web feature Interview with Chris Wolstenholme by MyRock

[JessicaSarahS]

Muse France just posted this article from June.

http://muse-france.net/interview-de-chris-wolstenholme-par-myrock

 

Bad French to English translation, courtesy of Google Translate. :

 

In the last MyRock, a magazine that clearly speaks of rock, we discover an exclusive interview with our national Chris backstage at the Stade de France on June 21!

Here's the full interview!

The last time we saw you were nervous about singing on stage. What is it now?

CW: I think it will. It is clear that strength to do every night or almost, it is more comfortable. But it may take some time before they feel legitimate in the role of singer. The first month I was not even sure to enjoy what I was doing on stage. It was very strange as feeling. But after the fifteenth time, I realized that it went well! We think too much in those moments. As in fact forget the words or not be beat. But as soon as that relaxes and says it's okay, everything is going perfectly.

 

Even when it comes to a stage?

CW, I see no difference between playing ten thousand or eighty thousand people. I'm not more nervous in front of so many people, it is even the opposite. I'm easily embarrassed when one occurs in small spaces because here you can see the audience, the expressions, the looks ... It's pretty scary, especially if this is the wrong notes!

 

You have totally changed decor, between classical and tour the stadium. How did you work on that?

CW: It was not easy. We wanted to keep the pyramid but in a stadium that does not work, because there is no roof. We had to rethink this part of the scenery , and it was difficult because we want to stage concerts are the most incredible tour, but at the same time, there is nothing to which to cling. Not only must we have new ideas, but also must realize without breaking the bank. Hence the idea of the giant screen, split into several parts, which allowed us to completely rethink the scenography . As for the huge advanced stage, we had been thinking about the last tour. When playing in a stadium, only the first few rows are visible. It is quite frustrating! To see up to the world and feel the excitement of the crowd, they wanted to play more or less in the middle of the pit . I think these elements have made ​​this tour be different and more spectacular than in the past. For first dates, we had to work very hard for everything fits together perfectly. Including Matt and me, who spend our time running around on stage , we had to ensure we are in the right place at the right time, and it is not obvious. But the chance to have a very organized team, with whom we get along well, which allows to experience a relatively relaxed.

 

Level organization, how you're doing with the change of the pieces one night to the next?

CW: It's very difficult. Especially on a tour like this, where some elements are not flexible. For example, the first two or three songs remain the same due to the explosion that goes with it, or when the actors come into play, it is necessarily a particular title, like " Animals "or" Blackout " . So, we have a HOLDER pieces is rotated, according to the evening.

 

You're back to playing old songs, such as "Sunburn" or "Dead Star" ...

CW: Yes. This reminds me of " Screenager "or" Hyper Music ", which have not been played for a long time, except in Reading and Leeds, and which are not provided completely past the door . It is very difficult as a choice, because every time we decide to replay an old song, one must necessarily part with a newer. It gets really complicated for us to handle, because there are more and more fans of Muse to different tastes. There are fans of " Showbiz ", who worship "Origin Of Symmetry "... We're trying to organize a fair setlist which also gives us a pleasure to play . He did is not only choosing your favorite song, because sometimes it does not happen with other group members, as is the case with " Big Freeze ", which does not fit in the tour for moment. In another genre, we played " Muscle Museum "in rehearsal at the beginning of the tour, and it did not work either, for other reasons. This song is not representative of what is currently Muse . This does not mean we do emerge again, but for now, it does not work. If we played soon, it is only for nostalgia and memories it gives off.

 

Is this the case for the entire period "Showbiz"?

CW: Not at all! " Sunburn ", for example, works perfectly! As certainly as it has features in common with more recent pieces. Moreover, if we had a record out now, "Sunburn" would have its place, but not "Muscle Museum" . And on " Escape ", which has always been my favorite" Showbiz ", is the same. It is as if this was not the same group now ... However, for " Dead Star "is strange because wherever you go in the world, it is one of the favorite of the public! Lately with all these messages of fans asking that it be played, we ended up cracking. But what is funny is that when you play it, there must be two thousand people who go crazy and others who do not move and are wondering what is happening ! Since it is not on a disc, it is not known if it ... It's quite strange as experience.

 

Finally, what are your plans after this tour?

CW: I'm not sure we will do festivals next year, because there are well put in writing our new album. It has a lot of ideas in stock!

[FabriPav]

"Since it is not on a disc" oh Chris.

 

Or maybe he said "album", uhm

[kueller]

I'm sure he meant album, as what else would something back then be released on?

[JessicaSarahS]

Yeah, it's a bad translation. Maybe someone else can do a more accurate one?

[serpentsatellite]

Disc or album, it was never released in America, and extremely unlikely a lot of people at NA shows are familiar with it, even though it was big overseas, which is the point anyways.

[FabriPav]

Disc or album, it was never released in America, and extremely unlikely a lot of people at NA shows are familiar with it, even though it was big overseas, which is the point anyways.

 

That's not really his point though. But he's still right, it's obviously the minority of the crowd that goes crazy for it.

[DifferentPerson]

So I guess we won't be hearing Muscle Museum for a while... Also I know it's a long shot, but I wonder if Screenager has a chance of coming back if Chris said it's not "completely past the door" whatever that means.

[FabriPav]

Maybe Sweden/Russia gigs and anniversary ones.

[serpentsatellite]

So I guess we won't be hearing Muscle Museum for a while... Also I know it's a long shot, but I wonder if Screenager has a chance of coming back if Chris said it's not "completely past the door" whatever that means.

 

Haven't completely closed the door on the idea, I would guess.

 

I would like to hear Escape, personally.

 

Also, did he say Big Freeze was someone's favorite?

[TrebleRose689]

Thanks! Loved the Dead Star comments

[Museman8989]

great interview. always fun to get inside their thoughts when it comes to set selection and the amount of thought put into each song. they definitely have very specific guidelines when it comes to what they want to perform

[Nipso]

It's 1am, I have nothing to do, can't sleep and am extremely bored. Let's translate this bitch.

[Nipso]

Last time we spoke, you were nervous about the idea of singing live. How do you feel now?

 

Not too bad. I'm more at ease now as a result of doing it almost every night, but it can take some time to feel legitimate in the role of a singer. For the first few months, I wasn't even sure I was enjoying singing live, it's a very strange feeling. But after around the fifteenth time, I realised it was going fine. You tend to think too much in those moments about forgetting lyrics or staying in time, but when you relax and tell yourself it'll be ok, everything runs perfectly.

 

Even in a stadium?

 

I don't see any difference between performing to 10 000 or 25 000 people. I'm not more nervous in front of that many people any more, it's actually the other way around. I'm more uneasy when we play in small spaces, because there, you can see the crowd, their expressions, their eyes. It's quite scary, especially if you mess up notes.

 

You've completely changed your set from the arena tour to the stadium tour. How did you work it all out?

 

It wasn't easy. We wanted to keep the pyramid, but it didn't really work, because there's no roof. We had to completely rethink that part of the set, which was complicated because we want the stadium shows to be the most spectacular of the tour, but there's nothing to hang it up from.

 

Not only did we have to think of new ideas, but we also had to realise them without bankrupting ourselves. That's where the idea came from for the giant screen split into different parts, which allowed us to completely rethink the scenography.

 

As for the huge catwalk, we've been thinking about it since the last tour. When you play in a stadium, you can only see the first few rows. It's quite frustrating! To see the maximum number of people and feel the excitement of the crowd, we wanted to play more or less in the middle of the mosh pit. I think those elements have allowed this tour to be different and a lot more spectacular than what's happened in the past.

 

For the first few dates, we had to work very hard so that everything fit together perfectly, mostly me and Matt who spend the whole time running around the stage, we had to make sure to be in the right place at the right time, and it's not always obvious where you have to be. But we were lucky enough to have a very well organised team who you get on well with, which allows you to experience the whole thing in a relatively relaxed fashion.

 

On an organisational level, how do you sort out how to change little things from one night to the next?

 

It's very difficult, especially during a tour of that kind, where certain elements aren't flexible. For example, the first two or three songs had to stay the same because of the explosion that comes with them, or when the actors are performing, it has to be during one particular song, like for Animals or Blackout, so that just left a handful slots we could rotate night by night.

 

You went back to playing old songs, like Sunburn and Dead Star.

 

Basically. It makes me think of Screenger or Hyper Music, which we haven't played for a very long time, except at Reading and Leeds, which we haven't thrown out completely ( ). It's a very difficult choice, because every time we play an old song, we're forced to drop a newer one. It gets difficult to manage, because there are more and more Muse fans with different tastes. There are the hardcore Showbiz fans, ones who love OoS, etc.

 

We try to put together a balanced setlist with songs we enjoy playing. It's not always about choosing your favourite song, because sometimes the other band members aren't on board, as is the case with Big Freeze, which hasn't found its way into this tour for the moment. On the other side of things, we rehearsed Muscle Museum at the start of this tour and it didn't work any more, for different reasons. That song isn't representative of modern-day Muse. That doesn't mean we're never going to play it again, but for the moment, it doesn't work. If we played it now, it would just be for the nostalgia and the memories that it evokes.

 

Is that the case for the whole Showbiz era?

 

No, not at all! Sunburn, for example, works perfectly, because it has some characteristics in common with some more recent tracks. If we had to release a Best Of album, Sunburn would make it on, but not Muscle Museum. And the same goes for Escape, which has always been my favourite song off Showbiz. It's like we're not the same band any more.

 

On the other hand, for Dead Star, it's a bit weird, because wherever we went in the world, it seemed to be a fan favourite! After all the messages from fans asking us to play it, we finally cracked. But what's funny is that when we do play it, there must be 2000 people going mental and the rest don't move at all and ask what's going on! Because it's not on an album, it's not so well known. It's a strange experience.

 

To finish up, what are your plans for after this tour?

 

I'm not sure that we're going to do festivals next year, because we're setting about writing our new album. We've already got a lot of ideas in stock!

 

 

 

 

That took far too long.

Edited September 9, 2013 by Nipso

[DifferentPerson]

If we had to release a Best Of album, Showbiz would make it on, but not Muscle Museum.

 

Uh huh, sure.

[Nipso]

Uh huh, sure.

 

Bollocks, I meant Sunburn, not Showbiz. Will fix it.

[DifferentPerson]

Bollocks, I meant Sunburn, not Showbiz. Will fix it.

 

I thought that sounded too good to be true.

[JessicaSarahS]

Whoa! Thanks for the translation!

[Nipso]

Whoa! Thanks for the translation!

 

No problem. I just hope people actually read it after all that

[Hat]

Nice work, and really interesting interview.

[altbecky]

I wonder who isn't on board with Big Freeze, lol. My guess: Chris.

[Hat]

Feels weird that any of them wouldn't be on board with playing a song that they've just written and released. So my guess is Matt because of obvious reasons.

[Dee3Dee]

Feels weird that any of them wouldn't be on board with playing a song that they've just written and released. So my guess is Matt because of obvious reasons.

 

Maybe he realised how shit it is.

[serpentsatellite]

I wonder who isn't on board with Big Freeze, lol. My guess: Chris.

 

Well, the interview strongly implies the song is SOMEone's favorite.

 

I know it's a translation, but the tone seems to me that Chris was for it, and someone else wasn't.

[Nipso]

You doubt my powers of traduction?

[HannahG123]

Feels weird that any of them wouldn't be on board with playing a song that they've just written and released. So my guess is Matt because of obvious reasons.

 

How high it is to sing?