Muse takes flight with "Drones"

ONE OF HOTTEST acts in British rock at the moment, Muse is touring Asia and ready to roll into Thailand for the first time on September 23, bringing its high-octane show to Impact Arena. As witnessed by millions in some of the biggest stadiums and at major festivals around the world, this is a band you have to see live, an electrifying spectacle onstage.

Formed in Devon (“like the blue of Heaven”) in southwest England in the mid-’90s by singer-guitarist Matthew Bellamy, bassist Christopher Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard, Muse was early on compared to Radiohead. Its debut album “Showbiz” – which featured the hit singles “Sunburn” and “Unintended” – was a critical and commercial success. 

The band has since established itself among the leading lights of British rock with a string of albums and singles that sold well, including “Reapers”, “Uprising”, “Hysteria”, “Time is Running Out” and “Supremacy”. 

The current tour draws mainly on the seventh studio album “Drones”, which we got to quiz Matt Bellamy about, as well as asking what exactly his own muse entails. 

 

LIFE AT THE MOMENT?

We did the European festivals and the crowds were great. Then we had a break, then a concert in Berlin, and then we come to Asia for a big tour.

 

YOU’VE CALLED “DRONES”, THE NEW ALBUM, “BACK TO BASICS”. DOES THAT SUGGEST YOU’VE TAKEN A BREAK FROM PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES? 

It’s kind of a return to a more rock sound, I think. The last few albums we experimented a lot with electronic music and production techniques, and spent a lot of time in the control room considering how to make the sound interesting – we probably spent less time actually playing than we normally do. On this album we wanted to spend more time performing, with more of a rock sound, more of a simple guitar-bass-and-drums arrangement. 

 

SOME OF THE SONGS ARE QUITE POLITICAL. WHAT’S THE MAIN MESSAGE?

I think the album is about how modern technology can reduce the role of human empathy and can be a dangerous thing, especially in politics and warfare and business and so on, where decisions are increasingly being made by efficient computer algorithms and so on. 

It basically consistently decreases the role of humans, but the main loss is the loss of human empathy. I think it’s something that all human beings need to think about as we make the transition towards artificial intelligence. 

 

WHERE DO YOU LOOK FOR SONG-WRITING INSPIRATION? 

It comes from reading books. I read books like “The Psychopath Test”, which is quite influential. Also books about drones and about the role of technology, and futurism, predictions about where evolution is going and humanity is going and where technology is going. I’m very interested in those kinds of books, documentaries and so on. The songs also come from my own feelings and experiences in life.

 

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE MUSE’S EVOLUTION SINCE 1994?

We’ve gone through many changes. We started off as a very simple three-piece sound, and then around 1999 or 2000 I started using piano, and later we started to introduce electronic elements as well, like synthesisers. And with the fourth and fifth albums we started introducing orchestras, core sounds, drum machines and things like that. 

We explored a lot of different musical styles and sounds and instrumentation. On this album we’ve returned to a much simpler sound, so it’s more like a return to our roots.

 

WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN MIND NEXT?

We’re very interested to tour in new places and explore new audiences, especially in Asia, where we’ve not been many times. Our goal is to reach new audiences as a live band in Asia. This will be our first time in Thailand and China. We’re interested to see how this experience evolves and whether we can come back and do more in the future. 

 

BANGKOK FIRST TIME, HUH?

We’re very excited about it. I’ve actually been to Thailand before – Bangkok for maybe one day and I had some really good holidays on Phuket, a very relaxing place, and I loved the people. The people were very friendly and Thai food is some of my favourite food.

 

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE ASPIRING MUSICIANS JUST STARTING OUT?

We became popular by touring and dealing with people directly. It’s important to have a good live performance and to want to spend time travelling, though that can be very difficult for some people. But people want to see you perform. It’s much more difficult to reach them through records and other media channels. If you want to make more of an impact, it’s important to be physically prepared to travel and perform around the world.

 

READY FOR AN “UPRISING”

 “Muse Live in Bangkok” is at 8.30pm on September 23 at Impact Arena in Muang Thong Thani.

Tickets are Bt2,000 to Bt5,000. Call (02) 262 3838 or check www.ThaiTicketMajor.com.