Matt Bellamy - Keep your socks on around Muse’s helium-voiced choirboy.

How the devil are you?
Fine thanks. I’ve just got back from Russia and we were getting mobbed all the time.

It's Q’S round,what are you having?
An expensive red wine please.

Tell us a secret you've never told anyone about before
I lied about my first sexual experience. I told everyone I got laid with this girl when I was about fifteen but the truth was, it didn’t really work out properly – if you know what I mean.

What is your most vivid childhood memory?
Choking on a keyring. I was about six and I’d been left alone with a babysitter. I was playing with her keyring – a little globe of the world – and I managed to swallow the whole thing, including the keys. The babysitter turned me upside down and smacked it out, I threw up and remember seeing this big pile of sick with a plastic globe in the middle.

What turns you on?
Socks. Women wearing socks. I don’t know why – it’s weird. Any particular socks? No. Just socks. Perhaps it’s a sporty thing.

What were you like at school?
When I left I got an award for being the latest person in the history of the school. If you got three late marks for being over fifteen minutes late you’d get an after school detention. I got something like 257 marks. And I only lived about ten minutes away.

What's your idea of hell?
Being in space in a spacesuit that provides you with endless food, water and air. Then being propelled away from Earth. So over the years it gradually gets smaller and smaller until you were completely alone in space for the rest of your life.

What's in your pockets right now?
A hundred roubles – that’s about ten pence. Some notes and phone numbers I picked up. Also there’s a Russian hotel room keycard and Russian love letters.

When was the last time you cried and why?
I don’t think I’ve cried properly since I was 14. But onstage I’ve noticed liquid coming out of my eyes and at the same time I’m screaming my head off about something quite emotional. It doesn’t feel like sadness. It’s more an extreme release of the past and it’s really pleasurable – but I don’t think it’s traditional crying

What's the most ridiculous thing you've bought?
I bought a Paramotor. It’s a parachute with motor you wear on your back, and the reason it’s ridiculous is because it cost £6000. It’s the most expensive thing I’ve ever bought. I lost the plot one day and I bought it thinking I could fly to all the festivals, but I need more lessons.

Have you ever been arrested?
Nearly. Me and my friends used to sneak into this outdoor swimming pool in our hometown Teignmouth at night, and get naked and swim around. One night a helicopter appeared overhead with a searchlight. Two policemen turned up, got us out of the pool and made us stand there naked. We were warned.

How would you prefer to die?
Probably drowning. My Mum nearly drowned when she fell off a yacht. At the time she couldn’t swim so she panicked, but after her lungs filled with water the fight went out of her and she said it was a really peaceful experience. Next thing, she was being resuscitated by a fisherman. It seems like a pretty mellow experience.

Where are you going now?
It’s my flatmates birthday, so I’m going out with him, we’re going to meet up with a girl I’ve been seeing and her mates, so we’ll go out, get pissed and try and get laid.