- 2 days ago
Matt Bellamy from Muse returned to KROQ to hang out with Klein. Ally. Show! We dive deep into the release of Muse's 10th studio album, The Wow Signal, which officially dropped on June 26th.
Matt reveals how the mysterious SETI radio transmission from space inspired the album's extraterrestrial themes. He also explains how the new track "Cryogen" marks a raw, synth-free return to Muse's early 2000s classical sound.
Plus, get the inside scoop on their upcoming North American tour, which promises heavy laser production, and wraps its first leg at the Hollywood Bowl on August 31st with Bloc Party and Portugal. The Man.
From reminiscing about their '99 Viper Room debut to Matt judging a 4-year-old's Spider-Man ukulele song, we cover it all!
Matt reveals how the mysterious SETI radio transmission from space inspired the album's extraterrestrial themes. He also explains how the new track "Cryogen" marks a raw, synth-free return to Muse's early 2000s classical sound.
Plus, get the inside scoop on their upcoming North American tour, which promises heavy laser production, and wraps its first leg at the Hollywood Bowl on August 31st with Bloc Party and Portugal. The Man.
From reminiscing about their '99 Viper Room debut to Matt judging a 4-year-old's Spider-Man ukulele song, we cover it all!
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MusicTranscript
00:00It's an absolute pleasure to welcome back one of the greats to the K-Rock world-famous studios,
00:06Matt Bellamy, not only vocalist, guitarist, pianist, sheep farmer,
00:10one of the finest muses that ever was and ever will be with a brand new album.
00:14Please welcome back to K-Rock the great Matt Bellamy. Good morning.
00:17Hey, great to be back. Yeah, thanks for having me.
00:19Thank you for being here. And as we celebrate the release of the 10th Muse album,
00:24before we even can talk about the new one, which is amazing,
00:26and we will listen to some of the music off of it,
00:28but do you remember the night before, the day before you were releasing Muse No. 1,
00:34the first of your albums?
00:35Wow, it takes me way back. I was in my early 20s, 21, I think.
00:40I was like 99. It was in 99.
00:42I think we actually came out here to L.A. for the first time.
00:44I was working as a painter and decorator and doing demolition work,
00:47and then got flown out here by Maverick Records to do a show in the Viper Room, I think.
00:52Oh, wow.
00:53Yeah, we played the Viper Room, then we did the Roxy, I think, a few weeks later.
00:56It was like showcases and stuff.
00:57Those are shockingly both still open.
00:58I was actually watching the other day, actually.
01:00Yeah, I took my son to see some rap show, I can't remember who it was,
01:03but it was something cool.
01:04Anyway, do I remember?
01:05Yeah, I remember being really nervous and being like,
01:06oh my God, this is like, my life is on the line here, you know?
01:09So I don't feel like that now, thankfully.
01:11At that point, you go, one album, we just got to get this thing out there,
01:14hopefully people like it, hopefully it sells,
01:15and then the concept that maybe all these years later,
01:18you'd be dropping your 10th album, it's got to be crazy.
01:20It's wild, yeah. I didn't think it'd be going this long.
01:22Back then, I thought, oh, this is great, I'll take a break from my day job
01:24and go and pretend to be a rock star for a year and ended up doing it for the rest
01:27of my life.
01:28So, yeah, it's been an amazing journey, really.
01:30Do you still get those tingles, though, the night before an album release?
01:33Yeah, I think so, yeah.
01:35Well, I like, I get it more from our hardcore fan base, you know,
01:38because they're very like, they know what they love, they know what they like,
01:41and we've done a few albums over the years where there's a few bits where they're like,
01:43oh, go back to the old style, do this and that.
01:45So I'm always a bit nervous about what they're going to say, you know what I mean?
01:47But this one, the few songs we've put out so far, they've been amazingly positive and it's been lovely.
01:51So I feel good about this album.
01:52Even the whole concept behind the wow signal, which officially drops on June 26th,
01:57is fascinating because, believe it or not, and correct me if I'm wrong,
02:01this all started with the concept of mysterious weird radio waves from space,
02:06a weird radio transmission, which is how our show is described regularly, probably K-Rock.
02:10K-Rock from another universe, wow.
02:13And that inspired you so much that this entire album has this kind of space vibe theme to it.
02:18Yeah, absolutely, yeah.
02:19It was, I mean, I've always been fascinated by space and sci-fi and all that stuff.
02:23It's always been part of what Muse is about.
02:25And yeah, so this wow signal was, it was about a year before all of us were born,
02:29all the band was born, yeah?
02:30And it's this amazing mystery to this day.
02:32It's the one signal from the SETI, you know, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
02:36It's the one signal that to this day is like probably most likely to have been intelligence of some kind,
02:40you know, and I think we're living in this age now, especially this year, actually,
02:43with films like Disclosure Day coming out and that amazing documentary that was out earlier this year,
02:47and with AI upon us, which obviously is an alien intelligence,
02:51which is about to emerge around all of us in the next year or two.
02:53I felt like the right time to revisit some of those early concepts that kind of formed Muse.
02:58And also that wow signal was one of my, influenced one of my favorite films of all time, which is
03:03Contact.
03:04Oh my God, I love Contact.
03:05Yeah, I love that film.
03:06And I watched it again, I watched it actually before making this album,
03:09and I was like, oh my God, I forgot how good this really is.
03:11It's such a classic.
03:12And I also forgot how much it influenced me growing up because I saw it when I was a kid,
03:14you know what I mean?
03:15So the album is kind of a little bit influenced by the whole concept of that film as well.
03:18This is actual, this is the wow signal.
03:20For those of you that are not familiar, take a listen.
03:22This is the actual signal that was, I guess, transmitted through space mysteriously,
03:25so much so that they made notes about it because of how, this is what it,
03:30this is not a Muse song.
03:31I want to point that out right now.
03:32This is the actual signal from space.
03:34This is the inspiration for the album.
03:35It's 77.
03:35It's funny you say it's not a Muse song because we did actually use this in a Muse song.
03:38Oh, it is?
03:38Oh, that's right.
03:39So it is technically.
03:40It's the last song on the album, Space Debris, opens with the wow signal.
03:45Wow, so did you have to get a clearance for that?
03:47Do you have to pay NASA?
03:48How do you end up, are you able to use a public domain?
03:51We took it off YouTube and we're probably going to get sued by something.
03:53Oh, okay, great.
03:54Oh, great.
03:54That'll be fun down the road.
03:55But there's all these theories as to what that may have meant, right?
03:59Because at the time, there is something that still, the mystery still lives on today.
04:02And I'm sure you've probably researched it more than most people.
04:04What is the best indication you have that that was alien life for reaching out to us?
04:08I don't know.
04:09I think that would be how we would communicate, I think.
04:11Because everything from our planet now, all the radio signals that go back 100 or so years,
04:15are now starting to reach star systems.
04:17Because at the speed of light, obviously, it takes years and years and years to get there.
04:21But everything that we've done is now starting to hit lots of interesting places.
04:24And you sent out your first single off the new album.
04:27You literally said, we're sending you back a signal.
04:30And you sent them the first song into space.
04:31Yeah, exactly.
04:32So we're hoping that we get some alien fans.
04:34Yeah, in like 23 years, someone in the other solar system is going to be like,
04:37whoa, this song's awesome.
04:39Muse has already released their 29th album on Earth.
04:41And they're just getting the 10th album to space.
04:43If ever, like, Blue Origin or SpaceX or anybody approached you about going to space,
04:48you know, everyone's talking about space tourism now
04:50and how we're all going to be able to go to space at some point.
04:53Does that idea excite you?
04:54Or does it feel kind of hokey?
04:55That's a good question, yeah.
04:56I think, like, if you asked me 10, 20 years ago, I'd be like, yeah, 100%.
04:59But now that Katy Perry's done it, it's kind of like...
05:01Yeah, now she's done it, I'm like, come on, we can't go behind Perry.
05:03No, but also, like, you know, like, with three kids now, I'm like, I don't know,
05:06do I want to, like, take that kind of risk?
05:07You know what I mean?
05:07Like, when you have kids, you feel a little bit different about risks.
05:09And it feels like it changes the people who...
05:11Like, I remember when William Shatner did it, he was like, everything's changed.
05:14Like, it seems like it really changed his brain.
05:16Yeah, it really liked him.
05:17The overview effect, that's called, isn't it?
05:18When apparently you go out of birth and you go, oh, my God, we're so small
05:21and we're so fragile, you know?
05:22And then you sort of come back feeling different.
05:24To get that feeling would be good, actually.
05:26I would be interested if there was, like, a moon hotel that had, like,
05:29good five-star services, room service.
05:31Yeah.
05:31Yeah, where it's comfortable.
05:32Yeah, yeah, yeah.
05:32Then I'm in.
05:33Well, I think they're making a moon base, so they can also make a venue,
05:36maybe a stage that Muse can perform on.
05:38It's funny that I didn't actually ever want to go to space until I had kids,
05:41and now I must get to space.
05:42I want to get as far away as possible.
05:44I got to get out of here.
05:44A little bit of peace and quiet.
05:45Right, and Matt Bellamy, responsible father, goes,
05:47you know, I'm going to stay here with my children.
05:48It's interesting, two different outlooks on being a dad.
05:51The album, of course, is also going to be followed by a tour, which...
05:55It's coming up soon.
05:56We have been lucky enough to have seen you guys live a handful of times,
05:59and Ali and I were just talking about, before you walked in here,
06:01how blown away we are every single time
06:04because of just how elaborate these productions are.
06:07I mean...
06:08Well, I feel like Muse shows are always, like, 10 years ahead of the times.
06:12Like, I remember the drone tour, and I was like...
06:15And that wasn't even when people were using drones on a regular basis.
06:19And then I was like, whoa, now it's just so...
06:21It's like a regular part of our, you know, DNA.
06:23But what kind of futuristic things can we expect for this tour?
06:28We're going to go all in on the lasers.
06:29I mean, lasers have been around for a while,
06:30but we're going to try and create geometric shapes with lasers.
06:33And we're going to try and create, like, a hexagonal shape
06:35that I can go inside of, you know, and do stuff like that.
06:37So we'll see.
06:38But it's going to be fun because we're doing a lot of America, actually.
06:41It's the first time releasing an album doing heavy American touring
06:43straight off the bat.
06:44So we're doing two months around America, July and August,
06:45and then we're going to come back again, I think, in February or March,
06:48and do an arena tour as well.
06:49So I'm really excited.
06:50I live here now, so I make everyone just go, like, I live in America.
06:53Convenient for you.
06:54And by the way, the Hollywood Bowl show is the final,
06:57at least of the first part of the tour.
06:58That's the last one.
06:59So I always think it's interesting because I always like, like, comedians,
07:02they will always kind of film their special on their last show
07:05because they've, not that you guys have kinks,
07:07but they get all the kinks out and they go,
07:09this is going to be the best one.
07:10It's the August 31st show at the Hollywood Bowl,
07:12which is the last one of the kind of American shows you're doing,
07:15at least in the first batch.
07:16So we should be getting the best of Muse.
07:18Absolutely, yeah.
07:19First time ever playing the Hollywood Bowl.
07:21So very excited.
07:22The only thing I'll say is the Hollywood Bowl is really hard to get the production in.
07:25Right.
07:25The show that we have, like, we can't actually get it all in.
07:28So it'll be, but it's the Hollywood Bowl.
07:29So you bow down to the, you know, the legacy of the building.
07:33Previous shows there, they travel with like 100 stormtroopers.
07:36I mean, if you think about some of these previous shows with Muse,
07:39some Muse in the round, Muse there.
07:40And then every once in a while when they take it back,
07:43even just watching Muse play like a, just focus,
07:46this is going to be a scaled down Muse.
07:47Even scaled down Muse is like any other show times a thousand.
07:50Yeah, high production value.
07:51I'm actually going there tonight.
07:52I'm going to see Rod Stewart, believe it or not.
07:53Oh, wow.
07:54The old legend.
07:55It's going to be hard for you to sit there and watch the show
07:58without kind of taking notes.
08:00Where's the lasers, man?
08:00Come on.
08:01There's more lasers, Rod Stewart.
08:03There's not enough lasers here, you loser.
08:05Yeah, I get it.
08:06Well, we are, as fans, obviously super excited.
08:09We're going to listen to one of the songs off the album now.
08:12This is not the one that you had sent to space originally,
08:15but can you tell us about Cryogen before we play it on K-Rock?
08:18Oh, yeah, yeah.
08:19This is actually a real return to old school music, I'd say.
08:21You know, a lot of the fans have been banging on about
08:23for the last few years, like they want the old sound.
08:25And we just said, like, let's get in a room together,
08:26the three of us, like, play like a three-piece band,
08:28like no synths and no extra effects or anything,
08:30just like boom, to keep it raw.
08:31And I started playing like the old kind of like
08:33sort of classical sound that Muse has on the guitar,
08:35and we just went straight into this riff.
08:37And, yeah, so here it is.
08:38It's like us returning to our old sound
08:40from the early 2000s, I think, yeah.
08:42It's New Muse off of the new album,
08:43which we're celebrating here at K-Rock today,
08:45The Wow Signal, June 26th, officially out.
08:48And this is New Muse on K-Rock.
08:52K-Rock.
08:53The Klein Alley Show.
08:54Mornings on K-Rock.
08:56K-Rock.
08:56Yeah!
08:57K-Rock.
08:59It's K-Rock, 106.7, world famous,
09:01in our studio, the great Matt Bellamy of Muse,
09:03not just here to hang out and talk to us,
09:05although that would be great.
09:06For our own ego, we'd like to pretend that it's the truth.
09:08But the reality is, there is a new Muse album,
09:10the 10th album, and when you say you'll come back anytime,
09:13we're going to hold you to that.
09:14We'll see you again next week.
09:15Absolutely.
09:15I live down the road, so anytime.
09:16Great.
09:17Now that you are living full-time in America,
09:20obviously the World Cup is here,
09:21and you're a big soccer fan.
09:23I am not.
09:24I don't know, Klein, you're not a big soccer person either.
09:26Well, I gamble on it, but I bet a lot on ties,
09:28and the problem is there are ties a lot,
09:30but then I don't know what I'm doing,
09:32and so when a team wins 2-0 and everyone goes,
09:34they were obviously going to win,
09:35they were favored by a million.
09:36I go, I think anyone can win any soccer game,
09:38and people that know soccer, they go,
09:39that's not true.
09:40There are teams that are just much better.
09:41Yeah, and I know people are excited about it,
09:43but do you think America will ever care about soccer
09:46the way that you grew up caring about it?
09:48We'll find out this summer.
09:49It'll be interesting to see.
09:50I mean, I've already got tickets to the World Cup final
09:53in New York, and I'm like, fingers crossed
09:54that England will make it that far.
09:55It's unlikely, but I'm hoping.
09:57Oh, hasn't it been since the 60s?
09:59Crazy money on those tickets.
10:00Smart bet, right there.
10:01In the hope that they make it there.
10:02But will they, I don't know, let's see.
10:03I think if the USA get anywhere near, say,
10:06the quarterfinals, I think then it would be a big thing.
10:08I think you're used to seeing winners,
10:11you love winners, do you know what I mean?
10:12And you've already got your huge sports here.
10:14So I think until USA really gets in the runnings
10:17for the semifinal, even the final,
10:18that would be the thing that tips American fans
10:21over the edge, I think.
10:22Yeah, there is a time when things happen,
10:23and then all the merch, they go,
10:24they've just sold more soccer jerseys in the last two days
10:27than they have in the history of the sport,
10:29at least in America.
10:30Because they won?
10:31Yeah, because they won a game,
10:32but that's sadly how we are.
10:33You also need like a star player.
10:34I mean, I don't know what you have on the team,
10:36but you need like a star player.
10:37Neither do we.
10:37Neither do we.
10:38You could name one.
10:39That's how it is.
10:39You could have a Maradona or like a Beckham
10:40or something, you know what I mean?
10:41And then like a personality.
10:42But I mean, England hasn't won a World Cup
10:44in a long time,
10:45and you guys are still all huge diehard fans.
10:47Yeah, but we still remember 1966.
10:47I mean, we just remember.
10:48I mean, we beat Germany for quite a sec.
10:49I mean, come on.
10:50I mean, the timing of that as well,
10:51it was like a big thing.
10:52That's like their miracle on ice.
10:53So that's what set us over the edge.
10:55We've never come back from that high.
10:56We've got, listen, new music, of course,
10:59a new tour that we've been mentioning.
11:00It'll be happening at the Hollywood Bowl.
11:01That is with Block Party and Portugal, The Man.
11:04It's going to be August 31st.
11:05Of course, all the details and tickets
11:06at Ticketmaster.com.
11:08Before we get to your two epic questions,
11:10I want you to know that you are inspiring
11:12the next generation of talent.
11:13Yeah, I wanted to ask you, Matt,
11:15because my kid yesterday
11:16actually picked up a ukulele,
11:18and he's four.
11:19And he decided to start writing music.
11:21And I just wanted, you have kids too,
11:23and I know you obviously know
11:25what you're doing in the world of guitar.
11:26Does my kid have what it takes?
11:28Do you think he could be the next Matt Bellamy?
11:30And please be honest.
11:31Okay.
11:32Once Iron Man gets some bad guys,
11:36we have to wrap them up,
11:38but not yet.
11:40We have to chase them.
11:42We have to be some different superheroes
11:47like Iron Man and also Captain America.
11:53Is that the space signal, Ali?
11:54That is pretty amazing.
11:55I would say,
11:56one thing I can say,
11:56that is way better than I was
11:57on the ukulele H4.
11:58Really?
11:59Wow.
12:00Okay, so prodigy, potentially.
12:01Absolutely, yeah.
12:02I think you've got a good one there.
12:03If you're wondering about the lyrics,
12:05he is saying,
12:05when Spider-Man gets some bad guys,
12:07he has to web them up,
12:08but not yet.
12:09First, he has to chase them.
12:11He has to meet some different superheroes
12:12like Iron Man and Captain America.
12:15That's pretty deep.
12:15You tell me what's better,
12:16that or this.
12:18I think it's pretty clear.
12:20This is actually the ukulele, weirdly.
12:21It's a close call.
12:23Speaking.
12:23This is also about Spider-Man,
12:25if you listen closely.
12:27We've got two epic questions
12:28to wrap things up
12:29with the great Matt Bellamy of Mews.
12:32Two.
12:33Two.
12:34Two.
12:34Epic.
12:35Two.
12:36Epic.
12:36Question.
12:38Question.
12:39Question.
12:40Epic question number one.
12:42All right, Matt.
12:44Would you ever play a show
12:46under Mews' original name,
12:47The Rocket Baby?
12:49The Rocket Baby Dolls.
12:50The Rocket Baby Dolls, yes.
12:52We...
12:53I feel like we did.
12:54I think we already did.
12:55I think we did like a secret show
12:57at the beginning of the last album
12:58in our hometown to about 100 people
12:59and we advertised it as Rocket Baby Dolls.
13:01And people still showed up
13:02because they knew.
13:02Yeah, yeah, yeah.
13:03They knew.
13:04Locals knew because that was
13:05where we played as that name,
13:06like where we came from.
13:07So, yes, we've already done it.
13:08Wow.
13:09In addition to, obviously,
13:10being a world-class musician,
13:12people may or may not know
13:13that you also have experience
13:15around sheep.
13:16How many of your sheep
13:18can you name in 10 seconds
13:20and go?
13:21Oh, my Lord.
13:21Fluffy one, fluffy two,
13:22fluffy three,
13:23lamb chops seven, six, and four,
13:25and a lovely roast on Sunday.
13:27Time is.
13:28So, time is up.
13:29Lamb chops was clearly,
13:31that was the after name
13:31after the fact.
13:32It was a beautiful story.
13:33One more epic question for you.
13:35Since you have your Irish citizenship now,
13:37can you do a good Irish accent?
13:40I can't indeed.
13:40No, I can't.
13:41Okay.
13:42Hey, we fucking...
13:43I always go straight to swear words.
13:45You gotta swear.
13:46That's the only way
13:46you know it's an Irish accent.
13:47The answer is I can't do it
13:48because it always sounds Scottish.
13:49But the reason why
13:50is because my mum's
13:50from Northern Ireland
13:51and Northern Ireland
13:51is a little bit closer to Scotland.
13:53Yeah.
13:53So, I can't do it
13:54without swearing for some reason.
13:55So, sorry.
13:56Well, they do love swearing.
13:57They do.
13:57That's the official...
13:58That's on the flag.
14:00Well, listen.
14:00We are thrilled, obviously,
14:01when we knew you'd be coming by.
14:02We couldn't be more excited.
14:03There's very few artists,
14:05bands, and songs
14:06we get as excited about
14:07as my muse comes up here at K-Rock.
14:08Long history together.
14:10Congrats on the album.
14:11The 10th,
14:11and I think one of the finest
14:13in a long-ass time.
14:14It is called
14:15The Wow Signal.
14:16Due out.
14:17June 26th.
14:18Get it.
14:19Download it.
14:19Listen to it.
14:20And see them
14:20when they're here
14:21at the Hollywood Bowl.
14:22It will be a show
14:23full of lasers.
14:24You will not be disappointed.
14:25Surprises, as always.
14:27And thank you so much
14:27for joining us again
14:28on K-Rock.
14:29Matt Bellamy.
14:29Go, thanks.
14:30Thanks for having me.
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