Musician of the month

[Beibi]

Entrevista a Chris.

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Alternative press

Musician of the month

This month: Chris Wolstenholme of muse take us back to his musical roots

You make your living on bass, but you acually started playing music on guitar and drums. How'd this happen
I started playing the guitar when I was 11.The band I was in before this was one of those bands where [members] came and left all the time, and somehow i found myself on the drums-which i acually really enjoyed a lot more than playing guitar. Matt and Dom where in another band and two of there members left. I knew i could play guitar, but i'd never picked up my bass in my life, I acually wasn't sure if it was going to work out

Have you had any formal training or are you self-taught?
All of us are completely self-taught. I might have had three or four guitar lessons when i started high school. But the woman that was teaching them-she was a lovely women-wasn't much of a guitarist herself . So, by the time we'd had three or four lessons, everyone in the class was already better than her, I would't really call it training. We played songs like "London Bridge is falling down".

You used to play predominantly without a pick, but on Black Holes and Revelations you sometimes use one. What's different about playing with one?
I think it's natural for people to use a pick when they first pick up a bass. Then after you find your way around and you know what you're doing, it's easier to go without one. I tried to use both [styles] on this album, because I think it creates a lot of different sounds.When you play really hard, you get this percussive kind of "clank" that I really needed on "Knights of Cydonia" and "Invicible". I'll occasionally still use my pick, but I generally prefer fingers because i feel powerful and generally a lot more dynamic. You've got 4 fingers as opposed to only one pick, so there are definitely advantages to that.

Are your warm-ups today any different than they were 5 or 10 years ago?
I might have a little play before i go on, but generally I don't do too much of that. Usually, the way the set is stuctured, the first few songs act as a warm-up, anyway. I remember one particular time that i tried to do a warm-up and by the time i got onstage my fingers were bleeding and i was already knackered

What's the most embarrassing mistake that you have made onstage?
I don't know that I'd call it a mistake, but this happened quite recently. I usually have my bass quite low and theres one song where I [play] particularly high on the fretboard, so the bass has to be higher up. What I usually do is put my leg on the drum riser and put my bass on my leg. But i had these new trousers on, and it was the first time I'd worn them on stage and as soon as I put my leg up, I realized the trousers were too small and i put a huge tear right across the arse. That was in front of 1,400 people.[Laughs] So, don't wear tight pants when you're playing bass.

Theres some more

Chris Wolstenholme's Top 5 albums to play along to:

1. The Beach Boys
Pet sounds
2.Nirvana
Nevermind
3.Primus
Sailing the seas of cheese
4. Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Blood Suger Sex Magick
5. Rage against the machines
Rage against the machines

and finally

Learn from my Mistake
Chris Wolstenholme's Advice for beginning musicians

"Play as many types of music as possible, so that you don't find yourself in a situation where you can only play one type of song.I'm a bass player now. I still play guitar at home alot, and the drums alot as well, DON'T LIMIT YOURSELF TO ONE KIND OF MUSIC OR EVEN ONE INSTRUMENT. It's nice to lift as many restrictions as possible."

[G!nnyta]

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[deborah X]

You make your living on bass, but you acually started playing music on guitar and drums. How'd this happen
I started playing the guitar when I was 11.The band I was in before this was one of those bands where [members] came and left all the time, and somehow i found myself on the drums-which i acually really enjoyed a lot more than playing guitar. Matt and Dom where in another band and two of there members left. I knew i could play guitar, but i'd never picked up my bass in my life, I acually wasn't sure if it was going to work out

no tenía ni idea  :laugh:

[Geles]

El fragmento "gracioso" de la entrevista...

Cuál es el error más embarazoso que has cometido en el escenario?

No sé si llamarlo error, pero pasó hace bastante poco. Normalmente me coloco el bajo muy abajo, y hay una canción en la que toco muy alto en el diapasón (*), así que el bajo tiene que estar más alto. Lo que hago normalmente es poner la pierna encima de la plataforma de la batería y apoyo el bajo en la pierna. Pero (aquel día) llevaba unos pantalones nuevos, era la primera vez que me los ponía en el escenario, y justo cuando levanté la pierna, me dí cuenta de que los pantalones me quedaban demasiado pequeños, y me hice un agujero enorme en el culo (). Éso frente a 1400 personas [se ríe]. Así que no te pongas pantalones ajustados cuando toques el bajo.

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(*) Vaya por dosss... sé lo que es el mástil, el cuello, las pastillas, las cuerdas, los afinadores... pero qué casualidad que no sé qué es el fretboard, "diapasón", donde se presiona con los dedos para obtener distintas notas, debajo de las cuerdas. I love google & wikipedia  :laugh:

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La entrevista traducida aquí :) http://www.museabuse.com/smf/index.php?page=100