Muse Talks About Live Show “Madness” & How Matt Bellamy Might Become An American
With their complex songwriting, progressive guitar chords, and explosive electronic orchestration paired with otherworldly lyrics, Muse has climbed to the higher echelon of rock stardom.
читать дальшеIn twenty years, it’s a safe bet that Muse will be considered as influential to bands of that generation as the Rolling Stones have to the bands of now. While Muse is truly an arena band with their larger-than-life sound, they are also a bunch of down-to-earth dudes who schedule their days and recording sessions around their family on both sides of pond.
The band plays tonight at the Staples Center and Matthew Bellamy said in an interview with Kevin & Bean this morning that he considers it a “homecoming show” because both him and Dominic Howard have homes in both Los Angeles and London.
Their bi-continental life seems to suit them. Bellamy jokes that he took America’s best women while Howard notes that while Muse composed their latest album The 2nd Law in London they also spent some time in Malibu recording the guitar parts for “Madness” in Rick Rubin’s sunny garden in Malibu.
So, despite Muse’s British upbringing, they are familiar with the beauty of Southern California and Bellamy even raises his family with Kate Hudson here part-time. He said that his daily tour routine for the next few days will be his children acting as an alarm clock.
“In LA, I just get woken up by the kids first thing in the morning,” laughed Bellamy, joking that he tells his kids he needs a break “until lunch at least” because he “didn’t finish partying until like 3am last night.”
Even through their music, it’s evident that Muse has softened up a little. Kevin & Bean point out that their single “Madness” doesn’t sound anything like their old stuff and while the band reassures their fans that they have a lot of Muse-sounding songs on the The 2nd Law, the popularity of Bellamy’s favorite song “Madness” was a “real big surprise.”
“We kind of took a risk with that one. We tried something completely different,” elaborated Bellamy. “To go straight off the bat with a song that’s kind of softer in nature rather than a big rockin’ track which is what we normally do…That song stands out because we tried to do something really minimal and stripped down. Not with all the epic sort of theatrics that we normally have. And I think we got it right in that song.”
That’s not to say they won’t be including those epic theatrics in their live shows. Kevin & Bean joke that they’ve seen everything from the band and that they expect zombies next. Bellamy laughed, “I might be a bit of a zombie, seeing as how we’re doing this interview so early.”
Starting one of their biggest North American tours soon, Muse tease that there will actually be an “upside down electronic pyramid” which will come and consume the band and eat them up and that there is a lot of personal interaction.
Howard said that “Matt and Chris are running around more in the crowd.” Having the crowd feel a part of the performance is something that Muse feel strongly about. They’ve created a Muse 360 app that allows fans to watch a Muse’s concert at Reading Festival from different angles and have made efforts to deter scalpers from selling tickets to their “boring” rich people.
“I hate [scalping] because you end up with an audience of people that spent all this money, crazy money and end up with basically a boring crowd,” said Bellamy. “People with more money tend to not rock out as hard. I’m not sure why that is.”
Muse fans and KROQ listeners will be happy to know that the “ticketless ticket” effort that the band started in England has been implemented in America. In fact, Muse say that they owe their career in America to KROQ.
Is their potential that Muse might become officially American citizens? Well, Bellamy confessed that they might play a Jimi “Hendrix-y” cover of the “Star-Spangled Banner” at the Staples Center like they did they did at their San Diego show.
“Just instrumental. I feel like you have to be an American to sing it,” confessed Bellamy. “But you never know. I might be an American soon. So, you never know; I might be able to sing it.” It sounds like Muse is here to stay.
Muse play January 26th, January 27th, and January 29th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. 2012′s The 2nd Law featuring “Madness” is now available on Helium 3/Warner.
–Nadia Noir, KROQ Los Angeles
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