My Coldplay.com - A Coldplay Blog

‘Revista Veja’, a Brazilian Magazine, interviewed Chris Martin after Coldplay’s soundcheck in San Jose last week - and promptly gave Latin America fans the news they’d been waiting for since early 2007 - a trip to South America around March 2009.

Which leaves us all wondering if Coldplay have double-booked Australia and South America by mistake or whether it’s part of the same tour leg. Chris Martin spoke to Nova 96.9FM (Sydney radio station) the day before the San Jose show in which Chris said that Coldplay will hopefully tour Australia in February or March next year.

Australia or South America, or both? We’ll wait and see.

Full Chris Martin interview is below [thanks Cris-Santos/Suzana Fong].

Last week, Coldplay played one more concert of the tour promoting their newest record. After the soundcheck, Chris Martin gave us an exclusive interview. He is a shy vegetarian who is commited with Fair Trade, an organisation that defends poorer countries in global trade. Martin is also the leadsinger of the current biggest band. Their first three albuns have sold more than 30 million copies and Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends just makes the already large amount even larger. It topped the charts in 36 countries; in Brasil the 34000 copies sold represent a golden record.
In the San Jose performance, Coldplay showed why they attract so many listeners, a vast group that includes from teenagers to forty-year-olds. The band brilliantly played the new songs off the record (produced by Brian Eno, Viva La Vida introduces a Coldplay flirting with Indian and African sounds). And Martin showed his charisma: during one and a half hour, he hypnotized 15000 people with his not very coordinated movements, jokes and peculiar way of hammering the piano. He made an ironic comment about people who do not like his band. “We wish all those critics who dislike us were here to see you singing this song with me”. Martin only loses his temper when paparazzi invade his private life; in the interview, he talked about this subject and announced that Coldplay may come to Brasil in March, 2009.

Viva La Vida topped the charts in 36 countries. Presently, are Coldplay the biggest band?
Chris Martin - Yeah, we’re the biggest ones today -but in a very limited sense. Just because U2 and Green Day didn’t release any record this year. It’s like winning a golf tournament in which Tiger Woods didn’t take place. I’d say we’re among the ten best bands. But did you know that I don’t listen to Coldplay albums? They make me have nightmares.

Why? Are they bad records?
Chris Martin - I work hard in every record that I make. But, when I listen to them, I always feel that I could’ve done better. Deep down, it’s not a bad thing -it’s an aim for perfection. I promise that one day, I’ll listen to Coldplay albuns. When I’m 90 and have nothing else to do, maybe.

Coldplay provoke extreme reactions. Some worship you, other hate you. How do you face that?
Chris Martin - I’m scared by the hate. I always believed that we are an authentic band, because of the chemistry between the members. We’re four souls that complete one another and I have a job that we believe in. I can’t see where this hostility comes from

Does criticism hurt you?
Chris Martin - I simply try to not read them. I only pay attention when someone highlights some relevant observation. Some journalists pointed out some exaggerations in the concerts of the new tour, what made us change our performance. But if people hate us just for the sake of it, [you've got to be] patient. There are people who need to do that. If it’s me they choose to attack, just let it be like that.

You collaborate with Fair Trade, which defends the end of comercial restrictions between poor and rich countries. How do take part in the project?
Chris Martin - I’ve been more active. I left Fair Trade aside to dedicate myself to the new Coldplay record, which means that I’m just a silent enthusiast of the organisation. I still believe that this project can reduce poverty in many countries, including Brasil.

Isn’t it incoherent to support democrat Barack Obama in the US election? He defends protecionist policies for certain sections of the US industry, which is the opposite of Fair Trade principles.
Chris Martin - I support Obama because I’m intelligent. The last sentence of his autobiography is: “My heart is full of love for my country”. It sounds too patriotic -but Obama is trying to be elected the president of a country in which patriotism is exacerbated. Reading the rest of the book, it can be noticed that he is more open-minded than republican Jonh McCain. Even if he’s said to be a protectionist, he’ll consider the other countries. You can say I am naive, but I believe that today’s politicians are better than yesterday’s. And will be even better in the future.

When did you figure out you wanted to be a musician?
Chris Martin - I’m from Devon, in the South part of England. Perhaps there’a something special in the milk of this region because there are a lot of interesting people from there, like Joss Stone. I discovered music at school. It was very traditional in terms of music; at most, it’d let students take part in choirs and small orchaestras -which are important, but can be boring to teenagers. One day, a new teacher came up with lots of keyboards. They were rather worn out, but still worked. They were a revelation for me. I started singing much later. I was in Tunisia, with a friend of mine and there was a bar in the city that held karaoke competitions. The winner was given a bottle of whisky. I won lots of them and didn’t even drink at that period…

Songs like Clocks denote a certain influence from classical music. Do you like it?
Chris Martin - As any pianist, I love listening to Chopin. But I still can’t play anything by him because it’s too fast. I also like Beethoven. By the way, I read recently that “Because”, by The Beatles é “Moonlight” played backwards. I’m really willing to check if it’s true.

The fans’ approach can be really violent. What do you do to get rid of unwanted fans?
Chris Martin - I do nothing because I’m rarely recognised on the streets. Lots of people who come up to talk to me think I am James Blunt because of the huge success of “You’re Beautiful”.

You cannot deny you are chased by paparazzi…
Chris Martin - I think “chased” is too strong. The most annoying situation is not be able to go shopping with my wife, who is also famous. Neither I nor she encourage this kind of approach. But it’s not the end of the world. If it’s what you have to endure to give my family a comfortable life, that’s ok. Other people suffer more than that.

Such as Britney Spears and Amy Winehouse?
Chris Martin - If there’s one person whose life was ruined by those people, this person is Britney. I regard myself as a lucky guy because I’m part of a band and I’m a man (they usually importune women in a higher degree). Britney has to deal with those people every day. Amy’s case is sad as well. Jonny, our guitarist, is her neighbour and witnesses all those paparazzi every day. Amy’s an angel. I hate to acknowledge that people cause her harm.

Why do you usually refer to yourself in a self-deprecating way?
Chris Martin - Because I’m honest. And, to a certain extent, that’s also Woody Allen’s influence: he’s my favourite movie maker and is always telling jokes about himself. Lots of Coldplay lyrics are inspired by Woody’s thoughts on sex, life and friendship. Only one joke from the movie “Annie Hall” would result in a full Coldplay record. Two ladies are in a restaurant and one of them says: “The food here is horrible”. The other goes: “Horrible and is served in small portions”. With this, Woody meant that life is painful -and that it is also very fast.

Do you lack self-confidence?
Chris Martin - When I’m with the band, never. When I’m by myself, I bring myself into question countinually. To be honest, I think the only person in the world who doens’t lack self-confidence is George W. Bush. He’s so insane that he has no time left.

http://veja.abril.com.br/300708/p_142.shtml