Matt Bellamy is convinced Muse have stayed together for more than 30 years because they have “never been in fashion”.
The frontman – who helped found the band back in 1994 – has credited their ongoing success to the fact that they have never fit into any particular genre of been part of a trend – declaring they are “the definition of alternative”.
He told NME: “[When Muse arrived] there were three things going on back then: the end of Britpop, nu-metal in America, and then the new exciting thing was The Strokes, The White Stripes, that retro rock ‘n’ roll thing.
“We didn’t fit in with any of those things – and that, in hindsight, was a blessing really. The fact that we somehow found an audience without being part of a trend is amazing, and I think that’s why we’re still here. We are the definition of alternative, and I’m very, very happy about that.
“We’ve never been in fashion enough that when the limelight moves away from you, you’re just finished.”
Matt went on to reveal he had a conversation on a similar theme when he met up with Jack White and The Strokes star Albert Hammond, Jr. at the Coachella music festival in California earlier this year.
He said: “I was at Coachella the other week and I bumped into Jack White and Albert from The Strokes … I was just backstage chatting to them and I went, ‘F***, we’re still here!’
“We were like: ‘We’re the guitarists from the 2000s! We did it!’ It was so cool. Maybe there was a bit of a scene back then, but it was defined by being a little bit alternative to the mainstream.”
When asked whether he could form a rock supergroup with White and Hammond, the Muse star joked: “Ha! No, because they would embarrass me with how good they are!”
He added of the White Stripes star’s technical ability: “He’s a real lead guitarist. In every song, he’s doing pretty busy solos. Solos were something I was trying to push down a little bit.
“I feel like when we first came up, the guitar solo was already an embarrassing thing to do. If anything, I would say that Jack White brought it back. I’m a singer as well, so I’ve never been totally driven by being technical on the guitar.”