MUSE'S VOYAGE EXTRAORDINAIRE
-Q joins psyco-space rockers Muse as they travel to Paris for the premiere of their film to talk exploding power stations, hi-def facial blemishes and their next album.
What better day than 5 November for stadium-rock's foremost pyromaniatics to be launching a concer movie? Its lunchtime on Guy Fawkes 2013 and the three members of Muse are assambled outside Eurostar check-in at St Pancras International, ready to lead a rock'n'roll jolly in Paris.
Tonight, the French capital is to host the world premiere of "Muse Live At Rome Olympic Stadium" inside an artfully curved chrome sphere called La Géode.
The film documents this summer's stadium leg of Muse's Unsustainable Tour and pioneers a synapse-torching new audio-visual, which makes boring old High Definition look as fuzzy as a knackered My Bloody Valentine LP.
Its definition, to extend Spinal Tap's metaphor, is not just one higher - it's four higher.
"They're not even sure what they're calling it yet" say's Matt Bellamy, confortably ensconced in Business Premiere Class for the train ride over. "They haven't quite got the trademark right yet- it'll either be 4K or Ultra High Definition. For me, its the same leap in quality as from standard definition to HD. Its pretty impressive, although it means you can see details like how bored the security guards are. I also noticed a couple of spots I didn't even know I had on the night.
On our eventual arrival at Gare Du Nord a fleet of people-carriers whizz the party across to La Géode, which glimmers eerily in the dark. " It looks like something from another planet" say's approving drummer Dom Howard "As soon as we saw pictures we thought 'That's totally up our strasse'".
The trio quickly drive into the neighbouring science museum to hide, as the red carpet is mobbed with fans and TV crews. Once inside, Howard introduces the movie to fanatical screming, but all are soon silenced by Muse's gobsmacking cinematic expirence >>
With the premiere wound up, Dom Howard talks excitedly about following December's Austarlian dates with a January writing blitz in Los Angeles, the creation of a "shitty demo tape" and then proper album sessions in the summer. Amusingly, talking to Bellamy under separate cover, he's envisaged having a few months off free.
Dropping his voice conspiratorially the singer observes "We're surrounded by people from our label at Warners today, because we've come to the end of our six-album deal with them, and fhey're all here because they want us to re-sign. But essentially, we're kind of free for the first time in 15 years, so it's a changing time for us. Its a chance to stop and think what we really want to do in the future, maybe have a break, and think about starting an album in the middle of the year".
Does he have embryonic ideas for it?
"It's still early stages, but I'm aiming for the next album to be a bit more conceptual in its theme and tone, and also for it to have a stronger link to the live show. I really like the idea of having a series of guiding points that you stick to - rather than what I did last time, where there was a tendecy to try lots of styles of ideas."
Whatever concepts he plans seems Bellamy is keen move away from The 2nd Law pop hues. "It might be the end of a certain period where we were experimenting with using less guitar - more piano, electronic music and pop arrangements tan the more progressive.rock arrangements.
By having those songd in the film it feels like we´re drawing a line under that period where we veered away from our hard-rock background"
With such tantalising forebodings of a mangling guitar-hero future, we bid farewell to these belvoved stadium superheroes. It´ll be a dimly-lit, low-wattage pop landscape while they´re away.
Interview by Aandrew Perry for Q Magazine (January 2014)
NOTE: Muse: Live At Rome Olympic Stadium is out on DVD and Blu-ray 2 December
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