When life was loud

2012 Guitar World  (Backbeat Books) Q: You and Mick Thomson are known for trading riffs and licks in Slipknot. Do you plan these changes or do they just "happen" in the studio? - James Laygo  JIM: When we recorded [Vol.3: (The Subliminal Verses)], the trade-offs just happened as went along. But it doesn't always work that way, and we don't have an established writing method. Even if a song is completely structured before we start recording, it will end up different by the time we're finished because we find ways to improve upon it as we go along. You have to stay open minded and work together to make the song the best it can be.  Q: What is the weird effect you use during the bridge of "(sic)" in concert?  - Liam   JIM: It's a Dunlop Auto Q.  Q: Which do you think is more important: playing the best you can or putting on a great stage show? Incidentally, you guys strike a great balance.  - Drew  JIM: Do we? Thanks. We try to be as proficient as we...

Edinburgh Evening News Friday 18th February 2000 Alternative rock hopefuls deliver goods on first UK headline tour  Muse, Soulwax The Venue (four stars)  THEY only released their debut album, Showbiz, in October last year, but Muse, have already managed to create a formidable impression in the minds of innocent alternative rock kids.   With an NME Best New Artist Awards and a bucketful of touring supports under their belts, it's no wonder The Venue was chock full of wide-eyed youths, hoping the band's full first headline tour of the UK would be worth the wait.   But before all of that, we have tonight's support act, Belgian loons, Soulwax, If you were to invent a musical genre for Soulwax, it would probably be daft-metal or something similar.   They stroll on stage in their smart suits and ties in front of a backdrop spelling out their name with hundreds of tiny CDS, and before long the mic stands are flashing away in a light=sabre style, naturall...

The Red Bulletin August 2015 They’ve sold more than 17 million albums, won a Grammy and go on huge sold-out tours; Muse have now been superstars and critics’ favorites since 1999. Lead vocalist and guitarist Matthew Bellamy, one third of the British band, explains why they won’t settle for second best, whether we’re talking instruments or record contracts. Q: What does it feel like being heralded as the Jimi Hendrix of your generation? MATTHEW: Compliments like that are flattering, of course, but they’re total nonsense. Q: But they’re not baseless. You’ve revolutionized the guitar like Hendrix did back in the 1960s. MATTHEW: I’ve been playing the guitar since I was 11. The better I got at it, the more constrained I felt by what it could do. No wonder most creative people now make music on computers. That’s why I’ve made a guitar for the 21st century. Q: What’s your guitar capable of? MATTHEW: It’s got a built-in touchscreen linked directly to a computer, which gives the musician a comp...

Q Magazine  February 2005 In the weird world of British rock's next megastars, aliens created mankind, girlfriends are "unconventional" and earmuffs standard issue.  Muse have landed... It has been a long time coming. Twelve months ago, few people would have bet on unassuming, unfashionable Muse becoming the next major British rock band. Yet over five years the trio's music has grown more audacious and baroque, edging out the increasingly awkward Radiohead as the most daring figures on the musical landscape. In June last year, Muse closed Glastonbury with dazzling pomp and circumstance; and then after playing two nights at Earls Court in December, it was clear they had upped their game to the points where titans like U2 and Coldplay were tantalizingly within reach. You'd imagine that the band would welcome this change of fortune, but then Muse are strange fruit indeed.   "Look," says singer Matt Bellamy, a twitchy individual whose 26 years sit on the fra...

July 2009 Videohits.com.au (The interviewer is a lady named FUZZY) FUZZY: Hey guys, welcome back to 'Video Hits', coming to you from the very beautiful Lake Como in Italy. Hanging out with Matt and Dom from Muse. It's all about The Resistance and I've got to say, love the album, love being here...the last time you guys were on the show, two years ago, you were saying, Matt, that you saw George Clooney ride up and down your street on a bicycle, and you really really wanted to play Poker with him... MATTHEW: Yes FUZZY (CONT): Have you had that game? MATTHEW: I still haven't got the Poker game going, no. I think I need to earn a bit more money, and sell a few more records, before he will let me sit at his table. You know, so, hopefully this album does well. I'll be able to play Poker with Clooney and Brad Pitt. I've seen both of them hanging around here on occasion... FUZZY: Really?  MATTHEW: Yeah, so...but I'm not in their gang yet, unfortunately.  (FOOTA...

Wolverhampton Chronicle Friday, 9th June 2000 A ROCK-hungry crowd were out in force up to see the last band play the Civic until a multi-million pound refurbishment is finished in the Autumn.   With Muse being one of the most musically sound and lyrically brilliant acts around, the 70s kitch of Wolverhampton's largest venue got a good send off.   It is hard to believe that these three angry young men originate from the sleepy town of Teignmouth in Devon.   Matt Bellamy, lead singer and driving force behind the act, was like a man possessed as the most amazing range of screeches and gut-wrenching wails emanated from his throat.  There were stunning versions of the furious Uno, Cave and Showbiz as well as a lighter-waving rendition of new single Unintended.   Feeling Good, the Nina Simone Classic, got the Muse treatment with Bellamy proving his versatility and moving onto keyboards.   All this from a band who have only been around sin...

Guitar Gods 2009 (London : Flame Tree Publishing) Twenty-first century guitar god Matthew Bellamy first took up piano lessons as a boy before turning to the guitar, equally inspired by Ray Charles and classical music. In the mid-Nineties, Bellamy formed Muse with Chris Wolstenholme (bass) and Dominic Howard (drums). The band served their apprenticeship through constant gigging while soaking up more influences, notably Jeff Buckley and Radiohead. After an independently released EP. Muse signed a major deal in 1998. Debut album Showbiz (1999) marked them as a band with potential crossover appeal to fans of indie, metal and prog rock. Origin Of Symmetry (2001) was a more expansive collection, and Bellamy's riff from 'Plug in Baby' has been hailed as one of the greatest of all time. Absolution (2003) developed the classical influences, and Bellamy's lyrical themes of Armageddon, conspiracy and corruption were further explored on Black Holes and Revelations (2006). Bella...