Muse cultivates success in America with ĎAbsolutioní
By KELLY WILSON
Get Out

They're a smashing success in the United Kingdom, but when the Brit-rock trio Muse ventured to the states, bassist and vocalist Chris Wolstenholme says the band knew they had their work cut out for them.

“It was kind of like starting from scratch again, really,’’ Wolstenholme, 26, says of his band who meld rock, electronica and metal. “I think it was a challenge that we were really looking forward to because we were doing pretty well in Europe and most of the rest of the world. America was the one place that has kind of been left behind a little bit. We expected it to be quite tough to be honest. We thought we'd come over here and play in clubs to 20 or 30 people every night.’’

“Absolution,” the group's third album and Warner Bros. Records debut, has received critical praise in the United States. The album has already spawned two singles, “Time is Running Out” and “Hysteria,” which are both receiving avid radio play locally on KEDJ (103.9 FM).

“When (‘Absolution’) came out we kind of thought that a few people would be aware of a couple songs on the new album and that would be about it,’’ Wolstenholme says. “But what really shocked us was the fact that a lot of people were already aware of our older stuff as well, even though our second album didn't even get released in America. A lot of people seemed to be aware of the songs. I think that was a shock more than anything.’’

Wolstenholme says that the group's album has a general theme.

“(It) deals with the inevitability of things coming to an end,’’ he says. “The first song (‘Apocalypse Please’) is a very direct statement about the end of the world. From there on, I think it deals with things coming to an end like relationships or in a particular period of life.’’

When the band — which also includes Matt Bellamy (lead singer, guitar and keyboards) and Dominic Howard (drums and percussion) — comes to the Valley this week, they'll be participating in a unique interaction with fans.

“The record companies organize these meet and greets where people win a competition on the radio to come and meet the band and quite often all of these people come in and nobody really knows what to say to each other because we've never met them and they've never met us so it's always kind of a strange atmosphere,’’ he says. “So we said ‘Let's do something interesting. Let's play poker with them.' It kind of breaks the ice a little bit and everyone has a bit of fun. It's much more fun than just signing autographs.’’

Wolstenholme says that Bellamy is the best poker player in the band. In fact, the frontman kicked butt in a game with Robert Smith when the Cure and Muse shared a bill during the Curiosa tour.

“Matt went on (The Cure's) tour bus and they were playing for pretty serious money,’’ he says. “Matt managed to pull out four of a kind aces in poker, which was quite funny because Matt came running on the bus going, 'I've just taken $400 off Robert Smith!' ’’

Muse, The Eixt, Taste
When: 8 p.m. Sunday
Where: Marquee Theatre, 730 N. Mill Ave., Tempe
How much: $18
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