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Interview 3FM tonight


Dannyveno

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Well in the space of a day I've gone from thinking this will be a guitar-lite to a guitar-oriented album :LOL:.

 

Also, wtf is up with so many people here not being 100% behind Chris singing? Their his own deeply personal songs - I wouldn't want Matt singing them personally.

 

I think his vocals will bring a great new dimension to the album and surely it can only be a good thing for Matt to have a bit of competition.

 

Really excited now :D.

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Chris is such a beautiful man.

 

THIS. He's amazing. :happy:

 

Well in the space of a day I've gone from thinking this will be a guitar-lite to a guitar-oriented album :LOL:.

 

Also, wtf is up with so many people here not being 100% behind Chris singing? Their his own deeply personal songs - I wouldn't want Matt singing them personally.

 

I think his vocals will bring a great new dimension to the album and surely it can only be a good thing for Matt to have a bit of competition.

 

Really excited now :D.

 

Exactly, this is personal to Chris which is why it'll be epic, imo. He's singing about something that's affected his life and I'm actually really excited to hear what he comes up with - what a Chris song sounds like. All we've known of Muse have been Matt songs (writing and melody for almost all songs to date), but this is something completely unknown. It's a HUGE deal for a band of 17 years to suddenly make a major change but I'm 100% behind it!

 

Plus, as Chris says, it's kind of overdue. I'm surprised it's taken six albums for someone other than Matt to sing or write any songs, although I know it will take lots of getting used to and will be SO weird to begin with. I'm already struggling to comprehend what it might be like, lol. But I'm even more excited about the prospect of a 'heavy' Chris track versus a potentially slower or quieter one. AHHH CANNY WAIT! :D:awesome:

 

Chris is Mr Epic! :chris:

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Right the translation (warning: the interviewer seems to have some fetish for last names and the word 'exclusive' :rolleyes:)

 

 

 

MUSE ON THE 2ND LAW: " EVERYTHING IS SLOWLY BREAKING DOWN"

Roosmarijn Reijmer interviews British band exclusively about their 6th album

 

An over the top olympic song about the dark side of 'winning' and an album trailer which obviously contains dubstep. After a 3-year silence the English rock trio Muse makes sure their upcoming 6th album The 2nd Law is one of the most talked-about issues in music land. 3voor12 Radio DJ Roosmarijn Reijmer talks with bass player (and proud owner of two songs written and sung by himself) Chris Wolstenholme.

 

Exclusive interview with Chris from Muse about the new album The 2nd Law and his alcoholism

Muse has sold 15 million albums worldwide, 2.6 of which were issues of the 2009 release The Resistance. They perform sold-out shows in the biggest arenas all over the world and thus the release of a new muse is a benchmark in the musical year 2012. But what's going on exactly? Is Muse really going dubstep?

 

Wolstenholme is clear about it, Muse is not going dubstep:

"Not at all. Two tracks on the new album contain a reference to it. One of them is the one in the albumtrailer (2nd Law pt1: Unsustainable). We went to see Skrillex and Nero, and liked to try and do with dubstep what Rage Against the Machine did with hiphop. They took the sound and grooves but did it with 'real' instruments. We wanted to try and make that wall of sound you find in dubstep yet play it on our own instruments and make something that you can play live. It sounds like dubstep but you can't call it dubstep. It's still rock."

 

(intermezzo: review pt 1)

The dubstep trailer and Survival are the front runners of the album, which is released in September. During a listen session in early July it takes 4 tracks to realise these are the two most extreme moments of the album. I'm a little disappointed. However, in the year in which 'the guitar' has been declared dead 25 times The 2nd Law proves it isn't. It is one hell of an album, a straight-up rock'n roll record with a little less bombast than their earlier work. There's a choir, Matthew Bellamy's typical over the top vocals, ballad, quite a brass section at times, but most of all: walls of guitar. The side steps to other genres appear to be cheeky, not a new musical direction.

 

Nothing wrong with teasing, right?

"No, of course not," Wolstenholme laughs. "Survival is completely different from what we've done before but at the same time it could have been no-one else. There's an important balance between being who you are and on the other hand trying new things. We still very much sound like Muse." They'd seen the mixed response to the release and the olympic song Survival coming: "We always get extreme responses. People love it or hate it. There's no middle ground. I was checking twitter when Survival was premiered on the radio. It's still weird that with the rising of social media you get an instant response to something you've kept to yourselves in the studio for months."

 

(intermezzo: review pt 2)

The 2nd Law has 13 tracks with big themes like the recession, environmental problems, wars and a longing to escape. Matthew Bellamy sings on Explorers: "Free us from this world, we don't belong here". Typically Muse and typically Bellamy. He's been a space enthusiast for years, busy with conspiracy theories and owning a basement with food without expiration date. In case of a biblical flood, the best place to stay would be at his place. The past couple of years were even more turbulent due to his engagement with Hollywood actress Kate Hudson and the birth of their son Bing. The paparazzi included with Hollywood brought him to putting up a picture of woman and child on twitter, but it didn't work.

 

Brass band and choir

The theme for the album was clear from very early on in the studio. Wolstenholme: "The sessions started in October last year. The idea behind The 2nd Law is that everything is slowly breaking down. Our live as we know it is not sustainable. Personally we fight against the world around us every day. Our relationships, the things we do and how we know that our lives are contradictory to what is inevitably going to happen." Or, as Bellamy sings on Big Freeze: "I need a way to escape, are you here, just because I need you, big freeze is heading our way" Musically Muse is challenged by experimenting with a brass band (on e.g. Panic Station) in both a funky and classical way and for the first time we can even hear a choir. Wolstenholme: "That was my favourite moment during the recordings: hearing a choir with 30 persons sing a mighty chord."

 

Another new thing on The 2nd Law is Chris Wolstenholme as songwriter and singer of two tracks, Save Me and Liquid State. He's proud of it: "It feels as if I've waited too long for this. That's all my fault though, I've been writing for a long time but it took me 6 albums to find the guts to show everyone what I'm capable of." They're very personal songs, which is why Wolstenholme ended up singing them himself. "Save Me is a ballad about someone in your live who gives you balance and stability, who loves you and is there for you. Despite everything. Matt mostly wanted to sing Liquid State, a dark song with stomping guitar riff about my inner demons, a schizophrenic song about a split personality. In the end it was weird if Matt would sing it. The lyrics are very clearly about me."

 

Songs about Wolstenholme's alcoholism

The songs are about Wolstenholme's addiction to alcohol, which in the end led to him going to rehab in the midst of the recordings for The Resistance. At the height of his addiction he drank 15 bottles of beer and 2 bottles of wine a day and a beer next to his bed, like others might have a glass of water. Wolstenholme's songs were treated the same way as Bellamy's: "Everyone has a say in the matter when we're in the studio, we don't stop until we're all pleased. The biggest challenge was to make my songs sound like Muse, also because I'm singing them."

 

Muse has a sold-out show in the Ziggo Dome on the 17th of December but Wolstenholme doesn't know how they'll translate the sound of The 2nd Law to the live set yet. "That's gonna take some work. We've got a brass band, a choir and that dubstep, there's a lot to think about. Maybe we'll have to take on a 5th person. We're going to rehearse extensively next autumn."

 

 

 

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Right the translation (warning: the interviewer seems to have some fetish for last names and the word 'exclusive' :rolleyes:)

 

 

 

MUSE ON THE 2ND LAW: " EVERYTHING IS SLOWLY BREAKING DOWN"

Roosmarijn Reijmer interviews British band exclusively about their 6th album

 

An over the top olympic song about the dark side of 'winning' and an album trailer which obviously contains dubstep. After a 3-year silence the English rock trio Muse makes sure their upcoming 6th album The 2nd Law is one of the most talked-about issues in music land. 3voor12 Radio DJ Roosmarijn Reijmer talks with bass player (and proud owner of two songs written and sung by himself) Chris Wolstenholme.

 

Exclusive interview with Chris from Muse about the new album The 2nd Law and his alcoholism

Muse has sold 15 million albums worldwide, 2.6 of which were issues of the 2009 release The Resistance. They perform sold-out shows in the biggest arenas all over the world and thus the release of a new muse is a benchmark in the musical year 2012. But what's going on exactly? Is Muse really going dubstep?

 

Wolstenholme is clear about it, Muse is not going dubstep:

"Not at all. Two tracks on the new album contain a reference to it. One of them is the one in the albumtrailer (2nd Law pt1: Unsustainable). We went to see Skrillex and Nero, and liked to try and do with dubstep what Rage Against the Machine did with hiphop. They took the sound and grooves but did it with 'real' instruments. We wanted to try and make that wall of sound you find in dubstep yet play it on our own instruments and make something that you can play live. It sounds like dubstep but you can't call it dubstep. It's still rock."

 

(intermezzo: review pt 1)

The dubstep trailer and Survival are the front runners of the album, which is released in September. During a listen session in early July it takes 4 tracks to realise these are the two most extreme moments of the album. I'm a little disappointed. However, in the year in which 'the guitar' has been declared dead 25 times The 2nd Law proves it isn't. It is one hell of an album, a straight-up rock'n roll record with a little less bombast than their earlier work. There's a choir, Matthew Bellamy's typical over the top vocals, ballad, quite a brass section at times, but most of all: walls of guitar. The side steps to other genres appear to be cheeky, not a new musical direction.

 

Nothing wrong with teasing, right?

"No, of course not," Wolstenholme laughs. "Survival is completely different from what we've done before but at the same time it could have been no-one else. There's an important balance between being who you are and on the other hand trying new things. We still very much sound like Muse." They'd seen the mixed response to the release and the olympic song Survival coming: "We always get extreme responses. People love it or hate it. There's no middle ground. I was checking twitter when Survival was premiered on the radio. It's still weird that with the rising of social media you get an instant response to something you've kept to yourselves in the studio for months."

 

(intermezzo: review pt 2)

The 2nd Law has 13 tracks with big themes like the recession, environmental problems, wars and a longing to escape. Matthew Bellamy sings on Explorers: "Free us from this world, we don't belong here". Typically Muse and typically Bellamy. He's been a space enthusiast for years, busy with conspiracy theories and owning a basement with food without expiration date. In case of a biblical flood, the best place to stay would be at his place. The past couple of years were even more turbulent due to his engagement with Hollywood actress Kate Hudson and the birth of their son Bing. The paparazzi included with Hollywood brought him to putting up a picture of woman and child on twitter, but it didn't work.

 

Brass band and choir

The theme for the album was clear from very early on in the studio. Wolstenholme: "The sessions started in October last year. The idea behind The 2nd Law is that everything is slowly breaking down. Our live as we know it is not sustainable. Personally we fight against the world around us every day. Our relationships, the things we do and how we know that our lives are contradictory to what is inevitably going to happen." Or, as Bellamy sings on Big Freeze: "I need a way to escape, are you here, just because I need you, big freeze is heading our way" Musically Muse is challenged by experimenting with a brass band (on e.g. Panic Station) in both a funky and classical way and for the first time we can even hear a choir. Wolstenholme: "That was my favourite moment during the recordings: hearing a choir with 30 persons sing a mighty chord."

 

Another new thing on The 2nd Law is Chris Wolstenholme as songwriter and singer of two tracks, Save Me and Liquid State. He's proud of it: "It feels as if I've waited too long for this. That's all my fault though, I've been writing for a long time but it took me 6 albums to find the guts to show everyone what I'm capable of." They're very personal songs, which is why Wolstenholme ended up singing them himself. "Save Me is a ballad about someone in your live who gives you balance and stability, who loves you and is there for you. Despite everything. Matt mostly wanted to sing Liquid State, a dark song with stomping guitar riff about my inner demons, a schizophrenic song about a split personality. In the end it was weird if Matt would sing it. The lyrics are very clearly about me."

 

Songs about Wolstenholme's alcoholism

The songs are about Wolstenholme's addiction to alcohol, which in the end led to him going to rehab in the midst of the recordings for The Resistance. At the height of his addiction he drank 15 bottles of beer and 2 bottles of wine a day and a beer next to his bed, like others might have a glass of water. Wolstenholme's songs were treated the same way as Bellamy's: "Everyone has a say in the matter when we're in the studio, we don't stop until we're all pleased. The biggest challenge was to make my songs sound like Muse, also because I'm singing them."

 

Muse has a sold-out show in the Ziggo Dome on the 17th of December but Wolstenholme doesn't know how they'll translate the sound of The 2nd Law to the live set yet. "That's gonna take some work. We've got a brass band, a choir and that dubstep, there's a lot to think about. Maybe we'll have to take on a 5th person. We're going to rehearse extensively next autumn."

 

 

 

Great! that's quite a lot easier to read :LOL:

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I think it is interesting that Chris confirmed that the album theme is that everything ends up in disorder as that is what the paper Neill posted originally on thermodynamics appeared to be referring to in the description of entropy.

 

Alongside that is that everything ends up as nothing. Chris appeared to me to be drawing parallels with our own painful feelings about our own mortality.

 

I think the album is going to be very sad and powerful. I suppose that on an individual basis the end of humanity can be related to our own individual end as it's the last experience we will have of the world. :(

 

But it would be nice if the album had at least a little hope in it. :erm: It has presumably the celebration of a new birth and celebration of Chris' recovery. I wonder if it will therefore also contain any hope.

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I think it is interesting that Chris confirmed that the album theme is that everything ends up in disorder as that is what the paper Neill posted originally on thermodynamics appeared to be referring to in the description of entropy.

 

Alongside that is that everything ends up as nothing. Chris appeared to me to be drawing parallels with our own painful feelings about our own mortality.

 

I think the album is going to be very sad and powerful. I suppose that on an individual basis the end of humanity can be related to our own individual end as it's the last experience we will have of the world. :(

 

But it would be nice if the album had at least a little hope in it. :erm: It has presumably the celebration of a new birth and celebration of Chris' recovery. I wonder if it will therefore also contain any hope.

 

I doubt Follow Me will be about Matt's life falling apart into nothingness :LOL: that one is surely about hope and the future.

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Well, he said that become a dad has amplified his concerns about the future, so who knows.

 

I think Thom Yorke said that when he had a kid. Hate bringing up the Radiohead comparisons again but if Follow Me is anything like Sail to the Moon I'll love it.

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Well, he said that become a dad has amplified his concerns about the future, so who knows.

 

Hmm, yes it is difficult to know.

 

I think Thom Yorke said that when he had a kid. Hate bringing up the Radiohead comparisons again but if Follow Me is anything like Sail to the Moon I'll love it.

 

Sail to the moon nevertheless seems contemplatively hopeful, if I interpret it right, though I can't remember ever thinking my kids might grow up and achieve great things. You just want them to be happy.

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I think it is interesting that Chris confirmed that the album theme is that everything ends up in disorder as that is what the paper Neill posted originally on thermodynamics appeared to be referring to in the description of entropy.

 

Alongside that is that everything ends up as nothing. Chris appeared to me to be drawing parallels with our own painful feelings about our own mortality.

 

I think the album is going to be very sad and powerful. I suppose that on an individual basis the end of humanity can be related to our own individual end as it's the last experience we will have of the world. :(

 

But it would be nice if the album had at least a little hope in it. :erm: It has presumably the celebration of a new birth and celebration of Chris' recovery. I wonder if it will therefore also contain any hope.

 

I'm sure follow me will be a mixture of hope and fear. Hope of new life and possibilities, fear from matts point of view of the responsibility he has for this precious being. Touching subjects that I am really looking forward to. And an album of doom sounds like absolution, which is certainly appealing to me! :LOL:

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Yeah, from the interviews, it sounds like "Follow Me" is Matt worrying about the future of the planet for his child. Like, there's a joy that comes from being a father, but a fear creeps in about what sort of environment will your child grow up in and a nagging doubt on if there will even be a chance for your child to grow to adulthood because humans have fucked things up so much.

 

Sounds like a very, very dark song to me.

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Yeah, from the interviews, it sounds like "Follow Me" is Matt worrying about the future of the planet for his child. Like, there's a joy that comes from being a father, but a fear creeps in about what sort of environment will your child grow up in and a nagging doubt on if there will even be a chance for your child to grow to adulthood because humans have fucked things up so much.

 

Sounds like a very, very dark song to me.

 

Yep, that's parenting...

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Maybe because of the dark lyrics?

 

I've got a feeling he said he wanted to sing it while the music was being created. I'm sure that it was when the focus shifted to the lyrics that he decided, as chris said, that it was clearly about chris' drinking problems and wouldn't work him singing it

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I've got a feeling he said he wanted to sing it while the music was being created. I'm sure that it was when the focus shifted to the lyrics that he decided, as chris said, that it was clearly about chris' drinking problems and wouldn't work him singing it

 

This.

 

Good interview :awesome:

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