(MUSE) Q101.1 Matthew Bellamy Interview


Lollapalooza/Q101.1
August 2007 

Interviewer is Ryan Manno
(Please note, there is a lot of background noise)

RYAN: I am thrilled to be joined by Matt from Muse. Hello Matthew, how are you? 
MATTHEW: Very good, yeah. A little bit jetlagged. You know, been on the road for a long time. Came from, uh...we just did a gig in uh Europe. Then we went to Japan, then we went to Korea, and then we went to Canada, in the last week or so...
RYAN: You're kidding!?
MATTHEW: That's why. Yeah. 
RYAN: In one week? 
MATTHEW: Yeah, so I got a kind of new, dimension of jetlag, which is pretty swimming, actually. It's like being on mushrooms or something, everything's a little bit like...you get trace images. I'm actually going with it and enjoying it.
RYAN (laughs): That's funny. Now, this is a notion I don't think I've ever talked about with anyone, but that week sounds like it's a perfect conversation to lead in to this conversation. Do you believe that humans, or people, have a threshold that their eyes can see or process? I feel like, if I have a long day and go here and do something else, like, I feel like that takes way more of a toll. Just what you see...
MATTHEW: Yeah, what is it...I've heard a few things. I've heard the story that they think the human soul can only move at the speed of a horse, so you know, whenever you get on a plane it takes a couple of days, for you know, your soul to catch up with you. So, you know, it's like galloping across the ocean to get on your tail. But in terms of me seeing things, I'm always wondering like, how many frames per second could we handle? You know, like thirty maybe? But I've definitely got like tracer vision right now, so I'd say that certainly...certainly travel doesn't help. That's all I can say.
RYAN: That's funny. You know, it wasn't...it certainly wasn't the last time you guys were here, but...you didn't (unintelligible) and you didn't play (unintelligible) and someone broke their hand....
MATTHEW: Yeah. Yup. We're pretty unlucky whether we are supporting another band on tour. Something seems to go wrong. It's happened twice now. The Curiosa Tour. Our bass player was playing football (soccer), in a concrete sort of yard, you know. And he fell over and broke his wrist. So we couldn't play, and yeah, we had to cancel the rest of the tour. And recently, we did a tour with uh, with My Chemical Romance, and yeah, food poisoning. After about five gigs or something. All that band, and their crew, and all our crew (luckily we didn't get it), but all of our crew and they got it. Some kind of salmonella thing, and they all went to hospital for a week. So we're pretty unlucky. I think we are learning...we can't support bands, basically. That's what it seems.
RYAN: Uh...are you guys still into...this is kind...at the Curiosafest, I remember you were there that day, and we sat in the trailer and played poker I believe. Are you guys still into poker? 
MATTHEW: Oh, very much yeah. I play whenever I can. Whenever I get a few days off in America, I travel out to Vegas, and go into the Bellagio and play, uh...about five, ten is my limit maybe. I don't really play with the heavy heavyweights, you know?
RYAN: Sure
MATTHEW: I tend...I much prefer Pot Limit games, as opposed to No Limit games, you know? Otherwise, No Limit games would wipe me out very quickly. I'm a little bit of an aggressive player, so I need something like Pot Limit or No Limit Games. Keep me in check. But, uh, generally I love Poker. We play a little bit on the bus, but sometimes we end up in drunk stupors, and throwing chips at each other. It's not really a professional game on the bus...it's a rocking workplace.           
Q: Do you uh...do you have any kind of relationship with the guys from Interpol?
MATTHEW: Um...when we were on the Curiosa Tour, we met them very briefly, um, and I sort of know them through Rich Costey who produced their album, so yeah, we're not really good friends with them, but we know...we've bumped into them here or there.
Q: So, have you seen...have you run into them today?
MATTHEW: Well, I just said 'hello', to the singer there 
RYAN: And was there any sort of like, 'Yo, we're playing against each other, tonight'? 
MATTHEW: Uh, no. Definitely not, he said he really liked our album, which I thought was a nice compliment, and uh I said, 'I haven't heard your album yet, but I look forward to hearing it'. And Dom, the drummer of our band, is a big fan of Interpol. But, I think, you know...I think competition is much less these days, because bands sound so different to each other. I think it's a healthy time. If you go back to, say, the nu-metal period, or the grunge period, a lot of bands...
RYAN: I've read about it...
MATTHEW: Yeah, yeah, yeah...but there's like a lot of bands which sounded quite similar, you know? And I think between the bands within the similar look and the similar sound, there's a lot of competition. But you know, I think, us and Interpol are pretty much a world apart, you know? So, I don't think there's anything...
Q: And the final question to you, because I'm looking forward to seeing your set, uh...are you...are you allowed to...because you guys do a lot of lighting and things, are they giving you the freedom to play with your own lighting? 
MATTHEW: I think we've got a limited video production, here. I know that...I know that Daft Punk...I've seen Daft Punk's production. Did they have the pyramid? 
RYAN: They did. 
MATTHEW: Yeah, yeah. Damn! You see, that was our idea first. But then they...but we...like a year and a half ago, we wanted to do a pyramid drum riser. We couldn't afford it. But Daft Punk beat us. We're really jealous of them. Anyway. We've got a few large screens kind of placed...stealth screen which kind of half sees through screens, and uh...so we'll definitely be doing kind of like a partial video production. Hopefully we'll be able to be at least on par with Daft Punk. If not, hopefully better. 
RYAN: Well you guys...I'm still...being in the record, and Starlight too...that song is uh...the past year too, congrats on good material and continued success, and I can't wait to see you tonight. Thank you, Matt.
(They shake hands)
MATTHEW: Cheers, mate!            




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