(MUSE) Delving into the unknown
Friday 28th July 2006
Muse are THE British rock band of the moment, with their new album just nudged off the No 1 spot this week. Edwin McFee talked to the triumphant stars, who have announced a Belfast date.
Dom Howard, drummer with mega-successful rock band Muse, who currently can do no wrong, says: "I know how this is going to sound, but I have to say that even in the early days, I always had the feeling that we were on to something great."
Right now the drummer and his bandmate are enjoying the deluge of critical acclaim that has greeted their fourth album, Black Holes and Revelations. Howard can probably afford to be a little cocky.
The album reached the top of the UK charts on the first week of its release and its first single, Super-massive Black Hole, swooped into the Top 5. There's a sense of the time finally being right for Muse, who formed way back in 1994, out of sleepy Devon village, Teignmouth.
"Every band will always romanticise their early days," he says.
"When we first started out, the whole Britpop thing has kicked off. Blur and Oasis were everywhere and Muse didn't exactly fit into all of that. We were much more leftfield and we didn't feel a part of any scene.
"When booking agents want to put on one of your gigs, they like to group you in with other bands who have a similar style, but there was no-one out there that was doing what we did.
"So to cut a long story short, we had to book our own gigs. We'd handle all the promotion and we'd have a stall at the back of the venue where we would sell our demos and T-shirts and things."
So did the young hopefuls ever imagine a time when they would go on to eclipse those Britpop stars?
"I did actually, yeah," Howard laughs. "I remember standing in a field watching Rage Against the Machine headline the Reading Festival a few years back and they blew everyone away. I'm not sure if this was a premonition or just me being full of myself but I turned around to one of my friends and said that I could see Muse headlining the some day. We're about to headline Reading this year - and it feels great."
Like most musicians, all three members of Muse cut their teeth in school bands before meeting. Initially calling themselves Gothic Plaque* (which was then changed to Carnage Mayhem, Fixed Penalty and later Rocket Baby Dolls) they finally settled on Muse after winning a local battle of the bands.
As if setting out to prove they were a bunch of misfits, the band dressed up in gothic for this battle of the bands, and ended their set by trashing the rented equipment. From there, Muse continued to do everything on their own terms.
Now that Howard is used to the champagne swilling, private-jet lifestyle, does he ever miss the romance of those early days?
"The good old days were good, but I have to say that life's a hell of a lot better right now!" he admits, rather honestly. "I'm more than happy with the way everything's turned out," he laughs.
Who can blame him? While Muse's previous longplayers (1999's debut Showbiz, 2001's Origin of Symmetry and 2003's Absolution) all shifted perfectly respectable units, it's their fourth which looks to launch the band into a different league.
The making of the album wasn't all plain sailing though. After a headline slot at 2004's Glastonbury, Muse were due to take time off, but it wasn't to be. Absolution had become a bit of a cult hit in the US and the band had to jet off to capitalise on the success. It was only early last year that the boys finally took a month off after a gruelling schedule. Matt Bellamy moved to Milan, Chris Wolstenholme stayed in Devon and Howard escaped to London, all in the pursuit of some quality time.
"By the end of the Absolution tour we were all broken and burned out," Howard explains. "But we didn't take off as much time as some people seem to think. We started writing and recording the new album last year and the month we head off was all we needed to clear our heads."
"We only had this one rule when we recorded this album, and that was to do whatever the hell we wanted," says Howard. "We were never one of those bands to churn out the same record every year. We wanted to put a lot of funk and soul influences as well as the usual rock stuff on this one. I guess we wanted to make people dance rather than mosh for a change."
So now that the record is out there, the reviews are in and the tour is booked, it looks like the Muse boys have a very busy year ahead. It includes a date at Belfast's Odyssey Arena on November 4. If it's anything like their near-mythic turn at the Ulster Hall two years ago, fans are in for a great night.
"Belfast has always been very good to us and I remember that Ulster Hall gig as having one of the most mental crowds I've ever seen," says Howard.
One last question for the sticksman. A few fans online have commented on the rather apocalyptic title of the new album and there are slight rumours of Muse calling it a day after their finish their tour. Any truth in these stories?
"Nah," says Howard. "A lot of people figured we were going to break up after Absolution, but we didn't. The title of the new record to me is about new beginnings. Black Holes and Revelations can be read as something quite dark and cataclysmic but to us it represents delving into the unknown. I think that sums us up perfectly."
Notes
Gothic Plaque: This is now the newspaper spelled it.
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