Chris Wolstenholme interview - Muse [INROCK (September 2007)]
“Live performances have a special feeling, and we love that feeling.”
Chris Wolstenholme / Muse
INTERVIEW: YUKO KATO
Muse delivered a stunning performance at this year’s Fuji Rock Festival. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to interview them during their current visit to Japan, so we’re publishing an interview from their last visit. This is our first time speaking with Chris. He was all smiles throughout, a very gentle man. He’s a dad to three children, the eldest being seven.
—You did your first full-fledged Asian tour this year, right?
Chris Wolstenholme (b.): That’s right. Well, apart from Japan, of course. We’d never done an Asian tour before. We’ve focused on touring Europe, and of course we’ve spent a lot of time in America over the last four years or so. And we’ve been coming to Japan quite often, haven’t we? It’s really lovely to be able to experience that feeling of visiting somewhere for the first time again. Especially not knowing how the audience will react.
—What sort of venues are you playing in?
Chris: Mostly places with a capacity of 6,000 to 7,000 people.
—Wow! That’s bigger than in Japan!
Chris: It is. It’s a bit strange.
—My pride is hurt (laughs).
Chris: Hahaha. I think the success of ‘Absolution’ played a big part. ‘Absolution’ sold really well in Indonesia and Malaysia. So, as we had a little extra time in our schedule, we decided to head to those countries. It’s really exciting to visit new places. It was a brilliant experience. The audience reaction was incredible wherever we went. You don’t expect that when you’re visiting somewhere for the first time, right? Usually, when we go somewhere for the first time, people tend to focus on watching us. We don’t expect the audience to be jumping around in a place we’ve never been to before. But in Indonesia and Malaysia, everyone went absolutely wild. South Korea too. Everyone was really going crazy.
—But did you know they’ve got one complaint about you guys? You only did one encore, right?
Chris: Hahaha. Yeah. We do two sometimes, but usually it’s just one. It’s really tiring (laughs).
—Come to think of it, Matt said in an interview with NME that you’ve got a following among hardcore and heavy metal fans in the UK.
Chris: Yeah (laughs).
—Is that true?
Chris: Well, I think I’m probably a heavy metal fan myself. Our fans come from all sorts of genres. I guess that’s because the music we play covers such a wide range. I think it’s heavy enough that heavy metal fans can get into it. Not that I’m suggesting we’re a metal band, of course. And then there are people who like jazz, who might be into ‘Hoodoo’. Yeah, our fanbase is really diverse. Everyone has their own tastes and listens to different things. I suppose they each appreciate different elements of our music.
“I’m the worst in the mornings. Yet I still have to get up at six or seven to keep up with the kids.”
—You have a Wembley Stadium show coming up, right?
Chris: I’m sure it’s going to be a moment we can be proud of. We never imagined we’d get this big. When we were kids, our dream was just to play in front of about a thousand people. And now we’re playing in front of 75,000 people for two whole days. I think it’ll be a brilliant show… I hope it is (laughs). It’s our first stadium show, so it might not go well. I’m kind of scared. I hope it goes well, though.
—How old are your children now?
Chris: Seven, five, and three.
—Your eldest must recognise you on stage, right?
Chris: Yeah, the kids are coming to the Wembley show too. I’ll have to keep them sitting still at the side of the stage (laughs).
—So this means Muse have become the biggest band in the UK. You were named Best British Live Act at the Brit Awards, and you won an NME Award too…
Chris: That’s right. Yeah, it’s a great thing. It’s brilliant to be respected as a good live band. I think the stage is where you really see the heart of the band, and live performances have always been very important to us. When we started the band at 14 or 15, the reason we started was simply because we wanted to play in front of people. Back then, we didn’t really think much about recording albums or selling them. It was all about the connection between the band and the audience. That’s why playing live gives us such a special feeling. We still love that special feeling today. I can’t imagine ever getting tired of that feeling on stage—it’s the best form of communication you can have through music.
—Come to think of it, you mentioned you’re a night owl, didn’t you?
Chris: Yeah (laughs). I’m the worst in the mornings.
—Does it take you hours to properly wake up?
Chris: Yeah. Well, when I’m at home, the kids get up really early. They’re up at six or seven. So when I’m at home, I have to get up early too, but I make up for it by sleeping in during the tour (laughs).
“When it comes to environmental issues, the whole of humanity is to blame…”
—Hehehe. You’re a night owl, but you don’t go to all sorts of parties or drink heavily, do you?
Chris: Hmm, that does happen when we’re on tour. I mean, when you’re on tour, the nights are the most active time. When I’m on stage, I get really excited, right? It’s impossible to go to sleep right after, so I can’t sleep for hours. So, in the end, I end up going to bed at 6am (laughs).
—You guys were invited to Live Earth, but it seems you can’t perform? You have a show in Ireland on the same day, right?
Chris: That’s right.
—But you are interested in environmental issues, aren’t you?
Chris: Absolutely. I’d love to perform there, actually. I think it’s a great opportunity to raise awareness about environmental issues. It’s just a question of whether it’s possible to do both on the same day…
—As Muse, what’s your stance on these environmental issues? Do you ever discuss them within the band?
Chris: Hmm, when it comes to environmental issues and politics, we all have our own opinions, of course. But we wouldn’t go around preaching about them. Personally, I don’t think I’m the right person to be preaching about environmental issues. At the end of the day, I think all of us on this planet are guilty of this to some extent, so I find it difficult to tell everyone what they should be doing. But ultimately, I think everyone has to make a little effort.
—Are you doing anything yourself?
Chris: Me!? Hmm… Probably nothing (laughs). I really ought to… Oh, I do try to recycle when I’m at home (laughs).
—Hehe, I see. You’re supporting My Chemical Romance in the US, right? (Editor’s note: This tour has now finished.) Why did you decide to do this tour? You had other options, didn’t you?
Chris: Hmm… If we were to tour America on our own, we could play venues holding about 12,000 people in New York and about 16,000 in Los Angeles, but in the Midwest, it’d be venues holding at most 2,000 to 3,000 people, and it takes much longer to get there. So, we chose to play as a support act in bigger venues rather than playing smaller venues again. It’s been a while since we’ve played as a support act, so we’re quite interested in that too. But there’s less pressure as a support act, so I reckon that’s a good thing. Just going on stage and playing 6 or 7 songs is obviously easier than playing 18 songs, of course. Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it.
—So this year is a touring year for Muse, then.
Chris: Yeah. We started touring last May, and I reckon we’ll probably keep going until October or November of this year. After that, I think we’ll get a break. We’ll probably pop up here and there next year, but we won’t be touring quite as intensively as we have been. We’ve been able to go to so many different places with this album, and it’s been really exciting. No matter how much we tour, there are still loads of places we’ve never been to. We haven’t been to South America yet. And there are still places in Eastern Europe we haven’t visited, so we’re planning to do that this year as well. There are plenty of places in Asia we haven’t been to either. We went to Hong Kong this time, but we couldn’t play in mainland China. And we haven’t done South Africa yet either.
—You know, Matt has a special ability, like being able to make predictions with a Ouija board (Editor’s note: a divination tool similar to Japan’s ‘Kokkuri-san’), right?
Chris: Yeah, hahaha.
—Does he ever use that special sense to give to the band or to your life? Does he ever give warnings?
Chris: Hmm, no, he doesn’t (laughs). Yeah, nothing like that (laughs).
—What about you? Do you have any special senses, interests, or talents?
Chris: Nothing at all. I think my only talent is music. If anything, rather than saying I’m talented, I think I just enjoy doing all sorts of things. I also like playing football. Whenever I’m on my own, I’m always playing football. I played a match in Hong Kong.
—Really? Who did you play with?
Chris: Me, two of the crew, and some university students studying sports science in Hong Kong. We lost 6-5, though.
Translator's Note: I've been digging down on the amount of extracted interview texts that I've yet to translate. Turns out, I still have a lot to go through lmao
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