Muse (2006)
Interview Background
The following interview with Muse frontman Matt Bellamy proved such a fertile conversation I was able to craft two features from his responses. Timed to coincide with the release of Black Holes And Revelations, the first story was followed six months later by a feature relating to the trio’s 2007 Big Day Out appearance. Since there’s not a lot of unpublished material from this half hour interview, I’ll instead include both features here.
Matt Bellamy’s an interesting interview prospect; maybe it’s simply a matter of unshakeable self-belief, but over the course of the last 20 years Bellamy has consistently indulged in fanciful technologies, unfeasible conspiracy theories and otherworldly attempts to evolve Muse’s sound in directions most self-respecting rock stars would never dare. The powerful bond of having his two schoolmates Dominic Howard and Chris Wolstenholme by his side each step of the way can’t be underestimated, but Bellamy’s interviews always suggests he floats along in a different reality to most Earth-bound music fans. The conversation from which the following interviews are drawn basically confirms this, with Bellamy unleashing staggering anecdotes at a breathless rate of knots.
Bellamy’s never been the coolest rock star, but the night of their triumphant Big Day Out set I had to admit to being a little envious of the Muse frontman. While leaving the BDO after-party at a city hotel I wandered onto the street as a bunch of rock stars were walking in. Lined up like gunslingers from The Magnificent Seven were members of The Vines, The Killers and Muse, all casually sauntering into the hotel lobby. Damn – just about the coolest thing ever witnessed on Adelaide’s King William Street…
The following are edited versions of interviews first published in Rip It Up, June 2006 and January 2007.
Muse - Three Imaginary Boys
by Scott McLennan
Muse’s fourth album Black Holes And Revelations is sitting prominently in charts across the globe and a Big Day Out 2007 slot beckons, but songwriter, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Matt Bellamy still feels that all is not right with the world. Ghosts, Templar Knights and geological configurations on Mars have all inspired the conspiratorial leader of Devon’s biggest band to make the grandest rock album of the decade.
“The studio was built on what used to be a Knights Templar settlement and there are tunnels underground that date back 2000 or 3000 years,” Bellamy notes of France’s Studio Miraval, where some of Black Holes And Revelations was recorded. “Underneath the main building there are tunnels half underwater like an Indiana Jones adventure underground. You can imagine the Knights Templar stuffing around and hiding their treasure and other bits.”
Bellamy enthusiastically backs up claims the location is haunted.
“When we were recording in the lounge area of the studio I’d get this spooky feeling and feel this presence behind me. I’d turn around and there would be nothing there. It would be this weird sort of thing where I could actually sense what it looked like but couldn’t actually see it with my own eyes. I had it a couple of times.”
Had you been imbibing any substances or drinking heavily at the time of these occurrences?
“Well, we had been drinking quite a bit because the studio is actually a chateau now,” Bellamy laughs. “They make French wine and when we started down there it was actually wine season and they were picking the grapes.”
Taking a break from studio toils, Bellamy and his bandmates, bassist Chris Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard, even tried their hand at grape picking with the locals.
“We picked a little bit, but we didn’t contribute as much as we could have. Most of the stuff we picked we actually ate, which wasn’t a good thing as most pickers who do that get sacked quite quickly.”
Bellamy’s love of conspiracy theories not only fuels the lyrical content of Muse’s most impressive album to date, it also acts as a basis for Storm Thorgerson’s surreal cover art for Black Holes And Revelations.
“I think with this album we thought it was important to conjure up some of the imagery of the song Knights Of Cydonia, the last song on the album,” Bellamy outlines. “We felt we wanted to do something that looked like it was set on Mars because that song is kind of based around an idea that there’s a region on Mars called Cydonia with ancient structures built on it. If proven to be true, it could change our concept of where we come from. I’ve always been interested in that kind of stuff and to conjure up the more abstract elements of that was important.
“In conspiracy theories you’ve got these people at the top who are controlling everything,” Bellamy continues. “The Elite - who own corporations, are arms dealers and media giants - meet up and organise things and we just have to go along with it all. The people on the album cover represent a whole lot of things, including the Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse. The way they are dressed represents ailments of mankind and they are sitting around the table having a meeting as the global elite.”
Bellamy worked closely with designer Thorgerson, whose Pink Floyd album artwork is highly revered.
“We basically played Storm the album while we were mixing it and I discussed with him the conspiracy theories. He’s always been into that kind of stuff and he went away and drafted up some ideas and sketches and that was the one that we liked the most. In his original drawings they were sat around a green field but we asked him to modify it to Mars and that’s how we ended up with it.”
Since Revelations is the final chapter of The Bible, does this album similarly mark the final chapter for Muse?
“I certainly hope not,” Bellamy chuckles without entirely ruling out the theory. “I don’t think it will be. There are various ways you can interpret the title. To me, it was the two areas of songwriting the album came from. Revelations, as in looking inside yourself to reveal something personal, such as on Starlight or Soldier’s Poem. They’re songs that you put out there that are more down-to-earth, in a way. Then there’s Black Holes, the kind of songwriting where you’re tapping into the unknown or deliberately searching for something on the fringes of your imagination, such as on Take A Bow and Knights Of Cydonia. They conjure up imagery and ideas that you wouldn’t associate with everyday life and the black holes are all about looking into the unknown.”
Although acknowledging the Biblical reference in the album’s title, Bellamy downplays having read much of the religious text.
“I’ve scanned through it but I wouldn’t say I’m a really religious person,” he says. “When we have been touring in Midwest America I’ve been given The Bible twice by various people, so I think there’s a Midwestern element who think I need to read The Bible a bit more. It’s more about the moral lessons in there, but I am interested in a little bit of ancient history and I’ve been looking into these correlations between the Giza pyramid area of Egypt with Orion’s Belt and other star systems. They also correlate perfectly with Washington DC and the White House, which also correlates with what was found on Cydonia on Mars.
“It’s something I find quite interesting really - the unknown in general, which you can hear in the songwriting as well, both lyrics and music. I’m always interested in people’s ideas and explanation to what’s going on out there.
“In the conspiracy world you can get lost in all the misinformation,” Bellamy concludes. “But I still find it all quite entertaining and interesting.”
Black Holes And Revelations (Warner)
Muse - Big Knights Out
by Scott McLennan
Once berated as a posh trio of Radiohead wannabes, Muse finally crushed any lingering doubt over their musical clout when they unleashed their fourth album Black Holes And Revelations in July 2006. Juxtaposing heartfelt ballads such as Starlight with insane lyrical predictions of Armageddon on closing tirade Knights Of Cydonia, the scale of Muse’s latest opus took the Devon group to a new level of glory.
On record Muse frontman Matt Bellamy may decree plenty of conspiracies, conundrums and conceptions, but it’s unlikely Muse’s Big Day Out sets will include a great deal of audience banter.
“I’m not really that talkative on stage,” Bellamy notes. “I just don’t know what to say, to be honest. Maybe I’m a bit shy or something when I’m not actually playing music, but I can’t think of what to say. I’d like to talk a bit more but I don’t want to sound cheesy. I just stay quiet most of the time.”
Although Bellamy and his bandmates, drummer Dominic Howard and bassist Chris Wolstenholme, recorded the initial portion of Black Holes And Revelations in France at the same studio Pink Floyd recorded The Wall, Bellamy is quick to dismiss comparisons to the bombastic sounds of that classic, epic double album.
“To be honest the only thing I’ve really heard from them is Dark Side Of The Moon,” Bellamy admits. “I’ve heard bits and pieces of other stuff through different producers we’ve worked with; John Leckie and Rich Costey have made references to Pink Floyd, but it’s never been something I’ve been into myself. Rich Costey played the album The Wall to us as we were working on this album in the studio where they made that. The producers we’ve worked with have obviously been fans of the band, but it’s never been an influence on me.”
Although band members have suggested that the French recording sessions were dark and damaging, there were lighter moments at Studio Miraval as well. With the recording studio now part of a chateau complex, the surrounding vineyards were put to use by the band.
“On the song Invincible Dom and Chris tried to become a Civil War marching band,” Bellamy sniggers. “We got hold of these antique snare and bass drums and then basically Dom and Chris went out into the vineyard and orchard area and we recorded them getting lost in the garden for quite a long time. We recorded them just walking around in the fields and orchard area. We recorded it and downloaded it for the intro to Invincible.
“We were picking grapes to eat most of the time,” Bellamy adds of the winery experience. “We got to see the whole process and see all the big barrels and everything.”
Although he now spends down time at his lavish residence in Italy, Bellamy doesn’t yet class himself as a wine connoisseur.
“I like drinking but I don’t know too much,” the guitarist laughs. “Dom puts me to shame when it comes to knowing wine - he’s a bit more of a connoisseur these days.”
Although downplaying his own expertise, Bellamy expresses excitement at being on the Big Day Out bill with wine specialist and part-time vigneron Maynard James Keenan from Tool.
“I think we are playing just before Tool so it should be a good tour. It’s a really great tour the Big Day Out – it’s half a great gig and half a great holiday.”
Muse’s previous Big Day Out appearance was as part of the star-studded 2004 event, which included The Strokes, The Dandy Warhols, Metallica and The Flaming Lips on the bill.
“We were hanging out with The Strokes quite a lot and they’re really good guys,” Bellamy recalls. “With The Strokes we went to a few bars with them. It’s generally a nice tour because the bands are often staying together in the same hotels so you can be hanging in the bar with various bands. I also saw The Dandy Warhols a couple of times and I met Metallica a couple of times and they’re nice guys - we’ve got the same manager in America.”
At the Melbourne Big Day Out Bellamy was eyed side of stage watching The Strokes with his arms around his very excitable girlfriend, Gaia Polloni. Do the band regularly take partners on tour?
“I think on that tour I did,” Bellamy says. “When it’s a nice tour or if you’ve got a bit of time off on tour it’s good to have girlfriends there. It depends what your girlfriend’s doing, too. I think she had some free time so it made sense, but not all the time, just here and there.”
And did the pair of you get a chance to join The Flaming Lips on stage in one of their crazy animal costumes?
“I didn’t get a chance to wear a costume but I did watch their gig a few times and they’re a great live band. It was an amazing gig.”
With four studio albums of material to choose from, it seems assured that Muse’s impending show will be of a similarly high order. But where to next for the trio? Apparently the Pink Floyd comparisons might not be as erroneous as they first seem, with a number of avant-garde tracks created during the recording of Black Holes And Revelations.
“Those tracks sound like Dark Side Of The Moon and are very piano-orientated and classical sounding,” Matt revealed. “They’re dark and slow and mostly instrumental, with not many vocals happening. Starlight and Supermassive Black Hole were a bit too far off that, but it could almost be its own album. One day we could possibly do something that is more instrumental.”
Black Holes And Revelations (Warner)
The following interview with Muse frontman Matt Bellamy proved such a fertile conversation I was able to craft two features from his responses. Timed to coincide with the release of Black Holes And Revelations, the first story was followed six months later by a feature relating to the trio’s 2007 Big Day Out appearance. Since there’s not a lot of unpublished material from this half hour interview, I’ll instead include both features here.
Matt Bellamy’s an interesting interview prospect; maybe it’s simply a matter of unshakeable self-belief, but over the course of the last 20 years Bellamy has consistently indulged in fanciful technologies, unfeasible conspiracy theories and otherworldly attempts to evolve Muse’s sound in directions most self-respecting rock stars would never dare. The powerful bond of having his two schoolmates Dominic Howard and Chris Wolstenholme by his side each step of the way can’t be underestimated, but Bellamy’s interviews always suggests he floats along in a different reality to most Earth-bound music fans. The conversation from which the following interviews are drawn basically confirms this, with Bellamy unleashing staggering anecdotes at a breathless rate of knots.
Bellamy’s never been the coolest rock star, but the night of their triumphant Big Day Out set I had to admit to being a little envious of the Muse frontman. While leaving the BDO after-party at a city hotel I wandered onto the street as a bunch of rock stars were walking in. Lined up like gunslingers from The Magnificent Seven were members of The Vines, The Killers and Muse, all casually sauntering into the hotel lobby. Damn – just about the coolest thing ever witnessed on Adelaide’s King William Street…
The following are edited versions of interviews first published in Rip It Up, June 2006 and January 2007.
Muse - Three Imaginary Boys
by Scott McLennan
Muse’s fourth album Black Holes And Revelations is sitting prominently in charts across the globe and a Big Day Out 2007 slot beckons, but songwriter, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Matt Bellamy still feels that all is not right with the world. Ghosts, Templar Knights and geological configurations on Mars have all inspired the conspiratorial leader of Devon’s biggest band to make the grandest rock album of the decade.
“The studio was built on what used to be a Knights Templar settlement and there are tunnels underground that date back 2000 or 3000 years,” Bellamy notes of France’s Studio Miraval, where some of Black Holes And Revelations was recorded. “Underneath the main building there are tunnels half underwater like an Indiana Jones adventure underground. You can imagine the Knights Templar stuffing around and hiding their treasure and other bits.”
Bellamy enthusiastically backs up claims the location is haunted.
“When we were recording in the lounge area of the studio I’d get this spooky feeling and feel this presence behind me. I’d turn around and there would be nothing there. It would be this weird sort of thing where I could actually sense what it looked like but couldn’t actually see it with my own eyes. I had it a couple of times.”
Had you been imbibing any substances or drinking heavily at the time of these occurrences?
“Well, we had been drinking quite a bit because the studio is actually a chateau now,” Bellamy laughs. “They make French wine and when we started down there it was actually wine season and they were picking the grapes.”
Taking a break from studio toils, Bellamy and his bandmates, bassist Chris Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard, even tried their hand at grape picking with the locals.
“We picked a little bit, but we didn’t contribute as much as we could have. Most of the stuff we picked we actually ate, which wasn’t a good thing as most pickers who do that get sacked quite quickly.”
Bellamy’s love of conspiracy theories not only fuels the lyrical content of Muse’s most impressive album to date, it also acts as a basis for Storm Thorgerson’s surreal cover art for Black Holes And Revelations.
“I think with this album we thought it was important to conjure up some of the imagery of the song Knights Of Cydonia, the last song on the album,” Bellamy outlines. “We felt we wanted to do something that looked like it was set on Mars because that song is kind of based around an idea that there’s a region on Mars called Cydonia with ancient structures built on it. If proven to be true, it could change our concept of where we come from. I’ve always been interested in that kind of stuff and to conjure up the more abstract elements of that was important.
“In conspiracy theories you’ve got these people at the top who are controlling everything,” Bellamy continues. “The Elite - who own corporations, are arms dealers and media giants - meet up and organise things and we just have to go along with it all. The people on the album cover represent a whole lot of things, including the Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse. The way they are dressed represents ailments of mankind and they are sitting around the table having a meeting as the global elite.”
Bellamy worked closely with designer Thorgerson, whose Pink Floyd album artwork is highly revered.
“We basically played Storm the album while we were mixing it and I discussed with him the conspiracy theories. He’s always been into that kind of stuff and he went away and drafted up some ideas and sketches and that was the one that we liked the most. In his original drawings they were sat around a green field but we asked him to modify it to Mars and that’s how we ended up with it.”
Since Revelations is the final chapter of The Bible, does this album similarly mark the final chapter for Muse?
“I certainly hope not,” Bellamy chuckles without entirely ruling out the theory. “I don’t think it will be. There are various ways you can interpret the title. To me, it was the two areas of songwriting the album came from. Revelations, as in looking inside yourself to reveal something personal, such as on Starlight or Soldier’s Poem. They’re songs that you put out there that are more down-to-earth, in a way. Then there’s Black Holes, the kind of songwriting where you’re tapping into the unknown or deliberately searching for something on the fringes of your imagination, such as on Take A Bow and Knights Of Cydonia. They conjure up imagery and ideas that you wouldn’t associate with everyday life and the black holes are all about looking into the unknown.”
Although acknowledging the Biblical reference in the album’s title, Bellamy downplays having read much of the religious text.
“I’ve scanned through it but I wouldn’t say I’m a really religious person,” he says. “When we have been touring in Midwest America I’ve been given The Bible twice by various people, so I think there’s a Midwestern element who think I need to read The Bible a bit more. It’s more about the moral lessons in there, but I am interested in a little bit of ancient history and I’ve been looking into these correlations between the Giza pyramid area of Egypt with Orion’s Belt and other star systems. They also correlate perfectly with Washington DC and the White House, which also correlates with what was found on Cydonia on Mars.
“It’s something I find quite interesting really - the unknown in general, which you can hear in the songwriting as well, both lyrics and music. I’m always interested in people’s ideas and explanation to what’s going on out there.
“In the conspiracy world you can get lost in all the misinformation,” Bellamy concludes. “But I still find it all quite entertaining and interesting.”
Black Holes And Revelations (Warner)
Muse - Big Knights Out
by Scott McLennan
Once berated as a posh trio of Radiohead wannabes, Muse finally crushed any lingering doubt over their musical clout when they unleashed their fourth album Black Holes And Revelations in July 2006. Juxtaposing heartfelt ballads such as Starlight with insane lyrical predictions of Armageddon on closing tirade Knights Of Cydonia, the scale of Muse’s latest opus took the Devon group to a new level of glory.
On record Muse frontman Matt Bellamy may decree plenty of conspiracies, conundrums and conceptions, but it’s unlikely Muse’s Big Day Out sets will include a great deal of audience banter.
“I’m not really that talkative on stage,” Bellamy notes. “I just don’t know what to say, to be honest. Maybe I’m a bit shy or something when I’m not actually playing music, but I can’t think of what to say. I’d like to talk a bit more but I don’t want to sound cheesy. I just stay quiet most of the time.”
Although Bellamy and his bandmates, drummer Dominic Howard and bassist Chris Wolstenholme, recorded the initial portion of Black Holes And Revelations in France at the same studio Pink Floyd recorded The Wall, Bellamy is quick to dismiss comparisons to the bombastic sounds of that classic, epic double album.
“To be honest the only thing I’ve really heard from them is Dark Side Of The Moon,” Bellamy admits. “I’ve heard bits and pieces of other stuff through different producers we’ve worked with; John Leckie and Rich Costey have made references to Pink Floyd, but it’s never been something I’ve been into myself. Rich Costey played the album The Wall to us as we were working on this album in the studio where they made that. The producers we’ve worked with have obviously been fans of the band, but it’s never been an influence on me.”
Although band members have suggested that the French recording sessions were dark and damaging, there were lighter moments at Studio Miraval as well. With the recording studio now part of a chateau complex, the surrounding vineyards were put to use by the band.
“On the song Invincible Dom and Chris tried to become a Civil War marching band,” Bellamy sniggers. “We got hold of these antique snare and bass drums and then basically Dom and Chris went out into the vineyard and orchard area and we recorded them getting lost in the garden for quite a long time. We recorded them just walking around in the fields and orchard area. We recorded it and downloaded it for the intro to Invincible.
“We were picking grapes to eat most of the time,” Bellamy adds of the winery experience. “We got to see the whole process and see all the big barrels and everything.”
Although he now spends down time at his lavish residence in Italy, Bellamy doesn’t yet class himself as a wine connoisseur.
“I like drinking but I don’t know too much,” the guitarist laughs. “Dom puts me to shame when it comes to knowing wine - he’s a bit more of a connoisseur these days.”
Although downplaying his own expertise, Bellamy expresses excitement at being on the Big Day Out bill with wine specialist and part-time vigneron Maynard James Keenan from Tool.
“I think we are playing just before Tool so it should be a good tour. It’s a really great tour the Big Day Out – it’s half a great gig and half a great holiday.”
Muse’s previous Big Day Out appearance was as part of the star-studded 2004 event, which included The Strokes, The Dandy Warhols, Metallica and The Flaming Lips on the bill.
“We were hanging out with The Strokes quite a lot and they’re really good guys,” Bellamy recalls. “With The Strokes we went to a few bars with them. It’s generally a nice tour because the bands are often staying together in the same hotels so you can be hanging in the bar with various bands. I also saw The Dandy Warhols a couple of times and I met Metallica a couple of times and they’re nice guys - we’ve got the same manager in America.”
At the Melbourne Big Day Out Bellamy was eyed side of stage watching The Strokes with his arms around his very excitable girlfriend, Gaia Polloni. Do the band regularly take partners on tour?
“I think on that tour I did,” Bellamy says. “When it’s a nice tour or if you’ve got a bit of time off on tour it’s good to have girlfriends there. It depends what your girlfriend’s doing, too. I think she had some free time so it made sense, but not all the time, just here and there.”
And did the pair of you get a chance to join The Flaming Lips on stage in one of their crazy animal costumes?
“I didn’t get a chance to wear a costume but I did watch their gig a few times and they’re a great live band. It was an amazing gig.”
With four studio albums of material to choose from, it seems assured that Muse’s impending show will be of a similarly high order. But where to next for the trio? Apparently the Pink Floyd comparisons might not be as erroneous as they first seem, with a number of avant-garde tracks created during the recording of Black Holes And Revelations.
“Those tracks sound like Dark Side Of The Moon and are very piano-orientated and classical sounding,” Matt revealed. “They’re dark and slow and mostly instrumental, with not many vocals happening. Starlight and Supermassive Black Hole were a bit too far off that, but it could almost be its own album. One day we could possibly do something that is more instrumental.”
Black Holes And Revelations (Warner)
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