eyduh Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Having played in more stadiums than Manchester United, it seemed only right to invite Muse’s bassist back to the home of English football for an adrenaline rush requiring serious balls of steel. Chris Wolstenholme returned to Wembley Stadium – which hosted the band’s awesome sell-out shows in 2007 and 2010 – to ride its supermassive zip wire. And once the bass beast was freed from his groin-hugging harness, Chris spoke exclusively to MTV News about the Olympic closing ceremony, Muse’s new album and their ambition to be the first band to play in space... What’s scarier – the Wembley Zip Wire or performing in front of a billion people at the Olympic closing ceremony?! Probably the Olympics. It was by far the biggest TV audience we’ve ever played to, but both had their moments! I remember the day of the closing ceremony being pretty chaotic. There was supposed to be a dress rehearsal but that never happened. We went into the stadium for a quick run-through and there were thousands of people running in different directions – it just looked like total chaos. But the whole ceremony ran seamlessly so I was totally blown away by it and for nothing to go wrong was pretty amazing. How surreal were the rehearsals? They were bizarre, especially the location. We spent 12 hours sitting in the green room but the line-up was so varied I don’t think you’ll ever get The Who, Queen, The Spice Girls, Jessie J and Muse in the same place again! Your new album The 2nd Law has been described as Muse’s most diverse, so are you bracing yourselves for the most diverse reaction yet? We are. It’s always a weird time once you’ve finished an album and a nervous wait for it to come out. From our point of view it’s the best thing we’ve ever done, but you never know what to expect and just because we like it that doesn’t mean everyone will feel the same. What do you make of the reaction to your new songs? It’s generally been good. Even with the Olympics behind it, Survival has been met in pretty much the same way as every first song we’ve released off our new album – people either love it or hate it, which seems to be the vibe with us. We don’t have any casual listeners, but that’s a good place to be. We have hardcore fans who are totally devoted to us, but also some people just don’t understand it. We’re not a coffee table band, that’s for sure! Why did you choose Madness as your first single? It’s quite an unusual song for us. We’ve delved into electronic stuff before but Madness is very stripped back and simple. It shows a completely different side to the band and the things Matt [bellamy] sings about is much more personal compared to what we’ve done before. So it’s nice to put something out that wasn’t the obvious first single, which for us would be some epic pomp rock type thing! You’ve written two tracks on The 2nd Law. Are they just for the album or are you intending to perform them on your upcoming tour? Yeah we will be. Matt’s excited about just playing guitar for a couple of songs and run around not having to worry about singing, which is something he’s wanted for years so he can enjoy the gig a little bit more. It’s great for the band and something we’ll explore more as we go forward. My songs are a small part of this album and a small part of what we’ve done overall. Playing them live is a daunting thought at the moment, but once we get going it should feel quite natural. Being widely regarded as one of the best live acts ever and every tour being bigger and more spectacular than your last, how much pressure do you feel to meet fans’ huge expectations? We shoot ourselves in the foot by constantly trying to push things to the max. Playing live for us isn’t just about the music, it’s about the whole experience and we want people to walk away feeling like they’ve seen something amazing. It’s only really pressure that we put on ourselves. We always have ambitious ideas. When we played here at Wembley we wanted a helicopter to fly us over the stadium and drop thousands and thousands of balloons over everyone, so we were disappointed when that wasn’t allowed. What are Muse’s ambitions for the future? There’s still a lot we want to do. Playing stadiums is a massive thing for the band, but there are still countries which have their equivalent of Wembley that we haven’t done yet. Hopefully we’ll be the first band to play in space. It’s been talked about quite a bit and I’m intrigued to find out if gravity allows you to play. It would probably be some stripped back, acoustic thing but I really think it will happen. sauce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobby Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 So Liquid State is definitely getting played live then. Nice one, there's some confirmed beefiness for the setlists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musekiddo Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 "We don’t have any casual listeners, but that’s a good place to be. We have hardcore fans who are totally devoted to us, but also some people just don’t understand it. We’re not a coffee table band, that’s for sure!" Well why the hell don't they play more rarities live and feel like they have to cater to casual fans? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kueller Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 "We don’t have any casual listeners, but that’s a good place to be. We have hardcore fans who are totally devoted to us, but also some people just don’t understand it. We’re not a coffee table band, that’s for sure!" Well why the hell don't they play more rarities live and feel like they have to cater to casual fans? There's a reason the emote was made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chudenk Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 "We don’t have any casual listeners, but that’s a good place to be. We have hardcore fans who are totally devoted to us, but also some people just don’t understand it. We’re not a coffee table band, that’s for sure!" Well why the hell don't they play more rarities live and feel like they have to cater to casual fans? Chris: hardcore fans = fans who not moaning about setlist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Man_In_Showbiz Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Chris always mentions that Matt is looking forward to just playing his guitar for 'a couple of songs' is he implying that Save Me will have a fair bit of guitar? The way that song has been described, it's supposed to be quite a mellow song? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobby Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Chris always mentions that Matt is looking forward to just playing his guitar for 'a couple of songs' is he implying that Save Me will have a fair bit of guitar? The way that song has been described, it's supposed to be quite a mellow song? What's your point? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Man_In_Showbiz Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 What's your point? Save Me by all accounts from those that have heard it is a mellow/soft song (i personally was thinking an extended Soldiers Poem style). If what Chris is saying is true then we could see a fair bit of guitar in the song...which makes me look forward to it even more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobby Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Save Me by all accounts from those that have heard it is a mellow/soft song (i personally was thinking an extended Soldiers Poem style). If what Chris is saying is true then we could see a fair bit of guitar in the song...which makes me look forward to it even more. Because guitar=better...? I don't get what's special about Matt playing guitar during Save Me. I assume he'll just be playing a few chords or maybe a melody line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Man_In_Showbiz Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Because guitar=better...? I don't get what's special about Matt playing guitar during Save Me. I assume he'll just be playing a few chords or maybe a melody line. Nah some of my favourite Muse songs are piano based (Hoodoo, RBS, SFA, AP). From a personal point of view, Save Me was/possible still is the song I'm least looking forward to, but from what Chris has said I'm looking forward to the possibility of the song being something more than what I picture. It may just be a melody as you say but guitar in the song will make it better for me! Those below me make a very valid point! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bells Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Because guitar=better...? Why is it so wtf for some people that guitar/heavy may actually equal better and appeal more to others? Does everything have to be analysed and criticised in technical and theoretical terms? I like heavy/guitar better than eletronics and softness, so heavy/guitar will always make me look forward to whatever more than softness and mellowness and guitarless compositions. It doesn't mean I hate Undisclosed Desires or Ruled By Secrecy. But, really, why wtf? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessicaSarahS Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Why is it so wtf for some people that guitar/heavy may actually equal better to others? Does everything have to be analysed and criticised in technical and theoretical terms? I like heavy/guitar better than eletronics and softness, so heavy/guitar will always make me look forward to whatever than softness and mellowness and guitarless compositions. It doesn't mean I hate Undisclosed Desires and co. But, really, why wtf? Agreed. Well, maybe not better but definitely preferred. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bells Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Agreed. Well, maybe not better but definitely preferred. Yep, well, the way I see it 'better to my taste' is kind of ineptly paraphrasing 'preferred'. God, so much editing. I'm done now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiral_static Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 Will.I.Am beat them to it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HannahG123 Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 Will.I.Am beat them to it Well he wasn't actually in space... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeSides Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Chris always mentions that Matt is looking forward to just playing his guitar for 'a couple of songs' is he implying that Save Me will have a fair bit of guitar? The way that song has been described, it's supposed to be quite a mellow song? matt not having to sing just means he will have more time to fart around on stage doing silly things while chris is in charge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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