Quotes from Matt Bellamy

I love Tom Waits because he's an artist who makes me not afraid to get old, and that's rare. I think it's a rare kind of thing to have that level of wisdom. And his lyrics are just astounding; everything in life is inside his lyrics.

I always go for walks in the countryside.

I do think if all politicians were women, the world would be a better place.

The universe, in a big bang mode, is still expanding, which means it's cooling down, and evolution seems to be going against this; we're almost battling it. That led me on to a more creative, philosophical way of thinking, which is what led into influencing some of the songs, which is, maybe this is what our struggle is.

A guitar being played by an actual person is never going to be as precise and perfect as a programmed synthesizer. But we maintain there is value in the potential for human error.

Opera can be exceptionally moving but can also be pompous.

Rachmaninov has some kind of weird dark edge to his music which I don't think I've heard with any other kind of music before.

In the long term, artificial intelligence and automation are going to be taking over so much of what gives humans a feeling of purpose.

I've got my interests and my life experiences as I'm putting lyrics together. And if you start looking at patterns, you start thinking, 'Well, what am I really singing about here?' A lot of it seems to be a battle for some freedom against oppressive forces. That seems to be a theme in a lot of the albums I've done.

The best band in the world is Queen, definitely.

Empathy seems to be seen as a weakness. We condition people to withdraw it to succeed. But really, it needs to be re-seen as a strength again if there is to be any kind of hope in the world.

I don't totally buy or believe the paradigm that's constantly presented to us and the financial news is obsessed with, which is growth. There seems to be this paradigm which is: There has to be growth. I'm watching it and thinking, am I the only one who recognises this is a small planet isolated in a gigantic universe? Where are we growing to?

When I think about my teenage years, when my parents broke up, and feeling alone and being out of control and having to survive... And then other times when you've had to find your own way... that's always been a dominant theme in what I've done.

Introverts probably have a higher degree of sensitivity to outside stimulus and tend to back off. In your quiet shyness as a child, you end up with an accumulation of thoughts and ideas, building up big, imaginative worlds. You have to get it all out somehow, so it goes into your work.

I think that's what a lot of writers do, create a totally fantastical scenario that is a reflection of something else going on in their life.

The guitar has become a textural instrument rather than a lead instrument. And I think that's probably a good thing.

Two hundred years ago, industrialisation ruined the labour force. In the modern age, especially in the West or America, people who are 'efficient,' who can bracket their emotions off, tend to win. But at what cost to the rest of us?

I have been lucky to experience a lot of the spoils that can happen in a rock band. But being with the three guys in this band from such a young age, we aren't going to let any of the spoils change us.

There's always been a slight twinge of some classical elements in our music.

As a rock band, you're slightly one foot in the past, playing instruments like guitar, bass and drums.

When I dabble in watching the news and reading about current events, I tend to get a future negative view, and that's something I've dealt with through music. It's quite possible I'm slightly paranoid. But I'd say making music is an expression of feelings of helplessness and lack of control that I think a lot of people can relate to.

Being from a small town, no one else was going to breathe life into my ideas other than me, so I had to go out there and do it.

I have recurring nightmares about being in a Nazi concentration camp with all my family and constantly being sent to solitary confinement.

I'm a songwriter; it's in my nature to express things openly.