Muse fan-ish inquisition

You never seem to be happy with your videos that you've done in the past - why not? They always seem pretty inventive and interesting.
Matt: "I think 'New Born' is the best one we've done so far. The thing is, because you're cutting so many corners with time and money, it always ends up coming out completely different from the original idea you had with the director."
Dom: "For 'New Born', we had a bit more input as far as talking to the director. Some earlier ones we did, we just looked through some scripts and decided what to try and it ended looking up totally different visually. They're slowly getting better though."
Matt: "We always end up rushing it at the last minute and that's why they end up a bit botch. The 'New Born' video is good but there's still a whole section of it that we never got round to doing. We were working all night because it was supposed to be at night and it got daylight so we couldn't finish it properly. We're going to try spend a bit more time on the next one, 'Bliss'.

" Croissants and coffee or a nice greasy fry-up?
Chris: "Nice greasy fry-up." Matt: (laughs) "Nice greasy fry-up."
Dom: "Croissants and coffee... That would turn into a nice greasy fry-up."
Matt: "If you've got a hangover, grease is perfect."

After the release of 'Showbiz', you were quoted to have said you would have liked the new album to have a similar sound to Rage Against The Machine. Do you think you have achieved this?
Matt: '"I think the similarity we were looking for was not in songwriting or in the band in any way but from a production point of view. Because there was only one guitar, bass and drums, they captured a three-piece that was really good. It wasn't anything to do with their music or their politics or anything like that, it was more the production side. A lot of bands think the bass is a secondary thing and the guitar is most important, but with a three-piece it's good to have everything equal."

Were you good at school or just plain retards?
Matt: "I was very good until about third year. Then I lost it and failed my A-Levels and stuff."
Chris: "I was okay. I did what was needed."
Dom: "I got a few good marks. A couple of A's, a couple of A*'s!" Matt: "I wasn't very focused back then. I felt like I wasn't there. I was here, but I wasn't there. It was like I had no soul the whole time. The person I am now was there, but it wasn't in the room, if you know what I mean."

If you could support any band in the world dead or alive, who would it be?
Dom: "Jimi Hendrix And The Band Of Gypsies."
Matt: "Elvis Presley just before he got fat. Or I'd like to go back in time and take all the electronic stuff we've got now back to a time before that existed, when composers were trying to make grandiose sounds with orchestras. Then us three go in just before and play. I'd like to do a tour across time. Just to see what happens."

What's each of your favourite Muse songs?
Dom: '"'Citizen Erased'. It's long and big and it's good to play live."
Matt: '"'Bliss' because it's got all these 80s arpeggios and keyboards on it which remind me of some music I heard on some children's music programme when I was five. I think I ripped it off that. And that reminds me of when I was a bit more simple, a bit more of a pleasant state."
Chris: '"'Space Dementia'. It's different isn't it? There's no guitars, just piano, but it's still really heavy."

Hey, Matt, what's your plug in baby?
Matt: "My plug in baby is my own physical body. I'm using it objectively a bit more these days. I'm not in it, I'm sort of using it. I can't explain what I mean. I make it do things now that I used to be worried about. What is it? I don't know. It's like I am my own ventriloquist. Oh, I can't remember. Help me!"
Dom: "You've said it before. You've said, 'Blah, blah, blah, and that's my plug in baby'."
Matt: "I've explained what the meaning of it is, but I don't know what it is. It's definitely myself, I think. [to Dom] Do you think we've lost it in the last few weeks? Just fucking blown it?"

Which character in 'The Simpsons' are you most like?
Matt: "I'm the baby (Maggie Simpson). I know what's going on but I say nothing."
Dom: "The doctor (Hibbert). He just laughs all the time, even when terrible things are happening."

Can I have one of your guitars please?
Matt: "Yes. I threw one away at Birmingham and someone got it, but there was a lot of fighting. But, yeah. No problem. But it would have to be by chance in a crowd or something."

Do you have any hopes of breaking America?
Matt: "It'd be nice, yeah. But if you want to break America, you do have to bend over, pull down your pants and let radio stations fuck you up the arse. If there's any way of avoiding that, I'll go for it. But I think we'll go live there for six months and see what happens."

Matt, Why do you always just answer the sex-related threads on the Muse messageboard?
Dom: ''Cause he's a pervert.'" Matt: "That's a good question. Because I can? Wouldn't you? I'm sure I've answered other questions but those seem to appeal a bit more." Doesn't it bloody hurt when you end up being thrown into your drum kit?
Matt: "Yeah. I hurt my ribs really badly two weeks ago and every time I took a deep breath, there was a sharp, stabbing pain in my lungs. So for the few gigs afterwards, I was crying in pain on stage. It was the first time I've ever cried in physical pain in my life."

Why are you so intense, grumpy and downright fucking miserable?
Matt: "We're not. We're just not. At all. It's bollocks. We've toured with a lot of bands who are, who seem to be otherwise, and it's a strange contradiction. It's difficult not to enjoy being in a band."

My sister swear blind that Matt looks like Ritchie from Five. I think she's insane. What do you think?
Matt: "Who are Five?"

You are so busy - do you get much free time? What do you do in it?
Matt: "We've got a few days free this summer so we're planning to have some parties I suppose with all the fake acquaintances who like us because we're in a band! So we're going to hang out with them and be fake for a while. Is that bad? Maybe go on holiday. Sunbathe. Just relax."

Did you really get human bones for an instrument? If so, which song did you actually use them on?
Dom: "They were animal bones."
Matt: "I got the idea from this friend who's studying to be a doctor. She cuts head and legs off and things and, when they're finished doing all the operations, they burn the flesh off and are left with bones so she asked me if I wanted some bones. But the original idea came when we saw Tom Waits in New York where he was playing a bone percussion instrument. It got me into psychological acoustics. So you could sample it and it would sound identical, but when you know what it is, it's different psychologically. Real things are more chaotic than anything you can do on a computer. Something in us responds to that chaos."

Do Chris and Dom ever laugh at Matt's lyrics?
Matt: "You've got to say yes."
Dom: "Yes. I do. Especially 'Plug In Baby'."

In a recent picture, yourself and Hilary Woods (JJ72) look rather close. Is there something the fans should know?
Matt: "Well, she's a very nice girl, I like her very much but she's previously spoken for."

Is 'Plug In Baby' really about Matt's guitar?
Matt: "It could be. It's open to all things we project our emotions into that we use as tools. That amplify our bodies. It could be a car, it could be any form of technology we use to amplify ourselves."

Do you mind if I download your album from the Internet, rather than pay for it?
Matt: "No."

How much would you have to be paid to pose totally starkers in a magazine?
Matt: "Two thousand quid."
Dom: "Five grand, maybe."

The computer adverts. Try and fucking talk your way out of that one, Bellamy.
Matt: "Okay. We're getting a nice flat in London and a lot of parties (laughs)."