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Chris Wolstenholme interview - Muse [BASS MAGAZINE (September 2001)]

INTERVIEW & PLAYING ANALYSIS MUSE Chris Wolstenholme

Interview: Kengo Nakamura / Interpretation: Yuko Yamaoka / Photo: Yoshika Horita / Layout: Niro Hayata

The music of a goddess echoes around the world

Muse's debut album ‘Showbiz’ was highly acclaimed not only by rock fans but also by many professional musicians, and the band quickly gained international attention. We arranged an urgent interview with the band, who came to Japan with their long-awaited new album ‘Origin of Symmetry’. Bassist Chris spoke to us about the new album with a calmness that we could not have imagined from given his tough appearance and intense live performance.

PROFILE ●Born on December 2, 1978 in Rotherham, near Sheffield, England. Started playing guitar at the age of 11. His first band was formed when he was 13. Muse made their Japanese debut in 2000 with the album ‘Showbiz’. Their large scale live shows have also attracted attention, as they were the opening act for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Foo Fighters in France and Germany last autumn.

“I felt like this was my instrument.”

◎ How did you get started with bass? ●I didn't start out on bass, I started out on guitar. After that I started playing drums. I had never played bass until I started this band seven years ago.

◎ Why did you change instruments from guitar to drums to bass? ●I don't know. I think it just happened. I played guitar in the first band, then drums, then I started playing in a rock‘n’roll band at school, but after that band broke up, the other people I was in it with seemed to lose interest in music because they went to college. In the end, it was just me, Dom (Dominic Howard: d) and Matt (Matthew Bellamy: vo, g). Dom was the drummer and Matt was playing guitar, so I decided to try bass. I started doing it because if I play bass, we could play together. But when I tried it, bass was the instrument I felt most comfortable with. I guess the reason I didn't stay with guitar or drums in the end was because I didn't really feel like it was “the one”. When I played bass, I felt like this was my instrument.

◎ What kind of music did you listen to? ●I was listening to early 90s indie bands like Ned's Atomic Dustbin. Then I started listening to Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Rage Against The Machine, etc.

◎ How exactly did Muse form? ●When we were 13-15 years old, there were four or five bands at school, Matt and Dom were in one band and I was in another. And when everyone else went off to college and lost interest in music, the three of us decided to stay and keep playing music. Up until then, we were doing cover songs, but when it became just the three of us, we decided to try and do our own music.

◎ What kind of music did you cover? ●I guess Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, etc. We did a lot of different songs. There were also bands that were popular in the US at the time that came to the UK.

◎ I see. Now, about this album, you guys got very high praise worldwide for your previous album, Showbiz. Did you feel any pressure when making this album? ●No, there wasn't. In fact, it was easier this time. The band had been active for five years before we got a record deal. So, since the last album was our first album, we had about 80-90 songs from five years' worth of songs, and we had to choose from them to make the album. So maybe we didn't have a clear idea about “which songs to record” or “how to record them”. But with this album, we have a better idea of the sound we want to have, and I think we understand ourselves better now. And the songs on this album were written in the last year or so, so I think the songs are more focused. So I think this album sounds more like an album, rather than a collection of random songs like the last album.

◎ Did you have a concept for this album or an idea of “making it an album like this”? ●The most important thing was to make it reflect the sound of our live performances. On the first album, we did a lot of guitar dubbing and so on, so it sounded as if we were a band with 5-6 people. But I think that by gaining more experience in live performances, we have improved each other's playing a lot. We understand each other better musically. The band has become much tighter too. We wanted to record that kind of live energy, the energy of a three-piece band. It's just three instruments, but we can get a very powerful sound. Some of the songs don't have any guitars at all, instead there's piano or organ. But it's still an interesting sound that is characteristic of a three-piece band.

◎ Your live shows have a depth and weight to them that is hard to believe for a three-piece band, and are much more aggressive than they sound on record, but is there anything you pay particular attention to during your live performances? ●I don't really pay attention to anything in particular, but I always try to give 100% during live performances. But I don't think about it, I actually do it, so it's not intentional. When I go on stage, my inner self naturally changes, and I naturally release energy while I play.

“I was able to bring out the excitement I felt on tour.”

◎ Why did you use Dave Bottrill, who has worked with a variety of artists including Tool and Peter Gabriel, as producer on this album in addition to John Leckie, who was the producer for the previous album? ●I had the opportunity to meet him at a bar, and he told me about some of the work he had worked on so far. It was right around the time we finished touring and started working on the album. He was producing a Belgian band called dEUS, which we really liked. Coincidentally, John was away in Africa or somewhere on other business at the time, so we recorded four or five songs with Dave that week. Then we stopped for a while and went to Japan and Australia, and then we came back to the studio and Dave had gone to America for a tour, so we started working with John. It was a coincidence that we ended up doing it with both of them. It wasn't something we had planned.

◎ How do you feel about working with them? ●I think Dave created a heavy, live, three-piece sound for this album. On the other hand, I think John did more experimental and weird songs. They were both very good. Dave was also very easy to work with. He created a live atmosphere in the studio. We had a big PA sound set up in the studio and the drums were so loud, it felt like a real concert when we played there. I think we were able to capture that feeling of energy. Also, we had just finished touring, so I think we were able to create the excitement that we felt on tour.

◎ Why did you cover Nina Simone's ‘Feeling Good’ on this album? ●We had done a session of this song on a British radio show a few years ago. We were asked to do a cover. Matt was a big fan of Nina Simone at the time. He especially liked her full-range voice, which could be interpreted as both male and female. Matt sings in a bit of that style too. And I thought the lyrical content of this song matched the other songs on the album.

◎ Now, Muse's music is very dramatic and each section of a song gives a very different impression, what do you keep in mind when thinking about the bass lines? ●It varies from song to song, but…… Sometimes Matt comes up with the bass line. So it's really different for each song. I don't have a particular approach, it all comes naturally. It all comes from jamming with Matt and the others, and it comes up while we're playing together. So there's no set way of doing it, or anything that we're paying attention to. It's the same with the songwriting process. Sometimes a song can come together in 20 minutes, while others, like ‘Citizen Erased’, took us about a year to finish. There were so many different versions that we couldn't decide which one was the best.

◎ Has your previous experience as a drummer helped you in your bass playing? ●Of course. I think my drumming experience has helped me to understand the drums better as a part of the rhythm section, and I think I have a better sense of unity. I think playing drums has also helped me to be tighter.

◎ Your playing style is mainly fingerpicking? I think you played with a pick when you were playing guitar, but why did you decide to play bass with your fingers? ●In the beginning I also played bass with a pick. It was easier that way. I started using my fingers because I thought fingerpicking gave me more variety in sound and was more dynamic. Also, fingerpicking gives you more control in many ways.

◎ What would you describe in words what you consider to be the ideal bass tone? ●Well, it depends on the music I'm playing. I think my favorite is…… I think it's the kind of bass sound I play. After all, I play with the sound I like. What I feel we've achieved with what Rage Against The Machine is doing this time is that in the mix, the drums are in the middle, the guitar is on one side, and the bass is partly in the middle, but the sound structure is such that there is bass distortion on the other side from the guitar. That way everything sounds very clear. It's not masked by other sounds.

“I was relieved when we were able to record it.”

◎ You distort the bass in “New Born” and have a unique tone in the intro to “Plug In Baby” - are you interested in effects pedals? ●I'm very interested. Not many bass players use a lot of effects, but I like it. A lot of people seem to think that bass is a relaxed instrument that sits in the background, and not something to experiment with. But I love to do a lot of things with it. Especially distortion and synths. I use two amps, one that I keep clean all the time, which is my main sound. I also have a smaller amp that I use for distortion and other effects. I use a small amp with effects and a clean amp at the same time. I'm also using a bass synth. I used the bass synth on “Plug in Baby” and other songs.

◎ What other effects did you use besides the bass synth? ●I use two distortions, one of which is a Big Muff. The other is a Japanese effect pedal I bought in Japan called Animato, which is a very good distortion pedal. Then there's an octaver, a bass synth, and a delay.

◎ Please tell us what equipment you used on this album. ●The main bass is a Pedulla. I used it throughout the whole album. The amp is a Marshall and the effector is the one I mentioned earlier.

◎ How did you record it? ●I mic'd it. I also mic'd the distortion amp. I think I was also doing line recordings at the same time. I record every sound possible and blend them together.

◎ Do you use computer equipment such as Pro Tools? ●I used it when working with Dave. That was the difference between the way Dave and John worked. Dave likes to use equipment like Pro Tools, whereas John prefers the old analogue way of working. John actually worked by cutting and splicing tape. I think Dave used to record everything on Pro Tools and then put it on tape. It's convenient for editing, but we don't want to use it too much. Because it can become a bit too easy.

◎ What is your favourite bass play on this album? ●I'd have to say “New Born”. It's not that difficult to play, but at first my hands would get cramps when I was playing it. It wasn't difficult, but the fingering was something I'd never done before. It took me a long time to get it down! I was relieved we were able to record it.

◎ What do you want listeners to pay attention to when listening to this album? ●I'd rather they listen to the album as a whole rather than just analysing the bass parts. I think there's a great sense of unity in the songs on the album compared to the last album. I think my favourite song is “Hyper Music”. I also like “Megalomania”. It's a very different type of song compared to what we've done before. “Space Dementia” was also a good challenge, because it was a completely different type of song from what we've done before.

◎ Hip-hop artists such as KORN and Limp Bizkit are popular in the US, but what about in the UK? ●I think acoustic rock is mainstream at the moment. I think American music is equally popular in the UK. We're a band that's kind of in between. There aren't many rock bands active in the UK at the moment. I think we might be the only heavy rock band out there. I think the rock scene in the UK is underground right now. I'd like to see more rock bands emerge.

◎ Please give us some advice or a message for our readers. ●The most important thing is to enjoy what you are doing. If you don't enjoy it, and if you don't believe in what you're doing, it's meaningless. I think a lot of people put too much emphasis on technique, but that's wrong. My favourite bands were the ones who cared more about the feel of the music than the technique. So the most important thing is to feel it first. It's not just about honing your technique like crazy. Of course it depends on the music you're playing…… If you're playing music like Les Claypool (Primus), who I also admire as a really great bassist, then maybe it's a different story…… But he's more of a genius than a technical player. And those guys also ‘feel’ the music and play it with amazing technique. So both feel and technique have to be present in a good way.

ANALYSIS of ORIGIN OF SYMMETRY

Score & Commentary: Katsuyoshi Arayama

In their live performances, MUSE has a sound so thick that it is hard to believe that they are a three-piece band. Let's take a look at Chris' playing, which supports the dramatic development of the songs.

New Born CD Time: 2:15 Distortion is applied, and mechanical phrases are matched to the chords in a monotone. The drums are played with the snare at the beginning, and the guitar is cut, making each part stand out clearly. The chorus is played loudly, opposite to the A-melody, and has both a cool and a sharp side. This is probably why the phrases are so well-crafted.

Bliss CD Time: 0:30 This is the main riff section of the A melody, but the use of mid to high range notes makes the phrase sound like a melody in addition to a rhythm. The quarter notes in the 1st and 3rd bars are played in unison with the drums and guitar. The octave accents in the 2nd and 4th bars effectively add movement to the phrase.

Hyper Music CD Time: 0:43 In a word, the bass line stands out. Each bar contains so-called “throwaway notes,” which can be played with open strings to create this kind of nuance. The overall flow is created by the scale notes at key points, which are looped, allowing the other instruments to be played with a certain degree of freedom, and the song is developed without becoming monotonous.

Plug In Baby CD Time: 0:13 The pattern starts with a low D note on the 5-string bass, followed by a root, fifth, and octave. The key point is that the beginning of the 3rd beat of each bar is played in staccato, and the rest is played in tenuto. The intro and A-melody are phrased in the same way, but the characteristic is the extreme dynamics. The A-melody in particular is picked quite strongly.

Darkshines CD Time: 0:00 The intro section has a slightly mellow feel. The 16th note on the 4th beat of the 1st bar is played like a ghost note to bridge the gap to the 2nd bar. The beginning notes of the 3rd and 4th bars are an approach from the 5th note of the chord. By starting from a note other than the root, the nuance of the phrase is changed.

Futurism CD Time: 0:06 It is assumed that the octaver is used. Since it was transcribed for a 5-string bass, it uses up to a low C note. I would like to write it in 16th notes, but I chose to write it in 8th notes. These 4 bars are the main riff, but the bass only repeats this riff until there is a development, which is innovative. The note an octave higher is the accent, making it a guitar-like riff.

Chris' main bass is a Pedulla Rapture RB4. He has two of them in different colours. It is equipped with Bartolini pickups. There is one volume and one tone, and a switch to select single/humbucking pickup. Both basses have the same bass body, but they have different gauges of elite strings that are stretched, one from 0.45 and the other from 0.40 (1, 2). (3) is a BASS COLLECTION SB331 with no modifications. Chris says that it “takes effects well,” so he will use it for songs that make heavy use of effects. (4) is an acoustic guitar used by Chris, made by JEAN LARRIVEE GUITARS, a Vancouver, Canada manufacturer.

The amps are all Marshall (5). The basic sound is provided by two 7400 Dynamic Bass Amps as heads (topmost) and three 7115 Dynamic Bass Cabinets as speakers (two on the left and one on the bottom right). In the second row on the right is a Bass State B150 (combo amp), responsible for the distortion sound. (6) shows the setup at the feet. The set-up includes a TONEWORKS DTR-1 tuner (top left), from left to right an Animato distortion, a Pete Cornish line selector, a Boss SYB-3 (bass synth), a Boss LS-2 (line selector) and a Boss O2 (octaver), an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff (distortion), a power supply (manufacturer unknown) and a Boss DD-3 (digital delay). To the right of the effects board is a Roland PK-5 MIDI pedal. When Chris plays the acoustic guitar, he uses his feet to control the bass sounds stored in the AKAI S5000, described below. The top rack in (7) is an AKAI S5000 (sampler), while the bottom rack contains a SHURE wireless and a TONEWORKS DTR-1. In addition, there are two compact tuners, including a Korg GT-3, were also available. “With three tuners, I don't have to worry,” he said.

Translator's Note: I was in the midst of uploading this when Tumblr decided that I needed to log back into my account. Oh, and I can't save it as a draft, so gotta start all over. What joy :)

Please do support me via my ko-fi! ☕

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1-ufo · 7 days ago

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Urgent Interview - Matthew Bellamy - Muse [BUZZ (May 2001)]

MUSE

TEXT BY KOJI NAKAMOTO PHOTOGRAPHS BY MASAKAZU YOSHIBA

From the beautiful construction of “Showbiz” to the destructive impulse of “Plug In Baby”, and the long-awaited new album!? We flew to the final recording site for an urgent interview!!

“Consciousness creates matter and elements, evolving them to the highest order. Millions of years ago, a star exploded as a supernova, and the current solar system was created. That's why the molecules in our bodies and everything in the solar system are all connected and have one consciousness.”

What on earth are you talking about, Matthew!? He is convinced that the hard recording work didn't drive him insane, but that this is the theme of his new album, so pay attention to the next stage of MUSE in this latest interview and report!

Text = Koji Nakamoto Photography = Masakazu Yoshiba Interpretation = Erika Yamashita Translation = Akane Suzuki

The perfection of the first album “Showbiz”, which was a form of excessive dramatics with one foot in “aesthetic” and the other in the beauty of a neatly structured sound, was unleashed in the overwhelming dynamism of their live shows. The overwhelming dynamism of their live shows, in which they unleashed this structure and slammed it down violently and solidly - this difference that was revealed at their first Japan tour in March last year at Shibuya On Air West, is what makes MUSE the most eagerly awaited new generation of UK guitar rock. Creation and destruction, as it were. The easy description of the band as “Radiohead followers” from their first show is no longer used by those who have actually experienced their live shows. However, it is their second album that will of course test their true worth. The exhilarating punk approach of the preceding single, “Plug In Baby”, clears that hurdle with ease. This is what MUSE is all about! With expectations even higher, the album is almost ready for release at the end of May. The end of May, well, we publish every other month, so I'd like to do something for the April 18th issue…… I was muttering to myself when a woman from the record company said, ‘The sound won't arrive in Japan until early April, but if you come to the local studio, they'd be happy to let you listen to a rough recording’. I'll go! So I quickly organised a three-day, one-night trip to the UK to cover MUSE. Yes, due to my personal schedule, it turned out to be a hell of an itinerary as follows.

March 23rd. I left Japan after a full night of work. 12 hours later, I arrived at London Heathrow Airport. It was 3pm local time that day. After waiting for two hours for photographer Yoshiba-san, who arrived on a different flight, we headed to Cornwall, where MUSE's studio is located. It was a four-hour drive from the airport, and as we were waiting for the car prepared by the local staff, an Indian man with a turban on his head said, “Me, me!” Hmmm, suspicious. He looked like a working-class man from the sultanate, which made me strangely uneasy. My fears are confirmed. We drove at such a high speed that I thought, “Are we going to die in an accident?”, and then we got lost, and after five or six hours there was no sign that we had arrived at all. From time to time, my manager would call me on his mobile and say, “There's no way it's going to take this long. So, what should we do about the interview?”. Yes, the original plan was for the listening and interview to start around midnight, but we've already kept Matthew waiting for two hours. We were gradually getting closer to our destination, but the road was getting narrower and darker, and although I had heard it was by a lake in the mountains, the studio was in the middle of nowhere. When passing an oncoming car on the bay road, the rear wheel slipped and almost fell on the sea debris, and yet Sultan said “Don't worry, don't worry,” and I couldn't help but feel like wanting to abolish my non-violence principles. It was midnight when we finally arrived at the hotel near the studio. In other words, after staying up all night, it was a 12-hour flight, a 2-hour wait, a 7-hour deadly road, and Matthew was left waiting for 3 hours. I thought I couldn't do the interview today, but then the manager offered, “You have to fly early tomorrow, otherwise your business in Japan will be affected, right? Let's do it now.” What a nice guy. “We usually cross the lake from here to the studio by boat, but it's low tide now, so let's walk around the lakeside to make a detour. It shouldn't take more than half an hour.” Outside, it's raining. The four of us are walking on the railway line in the seriously pitch black mountainous area, shining our torches. Just as I was thinking, “Are we like in Stand By Me, looking for a dead body?” I slipped and said, “Hey, hey, hey, be careful, man. If you step off, you'll end up in the lake. You can't even get help in the dark.” Ah, THE BODY. When we finally arrived at the studio, it was after 1am. Matthew is away, just in the middle of mixing. The other members of the band, the staff, and Matthew's girlfriend are all relaxing in the reception living room, watching TV and playing billiards. Anyway, everyone is cheerful and friendly, and there is no tense mood at all. We were allowed to listen to the music while Matthew was finishing up. In the end, at this point we only get to hear five songs - ‘Citizen Erased’, ‘New Born’, ‘Screenager’, ‘Space Dementia’ and ‘Forth & Multiply’. However, the content was completely contrary to my expectations. I thought it would be a live dynamism explosion along the lines of Plug In Baby! But rather, it was an extremely experimental approach that took the construction of the first album even further. There is heavy rock, electro, polyrhythms, operatic flavours, and church music, and three out of the five songs were over six minutes long. Although it seems to contradict what I said at the beginning of the article, my honest impression was, “Is this the MUSE version of ‘OK Computer’?” The song titles are also somewhat meaningful. How should I position this? I was wondering about that when Matthew appeared and said “Yes”. He was also very friendly and smiling. He didn't show any sign of fatigue at all, even after working so late at night, and he dashed around nimbly every time he had to move a little. “Well, shall we get started now?” I'm sorry for making you wait for five hours, Matthew.

●Are you in the middle of the final mixing now? 「Mm-hm.」

●Then tonight's the big night. 「Well, I think it's probably going to be on Monday. Even though it's finished, we're still in the mastering stage, and at most we've only just decided on the song order, so we won't really be free to say ‘We did it!’ and release it until the artwork and everything else is finished and I can actually hold it in my hands and look at it.」

●You seem to be doing well though. It's 2am and you seem totally fine. You don't seem worn out from recording. I wonder if you're feeling great. 「Yes (laughs), it's fun every day. Physically I'm pretty tired, but the hardest part is the recording. It's exhausting when you're playing for hours on end, and I also have to record vocals. Now that's done, I can just think about mixing.」

●The ideas for presenting a new side of MUSE were already in place. 「Most of the songs were written before we went into the studio, but when we actually started, it was just a case of making more and more changes. It wasn't until we started mixing that we finally had a full picture of what the album was going to be like. So it's true that half of the songs were prepared in advance, but the other half was done while we were working in the studio. 」

●In the beginning, you said that you wanted to change the producer for each song on the recording of this album. 「Yeah, we decided to take at least two different approaches. We talked about having three producers, but in the end we settled on two. One who would bring MUSE to the forefront as a live band, and one who was good at experimenting. So the songs that David Bottrill did had a live feel to them, and the other half, John Leckie, brought out aspects of MUSE that we hadn't done before. I guess David's is the same heavy rock―as he's always been. But the one produced by John Leckie is really a lot more varied, from acoustic, soft songs to electronic stuff. Well, to sum it up (laughs), I guess we have two faces: a live band and a studio-focused experimental band.」

●When I first heard that David Bottrill had been chosen, I thought, ‘Wow’. He's in Tool, isn't he? Are you interested in or sympathetic to American heavy rock? It might have something to do with the fact that you toured with some of the biggest names in the US right after your debut. 「Oh, that's not it. The reason I chose David Bottrill is…… to me, his sound sounds very British. We're very far removed from the UK rock of the last decade, especially the Britpop scene. A lot of people think that's what UK rock is, but I'm influenced by bands from much earlier, like David Bowie, The Police, and Queen (laughs). British rock was originally a very broad genre.」

●Last year you said in an interview that you “sympathise with Slipknot,” but was that just a joke? 「Uh, when was that? Oh, yeah. Last year, it felt like we were excited for a moment, but that was it (laughs). Dominic bought the Slipknot album while we were on tour, and he put it in front of the stage, and we all thought it was hilarious. But we were only listening to it half-jokingly (laughs).」

●Actually, when I interviewed Slipknot, I told them that a British band called MUSE had praised them, and they were very surprised and asked, “Why would a British band praise us?” And when I told them that MUSE was a very sensitive band, they said, “So they found our sensitive side? If so, I'm honoured.” 「(laughs)」

●You said earlier that your roots are more in the 70s than in the 90s British movement, but MUSE's music is excessively dramatic, which is rare nowadays, isn't it? 「Yes. I've listened to all kinds of music, regardless of which country it's from. Actually, the reason I said that is because so-called Britpop took a very inward-looking, arrogant, almost dangerous, perspective of the British national character. On the other hand, the sound of American music has recently become very typical American music. Basically, after Nirvana ended, the UK press started to push the idea that ‘British bands are going to rule the world’. I think that was one of the worst periods in the history of British music. It was all arrogant and self-centered, and as a result, British bands ended up with a bad image from a global perspective. Especially in America, so-called Britpop bands are perceived as being very stupid, and the problem is that when bands like MUSE play shows in the US, the first people to come are the ones expecting Britpop. So it's not that I particularly like the 70s, but starting with The Beatles, The Police, Radiohead…… In short, I sympathise with people who are doing music because they want to make good music. I think the Britpop bands were very aggressive in that sense, promoting their lifestyle and saying that UK music is the best in the world…… I don't want to do that, I just sympathise with people who make music that isn't for that purpose.」

●So you appreciate Radiohead? 「Yeah, I like them a lot. I've had their music since their early days, around ‘Pablo Honey’. I wasn't as into ‘OK Computer’ and ‘Kid A’ as I used to, but I still think they're a great band.」

●When MUSE debuted, you were often seen as followers of Radiohead, but some criticised you for being too pessimistic towards Radiohead. On the other hand, MUSE, in terms of message, you said that you would rather convey hope. 「Yes, that's right. MUSE's music has a deep desire to resonate with people. Life is both very hard and fun, and we want to convey the beauty in humanity. I don't think we have a negative view of humanity. But in the case of Radiohead…… Hmmm, I don't know, maybe they criticise themselves when they get on stage, or feel embarrassed about what they're doing. But you see, I'm totally fine with jumping around on stage and dressing weird (laughs). I don't mind looking like an idiot on stage (laughs).」

●So, we've just listened to five songs from your new album. 「Yes, this one (‘Forth & Multiply’), the title might change. Maybe it'll be ‘Paradise’. Well, ‘New Born’ is the only one that David Bottrill did that's rather experimental and different. It's similar to ‘Plug In Baby’ or ‘Darkshines’. All together, I think t'll be a 50-minute album with 10 songs. Oh, there's one more song for Japan, so it's 11 (laughs). Actually, we recorded 16 songs.」

●I'm not good at English at all, so I couldn't understand the specific lyrics, but I thought there would be a strong message just from the title. ‘Citizen Erased’ is a typical example of this, and if ‘Forth & Multiply’ really changes into ‘Paradise’, it would have a very symbolic meaning. 「Hehehehe.」

●Is there a storyline or theme to the album as a whole? 「I recently read two books, which may have inspired the song titles. One of the books is…… Um, it's a geometry book, and it's about trying to understand the universe from a different dimension. It's a book about deepening our understanding of the fourth dimensional world and the concept of time. I've always been interested in the concept of time. A long time ago I saw “2001: A Space Odyssey”…… You know this film, the one with the white pyramid tower (※monolith) that appears and disappears. So, my interpretation is that this tower is an object that exists in the fourth dimension, and it appears and disappears in front of us humans…… Ah, that's hard to explain (laughs). It would be better if I explained it…… right? As expected (laughs).」

●(laughs) Please. 「Well, let's say you have a sheet of paper, this is a two-dimensional world. If you draw a picture of a person on it, that person is living in a two-dimensional world. And if you suddenly project a three-dimensional object to this two-dimensional person, it will only look like a line that is getting bigger and smaller to this person. Right? So I thought, the tower in the film is really a four-dimensional object, but when it is brought into our three-dimensional world, we can only see it momentarily. If you think about it in this way, you can surely understand celestial bodies. When I was very young, I used to do a kind of meditation once a month or once a year, where I would concentrate my thoughts and go into a very deep place momentarily. And every time I went into that, I would come face to face with myself in a different place at a different time. So I was able to have a momentary experience of my experiences in different places. So I tried to find similarities between what's happening to me now and what's happening to me in different times. By ignoring the time axis, I tried to find a symmetry between life and the origin of the universe. I also looked for symmetries between nuclei and electrons, and similarities between stars and planets. In short, I wanted to understand what was going on in the world. And there's a theme that I've been thinking about for a long time, which is the meaning of life, and my interpretation of it changes all the time. But at the moment, it's about consciousness creating matter and elements and evolving them to the highest order. In other words, in the beginning there was only one big surface consisting only of energy and elements, which is the Big Bang, and then the small scattered things gradually became atomic nuclei, and then electrons started to revolve around them, and then they became atoms. I think that each of these things had a consciousness, and because of that consciousness, they sought out other substances and elements and tried to combine them. Then the various substances combined to form different molecules, which each consciously tried to combine again and sublimated at a higher level, eventually becoming stars. I think this is the reason why we humans have consciousness. We are made up of a collection of different molecules and elements, which affect and collide with each other in a chaotic way. We are searching for a kind of higher order. It's because we want to be free of the burden of consciousness. So, millions of years ago, a star went supernova and exploded, forming the solar system as we know it today. So all the molecules in our bodies and everything in the solar system used to be connected, they used to be one thing. And it had a proper consciousness. That's kind of what the theme is about.」*

●…….And that's something that you've been reading about lately? 「That's what I said at the beginning, but the rest is about what I've been thinking about lately. To put it very roughly, I'm trying to figure out why I exist here.」

●So that became the theme of the album? 「Yes, and that's what's always on my mind.」

●In an interview around the time of "Showbiz", you said that you were most interested in the coexistence of technology and the soul or religious things in your message and expression, but that you yourself don't really know which is correct. How have your values in that regard changed since then? 「Yeah, maybe they're clearer now than they were before. What I've come to realise recently is that most religions have developed from different civilisations, and the problem is that they all believe in different things, and that's why there used to be wars all the time. One religion comes from one community, and another religion comes from another community, and the two chaotically try to influence each other and become one. In reality, one tries to swallow the other and dominate it. And when that happens, I think the future lies in technology and science. So I've been feeling lately that the answer might be technology.」

●Hmmm. 「However, I think it will be bad if humanity does not evolve with a kind of belief, or faith, or some positive way of thinking. Otherwise, there is a danger that a new entity, such as a new technology or a new computer, will be created, and when we realise it, it will surpass humans and destroy us all. Humanity has developed in a way that is suited only to this planet. So we need to evolve the human species by incorporating mutant genes and so on (laughs)—after all, humans have become able to evolve themselves with their own hands. In a few thousand years, we might invent something like a biological suit that will allow us to live on other planets (laughs). But the first step we have to do before that is…… It's already happening among younger people, but our generation has a global perspective. Fifty years ago, people would have only thought about their own country, but nowadays we have to think on a global scale, don't we? If we think in that way, maybe we can find solutions to environmental problems. Because we know that if we continue in the current state for hundreds of years, the Earth will become an uninhabitable place. Of course, I think it is possible to trust the future to science, but I don't think it should be something that eradicates anything. If human beings completely lose their spirituality and soul and just focus only on science and just invent some new technology again, I think it will drive us to our own extinction without us realising it…… Ah, but isn't that the same thing I said earlier (laughs)?」

●I think MUSE's sound up to now has basically been about how aggressive they could make it with a three-piece guitar sound. This time around, other elements such as electro and polyrhythms have been introduced, and while it contains technological and avant-garde elements, I think it also has a kind of holy sound to it, like church music. 「Yes, that's right. What I wanted to do with this album was just to combine the emotional, human, acoustic things with very old instruments and the latest high-tech. For example, ‘Screenager’ is acoustic all the way through, but then all of a sudden in the chorus it gets modern and there's a synthesiser arpeggio. I wanted to show the contrast between the technological and the spiritual, where you can hear the breath of humanity, in one short song.」

●"Screenager" has a novel percussion sound, but there was a statement in NME that the sound was made using human bones. Is that the song? 「Aahaha. That's a different song, a different song. Well, it's not human bones, but it is animal bones. From a femur or something. It's a Voodoo instrument or something.」

●If it's not human, what kind of bone is it? 「I think it's a cow, isn't it?」

●Did you use it not just for the sound, but also in the hope that it would give off a magical atmosphere that is unique to Voodoo? 「Yes (laughs). Well, I think it was used more as a contrast with technology. It probably won't be on the album, but it's a song I did as an improvisation. It's more than a song…… It's just a bunch of weird sounds, sort of thing (laughs). The singer is Lord Buckley, who used to be a preacher, but he's passed away. So I wrote three songs called “Collaboration with the Dead”. One of them is me singing along to a Chopin piano piece (laughs). Oh, none of these were for the album, I did them simply because I thought they were fun. Experimental, but nothing serious.」**

●But was it that “collaboration with the dead”? 「It was a “collaboration” (laughs). Working with a dead person, something comes out of me…… But I don't think this will ever be released (laughs).」

●Once you've finished this work, you're going on a UK tour straight away, do you plan to play a lot of the new songs? 「Yes. I think about half of the set will be new songs.」

●Will you be performing the songs live in a very different way from the album? 「I don't know yet. I've done ‘New Born’ and ‘Plug In Baby’ with David Bottrill pretty much exactly as on the record. But the one I did with John I haven't played on stage yet, so I don't know how it'll turn out. But hopefully it'll work.」

●So, I've listened to almost half of the 10 songs, but I wonder how my impression will change if I listen to the whole album. Will it feel more experimental, or…? 「I guess so…… Sorry, show me the tracklist again…… For example, if you compare ‘Citizen Erased’ and ‘Screenager’, one is a metallic, magnificent epic and the other is a short, sharp acoustic song, so they have very different grooves, don't they? In that sense, it's not so different from the impression I have now. In short, they are all very different from each other. There are two songs that are very electronic. But they're not purely electronic, they're more like Daft Punk + Jeff Buckley, or Daft Punk + Rage Against the Machine, or whatever, they're like a fusion of two very different sounds with very strong personalities. And I tried to combine two opposing elements together in all the songs, not just this one. ‘Space Dementia’ and ‘Citizen Erased’ are the most dramatic and flashy songs.」

●I'm looking forward to hearing them in full. So, while we were talking like this, it was already past 3am, how late are you working on it? 「I think I'm going to do a bit more. Today…… I think it'll be around 4:30, maybe even longer (laughs).」

●Well, we have a lot of filming tomorrow, so please look after us. 「Yeah. You're going on a boat, right? You guys should go back by boat too. The tide is coming in.」

●Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to do this so late at night. 「Oh, no, it's fine, no problem at all.」

After that, it was a comfortable boat ride back. I went back to the hotel, had a bath, took a two-hour nap and immediately returned back to Heathrow. It was just me. I told the lady in charge and Yoshiba-san, "Well, please take care of the filming," and went back to Sultan's hell. In the end, the return journey took 5 hours, followed by a lovely 12-hour flight ♡ Ah, I'm dying. So, how did the album turn out? The sound has finally arrived! For details, see page 214.

Muse Origin of Symmetry AVCM 65071 (AVEX) 6/6 RELEASE

The only neo-UK guitar that can go toe-to-toe with US Loud Finally, all the songs have arrived! First, I defecated on the opening song “New Born”. The classical beautiful melody gradually becomes more and more impressive, and from the second chorus onwards, the atmosphere changes completely. It's a crazy guitar eccentric show that ignores the normal song development. No one can stop Matthew. The chaos just gets more and more exciting. I'm sure I listened to “New Born” in a studio in Cornwall, but I don't know this song. I just wrote down the song titles on the MD disc that was handed to me, so maybe I was tricked by some subtle trick? There's no song called “Paradise” either. Well, the final mix changed the impression completely. If you remember MUSE's manliness from the preceding single “Plug In Baby”, bear in mind how well-balanced and good a pop tune it is on the album. It's hard for no reason, flamboyant for no reason, dramatic for no reason - yes, everything is just excessive. For example, who can resist laughing and crying at the operatic flamenco heavy rock of Track 7, “Micro Cuts”? There is a lot of experimentation in this album. But it is far from the normal human sense of balance. A torrent of unhinged ideas and passions far removed from ‘construction’ and ‘perfection’. Sorry for the comparison with “OK Computer”. Radiohead couldn't do something this stupid.

There was one thing I forgot to ask during the undercover studio interview. From this special feature, the most important question in a sense is, ‘How do you feel about MUSE being positioned as “punk”?’ The answer is obvious. Yes, this is what I think of as “punk”. It makes me laugh, it makes me happy. MUSE really laughed at the stuffiness and niceties of UK rock. It was wonderful. (Koji Nakamoto)

Dramaturgy like no other since Queen (seriously) Ever since I saw Matthew on stage playing his Floyd Rose-equipped Eddie Van Halen model at On Air West on their first visit to Japan, I've assumed and professed to myself that the key to this band's stage presence was how they could explode with their ‘metal self,’ but no-one ever shared my opinion. The intro of the first song made me want to shout ‘See, I knew it!’. But as the song progressed, I couldn't help but feel my eyes and ears start to glaze over. It wasn't just my metal soul that was exploding. In the previous album, punk, 70s rock, classical, Spanish, and opera were all somehow contained within the vessel of ‘guitar rock,’ but in this album, each element explodes one by one, shattering the vessel to pieces. The result is an excessively dramatic sound. Why does it have to be dramatic? Because otherwise it would be boring. Not music, but life. I don't want to live like I'm dead. By Misato Watanabe. Writing this makes me feel nostalgic and cold, but the fact is, it's only in moments like that that you realise that you're alive, or that you're being kept alive, but you can't help but feel that you're right here, right now. The intensity of the sound is also incredible. Or rather, it feels like the intensity is not dependent on ‘loud’ but enhanced by ‘dramatic’. It was MUSE who made hard rock that could compete with America, in a way that only the UK, or even Europe, could do. For what purpose? To bring back to the sound the ‘intensity’ that UK guitar rock has lost. Anyway, can you think of it? A sound like this. No, even if you could come up with it, would you do it? Or rather, could you do it? I don't think so, only MUSE can do it. (Shinji Hyogo)

Translator’s Note: Just the description of the journey alone that the journalist and photographer had to take to reach Sawmills Studios in Cornwall, where Muse was doing mixing then, is equal parts hilarious and uninspiring in the effort taken to get a listen to the rough recording of Origin of Symmetry, conduct an interview, and take photos of them LMAO. Still, it’s the ♡ at the end that made this so memorable to translate and read.

Thanks to that one Musecord member who helped me in discovering that ‘Megalomania’ previous alternative titles were ‘Go Forth & Multiply’ and ‘Paradise’!

*Yeah, translating this answer alone reminds me once again just how much of a conspiracy theorist Matt used to be. And I can’t blame the journalist for presumably looking at Matt as though he’d gone beyond just being an eccentric British.

**I translated this part and I couldn’t help but think that the description of this song sounded awfully familiar to what eventually became the three-piece suite that is “Exogenesis Symphony” in 2009. I’ve checked on MuseWiki, but no one knew of this. So is this possibly the earliest mention of “Exogenesis Symphony”? And its earliest title was called “Collaboration with the Dead”???

Please do support me via my ko-fi! ☕

#Japanese interviews are UNPARRALLELED #this is one of the funniest I’ve read yet what a joy #what a journey they took for a two hour interview #‘Radiohead could never do anything this stupid’#crying

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