60 seconds, 15 questions: Matthew Bellamy and Dominic Howard
Musikexpress (Germany)
c.2009
MATTHEW and DOMINIC are sitting in a domestic kitchen setting. There is fridge behind them, and a microwave to the side of MATTHEW, which he takes the teapot full of questions out of. DOMINIC is holding the microphone. Throughout the interview, MATTHEW is playing with what appears to be coffee grounds.
PART 1: "IF I WAS AN..."
MATTHEW (reading a question slip): "If I was an musical instrument, I would be..." (crumples the slip up, while he thinks) well, it's boring, but I'll go for a piano. Because, you know, it's uh...all the notes are equal..
DOMINIC takes the next slip out of the teapot
DOMINIC: "If I was an actor, I would be..." erm...
MATTHEW: Luke Skywalker?
DOMINIC starts laughing
MATTHEW says something about "being something else" (it's hard to make out as he isn't speaking into the mic)
DOMINIC (thinks): Geezer out of Depeche Mode..no...well, I would be...well, I think you know one of my favourite actors is Christopher Walken. Um. He's just real cool, you know. I love he's got this like great kind of almost spontaneous side of acting. Just a great talent for it. So, I'd like to have that talent for sure.
MATTHEW (reads the next question): "If I was a sitcom..." If I was a sitcom...I'd be...uh...I'd be 'The Office'. 'The Office' from England. Yeah. Just uh. Not sure why. Just think it's quite funny. If I would be a sitcom, it would be that one.
DOMINIC goes to pick another question
MATTHEW: Got to do all of these?
DOMINIC: "If I was a festival, I would be..."ummmmmm...lets see...I mean, I like Reading Festival in the UK. I mean that was the first festival we ever went to, and had a wicked time.
MATTHEW: "If I was an Internet Homepage..."
DOMINIC: Good luck with these
MATTHEW: If I was an Internet Homepage, I would be uh...I can't name the name From The Wilderness, From The Wilderness...I think it's called "From The Wilderness.com". So, it's really cool. Like a website full of alternative news. I don't know...
(DOMINIC wheezy laughter)
MATTHEW: I don't know. Weird weird answers.
DOMINIC: "If I was a sports club, I would be..." ahhh...ummm...uh, a sports club? The Broadmeadow Sports Club in Teignmouth...(laughing)...cos it was close to where I'm from...
MATTHEW: "If I was a different member than I was..."..."I if I was a different BAND member than I am now...I would be..." I can't play drums, so I would be Chris. On bass.
DOMINIC: Good answer.
(PAUSE while DOMINIC picks a new slip)
DOMINIC: If I was a Home Shopping Channel product, I would be..." umm...I'd be one of those toasters that you can boil an egg in the side in, or poach an egg rather. So you know you can have poached egg on toast.
MATTHEW: Yeah, nice.
DOMINIC: Practical.
MATTHEW: "If I was a city, I would be..." (thinks)...I would be uh, Osaka...in Japan. You know, um, you know cool clothes, clean streets and full of hot women.
DOMINIC: "If I was a Fairy-tale figure, I would be..."
MATTHEW says something that the mic does not pick up
MATTHEW: Actually. You do look a bit like Yoda. Not green. (Reads the next slip) "If I was in another band..." I would be guitar player in Rage Against The Machine. I'd be very happy with that. I'd happily take that position if it's ever available.
DOMINIC: You've had two questions like that?
MATTHEW: Yeah. Easy.
DOMINIC: "If I was a pet animal, I would be..." (chuckles as he thinks)...I'd be uh, a Boston Terrier, cuz it's my favourite kind of dog. Pretty cool. Do you know what I mean? Quick. Nimble.
MATTHEW: "If I was twenty-one again, I would..." I would do exactly what I did when I was twenty-one basically. Have a good time on tour. Free as a bird.
MATTHEW drinks from a bottle of Schweppes(?), DOMINIC laughs.
DOMINIC: "If I was a beer, I would be..."uh (MATTHEW says something which isn't picked up)...No, I'd be...um, what was it? Blue Moon? Which is a nice beer.
MATTHEW: Yeah. It's a very good beer. Yeah, you know, Blonde.
DOMINIC: Blonde. Blonde.
MATTHEW: "If I was a muppet figure..." What's he called (drumming motion)
DOMINIC: Animal.
MATTHEW: Animal. If I was a muppet figure, I would be Animal. The drumming. Cuz he's crazy. I like him.
PART TWO: "EITHER, OR...
"DOG OR CAT"
MATTHEW: Dog
"TWITTER OR FACEBOOK"
MATTHEW: Twitter
"HALF FULL OR EMPTY?"
DOMINIC: Half full
"LIVE AID OR WOODSTOCK"
DOMINIC: Woodstock
MATTHEW: Live Aid
"50's OR 70's"
MATTHEW: 60's...no, 70's. Sorry.
"LOUD OR QUIET"
DOMINIC: Loud
MATTHEW: Quiet
(Laughter)
"BRIT POP OR BRIT ROCK"
DOMINIC: Uhhh, Brit Rock
"KATE MOSS OR CLAUDIA SCHIFFER"
MATTHEW: Schiffer...Snatch...
DOMINIC: SYCHFFER
"SEX OR MUSIC"
MATTHEW: Sex
DOMINIC: Music AND sex
(Laughter)
"FULL BEARD OR MUSTACHE"
MATTHEW: Full beard
DOMINIC: Full beard
"IPOD OR WALKMAN"
MATTHEW: iPod
"ERNIE OR BERT"
MATTHEW: Bird
"VINTAGE CAR OR HYBRID CAR"
MATTHEW: Vintage
DOMINIC: Hybrid
"STAGE OR STUDIO"
DOMINIC & MATTHEW: Stage
"500 OR 50,000 PEOPLE IN THE AUDIENCE"
MATTHEW: 50,000
DOMINIC: True
PART 3 - "ASK A FRIEND"
MATTHEW: Ummm...kind...um (giggling)...ummm
DOMINIC: We've known each other for too long
MATTHEW: Yeah, it is possible...I think it is going to devolve into insults...I am not sure it has to go any other way...Um (thinks)...vain...no, that's not fair...um...that's not legitimate, is it? Uh..blonde…
That's clever. That's the easy one. Leathery.
DOMINIC: Ummm...frantic...
(MATTHEW seems to agree with this)
DOMINIC (cont): Umm...(laughs)...confusing...sometimes..in brackets
(MATTHEW nods)
DOMINIC (cont): And uh...brown
MATTHEW: Yes.
"WHO PARTIES THE NOST AFTER A SHOW?"
DOMINIC: Who parties the most?
MATTHEW says something the mic does not pick up, as DOMINIC does not give it to him.
DOMINIC: We all hold the flag at different times
MATTHEW: Probably Morgan, the guy who plays keyboards with us, he's usually the driving force of wanting to go out and hit the town. Socialize. You know. I'm always up for it. I'm always up for it in Vegas or New York, or places that are cool. But Morgan, you know like, even when you're in Ohio, you know, or like the middle of nowhere basically, he still wants to try to find some kind of party if it's possible, which it never is possible in Columbus, Ohio.
"DO YOU PARTY BEFORE A SHOW?"
MATTHEW: Ummm, I think...I think we did...I think when we first toured Japan for the first time, we found ourselves having some good times, but you regret it because you always play very badly. If you drink before a concert it's terrible.
DOMINIC (makes an agreeing noise): I think you know, we've probably partied about thirteen hours before a show, just before we go to bed. But normally, I like to uh...we like to keep it reasonably clean, really just. I can't drink or anythlng like that before I play. I need to kind of just try and be focused, and then you expel so much energy out of the gig that you wanna...that's when you can let loose a little bit, and have a few beers.
"WHAT WOULD YOU DO NOWADAYS IF NOT PLAYING IN MUSE?"
MATTHEW: Working on the pier
(HE says something the mic does not pick up)
DOMINIC: Yeah...I think...I don't know what I would have been doing. Ummm. The band diverted out attention from most other things. I'd like to think it'd be something involved with music, or the arts of some kind. I was very interested in art when I was at school, like painting and drawing. Um you know, might have followed along something like that, or you know, just said 'sod it', and go and become and astronaut or something.
MATTHEW: I'd be a professional poker player.
"YOUR BIGGEST VICES?"
MATTHEW: Poker. Gambling. Gambling generally. I like to gamble. I like Vegas. Um you know. Pasta. That's not a 'vice', is it? Yeah, I mean like, uh, I like uh...but alcoholic drinks. I don't...I don't...I don't drink much, but when it comes to Sake. Like cold Sake. That's the one drink that I can drink more than anyone else basically, you know...you know, that's probably my closest thing to a vice.
DOMINIC: Mojitos. You know...they, they slip down a little too easily. Um. You know...a bit of diving, even though you know it's not a 'vice'. Well, it's a fix, isn't it? Something that kind of...you know, you need every now and again just kind of like clear the mind or sort your mind?
"WHO WOULD MISS THE BUS AT A GAS STATION AND FOR WHAT REASON?"
DOMINIC: It's like, you know, who would get left behind by the tour bus if we're, okay, picking up some petrol or something.
MATTHEW: It'd probably go without me.
DOMINIC: Yeah?
MATTHEW: I think I've definitely been left behind a couple of times. No...no, years ago...definitely then, because I'd always drift off. You know, wander around looking for stuff. It's definitely happened a couple of times where the bus has nearly pulled away, and I've had to go 'come back, come back'. So probably me. I think just because I'm always distracted by something, and never to be found in the right place.
MATTHEW: Me and Dom battle. For leadership. On a regular basis.
SOMEONE OFF SCREEN: Who wins?
MATTHEW: It depends. I think we take it in turns. You know, I don't think we've learned to divide things, you know? Divide things away, so we don't collide on certain things, you know, like you know, Dom does all the merchandise and artwork and stuff. Ummm. I do like stage design, and that kind of thing. So, I think...I think, uh yeah, I'm not sure who wins. When we were making the album it was mostly 50/50 I'd say. Chris usually has the deciding vote between disputes between me and Dom.
DOMINIC: We're a three piece, so the Democracy actually works pretty well. You know. It's two against one. I can't argue with that.
"WHO IS THE 'GREENEST' BANDMEMBER"
MATTHEW (thinks): Ummm…
DOMINIC: Who is the greenest?
MATTHEW: I'm reasonably green. I like...you know, I grow vegetables, does that count? I grow vegetables at home, and I keep chickens. I keep chickens so I have my own eggs, and my own chickens. I also have birds. Uh, what birds? What are those grey ones called?
DOMINIC: Large Goslings?
MATTHEW: No. Guinea Fowl. Guinea Fowl. Yeah. Yeah. So, I've got birds in my garden, um which I, you know, I get my own eggs and I get my own meats. I get...I grow most vegetables, so I think that's quite green, cos it means I don't have to go to the supermarket. So, I only have to go to the supermarket to buy, um, you know, cleaning products made from dangerous chemicals.
(LAUGHTER)
"YOUR BEST HABIT"
MATTHEW: Um...I don't know...
DOMINIC: I think you've only got bad habits
MATTHEW: Yeah. I got bad ones. I've got a habit...I'm always thinking about music, I'm always obsessively thinking about music, so this is probably quite a healthy habit, you know, with the job that I have.
DOMINIC: Ummmm….I try to like, be um, you know, reasonably punctual...
(MATTHEW looks away and starts giggling)
DOMINIC: You know, 'cos you know, when we're doing things like this, you know, we're gonna try and get everyone together, and yeah, get reasonably organized, you know? Try...trying...to try and organize the band to some degree sometimes.
"YOUR WORST TALENT"
MATTHEW: I've got a talent for killing birds. Because I have birds in my garden, so I've...I can pick up a chicken, hold it upside down, and you hold the neck and you bend it backwards (makes a clicking noise) and it's very very quick. It's not very nice though, is it? It's not a very nice talent to have. Murder, basically.
DOMINIC: Ummm. I don't know. Belching in public. It's a bad talent. It's a bad habit really.
MATTHEW: Umm..
DOMINIC: Probably the bahn, isn't it?
MATTHEW: Stretch the Reeperbahn*? No, no, I think it'll probably be...depends how long you have been on the road (laughs)...and I'd say, um, I don't know really...I've heard there's lots of really interesting architectural buildings. I'll probably go and look at some of those buildings. Try to get inside, walk around and look at some...probably, probably...I think it's always nice to...in cities which have got good architecture, it's always nice to go up high into some high building and look, look around. You know, maybe go to some exhibition or something, you know? Find out what is going on, you know?
DOMINIC: I like, erm...I've always been fond of Hamburg, I think. The few times we played here, you know, I liked the main square by the harbour, or is it, i's not a lake is it? You know, that piece...yeah, with the fountain. You know, I've walked around there on like many different seasons, you know? Particularly winter time, you know, all the little Christmas vibes. It's quite nice around there, but I'll probably just have a little walk around, and absorb some of the city, somehow.
Notes
Reeperbahn: Entertainment district/street in Hamburg.
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