Marinator Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 Muse have revealed how they once threatened to fire bassist Chris Wolstenholme if he didn't overcome his drinking habit. The revelation comes shortly after their set at the iTunes festival, which you can see in the player below. Wolstenholme managed to keep his alcoholism secret from the band for years as he "wasn't a nasty drunk" - but finally went public with his problem in 2009 after a meltdown on April Fool's Day: "Everything I should have dealt with in the previous 10 years suddenly hit me in the face. There are some things I regret", said Wolstenholme at the time. "There are probably moments I should have enjoyed more than I did and that's a bit upsetting. With the mess I was in you don't feel any intense emotion any more". Drummer Dom Howard said the band didn't realise there was a problem until they started counting how many drinks Chris got through on-stage. "For some reason he could still play the bass, even though he was sh-tfaced", Dom told NME. "He was drinking on stage. I started counting how many drinks he was having during the set and I could see him getting more and more glazed. By the point we came off stage he'd be f--ked. It just got too weird". Dom and frontman Matt Bellamy gave Chris an ultimatum "a few times", but ultimately stayed together. Dom continued: "Chris now says things like, 'I can't believe they put up with me for 10 years'. Which is true. I can't believe we did. But we did. I've always believed in band integrity and sticking together". http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/muse_threatened_to_fire_bassist_over_boozing.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That Little Animal Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 I still feel like they haven't completely fixed things yet. If you look at the making of vids for T2L and some recent non-staged photographs and interviews, it's always Matt and Dom together and/or Chris alone, even if all three are in the same room together they arrange themselves that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave. Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 Well all know Chris prefers to leave interviews to Matt and Dom and during the making of T2L Chris probably wanted to spend time with his family since they were so close this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitton Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 I think Chris has completely stopped drinking now. Look how slim he is now. Alcoholism isn't something you dabble with, you either stop, or drink like a madman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That Little Animal Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 I think Chris has completely stopped drinking now. Look how slim he is now. Alcoholism isn't something you dabble with, you either stop, or drink like a madman. Yeah, he's clean as a whistle. I just wonder if they've talked about is as friends, rather than pure professionally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitton Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 Yeah, he's clean as a whistle. I just wonder if they've talked about is as friends, rather than pure professionally. I think they would have spoken about it more as friends than as 'artists' so to put it I'm really happy for Chris, he looks healthier than ever. Unbelievably slim now, good on him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FabriPav Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 Well he said that save me is inspired by/dedicated to not only his family, but also his bandmates. I really think they talked about it first as friends than anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bells Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 This is heavy stuff. I'm happy Chris has overcome his drinking problems. I'm sure it was a long and bumpy road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic. Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 Did anyone on this board ever realise how srs it was? Cos I remember articles started going on about it loads last year and I thought it was exaggerated bullshit but then it seems to be like the main selling point of T2L like omgz they're still together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That Little Animal Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Did anyone on this board ever realise how srs it was? Cos I remember articles started going on about it loads last year and I thought it was exaggerated bullshit but then it seems to be like the main selling point of T2L like omgz they're still together. No, they kept it under wraps until it was solved. Very classy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessicaSarahS Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 No, they kept it under wraps until it was solved. Very classy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kakariki Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 I still feel like they haven't completely fixed things yet. If you look at the making of vids for T2L and some recent non-staged photographs and interviews, it's always Matt and Dom together and/or Chris alone, even if all three are in the same room together they arrange themselves that way. What about the Explorers making of video? That's Matt and Chris together. And on Big Freeze, it's Chris and Dom. And on another one, perhaps Unsustainable (?), Chris talks to Matt about some of the orchestra tapping their feet. I consider the opposite, that in fact Chris appears to be with Matt and Dom more than I've ever seen. Which is great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That Little Animal Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 What about the Explorers making of video? That's Matt and Chris together. And on Big Freeze, it's Chris and Dom. And on another one, perhaps Unsustainable (?), Chris talks to Matt about some of the orchestra tapping their feet. I consider the opposite, that in fact Chris appears to be with Matt and Dom more than I've ever seen. Which is great Yeah, I'm not saying Chris was left out of the recording process. I was talking about casual fun moments. It's just a bit more awkward when Chris is around. Matt and Dom seem like they're way more comfortable around each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HannahG123 Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Ohhhhhhh these kind of headlines really piss me off for obvious reasons. And it's natural for Matt and Dom to seem to get on better than with chris, chris has been absent in spirit for years due to alcohol and was out of many interviews probably due to this and Matt and Dom were in the year above him at school and were in a band together before he joined, AND he's always had a big family which probably left him out of the kinky parties they used to have Any little thing like that makes it understandable. But no way would they have 'threatened to fire him' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piranhaconda Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 But no way would they have 'threatened to fire him' I wouldn't bet on that. They say they gave him ultimatums. What would the consequence be if not that? Obviously that he's still in the band despite several of these ultimatums shows that they didn't have it in them to go through with it, but I would not be surprised at all if a firing was on the table as just talk at the very least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deborafraga Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 This is so sad and I'm so glad that he's okay now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitton Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Did anyone on this board ever realise how srs it was? Cos I remember articles started going on about it loads last year and I thought it was exaggerated bullshit but then it seems to be like the main selling point of T2L like omgz they're still together. I thought it was pretty exaggerated until Chris said that he couldn't remember recording The Resistance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dillyracer Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Chris looked a lot more involved on the "The 2nd Law" making of than on the "The Resistance" making of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyduh Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 I thought it was pretty exaggerated until Chris said that he couldn't remember recording The Resistance Where did he say that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altbecky Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Just glad he's okay. End of story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HannahG123 Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 I wouldn't bet on that. They say they gave him ultimatums. What would the consequence be if not that? Obviously that he's still in the band despite several of these ultimatums shows that they didn't have it in them to go through with it, but I would not be surprised at all if a firing was on the table as just talk at the very least. It's the way it is worded. I don't think for a minute Matt and Dom would have 'fired' Chris. More like said, none of us can go on any more if you don't sort yourself out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serpentsatellite Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 I think it's absolutely possible they threatened to "fire" him... If for no other reason as to get it across to him how serious they were about what he was doing. I've (sadly) been to a few interventions for friends... and we were absolutely encouraged to tell the person we were going to break off contact with them if they didn't get help, if that's how we really felt. Sometimes a big shake up like that turns the corner for the person, or at least gets people away who might be enabling them. Any way you look at it, it's a sad situation I'm happy is over (for Muse.) And, after 10 years, it's probably like they are getting to know him all over again... that's a hell of a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sever Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 It's the way it is worded. I don't think for a minute Matt and Dom would have 'fired' Chris. More like said, none of us can go on any more if you don't sort yourself out When I see your pic, all I can see before me is Dom saying "You're fired" (think The Apprentice) with that face Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeSides Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 chris looked like hell at the 09 NMEs and it was noticed although the cause was unknown. sounds like they did what good friends should do under the circumstances, and the saving happened. ok...i'm going to vomit some rainbows now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corona Radiata Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Eh, who cares. He was an alcoholic. It's not like he had a life threatening illness. This is just a selling point for T2L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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