Matt Bellamy reflects on missing life on the road with Muse, and how everything feels like a "completely alternate reality" right now.
It's been well over half a year since Muse finished up their colossal Simulation Theory World Tour, and frontman Matt Bellamy has been reflecting on the state of the world right now with the coronavirus pandemic, and how being on the road feels like "some kind of strange dream" at the moment.
Following the release of his beautiful new solo song Tomorrow's World, Matt caught up with Zane Lowe on Apple Music via video call to discuss how the track came about – as well as the strange times that inspired it, and how life as a touring band pretty much feels a million miles away right now.
"It feels like a completely alternate reality," he ponders. "Now it feels kind of like some kind of crazy dream that I had. I keep having flashbacks to these huge stadiums that we did where I'd come up and I'd have my silly power glove on – it was like an ’80s power glove with lasers coming out of it.
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"I'd come up on the lift and there'd be like 80,000 people there. And I sort of think to myself, 'Did that really happen?' I just can't process it, that that was only six months ago. And it just feels like a different world now, you know? It's an unusual emotion. It just kind of feels… It all seems like some kind of strange dream."
This strange dream did, however, help bring Tomorrow's World to light, with Matt explaining that it was a way to keep himself occupied while we're all in lockdown.
"I've never really sort of seriously thought about doing much work outside of Muse because I love Muse so much and we have such a great time together and make music together and all that," he said. "But I thought, if I was to do a song on my own, during lockdown, we all sort of try and find ways to keep ourselves occupied. So, for me, just writing a song on the piano and doing my film mixing – I love film music, as you know – and just trying to think of a lyric or a feeling that kind of captures what I'm feeling during this time, which is kind of reconnecting with the simplest things in life and trying to find a kind of optimism and hope for what the future could be.
"I wanted to try and create a song during this time that captured that and also a song that I can always look back on and go, 'I remember. This song will always remind me of that moment in my life,'" he continues. "Because for me songs always have – especially being a songwriter – such strong connections to put at certain points in my life. So I really wanted to make sure I wrote a song during this time or made a song during this time that kind of will always make me remember this time."
Watch the full interview between Matt and Zane below:
And check out Tomorrow's World if you haven't already done so:
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