"Meeting People Is Easy", eh ? Your average tour, boring interview, soundcheck, another interview, gig, go to bed. Right ? Not at all. "That documentary just picked out the bad side of touring, it didn't concentrate on anything positive at all" says Matt Bellamy, lead singer of Muse and focal point for all the nubile teenage females in the audience at tonight's sold-out gig in Hanley.

Muse aren't your average rock band. There's no arrogant swagger, no malice and with a genuine love of what they do, they simply play rock music. But Muse aren't a simple band, and even on tour they manage to bring out all manner of strange instruments.

The story begins a decade ago when the teenage trio of Matt Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard move to Teignmouth, a small seaside town in Devon. It's dead in winter and heaving with tourists in summer - neither situation desirable. The three boys found music as the only antidote to their dull lives, forming the band 'Gothic Plague' and playing their brand of heavy rock music to a largely disinterested audience. This was when they starting writing songs, now they have an impressive 80 tracks. "We haven't recorded them all" says Chris. "That's like going back 6 years ago, when we were 15. We wrote loads we never play any more, cos they're rubbish. We've got about 30 songs that we rotate and play".

And Muse do play. An appearance at 1998's In The City, a showcase for upcoming bands led to a trip to the States to sign up with Madonna's Maverick label, and three further record deals around the world followed. After their two self-financed EPs had sold out, Muse were ready for an assault on the UK charts. It was slow progress, but the bands' three hits in 1999 each bettered the position of the last, Uno made number 73, Cave 52 and Muscle Museum 43. Not that the band are all that bothered, "It's just about numbers and status for the record company" says Dom.

Touring followed and lots of it. The Evening Session tour with 3 Colours Red and The Donnas, another long tour with Feeder and Straw, and festival appearances including Glastonbury, Reading and Woodstock last summer. So won't they get bored with touring? Chris doesn't think so. "We'll always enjoy it, we started a band to get out there and play. It's even better at your own shows, you know people are there for you and not for someone else. And every show is different, it's got it's own vibe".

Muse make incredible noise for a three-piece. Opening with 'Uno' (what else?), they play all the favourites from their debut album 'Showbiz' and a new track as well. The crowd love it, leaping about to the fast numbers, standing still to the slower ones. There's no crash-dancing, no crowd-surfing and no smoking at the front, just people enjoying the music. Maybe they'll need more time to learn all the words, but the audiences should grow and grow. They'll play bigger venues for their next tour and even go to the US to support the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Foo Fighters next month, something that band are looking forward too.

Fame isn't something that happens overnight, as the lads find out when walking past the queue forming outside the venue, only half a dozen people notice them. So don't they get recognised in the street now? Dom shakes his head, "I even played a trick on a touts who were selling tickets outside, I said 'Yeah, I'll have one mate, how much?" The other one went 'Give him a ticket !"

The band have had lots of support from publications from the NME and Melody Maker to Teletext and the Guardian. Aren't they fed up with being 'next big thing' or 'best newcomer' at award ceremonies yet ? "No, it's a pleasure, because those awards are voted by readers" says Dom. So the hype to do well isn't a pressure? Chris chips in "It doesn't bother us, about hype. We just get on with it". OK, so maybe that's not surprisingly really, but what if the NME were to do their infamous 'build `em up / knock `em down' routine? Dom smiles, "That's inevitable, with most new bands, isn't it? They've given us lots of glory, but I'm sure they'll kick our arse when the time comes". Well, Showbiz isn't a happy album, and so many critics have their knives sharpened for bands that sound a bit like R*d**h**d. Could that be a problem? Dom doesn't think so. "There's loads of that stuff, bands doing teenage angst. We're not a part of that. Some songs are unhappy, it's not an 'angsty' thing cos we're more than "we're sick of our home town" or "we're sick of life". It's bigger than that".

Muse emerge half-an-hour after the gig to meet the gaggle of fans that have waited out in the cold for a chance to meet their heroes. Photographs, hugs and hundreds of autographs later the band are still talking with the fans, answering questions about the meaning of songs. (Cave is about thinking something strange and wondering if anyone else feels the same, but being afraid to ask in case they don't. Muscle Museum is about moths (!) being drawn to bright lights through instinct, so are we also drawn to things without knowing why, in case you wondered).

The band explain their immediate plans, their next tour ends with a gig at London Astoria, (their biggest headlining date in the UK to date), an appearance on Top Of The Pops and summer festival appearances, Glastonbury and Reading being the two in this country they hope to fulfil. Then it's off to the US for those dates with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Foo Fighters. Dom looks pleased. "It's gonna be really nice, really big. Like 25,000 people every night. I don't know how we managed to spawn that tour, but it's gonna be great. It's a good introduction to the States, hopefully we'll try and blag a few more tours like that. But we prefer headlining. We've been supporting major acts in Europe for six, eight months. But we've had enough of that now; maybe we've reached a level where we can play little places like this, all over Europe. We're slightly bigger in France. We'd rather play for longer and have our own sets. We can use more instruments, play more songs".

They have a big following in Europe, even places like Russia and Eastern Europe. "We'd go anywhere" says Chris. "There are lots of places we haven't seen, like Japan and Australia. We play 1-2,000 capacity venues in France. We toured Germany with Bush, and that was very good, they were really nice guys. It seems to be happening in Switzerland, and Austria. We get good crowds over there".

So the future looks bright for Muse. Say in a few years, they come back with another killer album, and they earn the money to do what they like. What do they do then? Dom considers space travel. "I'll discover a new fuel and fuck off to Venus". Exactly. The sky isn't the limit for Muse- they can go much further than that.

The album "Showbiz" is out now on Mushroom Records.

Interview and words by Robin Tucker

First printed in 'Get Knotted', Staffordshire University Students' Union Newspaper

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