about-muse
Meet a band inspired by the two best bands of the last decade. A band - average age 20 - with eighty songs and four record deals around the world. Bands who�ve spent the 90's cut off and disenfranchised. A band that won't be happy, until they've ripped of the heart from your chest and shattered your eardrums. Meet Muse. From Dover?!!! Ten years ago, the parents of Chris Wolstenholme, Matthew Bellamy and Dominic Howard relocated to Devon, specifically Teign Mouth. North of Torquay, it's a seaside town: barely breathing in summer, stone cold dead in winter and if you were aged between 13 and 18, a living hell the whole year around. Aged 13, the three of them formed their first band: Gothic Plague, with Chris on bass, Dominic drums and Matthew as guitarist/pianist/ leadsinger :) , they tormented their peers with ramshackle covers of early 90's indie classics . It wasn't a massive success. So after Gothic Plague came Fixed Penalty and after Fixed Penalty, Rocket Baby Dolls The lack of interests didn't deter them, if anything it just spurred them on. At the same time, the advent of Britpop gave them a brand new outlet for their frustrations. Matt: "When Britpop and Oasis came along, it just didn't do anything for me. I don't know why. It just did'nt seem passionate enough, it didn't seem to be what music should be about. That's why we started listening to American music. It just seemed cooler somehow." With the rest of the country engrassed in the fortunes of Blur and Oasis, Matt, Chris and Dominic turned their attention to the other side of the Atlantic. Nights and days were wiled away in the company of Primus and The Smashing Pumpkins , and never far away from their stereo's were dog-eared copies of Nirvana's "Nevermind" and Radiohead's "The Bends" - two albums that altered their whole idea of what Music could mean. With their name changed to Muse, things started to get more serious. Rehearsals became mor frequent, and they picked up gigs wherever they could - not easy when you're 250 miles away from the centre of London. Matt: "Apart from The Cavern in Exeter, there's nowhere to play. It's the only decent venue in the whole of Devon, but it's empty most of the time. We played at hundreds of other places, pubs full of old people, whatever, but all they ever wanted was covers of sixties hits, so we never went down very well. I think it helped us in a waty. " Every deserted bar and every heckle only made them more determinded- but it was only a couple of years ago that they finally realised that they had to act. Matt: "All our friends had disappeared off to University and we suddenly thought , "we're poor, we're doing shit jobs we hate, we've got to get a deal." And this is where the story accelerates. Hooking up with Taste Media ( a joint venture between Sawmills, a West Country recording studio and SJP Producer Management), Muse suddenly found themselves at 1998 "In The City". At the same time, a couple of American labels began to show interest, and in November of the same year, the band flew out to New York to play at CMJ. After a dazzling show at the Mercury lounge, they found that US interest was now reaching fever pitch. Two weeks later, they were flown to the States again, this time to LA, where they played a showcase on the Santa Monica pier. As the others deliberated, Madonna's label Maverick took the opportunity to move and sign them on the spot. The deal was clinched on Christmas Eve, and was rapidly followed by them signing to Motor in Germany, Naive in France and finally Mushroom Records in the UK. After give years hard slog the band had gone from 0 to 4 record deals in a couple of months. Their first two EP's "Muse" and "Muscle Museum" emerged on Sawmills' own Dangerous Records label which both quickly sold out. All this setting the blueprint for what is to follow: a tidal wave (and I'm praying for tidal waves - Tool) of serrated guitar noises and seething lyrical anger; it reveals a band determined to match and surpass their mentors. It was enough to ensure that when they started to record theit debut album a few weeks later John Leckie (producer of among other things, "The Bends") was only too happy to join them. He, like everyone else who's heard them, was impressed by Muse's sheer rabid energy and passion. Matt: "I don't think many bands feel that strongly about their music. It's sad but I think Nirvana were the last band who had that. Music should be an outlet for your emotions. If it wasn't for Muse, I think I'd probably be a nasty violent person. It's definitely a release, and that's the way it should be." Ask Matt what fuels this discontent, though, and you're likely to be met with a discreet silence. Matt: " I don't think I can explain my songs yet. I need time to think about it more. I know what I'm saying, but I'm afraid of ruining what other people think the songs are about. " Don't let this modesty fool you. Muse are a band heading in only one direction.
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