Matt Bellamy on going solo, lockdown and what’s next for Muse

Muse frontman Matt Bellamy had prepared himself for a break this year after finishing the band’s ambitious Simulation Theory tour in 2019.

The coronavirus pandemic has certainly led to that break being strictly enforced and Bellamy, who it’s no surprise to hear confessing has been guilty of making work for himself, always wanting to push things forward, says he is slowly learning to appreciate the joy of chilling out.

On the phone from home in Los Angeles, having swapped Devon for sunny California a while ago, the lead singer of Muse, one of the most successful British bands of the 21st century, is reflecting on how much the world has changed since the band last stepped off stage in South America seven months ago.

Creatively, despite taking time away from Muse, the global COVID-19 lockdown has inspired the singer to put out his second solo track, Tomorrow’s World, written and produced during this moment in history; social distancing and isolation from others the “new normal” now after almost eight weeks.

With the title borrowed from the BBC science series that ran for almost 40 years, Bellamy says as a child watching in the ’80s, the “wild futuristic predictions of what life would be like now” stayed with him.

It seems apt for the star of the band often described as intergalactic, whose live performances are a cocktail of sci-fi, outer space, pyrotechnics and musical bombast; however, it’s fair to say most people’s futuristic predictions did not envisage the situation we find ourselves in now.

As someone taking an interest in what’s happening on both sides of the Atlantic, how does Bellamy feel about how the pandemic has been dealt with?

“Leaders do their best to give off some kind of air they have control and they know, and then we pick them apart because we can clearly tell they don’t know,” he says.

“The question I guess you can ask to people who are very critical of the government is, do you really want them to tell you the truth? Which is that they’ve got no idea where this is going?”

Bellamy remains fairly diplomatic, although makes his opinion on Donald Trump pretty clear.

“It’s a little bit chaotic and it’s not that clear,” he says of the UK’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak. “But that is the nature of what this virus is.

“There’s still a lot of unknowns. And I think when you’re dealing with unknowns – simultaneous to the fact that people really want their governments to know and to give decisive instructions – there’s a recipe for disbalance, where governments can’t say the truth. Which is, ‘we don’t actually really know what’s going on’.

“The truth is that even the people we elected to be in control and in charge, they don’t really know… and I think that’s the scariest part of it.

“I think things could have been handled better. The dithering about whether to lock down or not probably will be seen as a mistake in the long-term, particularly in the UK.

“And over here, obviously the leader is an absolute buffoon, who as soon as he hears any conspiracy theory or any kind of alt-theory about some medication, you know, he’ll speak about it publicly and without realising it’s not actually tested or anything like that.

“There’s definitely some very specific examples that I think both leaders have completely fumbled the ball. But at the same time, leadership overall at this point is difficult because everyone’s dealing with unknowns.”

Taking a year off from Muse after eight albums, 20 million records sold worldwide and numerous Grammy, Brit and MTV awards, Bellamy’s break also sees him getting ready for the birth of his second child; his wife, the model Elle Evans Bellamy, is due to give birth in just a few weeks’ time, and he also has a son with his former girlfriend, Hollywood actress Kate Hudson.

His mum is also living with the couple, having flown out to California from the UK just before flight bans were announced.

“It’s basically been me, my mum, my wife and also I’ve got an eight-year-old son I share with my ex-partner and I get him for a week off, week on type thing, so I’ve become a pretty good primary school teacher,” Bellamy says.

The couple are “feeling pretty good” about the pregnancy now, he says, despite concerns when lockdown was first announced.

“It was quite worrying because there was a period of time where the doctor’s offices were all shut down and everybody went into sort of hibernation mode.

“And there was a while when the hospitals here in LA wouldn’t allow the husbands to go in with the wives giving birth, so we were quite nervous about that. But that’s kind of relaxed a little bit now, which is good.”

So before Bellamy has a newborn to look after, he has released Tomorrow’s World, which catches him in a reflective mood. It’s about making the most of the unexpected things lockdown has given us.

“It was kind of spontaneous,” he says. “In terms of solo stuff, I don’t even have a record deal. It’s just me on my own making music and putting stuff out there.

“Muse had decided to take a year off; we did a lot heavy touring last year and the years before as well.

“Our plan was to just take a break this year, which is good because myself and also Chris, the bass player, he’s recently just had a baby as well, so it was nice to take a break for that. Muse is going to probably get together to make an album and do a big tour either next year, or 2022 more likely at this point.

“So, yes, this year was going to be a quiet year anyway and then when the lockdown happened it really kind of doubled down on that. It’s like, ‘oh, I really am taking a year off’.

“For me, I just started playing the piano and doing music at home. And I guess I just started thinking, what kind of music would I do if it wasn’t for Muse?

“The answer is probably quite ethereal or a bit more kind of soundtracky sounding… solo stuff in terms of piano, acoustic guitar, maybe, and generally just a lot softer, a lot less bombastic, a lot less kind of in your face, in the way that Muse music is.”

Whether music or films, Bellamy says he believes there will be lots of artists inspired by this moment in time.

“When you’re in the state of being a little bit sort of anxious and worried, I think most writers would say it’s hard to really concentrate, to get ideas finished. But you do absorb a lot, you absorb a lot of ideas. And what tends to happen with writers, I think, is that once something like this passes, the ideas are going to flow in a big way.

“I think a lot of people – everyone from film script writers to novelists and music composers and so on – will probably find that during the initial lockdown period, when everyone is a bit uptight and anxious, it’s difficult to create during that time, but you’re absorbing so much that will come out at a later date.”

Bellamy says that for him, life in enforced isolation has taught him to let go a little bit.

“I think I’ve probably had unnecessary tendencies to work in the past. I wouldn’t say workaholic but I’d say I’ve always had a natural inclination towards making work for myself.

“Muse has always done a lot of touring, a lot of album making, and if I look into that, a lot of that was me… I was quite a driver of everything, and when that’s not available I’ve sort of been forced to realise that actually I can’t work.

“I think slowing down the pace of life has been something that I found surprisingly enjoyable. In the past, I’ve always been a bit more keen to be on the move, travel, get things happening, make stuff happen. Whereas during this time, I’ve learned to appreciate what it is to just take time to cook a dinner or whatever it is, or learn how to grow… I don’t know, a carrot. Stuff like that.

“I guess I’ve realised that we don’t actually need that much to enjoy life. You don’t need to be rushing around in traffic jams, flying all over the place, you know, chasing this, that and the other. I think that could be something, I’m hoping will be a newfound appreciation for what it is to sort of chill out a bit.”

Unsurprisingly music is something that helps Bellamy through difficult times.

“There’s certain songs or pieces of music that really sort of resonate that there’s other people out there who have the same feelings. For me, music is the best way you can sort of feel someone else’s emotions and feel connected – to someone who’s not around you.”

Another project Bellamy has been working on in recent weeks is The Jaded Hearts Group, his “supergroup” with the likes of Graham Coxon (Blur), Miles Kane (The Last Shadow Puppets), Nic Cester (Jet), Sean Payne (The Zutons) and guitarist Jamie Davis.

What started off as a Beatles covers band (one which managed to get actual Beatle Paul McCartney on stage with them within just a few gigs), they have now moved on to different sources of inspiration and plan to release an album later this year.

So the question I have to ask is: like all good covers bands, are they available for weddings?

“Absolutely,” Bellamy laughs. “We are 100% available for weddings. Give us a call, we’ll be there.”

Matt Bellamy’s new solo track Tomorrow’s World is out now

(c) Sky News 2020: Matt Bellamy on going solo, lockdown and what’s next for Muse