of things, but those things...those things I added are true, that they...that they demanded one point seven million pounds to play Reading Festival and...and that they stole the PRS rights (Performing Rights Society) from a small band who were supporting them, and PRS money is like...PRS money is one of the only monies you get when you are a new band, you know? Because all you money is owed to the record companies, so the PRS is Performing Rights for writing music um...Stereophonics took that away from the support band, um, Annie Christian, and um...so I just found that very difficult to be...they're accusing us of being...you know what I mean...money grabbers...and it was all lies, and, so I just found that very difficult to swallow. 

Q: We all just battle alone. Okay then, lastly, could you tell us a good story? 

MATTHEW (playing with the mic on the front of his shirt): What about? What sort of story? A true story

Q: Yeah

MATTHEW: A true story? Um...about what, Muse? 

Q: Yeah, it could be about from your tour in Japan..

MATTHEW: Oh? Oh, you want those sort of stories? 

Q: Yeah

MATTHEW: You want those sort of stories? (chuckles) Let me think of anything...(thinks)...okay...um, the other day, once upon a time...we did a gig in, we did a gig in um...actually no, I probably shouldn't tell you this...but it's a secret...what's nice, Dom knows...Dom is the drummer in the band, yeah? But I've secretly been filming him having sex (laughs) He doesn't know, and I've got like um...I've got like footage of him like...cos he can't...he always tries...he always tries to get...he's always looking for girls, you know, always...which is not a bad thing, but he's always...he always does it in public, you know? Like in a space, like all that on the side...and um...and um I got camera footage, and I'm going to put it up on um, on the website* at some point.

Q: You will? 

MATTHEW: Yeah, yeah...all right, well, he doesn't know, so it's a bit...yeah...so is that the sort of thing you want to know? 

Q: Yeah, that's a good one. 

MATTHEW: Okay. So...so look out on the website for Dom's willy     

NOTES

Stereophonics vs Muse 

+ Moved by the Muse

+ Muse's Matt Bellamy on madness and musicality, money and the music press and why mellowing out isn't an option...

(In a related subject, see Slipknot's Joey Jordison on the Stereophonics) 

Dom getting laid: The footage might not have made the website, BUT some of it did make Hullaballoo..