(MUSE) 'Save the festival'

Yorkshire Evening Post
Saturday, 29th June 2002 

'It would be a crying shame if it wasn't allowed to go ahead,' says Chris Wolstenholme of rock band Muse on the prospects for this year's Leeds Festival.
'Every time we have played there we have had a good time.'
The threat to the three-day event this summer comes after council chiefs refused to grant organisers an entertainment licence.
The decision has added significance for fans of Muse. It is the only opportunity they will have to see their heroes in live action in the UK this year. 
'We don't have any new material coming out so we thought we would keep a relatively low profile and stick to one festival appearance,' says the Yorkshire-born bass player.
'We have been really looking forward to it because we have a high slot this year so we can take in a lot of production'
The band have reached the dizzy heights of being second headline act on the main stage on Sunday, August 25 - that's if everything goes according to plan.
'We can use our own lights and projections which for us makes it more of a Muse gig rather than a festival performance. We will have an hour slot rather than just 20 minutes, which also makes a big difference.' 
In the meantime the band are preparing for the release of their double live and B-sides CD Hullabaloo.

Live

The first CD features the band's B-sides and rarities between 1999 and 2001 while the second is live footage from their last tour at Zenith in Paris. 
'There are a lot of bands who release live albums at the end of their career,' says Chris, 23, from Rotherham in South Yorkshire. 'It can be an excuse to release something for the hell of it. But we thought it was the right time rather than ten years down the line.'
Hullabaloo features their newly-released double A side single Dead Star and In Your World which provided the band with their joint highest chart position to date. But Chris seems unconcerned about chart position: 'I don't bother too much about that, it's a radio tool - just as long as people like the music. To be fair, playing live and our albums have always been more important to us.'
Muse's first two albums Showbiz and Origin of Symmetry have achieved widespread acclaim from music scribes, as well as platinum sales. 
'We have been really surprised by how they have been received. When we first signed to a label we were just excited at the prospect of recording an album in a proper studio. It was an opportunity of a lifetime for us. The prospect of selling lots of records was always a bonus.'
The band are already looking to the future and the prospect of getting into the studio to record their third album.
'We have written quite a few songs but they will drastically change when we get into the studio. They are rocking tunes and very positive'. 

Assault 

In the long term the band are also looking at an assault on the United States after successfully conquering Australia, Japan and Europe with their music.
'We are keen for a new challenge and as we seem to have been almost everywhere else the US seem the next step. Lets hope we make the right impression." 

Muse's double Hullabaloo CD and double DVD, which features documentary footage, is due to be released this Monday on the Mushroom Records label. 

(Andrew Hutchinson) 

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