Yay, new interview to read. I like that. :nod:

 

 

Another day in paradise

 

WHEN he formed Coldplay, Chris Martin wanted to be known but not necessarily famous. Famous was for better-looking or faster-talking, more tabloid-ready types such as Bono of U2, the Gallaghers in Oasis or those hip-hop stars who seemed built for it. Not for someone who even today, as a 35-year-old man, declares to me that ''we feel so grateful and happy to have our job and when lots of people are there we feel even more grateful and even more happy''.

 

Yes, he has that self-deprecating thing down but it's hard to see the disingenuousness. Twelve years ago he was already saying of the four men in Coldplay: ''As albatrosses go, I suppose it's a minor one, but it does get a bit tiring reading that we are such nice, humble chaps all the time,'' but he's never really provided a reason to think otherwise.

 

He wanted to get the girl but never seriously entertained any notion of getting one of the most recognisable girls in the world, as he did in 2003 with his wife, actor Gwyneth Paltrow. After all, he was a virgin at 22 and once explained the limited ambitions at the beginning of his career, only semi-jokingly, as ''basically, we set out with two goals: to either make it big in America or sleep with the sisters from the Corrs''.

 

He wanted his band to be pretty big but not necessarily massive. They weren't afraid of success or doubting they could do it - ''I sometimes think people don't appreciate just how actually good we think we are. We are good,'' Martin said after their first album, Parachutes - but they saw themselves as quite properly in the shadow of U2, R.E.M. and Jay-Z. As drummer Will Champion said a few years back, his frontman ''requires a lot of reassurance'' and readily admits to taking lessons in fame-craft from the egos who walk, Jay-Z and Kanye West.

 

Yet for all that, Martin and Coldplay are well past famous and one of the biggest bands in the world. The kind of famous that comes with 55 million albums sold, seven Grammys, three times best British band at the Brit Awards and concerts now being staged in football stadiums to accommodate the widescreen songs of last year's Mylo Xyloto album. Famous enough to be publicly pilloried as a matter of course by some critics and many an online blogger. The kind of abuse that had a slightly bruised but apparently genuine Martin asking a journalist last year, ''Do you think it's normal for big artists to have haters and ups and downs?''

 

I tell him that I've occasionally found commentary about me online that is pretty confronting and I'm only known by about five people, not 55 million. How does he deal with it?

 

''I think it's to do with the power of your own conviction,'' Martin says. ''You know deep down if what you've done is to the best of your ability and if it is then you can't worry. But I was most worried about what anyone thought around [the 2005 album] X&Y and that was because deep down I wasn't completely satisfied with it. Since then, if someone says, 'You know, that song Paradise is f---ing awful,' I don't necessarily ask that person out to dinner but I don't really mind that they feel that way because I did my best on it and I like it.''

 

The downsides of fame and a public profile get plenty of airings these days, even if they get little sympathy. But we don't often hear about what's good about being someone who is able to dream a show and then make that show, who can befriend the kind of powerful people the rest of us would never meet on equal terms.

 

''You're right, everyone focuses on the negatives. I spend most of the day at the moment feeling incredibly grateful and blessed. I've had things given to me, talent or whatever and opportunities that are so jammy, that are so unlikely to happen to a person and the only way to deal with it is to work as hard as possible. But what's it like? It's f---ing awesome.

 

''But you can very easily become infected by the minority negative opinion. I was talking to my dad yesterday about Manchester United, the most popular soccer team in the world, and when they show up in West Ham, they get booed. I was thinking, well, it's the same for us. But when everybody is singing Paradise [at shows] at the moment it makes me feel so alive and happy. I can't explain it really, it's hyperreal.''

 

In the real world, are there limits for them, musically?

 

''I think for the most part there isn't anything we're not allowed to do. There comes a point where you just accept that whatever you do someone will like or hate it so it's extremely liberating. We are incredibly blessed that we are, 12 years in, allowed to make whatever we want to make. That's extraordinary. Even in the film world you can't do that. Only a few people can do that.''

 

So there isn't an end to this band just yet?

 

''No. There might be an end to our popularity but I think there won't be an end to our teamness or gangship, camaraderie. We love each other,'' Martin says unabashedly. ''Also I'm always looking at Kanye West and he's moving so fast and doing such amazing work that I want to keep chasing him for a while. I don't want to give up just yet.''

 

link

 

 

There's a redux version of this article, which is longer and well worth reading too.

I'm afraid it isn't a new interview (just like the NME article from yesterday), they just collected a bunch of quotes and came up with his.

 

edit: nevermind, I only checked the first part of the article when I found it online. I guess the second part is new. Sorry!

^Thats OK Tash. I thought so too, at first.

Article in Australia's The Age newspaper

 

Spotted this article in The Age Saturday Edition this morning ;)

It's nothing new, but I guess we'll be seeing a lot more articles as November gets closer :)

 

Spotted this article in The Age Saturday Edition this morning ;)

It's nothing new, but I guess we'll be seeing a lot more articles as November gets closer :)

 

Threads merged.

thanks for the scan! :)

^ no problem :D

Same article here for better view

 

http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/music/coldplay-redux-20120623-20uii.html

 

I wonder if Alicia Keys will ever record the song Coldplay wrote for her?

I do not see a better reviewed, and I'm not a fan of pictures.

 

my sister is a fan of Alicia Keys.

 

Now she's an actress famous she starred in the Nanny.

Awww... they love each other:rolleyes:

Great article.

It's good to know that they are happy right now. Well, we can hear it anyways on MX - quintessential joy.

Cold Trafford

We are Man United of pop, says Chris Martin

 

The Sun needs to start writing its own articles instead of copy pasting other articles.

I think wrote his own article because.

 

Cold Trafford "We are man United of pop"

 

Reminds me of a certain fiery Scotsman who’s Wayne Rooney’s boss at Old Trafford.

Chris Martin can't take criticism? (Vancouver Sun video article)

 

Published on 13 Apr 2013

The Coldplay singer talks about how he deals with negativity.

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMQR2-5Ui-o]Chris Martin can't take criticism? - YouTube[/ame]

 

:thinking:

Recycling an article from June 2012, awesome Vancouver Sun.

let's bung it in with the original Sydney Herald then :D

I totally forgot The Sun also copy pasted it :embarrassed: