Matthew Bellamy
| Matthew Bellamy | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Matthew James Bellamy |
| Born | 9 June 1978 Cambridge, England |
| Genre(s) | Alternative rock Progressive rock Classical |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, keyboards, piano, mandolin, synthesisers, Pipe Organ |
| Years active | 1989-Present |
| Associated acts | Muse |
Matthew James Bellamy, D.A.[1] (born 9 June, 1978) is the main songwriter and lead vocalist, guitarist and pianist in the rock group Muse. He also scores strings for Muse songs. He has a tenor voice and is known for his use of the falsetto register along with his guitar and piano playing ability. Bellamy was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in art from the University of Plymouth on the 26th of September, 2008.[2]
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Early life
Bellamy was born in Cambridge, England. Bellamy's father, George, was the rhythm guitarist in the 1960s rock group The Tornados, who were the first British band to have a United States number one, with "Telstar".[3] Knights of Cydonia, a single from Muse's fourth album Black Holes & Revelations, is often cited as a tribute to that song, with its space rock sound and accompanying video depicting a cowboy's quest through an alien landscape. Bellamy's mother, Marilyn, was born in Belfast, and moved to England in the 1970s. On her first day in England she met Mr. Bellamy, who was at that time working as a taxi driver in London. They moved to Cambridge, where Matthew's older brother Paul was born, followed a couple of years later by Matthew himself. Bellamy started playing the piano at age 6.
In the mid-1980s the family moved to Dawlish, Devon where Matthew attended Westcliff Primary School. The family then moved to Teignmouth, Devon where Matthew attended Teignmouth Community College and then Exeter College. After moving in with his grandmother, he learned to play the guitar at the age of fourteen. [4]
Muse
Muse formed in Teignmouth, Devon in 1994 under the alias of Rocket Baby Dolls. Still under the alias Rocket Baby Dolls they won the school's battle of the bands which led them to take the band seriously, and decided to change their name to a more "professional" name, Muse. The band is comprised of Matthew Bellamy, Christopher Wolstenholme (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Dominic Howard (drums and percussion). Muse met at Teignmouth Community College where Bellamy had been in a number of bands previously including Carnage Mayhem and Gothic Plague with drummer Dominic Howard. When members of Gothic Plague left due to other interests, Bellamy and Howard asked Chris to join. Muse struggled to establish themselves during their early years but have since gone on to enjoy worldwide commercial success. Muse blend alternative, hard rock, progressive rock, classical music and electronica. Muse are well known for their energetic and visually dazzling live performances[5] and on June 16 & 17, 2007 became the first band to sell out the newly built Wembley Stadium in London[6] . Muse has released four studio albums, Showbiz (1999), Origin of Symmetry (2001), Absolution (2003) and Black Holes & Revelations (2006). Muse has also released 2 live albums, Hullabaloo Soundtrack (2001) and H.A.A.R.P [Live] (2008).
Achievements
Total Guitar readers voted Bellamy 29th on a list of the top 100 guitarists. In 2004, Muse won "Best Album" for Absolution at the Kerrang! Awards. [7]
Bellamy's riff from "Plug In Baby" was 13th in Total Guitar's poll of the Top 100 Riffs above riffs such as Cream's Sunshine of Your Love.[8] This riff was also mentioned among the best-ever riffs in Q magazine's Rock and Pop Miscellany. As well as this, the riff for "Stockholm Syndrome" was voted the greatest riff ever by Australian radio station Triple J's Top 100 Riffs of all time, above Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and other iconic riffs. "Plug In Baby" made the top 20.
In March 2007, Total Guitar published "The 100 Greatest Riffs", which included three Muse songs; "Supermassive Black Hole" at #93, "Knights of Cydonia" at #21 and "Plug In Baby" at #8.
In the 2007 Reader Awards issue of Total Guitar Magazine, the Invincible solo from Black Holes and Revelations won the solo of the year category.
In April 2005, Kerrang! magazine ranked him #28 in their "50 Sexiest People In Rock" poll but following an influx of letters to Kerrang!, they changed their decision and ranked him #1 in their unofficial 2008 poll, Cosmopolitan also chose him as the sexiest rocker of 2003 and 2004. NME Magazine voted him the 14th Greatest Rock'n'roll Hero of all time, beating Lennon, Dylan and many musical greats. Bellamy also won the Sexiest Male Award at the 2007 NME Awards [9], beating the likes of Carl Barât and Pete Doherty to the top spot.
In 2006, the Muse album Black Holes and Revelations was voted "Album of the Year" by Planet Rock magazine. In the same year, Muse won "Best British Band" at the Kerrang! Awards.[10]
September 2007's issue of Q Magazine announced Matt Bellamy as a Guitar Hero. On October 1, 2007, Matthew and Muse won 2 EMA Awards in Munich for Best Group in the UK and Ireland and their live performance.[11] Also in October 2007 they came top of the MTV2 top 100 British videos, with "Plug in Baby".
In January 2008, "Knights of Cydonia" () was voted the number one song of 2007 in the worlds biggest music poll with over 700,000 votes. The 2007 Hottest 100, hosted by Australian radio station Triple J, was the closest result ever, with Muse taking the honours only 13 votes ahead of second place Silverchair with "Straight Lines".
Musical equipment
Bellamy uses custom guitars designed by himself and Hugh Manson made in Exeter, Devon. He currently has a number of Manson guitars, as well as instruments by other manufacturers including a Fender 'Aloha' Stratocaster, a Gibson Les Paul DC Lite, a Gibson SG, Jackson Randy Rhoads (custom), a Parker Fly, a Peavey EVH Wolfgang and finally a Yamaha Pacifica. Bellamy's famous Manson shape has been compared to a Yamaha Pacifica, a Fender Telecaster, a Schecter and a Godin Triumph.
The first and most famous is his silver Manson. Bellamy came up with the basic concept for this guitar and Hugh Manson helped him realize it. It has a built-in Z.Vex Fuzz Factory which gives Bellamy his distinctive sound and the ability to use controlled feedback. In addition, it has an MXR Phase 90 phaser, a Roland midi pickup and uses Seymour Duncan and Kent Armstrong pickups. All of his other Mansons follow this same basic design (apart from Bellamy's 7 string which was not originally built for him but for a local jazz guitarist) with some just having different pickups and finishes, as with his mirrored Manson. Matt's black Manson has a MIDI strip that controls a Digitech Whammy IV, when it is connected, a Z.Vex Wah Probe and a number of other built in effects. For the 2006 album, Black Holes and Revelations, he bought a new guitar, the "Black Kaoss Manson". The guitar features two P-90s, a Fernandes Sustainer System on the neck and a touch pad which connects to a Korg Kaoss Pad. He also bought the M1D1, which is similar to the Black Kaoss Manson but has a Bare Knuckle Nail Bomb humbucker in the bridge position and a Fernandes Sustainer System (FSK-101 model, which is the humbucker version of the latter one) on the neck. He is also known to use an Ibanez Destroyer on stage (Hullabaloo). Bellamy uses Diezel amp heads, along with Marshall Mode Four cabinets ("We use Marshall because when we jump on them they still work, and they sound good... real good!"), Soldano Cabinets and Line 6 digital effects. Most of Bellamy's rack effects are made with Line 6 modules.
Key Influences
Bellamy's classical piano playing style has often drawn comparisons to the work of Russian composer and pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff, whose influence can distinctly be heard on the likes of Space Dementia and Butterflies and Hurricanes.
Given his standing and reputation as one of modern rock's most innovative guitarists, Bellamy has often been questioned on who influenced his playing of the instrument. In a 2008 interview with NME, he cited Jimi Hendrix, Prince, The Edge and Tom Morello as guitarists who had shaped his playing style. The latter he has often been compared with, as Bellamy often combines Morello's heavy, swaggering, Led Zeppelin-influenced riffs with inventive solos, which can be observed particularly well live, when, like Morello, Bellamy often changes his riffs or adds additional ones to songs. One example of this would be on the HAARP DVD/CD release where an extract of the riff from Rage Against The Machine's cover of Maggie's Farm can be heard on the end of Map of the Problematique.
Bellamy's vocal style has been compared often to Radiohead singer Thom Yorke although, given the parallels that can be drawn between their first album and The Bends, the band have never cited Radiohead as a major influence. However, his operatic falsetto vocals, particularly on Muse's last two albums has drawn comparisons to Queen's Freddie Mercury's whose live theatricality he also shares.
External links
References
- ↑ "Is there a doctor in the house? (see News section)", Muse.mu.
- ↑ http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/EXCLUSIVE-University-honour-rock-stars-Muse/article-356162-detail/article.html
- ↑ Revelation on stage| Music | This is London
- ↑ muse : biography | microcuts.net
- ↑ "Muse play supermassive free show". NME News. NME.COM (2006-06-26). Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
- ↑ Dan Martin (2007-06-16), Muse play Wembley Stadium mega gig, NME
- ↑ | Entertainment | Music | Darkness bask in Kerrang! success]
- ↑ Top 20 Guitar Riffs Of All Time
- ↑ Kate Rocks NME Awards – Sky Showbiz
- ↑ Kerrang! Awards 2006 Blog: Winners
- ↑ Muse – MTV Europe Music Awards 2007 – Pictures – music – Virgin Media
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