Behind the Bass: Chris Wolstenholme

Chris Wolstenholme

Doing some reaseach about muse daily actually has it benefits. I stumbled apon a website that actually had an interview from MUSE's bassist, Chris Wolstenholme. It is known to many musers that he doesnt really like to partake in interviws of the band. I am not quite sure why he isn't fond of interviews, but i did happen to find one with just him in it. Below is thus interview;

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You guys are really big in Australia now, but has that always been the case? The first time we played in Australia we played in a RSL. That was in 1999. We played to maybe 50 or 60 people. We did a couple of tours in Australia on our first album, and then we didn’t come here at all for the second album. And then it wasn’t until Absolution where we did the Big Day Out. Things didn’t really seem to be moving forward in Australia at all. And all of a sudden it all went crazy. And since then we’ve kept coming back.

When in Sydney, where do you go? We like Harry’s. We were sitting there eating pies looking down at the mudflats [it was lowtide], and it was covered in rats. It was weird eating and watching rats. It didn’t work.

What was going through your mind before that Wembley gig? I think I was pretty much as terrified as I’ve ever been for a gig. But not just that day – I was nervous for the entire week. Any normal gig, even big arenas, you only really get nervous maybe half an hour before the show. The difference between an arena and a stadium is obvious. Sixty-something thousand people, that’s a different story.

How much planning went into the show? That gig was booked nine months before we actually did it. There was so much planning. And it was always there in the back of our minds – we have a huge show on June 16 and 17 at Wembley Stadium. The week leading up to it was where everyone was getting extremely nervous, and then the day before the gig, I felt sick. It was that bad. Obviously excited as well, but I felt sick. And not just because of the amount of people – just the fact we’d never really played a stadium before and we were unsure as to whether our music would work in a stadium. But once we got out there, it was great.

Did anything go wrong? It was quite emotional really. A couple of times I almost felt choked up because it made me think a lot of where we came from – playing in little clubs to 20 or 30 people, when mates from college used to come and watch us play, and that doesn’t seem like that long ago: seven, eight or nine years ago. To then be up at this level playing Wembley Stadium, it was quite emotional.

Coachella 2010

MUSE @ Coachella

4/22/10

From the bombastic artrock of U.K.'s Muse to the arena-sized dance music of Dutch DJ Tiesto, the 2010 Coachella Music and Art Festival's second day was a world party on a massive scale. The Devon band were forced to scale down their usual extravagant stage show for their second headliner slot (behind Tiesto) but still managed to include lasers and fireworks in their 90-minute set. At one point, they also spliced in a Jimi Hendrix-esque interlude of 'The Star Spangled Banner' into proceedings, and more randomly threw a sequence of Nirvana’s ‘School’ into the mix too. Later in their set, the trio ad-libbed several interludes of music that made reference to Coachella's Californian setting, including a section of mariachi riffs and a mock spaghetti western score, which was played just before the finale of ‘Knights Of Cydonia’.

US & Canada Tour Dates Announced

DID YOU SAY MORE MUSE?!

I am very pleased to announce the first of Muse's forthcoming US & Canada autumn tour dates. All the dates listed below will go on general sale on Saturday 24th April APART FROM Charlottesville and St. Louis. These two dates will go on sale one day earlier on Friday 23rd April.

A Muse fan pre-sale will be available for all these dates on Wednesday 21st April. Link coming very soon!

Please note on-sale times for these dates vary so please make sure you check the extra information for each date by going to the tour dates section or the individual date using the links below.

More dates coming soon. Stay tuned...!

US & CANADA TOUR AUTUMN 2010

22nd September: Viejas Arena, San Diego, CA
23rd September: Honda Center, Anaheim, CA
25th September: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA

1st October: Santa Ana Star Center, Rio Rancho, NM
2nd October: Pepsi Center, Denver, CO **tickets from postponed Denver date valid for this show, see date for details**
5th October: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
6th October: Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI
8th October: Ford Center, Oklahoma City, OK
21st October: Pepsi Coliseum, Quebec City, QC
27th October: John Paul Jones Arena, Chalottesville, VA

2nd November: Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO
3rd November: Scotttrade Center, St. Louis, MO
5th November: Schottenstein Center, Columbus, OH
6th November: US Bank Arena, Cincinnati, OH

Source: muse.mu

MUSE Chicago!

MUSE CHICAGO @ the UNITED CENTER

March 12th, 2010

It has been a couple months since I had last posted on my blog, but don't you worry, I am back with a brain full of Idea and topics to branch upon! Throughout my absence, allot has gone on.

Starting off, I attended the MUSE concert in Chicago on March 12 @ the United Center. The opening band was Silversun Pickups, and they started a vibe in the arena that got everyone pumped up for the main band, MUSE. Throughout there performance as an opening band, they were actually really really good.

Standing in the crowd, many people thought that they would kill the show or even make some people leave before MUSE could have a chance to blow their mind. When they came out they put on a really good performance that got everyone on there feet. Even between sounds the lead singer would communicate with the crowd and get them to put on an audience light show with the flashes on their cameras. They were really friendly to the crowd and the crowd followed by doing the same to them when they left the stage for the main band, MUSE.

When I was standing up against the barrier (FRONT ROWW!) many people around me were freaking out just like I was. We all traveled for one moment, and for one band, MUSE. With a sold out arena, and a GA pit extended to accommodate more people on the floor; Matt Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme, and Dom Howard, where there to do one thing. Continue there Resistance Tour, and to play beautiful and genius work of music.

When they began to play, a tear came to my eyes. Me, Aaron Taylor, had finally made it, and for one goal; to finally see MUSE live. The roar of the crowd, and led off with their current single "Uprising." When the curtains fell, the crowd was in a frenzy, the floor bounced in synchronicity with arms held high and sang along as Matt Bellamy at long last started to fulfill his promise of a show to redeem their Lolla '07 performance. Though well-received, they acknowledged after that performance that they owed the city of Chicago something more. As would be expected with a show like this, there were few lulls in the action. Even in the seated sections, few sat for much of the show.

Although it continued throughout the show, the most impressive moment came at the beginning of "Resistance" when the light show started in earnest. Few combine music and visuals to this extent, and very few do it better than Muse. The lasers were everywhere, the strobes were going nuts, and all the while, the music just kept on driving forward.

"Supermassive" found Bellamy on a part of the stage practically overhanging the crowd, and they thanked him for it. Shortly after, Christopher Wolstenholme showcased his talent on "Hysteria," which as expected, was one of the high moments for the show. And shortly after, something I didn't expect happened, the pillars raised back up with Bellamy playing the coolest piano I've seen in quite some time. Every time he hit a note, a different light in the soundboard of the piano lit up. More impressive was the cover of "Feeling Good" which was done quite well.

This was one of the best experiences of my life, and I will always remember the day I saw MUSE live in concert. I think that everyone should have the opportunity to experience something like this. Music is something everyone should, and can relate to. Music can bring people up when they are down, and even calm them down when they get crazy. It is a harmless mind drug, that gives people a good addiction. I my self, am addicted to the beautiful music and relentless mind of Matt Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme, and Dom Howard.

I didn't want to bore everyone with what I had to say, so I am going to stop this post now :D

Lol, one last thing I wanted to post is the set list:

Uprising

Resistance

New Born

Map of the Problematique

Supermassive Black Hole

Guiding Light

Interlude

Hysteria

Nishe

United States Of Eurasia

Feeling Good

Helsinki Jam

Undisclosed Desires

Starlight

Unnatural Selection

Time Is Running Out

Plug In Baby

Encore:

Exogenesis: Symphony, Part 1: Overture

Stockholm Syndrome

Knights of Cydonia

Can you say "G#5"?

I know all of you out there are like, "OMG, two posts in one day?!?!". To answer all of you, yes. Since I had time on my hands today, I decided to treat all you Muse fans out there to a double dose of Muse action.I know when you guys where looking at the title of this article, some new Muse fans would be like, "Matt Bellamy can't hit a G#5 with his voice, that is one of the hardest cords to hit with your voice!".

He has two songs that achieve this note. Showbiz from the Showbiz album, and Miro Cuts on the Origin Of Symmetry. When I was doing research on this, I found a little bit of an interview with one of Bellamy's closest friends.

"I think you'll find Matt's highest note to date was a J#9 (same as a Kb9) which he did round my mate's house, yesterday (we were just having a little jam on the acoustic guitars to kill some time). We found out yesterday that Matt can even hit B# (Cb) and E# (Fb) - the notes that apparently "don't exist"... and has extra frets on his guitars to compensate for this.That's his secret."

Album information:

An album on which the band wanted to show their more sophisticated style, considered as more 'progressive rock-styled'. The vocals differ from those heard on their first album, Showbiz. Most of the songs have been composed while on tour promoting Showbiz. The album is said to be more 'riff-oriented' and a bit darker than the previous one. It's title has been inspired by the book Hyperspace by Michio Kaku. The book says that a future publication about the discovery of super symmetry should be entitled "The Origin Of Symmetry", as an analogy to "On The Origin Of Species" by Charles Darwin.

Song information:

In this song Matt hits his highest recorded note to date, being G#5(the same one he hits on the Showbiz vocal solo. The song is said to be inspired by Bellamy's dream in which he was in desert and giant blades were swinging from the sky. Some also claim that the piece has been inspired by Prelude N°3 in D minor by Johann-Sebastian Bach.

In order for me to allow me to show you guys the two different songs, I went ahead and created a playlist from "www.playlist.com" I think that it will be easier for you guys to view both songs and make the process easier, rather then trying to find two different videos that will portray both songs. Please take time and listen to both songs (Yes I know that they are long, but please give them a listen. Seriously) .

Micro Cuts Lyrics:

Hands are red with your blame

Megaphone screaming my name

Whimpers someone I should've loved

Souls weeping above

I've seen

What you re doing to me

Destroying puppet strings

To our souls

Micro waves me insane

A blade cuts in your brain

Sounds like forks on a plate

Blackboard scratched with hate

I've seen

What you re doing to me

Destroying puppet strings

To our souls

Showbiz Lyrics:

Controlling my feelings far too long

Controlling my feelings far too long

Controlling my feelings far too long

Controlling my feelings far too long

Forcing our darkest souls to unfold

Forcing our darkest souls to unfold

And pushing us into self destruction

And pushing us into self destruction

They make me, make me dream your dreams

They make me, make me scream your screams

Trying to please you far too long

Trying to please you far too long

Visions of greed you wallow

Visions of greed you wallow

Visions of greed you wallow

Visions of greed you wallow

They make me, make me dream your dreams

They make me, make me scream your screams

Controlling my feelings far too long

Controlling our feelings far too long

And Forcing our darkest souls to unfold

And Forcing our darkest souls to unfold

And pushing us into self destruction

And pushing us into self destruction

They make me, make me dream your dreams

They make me, make me scream your screams

Behind the Music : Knights of Cydonia

For one of my first single song reviews, I wanted to choose one of my favorites, "Knights of Cydonia". Most people will know this song from Guitar Hero, or even on the radio when it first came out. This song has deep meaning, and quotes that people can live their life by. At the end of this review, I will post some quotes that you readers may like.One of my favorite things to do with music is to study the lyrics and get into deep meaning. If you ever have time, just Google the song lyrics, and try and figure out what the band members mean by it when they use them

The Music Video

The KOC video was shot over five days: three days in Romania; one day in London; and one day in Red Rock, California; it was made available on July 11, 2006. It was filmed and edited as a thematic smörgåsbord: a spaghetti western film with post-apocalyptic influence, complete with beginning and end credits, livened with the occasional kung-fu cowboy or metal-clad maiden astride a unicorn. At the end of the video one can see Roman numerals MCMLXXXI which translates as 1981. However, in the introduction the numerals MCLMXXXI are seen,which despite claims that it could equal 2081 (MMLXXXI) or 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI), is not a valid roman numeral.

The video was directed by Joseph Kahn, and stars British actor Russ Bain as the protagonist (The Man With No Name), Richard Brake as the antagonist (Sheriff Baron Klaus Rottingham), and Cassandra Bell as the love interest (Princess Shane Kuriyami). Throughout the video, the actors mouth out the lyrics, such as Russ Bain ramshackled in town square mouthing ‘No one's going to take me alive’, and Cassandra Bell at the gallows ‘You and I must fight for our rights’. In both instances, the mouthed words occur after the song lyrics and complete before the song moves on to the next line. The band appears in some scenes as holograms, and there are also some scenes featuring lead singer Bellamy. Also, when it shows the population of the town Cydonia it is shown as "143", a common symbol for "I love you", although it is unknown whether this is just a random number, or it was put there for a reason by the director or band.

In the intro is a citation of the five tone musical phrase from the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The song features vocals from both Bellamy's higher and lower ranges layered and both synthesised and live trumpet parts. The guitar sound in the song was inspired by the 1962 number one hit "Telstar" by The Tornados (George Bellamy, Matt Bellamy's father, was the band's rhythm guitarist).The song, taken in entirety, also bears a striking resemblance to George Bellamy's composition "Ridin' the Wind".

The song's meaning is to teach people to stand up for themselves and make their own destiny.

Bellamy has stated that on the album in general he tried to create a vision of what is occurring in the song. For example, the bassline has a galloping rhythm depicting someone riding a horse

Quotes

"And how can we win, When fools can be kings"

"Don't waste your time, Or time will waste you"

"No one's gonna take me alive, The time has come to make things righ"

"You and I must fight for our rights, You and I must fight to survive"

MUSE-Knights of Cydonia

Here we go!

Today, I was running around on the internet and found something interesting. I was trying to find some good MUSE interviews and I think I found the jackpot! noVaFM has released some interviews that they had with lead singer (Matt Bellamy), and drummer (Dom Howard). If you didn't know, the reason why the bassist Chris Wolstenholme does not appear in many interviews, is because he simply does not like them.

Absolutely hilarious interview involving orgasmic noises, Matt making sounds with his zipper, Dom calling Matt an idiot:

Muse Gets A Hug
http://www.novafm.com.au/Video_Muse-gets-a-hug_97992?site=Nova969
The Muse Game
http://www.novafm.com.au/Video_The-M...1?site=Nova969

Muse Orgy!
http://www.novafm.com.au/Video_Muse-...8?site=Nova969

Muse On Big Day Out
http://www.novafm.com.au/Video_Muse-...7?site=Nova969


EDIT: Matt and Dom did yet another interview on Nova yesterday but there's not video for it, only the audio.

Muse Today with Ryan, Monty & Wippa (Part 1)
http://www.novafm.com.au/Audio_Muse-...5?site=Nova969

MUSE - Undisclosed Desires

MUSE news update!

The first MUSE news update has finally arrived!

For my news updates, I am going to compile multiple MUSE updates into these posts. Along with the news updates, I am going to be giving my opinions on then and such:

Emily Eavis from Glastonbury Festival and Oxfam have teamed up to raise money for Haiti through an auction of super exclusive items donated by a whole host of British musicians. Muse have donated the custom Tama drum kit that Dom used throughout the Black Holes & Revelations tour.

The auction runs until 09:00 on Tuesday 2ND February and Dom's kit is currently at an extremely reasonable £500! So, if you fancy supporting an extremely good cause and getting your hands on a piece of Muse history, then click on the link below...

I think that this is a great way to help out the people of Haiti, this drum kit isn't the only thing for sale, they even have the jacket that Chris Martin from Coldplay wore during the Viva La Vida tour. This is one of the more pricey items up for auction because it has his signature.

In other news

Muse performed a thrilling set at the Big Day Out in Sydney last night, treating the crowd to over an hour's worth of music.

The massive sound was equalled by an impressive stage show featuring lasers and projections.

Surprise guest Nic Cester from Jet joined them for a cover of the AC/DC classic Back In Black.

As the band walked off at the end of the show the entire stadium housing the main stage was lit up by fireworks.

Punters heading to today's 100th Big Day Out festival should expect the same spectacular finale.

Earlier in the evening Chris from Muse stopped by the triple j broadcast van and told Rosie Beaton the band are working on putting together a tour documentary.

"Most of the shows that we're doing are recorded. We travel with a recording system so it's really easy these days to record every show. So much of what we do is naturally documented anyway so when we come to a year down the line and record companies are screaming at us for a live thing we'll have plenty of stuff to choose from. But we'd like to do something more along the lines of a touring documentary as opposed to just a live gig this time, we've done that three or four times. I think we just want to do something a little more like Nirvana's thing the Live Tonight Sold Out. I think that was one of the best tour documentary videos I'd ever watched. Just life on the road, obviously with a bit of music here and there and loads of other random stuff as well."

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/musicnews/default.htm#1

Click here to view the drums on eBay

The drum kit for sale is also the one played in this recording of "Supermassive Blackhole"

Muse from David Tree on Vimeo.

First Blog Post!

Hello everybody on the Interwebz! This is officially my first blog post ever, and hopefully not the last. I saw a friend create a blog, and he inspired me to create one also. My goal here is to discuss common new/ reviews / and deep down thoughts about a great band called MUSE!

Starting off, I am very open to all music. I hate when people pre-judge a musical band/group, when they haven't even listened to them. Thats not what I am here to write about (even tho it could make a good convo).

I went ahead and made my review of all the albums and songs to start off my blog. In further blogs, I will go into more depth.

SHOWBIZ (7.8/10)

Sunburn 8.5/10
Muscle Museum 8.5/10
Fillip 6/10
Falling Down 6/10
Cave 7.5/10
Showbiz 8/10
Unintended 8/10
Uno 9/10
Sober 9/10
Escape 6.5/10
Overdue 5/10
Hate this and I'll love you 4/10

ORIGIN OF SYMMETRY (9/10)

New Born 10/10
Bliss 7.5/10
Space Dementia 8/10
Hypermusic 8/10
Plug In Baby 10/10
Citizen Erased 10/10
Micro Cuts 10/10
Screenager 7.5/10
Dark Shines 7.5/10
Feeling Good 7.5/10
Megalomania 8.5/10

ABSOLUTION (9.5/10)

Apocalypse Please 8/10
Time Is Running Out 8/10
Sing for Absolution 8.5/10
Stockholm Syndrome 10/10
Falling Away With You 7/10
Hysteria 10/10
Blackout 10/10
Butterflies and Hurricanes 10/10
The Small Print 8/10
Endlessly 7.5/10
Thoughts of a Dying Atheist 7/10
Ruled by Secrecy 8/10

BLACK HOLES AND REVELATIONS (10/10)

Take a Bow 8/10
Starlight 8.5/10 (gonna get slaughtered for that but i love it and its the 1st muse song i ever heard)
Supermassive Black Hole 10/10
Map of the Problematique 10/10
Soldiers Poem 7.5/10
Invincible 8/10
Assassin 10/10
Exo-Politics 8.5/10
City of Delusion 7/10
Hoodoo 8/10
Knights of Cydonia 10/10

THE RESISTANCE (10/10)

Uprising 9/10
Resistance 10/10
Undisclosed Desires 9/10
United States of Eurasia 9/10
Guiding Light 8.5/10
Unnatural Selection 10/10
MKUltra 10/10
I Belong to You 9/10
Exogenesis (Overture) 10/10
Exogenesis (Cross-Pollination) 10/10
Exogenesis (Redemption) 10/10