Mat Whitecross sat down with us last week to chat about his latest documentary - A Head Full of Dreams. We talk about Coldplay's next album, fan interactions, DVD extras, unreleased tracks and much more.

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A Head Full of Dreams offers a unique and in-depth look into the last 20 years of Coldplay. The film follows the band’s spectacular rise to fame from the back of Camden pubs to selling out stadiums worldwide. Whitecross, who met the four in college, has been there to capture over a thousand hours of footage over the last 20 years. His unmatched relationship with the band differs this documentary from others and shows the emotional, stressful and joyous times experienced by the band and those around them over the last two decades.

Whitecross has been vital to Coldplay's success due to his contribution in the form of numerous music videos. Lovers in Japan, Christmas Lights, Paradise, Every Teardrop and Charlie Brown are amongst some of the many projects under his belt. Let's not forget 'Supersonic', 'Road to Guantanamo' and a few Take That music videos![/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=20px][vc_single_image image=81762" img_size="full" add_caption="yes" style="vc_box_rounded" qode_css_animation="][vc_empty_space height=20px][vc_column_text]Despite these achievements, he is still the kindest man you'll meet in the industry. Fans can attest to this through their own interactions with him on social media. Whether it was spending over an hour on the phone to answer all of our questions or sending in photos to illustrate the interview, Mat has been especially kind to us at Coldplaying.

Big thanks to Mat for providing such detailed answers to our questions, First, let's see how footage from as far back as two decades ago made it into the film:

 [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern][vc_column width=2/3][vc_column_text]Firstly, how did you digitalize everything? I can only imagine how many different variants of tapes you had as cameras evolved.

Good question. God bless Miller who has been in their Pro Tools sessions for years, that’s how he first started with them. He has done every single possible job behind the scenes, he moved into directing while he was with them so he started filming bits and pieces backstage but also began to archive everything they have picked up over the years. For example, Chris had a trunk full of all his precious possessions with his old notebooks, like the notebook you see in the film, all his old wristbands and tour passes and ideas for album sleeves along with everything else he had written down. He gave this trunk to Miller and he went through and carefully scanned every last one of them. On the road for the second album Guy picked up a camera and started filming everything, a lot of that ended up in the film. He gave all that to Miller so he started archiving that. Along the way, I think Miller said ‘look I’m putting all this stuff into storage and I’m starting to load it onto the computer, why don’t you give me anything you’ve got’. So I gave him everything I had as well. He had loaded it onto machines digitally, he had it on old hard drives but some of it I think had been missed. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=1/3][vc_single_image image=81769" img_size="full" add_caption="yes" style="vc_box_rounded" qode_css_animation="][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern][vc_column][vc_column_text]He had been looking after all the tapes but not actually digitizing some of them. So we had an editing team, Marc, the editor I work with, who also worked with Michael Winterbottom, came on board as editor. Arturo who also worked on Supersonic did some editing but also just stuck everything in the machine. It was not easy, it was a lot of work. Hannah who was the archivist on Supersonic, did the archive on this as well and so she waded through every single one and started making selects and suggestions and she put the shout out to fans and to old friends at university and dug up as much extra footage as she could.

I was contacted by Hannah a couple of times for footage, I believe she got some clips from our website. Sadly, my archive is a mess and it has been beyond difficult to sort everything and re-upload it to the site. I understand the difficulty of sorting through 20 years of footage so massive props to your team for that!

Yeah, of course, it’s almost a full-time job. I had never been through any of those tapes, I had forgotten what was on them. Some of them I gave to Miller but others went up to my Mum’s attic in old shoe boxes full of tapes. I don’t even know if I found them all to be honest because I only went up a couple of times and there’s footage I was convinced I’d shot but I couldn’t find anywhere. I can’t even remember what it would have been but I remember one time some of my friends came over from Argentina and stayed in my flat when I was a student. I remember them going to a Coldplay gig so I’m sure there’s a tape of us going to a Coldplay show and the band coming back to our house afterwards. It was probably not that interesting to most people, I think it was just everyone sitting around with guitars and having a laugh. But I couldn’t find it. You never know, some earlier footage may pop up some day or maybe I lost it, I have no idea!

Can we expect any extra footage in the DVD extras?

That is a really good question, I dont know actually. I know that we supplied quite a lot. As with Supersonic, we had a much longer cut of the film. Not all of it was necessarily better than what was in the film, there were a lot of scenes that I really loved though. For example, in that section that’s all about collaboration and inspiration, we had this footage of Michael Stipe and Chris with Apple when she was very young, she was just a toddler, on a piano, It was really beautiful. Obviously, we shot Glastonbury so we filmed Michael Eavis and Barry Gibb backstage rehearsing for their cameo appearances. It was all lovely. We also filmed Michael J. Fox rehearsing with the band onstage. One of the bits that I regret most that we cut was Merry Clayton in the studio with the band where she runs rings around them, it was very very funny. But it would’ve been a 10 hour film. I think some of that footage, possibly not all, was handed over to the guys that do the extras. I suppose there are certain issues there, things we’ve filmed ourselves belong to the band but other things, I’m not sure if they definitely belong to the band. I also went to a U2 gig to illustrate that they are a fan and students of music and they’d go out there and find inspiration from people they admire and that was part of the film aswell so there’s a lot of extra footage but I don’t know how all that stuff works. DVD extras used to be a really big thing and I used to really love watching them. In the last couple of films, we had hours and hours of stuff and I talked to whoever it is who makes the DVD’s and they were like to be honest, it’s not really a selling point for people anymore and I was really surprised.

I think people will be happy anyway!

Exactly, I said why don’t we just stick it all online. We did so many audio interviews for Supersonic for example and I was like, can’t we create a website and archive them so people can listen to them. And they were like, no we couldn't be bothered. It’s a time-consuming thing, it’s the same reason that you’re struggling to go through your archive, someone has to actually do it and nobody is willing to pay for it.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=20px][vc_single_image image=81771" img_size="full" add_caption="yes" qode_css_animation="][vc_empty_space height=20px][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern][vc_column][vc_column_text]People will be happy anyway. There was a year where we heard absolutely nothing. Now we have the Film, the Butterfly Package, Live in Sao Paulo etc. Everyone’s happy, but somewhat broke now!

Hahaha, that’s the other thing. I think the band are very good at sharing things. For example, if you’re a young kid and you’re a fan but maybe you’re saving up for the DVD. They started sharing some songs from Live in Sao Paulo so you can watch them anyway. I think hopefully people will have enough to be getting on with for the time being.

It was interesting that the film wasn’t about their accolades in terms of awards and sales, it was about their journey. Were there particular events you absolutely knew you had to include?

We definitely wanted to cover the first time they headlined Glastonbury because that was such a big event, that was a gamechanger. I knew I wanted to include Glastonbury anyway because it's so important to them, they always talk about it being their spiritual home and where they are happiest on stage. We didn’t really know though, we had different versions. We had a version with Barry Gibb, Michael Eavis, we had some footage of the first time they ever turned up to Glastonbury and an anecdote when they were dropped off at the wrong gates and they ran through the festival. All that I really loved, but again maybe it was too much of a good thing. My instinct is always like, I love this stuff, I’m quite indulgent, let’s have a 10-hour film. And I think Phil and Chris’ instincts are, No, Leave people wanting more, let's just get on with it. When I was interviewing Dave Holmes for example, because he's the manager, he’s very conscious of all these amazing successes, the Grammys, that sort of thing. So we had moments where we mentioned some of those things in the film but it just felt like it was part of some slightly different film. I’m sure they’re proud of achieving all those things but it’s not really something they talk about amongst themselves. We’re telling a story about these five guys so let’s not get involved in the numerous successes that everyone knows about, they can go online if they’re interested in that kind of stuff. There are some other big events I knew were gonna be in the film. I knew those early gigs were important and I was very lucky to have been there and to have had a camera, so I knew they had to be in there. One thing I was hoping to put in was the first big thing I did with them once they were established. I was shooting a lot of footage of them with Brian Eno in the studio. We went in with three 60mm cameras and we filmed some really great stuff and then Phil was like, oh don't worry about it we’ll stick it on the shelf. We never did anything with it and I always really regretted that so I was really hoping we’d get a chance to go through all that footage again, and we did, I mean there’s a ton of it. I remember we edited it back in the day, so maybe that will resurface one day too!

Why did you add Prospekt March, Animals, Rainy day and other songs that fans wouldn’t know to the film?

I love all those songs, Careful Where You Stand and a lot of those early songs are some of my favourites. I guess it’s because I have a personal connection to them. I often heard them being played within a few hours or days of them being written or sometimes I heard them literally being written. Prospekts March is right up there. If it’s not my favourite it’s one of my favourites. I’ve got to admit, they were very good at leaving me to make the film I wanted to make but Phil, every so often, would offer advice and he would so say the usual things like “You should make the film shorter” or “shouldn’t there be more of this rather than that”. Ultimately it was always up to me but he was there as an extra pair of eyes and ears but I don’t know what issue he and Chris had with Prospekt's March. It has always been one of my favourite songs, they were like "it’s not one of our bests, do you really want to put it in the film". I’ve always loved it and I actually said to them, would you be up for playing it on the c-stage for the fans then maybe we can use it as a way of comparing the two. I wanted to have Chris trying to remember it as he’s writing it on stage during a soundcheck and then we see them in Sao Paulo or Buenos Aires or Paris playing it on the c-stage because the c-stage represents the past and them in that room and so on. Chris was like "I really don’t want to waste anyone's time playing that song, it’s not a good song" and I was like are you joking? So I think I connect with those songs and fans connect with those songs but maybe the band don’t anymore. They feel like they’ve evolved and written better songs now. There’s something really lovely about rediscovering versions of old songs that you've maybe never heard or b-sides. There’s another song that I really love, I Bloom Blaum, I’ve always loved that song. It’s a pretty obscure b-side. When Marc, the editor, found the clip of Chris singing it I thought, this has to go in. The band might not even remember what the song is called!

What about the unreleased songs like ‘Vitamins’ and ‘The Race’. Everyone’s obsessing over these two songs, especially The Race, fans are confused they didn’t release it!

It’s a great one, it’s so good. They recorded with Merry Clayton in the States, I wasn’t there for that but they are some of my favourite scenes. Chris did one session with Merry and she came in the next day. She had just suffered a terrible car accident so she’s in a wheelchair and he’s pushing her around, but she’s completely ruling the roost, it's very funny. She’s very affectionately taking the piss out of them. She’s an amazing presence, a living legend. I loved all those sequences, they were originally in the film but then we realised we had Michael Stipe, Bono, Merry, Beyonce and then Noel. We kinda said hang on, this is taking over the film, I love all these scenes but it’s too much. We ended up cutting it down, Barry Gibb went in and out and in and out of the film. I was the one who said at the last minute, no, let’s just take it out, it’s too much. I really miss the Merry stuff. The Race is phenomenal, I remember hearing it for the first time, I was like this sounds like the Happy Mondays or something like that. It was almost like a dance track, it was so unusual. We put it in that sequence about the tensions within the band and the veto power that each of them has. I think it was Guy who didn’t like it or didn’t think it was their best tune and so they pulled the plug on it. We had a longer section where they talk about that song with Chris saying he loved the track but ultimately it’s not up to him it’s up to them. Whether that means it will never be released, I don’t know. I think Phil and Chris were keen for it to be the first single from the album but then decided it was not ready or it was not right. It’s a shame, I hope they release it one day. I was really surprised that Phil allowed us to put it in the film. Obviously, I'm making the film but it’s up to them what music they want in it but yeah it was very good of him to say yes.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern][vc_column][vc_empty_space][qode_layout3 posts_per_page=1" column_number="1" space_between_items="normal" image_size="full" display_pagination="no" post_in="81717" offset="][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern][vc_column][vc_column_text]How did it feel filming the band during tense moments such as X&Y?

Around the time of X&Y, I was still great friends with the band, we would meet from time to time but I was off making films, I must’ve been filming Road To Guantanamo. I was experiencing it all from quite far away. Luckily, Miller was still around and was keen to be filming, the band encouraged him. He shot almost all the stuff from X&Y so I missed out on it. It was weird for me because I had heard all the stories from them firsthand but I was in a different country a lot of the time, I didn’t experience it. It was really interesting to see that stuff because it was completely new to me, I didn’t realise anyone had even documented it. They were going through some difficult times for obvious reasons so I just wanted to put an arm around them and say it’s gonna be alright, you’re gonna write a great song in a minute. I think the intention was to do a ‘Making of X&Y’ film which is why Miller started shooting it so there’s an insane amount of footage from that period.

There was one moment where my friends looked at me shocked during a scene where Chris is arguing with someone over the mic stand hitting him in the face. Later on, there’s a moment where Chris is writing a letter to his 17-year-old self, it really ties the film together. You do kind of want to say to them ‘it’s gonna be ok’ because it is very tense at that point.

It is, I think anyone in his position would have acted the same way. It was very good of him and Phil to trust us with telling the story, we were trying to be true to what happened. I can’t think of many bands that would allow you to open up about the bad times as much as we did. It’s difficult because I think I’m in a privileged position as I’ve known the band for a long time so they trust me enough that they know my intentions are decent. I was very lucky that in Supersonic and in this film that both bands were like look, you’re the filmmaker just get on with it. It was an amazing working relationship, they just trusted me to do my thing.

Was there any point in making the film that something almost stopped you from putting it out?

Yes, every single point since I’ve picked up a camera over 20 years ago there has been points where we were like no we’re not doing this anymore. Just after they had been signed by Parlophone I said look, I’ve got all this footage can I turn it into some kind of film. They entertained the idea but Jonny said look, we don’t really have a story yet, I don’t think we’ve really figured out who we are yet or what we want to be and I was like don’t worry about it it’s fine. I started writing a fictional story about these four guys and I asked if I could hang their music off the back of it. They talked about it a few times but decided that they didn’t want to do it. Similarly, after Viva La Vida, they shot a lot on that tour and in the studio, I asked the question again, and again after Mylo Xyloto. After Ghost Stories I was quite busy, my wife and I just had kids. I was in the middle of finishing Supersonic when I got a call from Phil and Chris to see if I wanted to come and do the Rose Bowl live stream to China and the Philippines. So I came out for the weekend and while I was editing backstage, they were kinda peering over my shoulder and asking me questions.

They allowed us to show the film to them even though it was unfinished so we did a screening in LA. One of the producers was like I’ll bring my mate Paul along, it will make it less tense. And he walked in with Paul Thomas Anderson and I was like oh fuck, it added 20 times the pressure! Anyway, they really loved it and at the end Phil was like maybe it’s time to talk to the band again about making a film. It was ironically the moment where I felt like I had just done a music documentary, I’m exhausted, I’m going to try to do something else. On the other hand, I really wanted to make the film and I felt like this is our opportunity let’s just go for it. We started making it and initially we didn’t know what film we were making, were we making a documentary, is it 20 years, is it just the A Head Full of Dreams tour, what is it? I said I’ve got all this amazing footage, I’d love to make a film about your entire career and lives together and Phil said, can you leave it with me. He said to send him some of the worst clips of the band that they might get a little self-conscious about. I don’t think he had seen some of the older stuff. But he said to send him the worst, where they were their geekiest and spottiest and if they were happy with those then I think we should just give it the green light. So I sent him a couple of clips, I’m sure one of them was Chris talking to the camera talking about the four years and the phone rang as soon as I hit send. He was like oh my god, this footage is horrendous, please burn it or bury or it something, this is horrific, we can’t allow anyone to see this. He was laughing about it but there was a part of him thinking I need to protect the band, this stuff is really embarrassing. I said that’s ok, the footage belongs to you, you can do whatever you want with it. Apparently about a week later, they were backstage in the production office and Phil was looking back over the footage and Chris caught a glimpse of it as he was walking past. He said what’s this? Phil started showing him clips. He imagined Chris would be mortified but Chris was like, this is great, have you got any more of it. So I guess they finally got to a point in their lives where they’re grown up now, they have kids, they’re a million miles away from those people in the footage. So Phil was like we can finally do this and we started cutting it together.

They still hadn’t really said what they wanted and I hadn’t decided what I wanted to do. I said to Phil, I would like to make a documentary, what do you want? He still wanted it to be a live film. I said if you’re not going to use this footage for anything else then maybe we should do a live film but for the moments in between songs we could use a little bit of archive to contrast past and present. So I did that but the more I did it, the more I liked it. I knew they were working on the Kaleidoscope EP because I had seen them backstage. Taking that as a cue I said I’m gonna call this film Kaleidoscope and it’s going to be very fragmented and dreamlike and you’ll move from one scene to the next without much explanation. So you’ll have a section on bad times and difficulties such as Will being kicked out, X&Y, and Ghost Stories. Me and Marc started working on that for a while. Phil and his wife were about to have their baby and said if we are going to do this film we should have it out before Christmas, this being last Christmas. I sent them a cut and said this is very rough, it’s really an experiment, I don’t know if it’s right or not I just want to try something out, let’s start a discussion. Phil called me the next day and was like, this is terrible, maybe we shouldn’t make this film after all. I had to convince him that it was worth making the film. I said it was an experiment and it didn’t work, can you just leave me and the team get on with it and we will have another go at it. Bless Chris and Phil, they had a chat and rang me the next day saying that the Christmas deadline was too much pressure and to postpone it. The three of us had spoken about if money and time were no object, where would we begin and end the film. All of us immediately said that we wanted it to be South America. There’s something about those gigs that’s wild and celebratory. Coldplay fans all over the world are amazing but there’s some kind of connection with Latin America which is often why they start and end their time there. So we thought, screw money, screw Christmas, let’s begin and end the film the way the tour begins and ends. Without that pressure, it immediately became clear what kind of film we were making. I was talking to Marc about it and to my producers Hannah and Fiona, this is a film about friendship and childhood friendship and how it grows and changes and the ups and downs through the process of time. It then became much easier to make and it became relatively straightforward from that point. So that was the closest we got to having the plug being pulled. We are all friends so there wouldn’t have been any hard feelings but it was pretty scary!

How does it feel to know you’ve just contributed something so significant to Coldplay’s legacy and so important to fans?

Aw, that’s very sweet. I feel like one of the things that I really connected with in terms of the message of the recent concerts was this sense of 'One Big Band' and that everyone is a part of a family. There’s something very moving about seeing that when you’re in a stadium with 60,000 people or you’re in Glastonbury, with however many hundred thousand people and millions more watching worldwide. Having someone on stage not saying "look at me, look how amazing I am" but rather saying ‘look at us, look what we can achieve together’. When I saw Chris singing that on stage, it was in the middle of the whole Brexit shambles all kicking off, everyone felt pretty despondent and somehow it felt like everything was going to be ok. There’s a lot more that connects us than divides us so there's something lovely about that and so I think with this film, it’s very sweet that someone says that. I feel like more than any other film I’ve ever worked on, it’s the most personal, it’s my life, growing up with these five people, but it’s also the most collaborative. I have directed the film, I’ve chosen the path of the story but it’s actually a story of Coldplay, it’s a story of Phil, it’s a story of the fans. Miller has shot it, Marcus Haney shot it, Chris shot it, Guy shot it and they’ve contributed so much and the fans have been there as part of it. I feel like it’s a very communal thing so it’s very sweet for you to say it’s part of Coldplay’s legacy but I feel like we’ve all made the film together so I hope in that sense it gives people a sense of what they’ve achieved in 20 years.

How did you feel about the fan’s reactions to the film and the #AHFODFilmParty? You seemed to reply to pretty much everyone!

Mate, I’ve got to say, it was the most wonderful thing. You make films for people to enjoy and to have that response is great. I think Twitter gets a lot of bad press, everyone talks about all the spats people have with each other. For me, it was very moving and energising to see how people were connecting with the film. It was a lovely thing, almost like New Years. I woke up in the morning and immediately people were like “we are just queueing up to go see the film". Being an idiot I hadn’t really thought about how there were people in Sydney, Auckland, then Singapore, then Tokyo. The film was gradually spreading across the world as the time zones changed and the sun moved across the planet. The only thing I can compare it to is New Years when you see people celebrating the fireworks going off. It was really overwhelming. I remember growing up I would write letters to people that I loved, often people in film, and never really heard back and I always thought, it’s a nice thing to connect with people if you can do it. I just think Coldplay fans are the best people on the planet, I never experienced anything like that with the euphoria, you see it at the gigs but it was lovely to see it online. It was a real privilege to be able to connect with people that way.

I am working on another film at the moment so it did kind of take me out of commision! Every 5 mins I would sit down and try do a bit more editing and all of a sudden I would hear another ping on my phone. I need to be a bit more disciplined! It’s intoxicating, it was really lovely to see that and see people get different things from it. We had a screening in Soho the night before and a Q&A with Edith but on the night of the film, my wife and my mother in law organised a bunch of friends to come. They are Iranian so they brought all their friends, so like a hundred Iranians showed up at North Finchley Vue and we had a bit of a party! As I was leaving, a guy came up to me and said is it alright if I get a picture? We had a chat and it turned out he is a musician and I asked what kind of music and If I can follow him, so I followed him on Twitter. He said he was feeling a bit lost and wasn’t sure what he was doing with his new album and so he saw the film and got inspired by the band and it made him feel like he knew what he wanted to do. His name is Jordan MacKampa and he's great. The next morning I said I’d have a listen to some of his music and I listened to it. The guy’s a fucking genius. I thought, how amazing to have connected with their story. The message that Chris tells you at the end ‘don’t ever give up’, I get to see people following that across the world. Often when people see a big band like U2, the Stones or Coldplay, they assume they’re always like that and they see them on stage and they look like these titans or gods and the fireworks and confetti is going off and you think, these guys are superhuman. To be able to rewind 20 years and see that they were a bunch of spotty kids who didn’t really know what they were doing or if they’d ever make it but they just had that drive and determination and passion for music.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=81772" img_size="full" qode_css_animation="][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]It’s amazing because I’m sure anyone can connect with that whether you want to be an astronaut or a footballer or a film star. You’ll meet a lot of people along the way who’ll tell you it’s impossible, but anything is possible. I remember when I was in school, you had an obligatory session with a career’s advisor and I told him I wanted to be a film director, he just laughed and said you can’t. Rather than doing something else I just thought, fuck you! I think Chris has had some of that, whether it comes from his Dad saying 'don’t ever give up’, he had this thought that he was going to make it happen. It’s a very important message that you shouldn’t let anyone ever tell you what you can’t do, you can do anything if you set your mind to it. We had a whole back to the future section in the film where Chris was talking about that and then talking about Jonny and Johnny B. Goode and then it went to this whole thing about you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it and then we meet Michael J. Fox who’s backstage. There are some really lovely moments but nevermind, in an alternative universe there’s a very different film that exists.

I know everyone is going to be asking you this question and I feel kind of bad for asking. The main reason why I haven’t written an article about it yet is that we haven’t got solid proof yet. Do you know if they are working on new material?

I understand, it’s for the band to talk about, it’s their future. The A Head Full of Dreams tour was so huge and all-encompassing, it took them away from their families for quite a long time so they decided to take some time off, they had never really done it in a proper way before. Chris is certainly in the studio every single day, he’s writing new songs all the time. Right now they are taking a whole year sabbatical and see what they want to do at the end of it. I know that at the end of every single album, since the first one, Chris, in particular, has felt so depleted and exhausted by it and felt like he has given everything into the project that there’s nothing left to say. So often when he does the interviews, he says this is the last thing they are doing. Because the lyrics are his, Chris often thinks about the themes and what they are trying to say with each album. For him, A Head Full of Dreams was a culmination of something he has set out to do since they began as a band so I asked him does that mean it’s the end? At the beginning, he felt like it was because that’s how he always feels. Towards the end of the tour, I asked him the same question and he was slightly more dismissive so they’re certainly getting back together to do something. He says in the film that it’s their last conventional album and I think you have to read into that yourself. Does that mean they will never do another album? There’s a lot of bands that find other ways to get their music out there in the form of singles or EP’s. Whatever they end up doing each time, every album seems like a progression from the last, surprising and experimental in a way. People often talk about Radiohead as being the only big experimental band but I would say that Coldplay is. They’re not experimental in a traditional way but as Guy says in the film, if you look at Parachutes and then look at A Head Full of Dreams, they’re many universes away from each other but also in the same place emotionally. I think whatever they do next is going to be different and surprising but what that is, I don’t know. They’re definitely hatching something but you’ll have to talk to them about that!

Finally, what are you working on at the moment?

A lot of stuff, specifically I am doing a documentary for the BBC about the Bauhaus Movement, the art and design school that existed in Germany between the two World Wars. It’s a beautiful project. They asked me to do a film about Basquiat last year which I really wanted to do so I said yes but then the Coldplay thing went on for so long that I ended up ruling myself out of it but luckily they came back and asked me to do this which I’m really enjoying. Then we’ve got the usual thing of 10 potential projects lined up and one of them might happen or none of them might happen and it might end up being something completely different so you never know![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

If you have not watched Sam's awesome video yet then go watch it now above! I was lucky enough to interview the creator of "My Life in Technicolor", Sam Reid, who not only took a photo everyday from February 23, 2011-April 19, 2016 but moved his mouth in each photo to mimic Coldplay's Life in Technicolor ii. Take a look at some of the questions below where I ask how he made the video, why he chose a Coldplay song and more. It is definitely a good read!

Q: Hey Sam, congrats on your graduation! How does it feel to finally release the “My Life in Technicolor” video after 5 years in the making?

A: It's pretty surreal. Over the course of five years, taking a picture every night had become a routine, and while I always new I'd finish at some point, it actually felt like the finish line snuck up on me! I'm very proud of how the final product turned out.

Q: What made you want to create a five year timeline of your life?

A: A few years before I started, there were some popular videos on YouTube where people had done something similar (Noah Kalina being the most notable example). I had always been fascinated with those projects, but I wanted to put my own twist on it, and so I decided to add singing into the mix.

Q: Did you find it difficult to keep it up for five years?

A: Yes! While I never saw myself quitting, there were stretches of time where it was difficult to be consistent with the picture-taking. Traveling and going to bed later than my roommate also presented challenges!

Q: How old were you when you took the first photo on February 23, 2011?

A: I was 17 years old and was in the middle of my junior year of high school.

Q: How did you calculate exactly when to open your mouth for the singing?

A: I've seen several theories about this posted in comments online. It's actually much simpler than people think: I started the iMovie project as soon as I started taking pictures, and would add a picture to the project as soon as I took it. By watching what I'd done so far, I was able to anticipate what shape I needed to make with my mouth for the next day's picture.

Q: How long did it take to edit?

A: Because I added each picture immediately after I took it, the only editing I needed to do was exporting the video when I was finished!

Q: Why did you choose a Coldplay song and specifically Life in Technicolor to sing along to?

A: I actually started making the video with an instrumental song called "Everyday" by Carly Comando. A couple months in, however, I decided to pick a song I could sing along to, and luckily, I hadn't reached the point where the lyrics started yet. I chose Life in Technicolor ii because I was listening to a lot of Coldplay at the time and it felt like an appropriate soundtrack to my life. I don't know if this crossed my mind at the time, but looking back, I think the verse that starts "Time came a'creepin'..." fits the project surprisingly well.

Q: How many photos in total did you capture for this video and which one is your favourite?

A: There are close to 1,200 picture in the video (1,163 to be exact), each lasting .2 seconds. I really like the pictures when I grew my hair out, but I'd have to say that my favorite is one around the 3:48 mark where I tried out a really nasty-looking mustache and sideburns. I only had it for a couple hours before I decided to shave it off, but I made sure to get a picture before I did.

Q: How on earth did you manage to keep your head in exactly the same position for each photo?!

A: Since I used PhotoBooth on my MacBook, I would just try to position my head in the same position as the previous photo, and then flip back and forth between the two to make sure it looked good. As you might expect, I rarely got it exactly right on the first try and took several attempts each night.

Q: Finally, what would you say to Coldplay if they were to see this video and interview?

A: About 30 minutes before this interview, Coldplay's twitter account posted the video, so I hope some of the band has gotten to see it! I would thank them for making such beautiful music!

Last week, we managed to chat with the owner of Album Artists, Fraser Scott, who also contributes selling Coldplay's album artworks from Mylo Xyloto, Ghost Stories and A Head Full of Dreams. We talked about the outcome of the art sale, his excitement, and his planning on future works.

C: Can you tell us about the A Head Full of Dreams album art sale?

F: Yes, the band is supporting a new project in London to help disadvantaged kids. We are selling the super cool art for A Head Full of Dreams, on behalf of the band and Pilar Zeta, to support that. So far we are just doing that online, but in just 2 weeks we've already raised more than £45,000 for the charity, just from one social media post from Coldplay. There is still a lot more for sale including works in every price range, £25-£120,000 (that's the the huge massive original work that became the cover).

C: What is most exciting about it?

F: This is the 3rd album where we have sold all the art for Coldplay, but I think what still excites me is what good people they are - they do so much to help and they really throw themselves into it. I mean, we have really cool art here and it's fun working with Pilar who is really creative and cool and she's completely behind the project too. It's exciting to work with artists who make such cool music and art, and who also have so much social conscience.

C: The lyrics all sold out fast - are there any more original works to be revealed?

F: Yeah, the handwritten lyrics went really fast. And there were two works that sold before we even put them up on the website. We had a doodle by Chris which I sent out in one email and we had 5 offers to buy it for £900 immediately. Anything handwritten by Chris and signed by the band is obviously hyper popular. But the thing with the lyrics is that they are actually part of the album art - they featured on the sleeve itself, so those were a part of music history. We actually are going to release them as art prints so everyone can afford them.

Picture: Everglow lyrics handwritten by Chris

C: Did Album Artists have anything to do with finding the art this time?

F: Well, after Ghost Stories, where we put Mila Furstova forward, we worked with the band for 12 months on AHFOD and put forward over 800 artists. But in the end they found Pilar themselves, from an email that was sent out by her agency. So, that's how it happened this time.

C: Any surprises in store?

F: Yes, there is one big surprise coming, but, if I told you, where would the surprise be? :)

Interested in grabbing the artwork? Visit here now and get a price quote from Album Artists!

Last month saw the release of the official video for Hymn For The Weekend. Aaron (Atlas2000) our staff member had the privilege to chat with the brilliant director of the video, Ben Mor! 

[gallery size=full" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" ids="51719,51718,51717,51716,51715,51714,51713" orderby="rand]

Q: The crowd scenes with the children in the video are wonderful, how did you recruit the extras for the video?

A: We knew we wanted to find kids that could breakdance which is not as common in India, we did a massive city wide casting search and had tons of amazing kids come through. As with every casting session I ended up picking the kids that I thought had the best skills and personality and they did not disappoint on the shoot day. The kids brought such positive energy and life to the shoot and I am forever thankful for each and every one of them.

Q: The video features a lot of colour and is very vibrant. What was he atmosphere like on set with all the powdered paint and the kids playing Holi?

A: The atmosphere on set was exactly as it looked in the video. Everyone was in a festive good mood including the band members, the kids playing Holi and all the residents of Worli village that came out to watch Coldplay put on an impromptu concert in their backyard. After the first take everyone was covered in Holi powder including the cameraman and the crew and that only added to the energy of the scene.

Q: What was your favourite part of the video to shoot?

A: To be honest the entire shoot in India was a blast and I have so many fond memories and favorite moments, but if I had to choose the absolute favorite I would say filming in Vasai Fort with the Sadhu's/Monks as well as Sonam Kapoor and The Movie theater sequence with Chris were my favorite.

Q: Was there any funny moments on set?

A: When my DOP and I had to both fit in the front seat of the tiniest Taxi cab as Chris was singing in the back seat was something i'll never forget. 2 Grown men, a giant film camera, a playback monitor and me playing the music off my iPhone into a portable speaker all pretzeled together in the tiniest space has to qualify as the funniest moment.

Q: What lead you to your profession?

A: I started in music and organically transitioned into filmmaking without even realizing it. I was a treatment writer for other directors for a few years then I got tired of people taking credit for my ideas so I broke out on my own.

Q: When you were younger did you ever think you'd end up doing what you're doing today?

A: Not at all, I went to college thinking I was going to be either an Architect or a Lawyer and luckily music changed my path which ultimately led me to filmmaking.

Q: Do you have any advice for aspiring directors?

A: Yes. Go make something right now! When I started out you needed a lot of money for film and camera equipment if you wanted to make something of quality. With cameras and technology as advanced as they are anyone with a DSLR or even an iPhone can make something fantastic. Many people already have. So just like the democratization of home recording studios film making is accessible to anyone. Your only obstacle these days is your lack of imagination. So if you're really supposed to be a film maker absolutely nothing is stopping you.

Q: You've worked with big names before like the Black Eyes Peas, Katy Perry and the list goes on. This was your first time working with Coldplay. What was it like working with them, and would you do it again in the future?

A: I have said this before and I am not exaggerating when I say that everyone in the Coldplay camp is incredibly nice and extremely well adjusted. These people have reached such a level of Zen calmness that it's infectious. It would be an honor and a pleasure to work with them again in any capacity. If Chris wants me to film his kids birthday party I'm there!

Q: The use of slow motion in the video is gorgeous, especially the shot where the woman's makeup seems to come off her face and the children jumping into the lake. Why did you decide to shoot it in that way?

A: I wanted to create a good flow of energy throughout the video and strike a dynamic balance between slow motion and regular speed. If you notice in the video Chris' performance is slightly slowed down during the calmer parts of the song and when we get to the chorus there is no more slow motion performance and the energy is ramped up in sync with the songs energy swell. With regards to the make up coming off shot and the kids jumping in the water there was a lot of natural movement in those shots and slowing them down a bit gave them a more poetic vibe that fit the part of the song they were featured in.

Q: What was it like to shoot on location in India?

A: Shooting in India was a dream come true. If you work in the visual medium you cannot help but be overwhelmed by all the energy that exists in a place like Mumbai. Casting? perfect! Locations? Perfect!  Wardrobe? Perfect!

Q: The video has caused quite a stir amid accusations of cultural appropriation. How do you feel about this?

A: As the Director of this video I am quite saddened by this reaction on many levels. While I do understand how some people might be frustrated by ‘outsiders' doing a ‘take’ on their culture yet again, I make no apologies for Romanticizing India in film and sharing my love for it with the world in a respectful way. Isn’t that what every poet has done throughout the centuries? Or for that matter every India Tourism promo ever :)?

Do people really expect a 4 minute music video to be a complete balanced picture of a culture that is several millennia old? I should hope not.

I have come to the conclusion that If the beauty and joy in this video doesn’t make you feel LOVE, it’s quite possible you are either a cynic or an individual that is somehow offended by seeing ordinary people instead of modern hipsters up on the screen.

Portraying a more timeless India is just that- timeless! and infinitely more interesting and soulful than anything modernity has to offer in my humble opinion.

Furthermore, there is absolutely ZERO glorification of any poverty in this video but rather a celebration of life and joy and to claim otherwise is a mistruth.

Is showing an old movie theater that still uses an amazing Arclight projector disrespectful or rather full of character and style? Why would I travel 8,000 miles to Mumbai and want to film an IMAX Theater?

Are young kids from Mumbai Breakdancing American style appropriating American Culture or merely Appreciating and celebrating it?

Are we really offended by the respectful cultural cross pollination that is happening globally or merely feigning self-righteous indignation?

While there have been an exhausting amount of ‘think pieces’ on HFTW video claiming to discuss the all important subject matter of APPRECIATION vs. APPROPRIATION. I feel that a majority of them have been ‘CLICK BATE’ negative hype pieces and only a small fraction have discussed the matter with nuance and objectivity.

The most Fair and thoughtful article on the matter I came across is the following:

http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/32201/did-coldplays-video-misappropriate-india/

I love India and I plan to return for an even lengthier visit next time and encourage everyone to do the same! There is so much to experience that no single trip will ever be enough and I hope that the ‘Hymn For The Weekend’ video will encourage many first time visitors to make India their next vacation destination. And I have a feeling that it will!

Q: What are you currently working on and can you tell us anything about it?

A: I'm always working on something but my current focus is a feature film that I am developing and hoping to start filming before the end of the year.  Stay tuned for details.

We’d like to thank Ben Mor for taking time out to talk to us and for directing the incredible video for Hymn For The Weekend!

BEN’S WORK:

Take a look at his reel here: http://www.rsafilms.com/usa/directors/commercial/ben-mor/commercials/

Check out his Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/morbros/

Two weeks ago, Innocence Project made an important announcement on Twitter, stating that Chris Martin is chosen to be the newest Innocence Ambassadors.

Today, we had a pleasure to speak to the communication manager of Innocence Project, Andrew Z Giacalone, about Chris Martin's participation and his favorite part about Coldplay.

We are glad to hear that Chris loves to support the community and one of them is Innocence Project. What was the first reaction when Chris finally joined this project?

We were elated to hear that Chris and Coldplay had decided to step forward and join the innocence movement as Innocence Ambassadors. The Innocence Project already has an impressive roster of world-renowned artists devoted to advocating against wrongful conviction and for criminal justice reform here in the US. But to have the star-power of such global rock icons on our side is a great advantage, particularly when trying to communicate the importance of reforming our criminal justice system to a young, socially aware audience and ensuring that they become active in lobbying for change.

You mentioned about, "At each venue throughout the tour the Innocence Project will have people on hand to educate concertgoers about the organization’s work and the problem of wrongful convictions" in the article, which we also agree. What kind of specific message will you give us as Coldplay fans?

We will be asking all fans to join Chris and Coldplay and to #StandUp4INNOCENCE alongside us on social media, whether it be on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. In addition, we hope to help educate people about the issues that cause wrongful conviction, from the use of unvalidated forensic sciences to the misconduct of law enforcement and government officials. We hope to build grassroots support to help us lobby lawmakers around the country to support reforms to prevent wrongful convictions. Fans can receive updates from the Innocence Project about how they can help and also join us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

What is it like working with Chris along the way? What do you like about his personality?

Chris has been extremely gracious and helpful. We announced our collaboration in the weekend leading up to Coldplay’s Super Bowl performance so you can imagine how busy they both were. Nonetheless, Chris took the time and showed his support for the Innocence Project through a selfie that he then pushed out on social media for all too see. That’s the kind of vocal support we look for in an Innocence Ambassador.

What are your expectations that you hope from Coldplay fans when reacting about this matter?

I hope Coldplay fans will embrace our efforts to draw greater attention to the issue of wrongful conviction. At the same time, I urge your readers to visit our website www.innocenceproject.org and follow us on Twitter and Facebook so they too can learn more about how we use DNA evidence to free the wrongfully convicted.

Will you collaborate with other artists to support the project? What are your hopes for Innocence Project in the long term?

We already collaborate with numerous actors, actresses and performers. Ryan Phillippe and Tony Goldwyn are long-time supporters as are Whoopi Goldberg and Susan Sarandon. With their help, we want #StandUp4INNOCENCE to become a national and global movement. And that’s precisely how Coldplay and Coldplay fans can help us too.

Apart from this awareness, we are interested in knowing about your Coldplay knowledge. What is your favorite song by Coldplay and why?

Here at the Innocence Project, I think we can safely say that Viva la Vida is our favorite Coldplay song because, at its title suggests, it’s a celebration of life. Every day we confront cases in which innocent men and women have been imprisoned due to the imperfections of our criminal justice system. On average, our DNA exonerees have spent 14 years of their lives in prison for crimes they didn’t commit. Lewis Fogle, one of our most recent exonerees, spent 34 years in prison. If you take a moment to think about that, then you realize that our work is also a celebration of life, of innocence, and a stand for justice.

How do you describe about Chris in 3 words?

Dynamic, impactful, conscientious.

What are the future plans for the collaboration with Coldplay?

For now, we’re focusing on our plans for the upcoming US tour. Then we’ll discuss future collaborations.

As Coldplaying is the biggest Coldplay fansite in the world, do you have something to say for us?

I really encourage all Coldplay fans to follow in Chris’ and Coldplay’s shoes and join us in our effort to #StandUp4INNOCENCE. Anyone can help just by following us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, visiting our website and learning more about what they can do to stop wrongful convictions. Wrongful convictions can happen to anyone; no one is exempt or safe. So it’s imperative that we build awareness and put pressure on our politicians to adopt the legislative measures necessary for making our criminal justice system fairer and less prone to the glaring miscarriages we have seen and continue to see to this day.

Visit www.innocenceproject.org to learn more and grab the t-shirts now to support the project.

Christa, our dear staff member at Coldplaying HQ, had a wonderful opportunity to chat with the amazing director for the Birds music video, James Marcus Haney.

Q: How did your work with Coldplay for the Birds video come about? What was it like to work with the band? We know you had worked with Coldplay with "No Cameras allowed" which was so lovely in the film. Why did you choose Super 8 MM to film the video?

A: The music video for Birds happened after we did a photo shoot with Coldplay out at Salvation Mountain. We did a little BTS video on super 8mm and the band really loved that aesthetic with that location, so we went back and shot more.

Q: You mentioned in your Instagram post that the Birds video was sort of a homage to Leonard Knight, the mind behind Salvation Mountain. Was there any other artists, photographers etc. who inspired you?

A: Shooting at Salvation Mountain is a really unique situation, because you're essentially collaborating with Leonard Knight posthumously. His work and vision is just as much present as the band's or my own in the video. He's left a piece of artwork and his life behind for others to not only appreciate as art but also draw into other future works of art.

Q: You've released two full length films and worked with many major artists such as Mumford & Sons, among others. Are there any artists you'd like to work?

A: Yes! All the ones I haven't worked with yet! Haha, that's an easy cop out answer but kind of true.

[caption id=attachment_51552" align="alignnone" width="1000] Photo of Chris Martin from jamesmarcushaney.com[/caption]

Q: What is your favorite Coldplay song? What is your favorite Coldplay video?

A: Oh man that is a tough one. There are too many of both that have majorly influenced me over the years. "Yellow" and "Fix You" are forever ingrained in me as videos that first kind of taught me that simple is powerful. I love those songs and videos so much - the video concepts are so simple yet somehow affected me enough to make me remember where I was when I first saw them.

Q: Your film, Austin to Boston features many great artists such as Ben Howard, Nathaniel Rateliff and The Staves among others. What was the atmosphere like on that tour with all those creative people in one place?

A: It was nuts! We had 4 insanely incredible artists packed into a convoy of VW buses driving across the country in freezing March. The music didn't ever stop, really... That was Bear's Den's first tour ever and they were writing some of their debut album in the buses on the long drive... was so magical waking up in those old rattling buses and hearing music being played nonstop.

Q: The artists you interviewed in Austin to Boston seem to all take place in the VW buses. Was that planned or did it happen organically? Did any of the Brits actually drive the buses? If so, How did that work out being on the other side of the road?

A: The whole movie was about touring across the country the old way with new bands. So yes, the buses were planned - the green one is actually my personal bus that I still drive today. Almost everyone had to help drive at some point.. so yes, lots of Brits drove on the wrong side of the road, but the buses go so slow, they had some time to figure it out. :)

Q: Also, in Austin to Boston there is is the scene where The Staves sing Fleetwood Mac's "For You" it was just stunning. I grew up with Fleetwood Mac's albums in my house. Did your parents play certain music and artists in your house that you remember, admire or influenced you?

A: Oh yea - it was all Eagles, Dire Straits, Bob Seger and Little Feat in my house. I couldn't stand them growing up and now can't ever get enough. Bob Seger for life.

Q: Speaking of The Staves, the video, Facing West is beautiful. Can you tell us about the shoot and how you chose the locations for the video?

A: We shot on location in Big Sur. Mainly because it's so damn gorgeous there but also because it really fit the song lyrically too.

Q: You have traveled around the world, is there one place in the that has been which had the biggest effect on you?

A: Oh man, another one that's impossible to pinpoint just one place. I guess Honduras is definitely one candidate as that's where I traveled on my own for the first time in a completely foreign cultural at a relatively young age. It's also where I was forced to learn Spanish, which I'm forever grateful for.

Q: Apart from Coldplay and Mumford and Sons, what bands do you listen to and are in love with? What was the last song you played on your iPod, phone or record player?

A: Well, at this exact moment, I'm listening to Lou Reed's "Dirty Blvd." Before this was "Heroes" by Bowie. I guess it's just that kind of day. Great gloomy Sunday.

Note: Marcus was interviewed only days before David Bowie's Death. R.I.P.

Q: What is your favorite camera to work with?

Can't say I have a favorite - I think that's always changing. I think an easier question to answer is which camera do you like working with the least? That's the iPhone.

Q: Will you be working with Coldplay again?

A: Hope so! They are such lovely fun guys to work with. They really care.

Q: You have snuck into so many festivals, including the one in Bermuda by sea. The thrill must be amazing. What was your favorite festival to sneak into?

A: So many festivals are incredible for different reasons... I think the one that I felt most in the moment for the longest amount of time was Glastonbury... It's as if the rest of the world doesn't exist when you're there.

Q: Your friends and family seem so important to you. We got to know them pretty well in "No Cameras Allowed" and we miss them. Can you tell us how Ryan, Acid Chris and the rest of your posse are doing?

A: Yea! Acid Chris and Ryan and I all live walking distance to each other here in Venice Beach and Grim Grim is in Wales being Grim Grim and nailing life and Kelly's being a bad ass photographer and editor in New York. Also - a little Easter Egg that not many people know... If you look at the album cover for Mumford & Sons' Babel record, look real close, right in the center, you'll see Grim Grim!

Q: What do you think about Kodak's new Super 8 camera that they announced at CES?

A: As for the camera itself, I can't comment on it yet as I haven't used it yet.. On a more macro level, I'm happy for anything to come along to increase demand for film stock production... which means I'll be able to keep shooting film for longer before they stop making it forever.

Q: What's the next project you are working on and where do you see yourself in 5 years?

A: Next project is called a Sunday afternoon nap and I'm just about to buckle down and get into it. In 5 years... shoot... hopefully still here and there and stoked. Slap me if I'm not stoked in 5 years.

Thank you for agreeing to let us ask you these questions.

Thank you, Christa!

Marcus' Work

Visit jamesmarcushaney.com for all of Haney's Work!

Austin To Boston

You can watch Austin to Boston on Netflix or buy/rent it on iTunes.

No Camera's Allowed

You can buy/rent No Camera's Allowed on iTunes.

[rev_slider MarcusHaney]

Last month, we announced the World Exclusive on Pilar Zeta's A Head Full of Dreams artwork. Today, we're happy to share our exclusive interview with the incredible and young talented artist, Pilar Zeta.

Big thanks to Fraser, the owner of agallery.co.uk, who always supports us and allows to share this awesome interview with us!

Q: How are you liking being Coldplay's Album Artist for Head Full of Dreams?

A: It's such an honor for me to be part of this incredible album. I am truly blessed to have been able to work so closely with them and deliver artwork that communicates their music. I'm very happy with the results.

Q: What did you have to do to make the album art a reality?

A: It's been an entire year of working together back and forth. There were so many ideas in the table, but the final artwork came as a product of pure intuition. As I was part of the process when they were recording on the studio, was easy to understand what they wanted to communicate. I think that was a key of the entire work. Getting to know them was very important to understand it. After we decided the final artwork, then the hardest part came after; design the packaging and deliver all the final files to production. We did several test in color and papers. I almost travel to Germany to the press to make sure the colors were correct. It was very intense, I wanted to make sure it looked just like the design. We had a very tight deadline and we had to work with pressure but at the end it
was all worth it, in every detail.

Q: Is it possible to communicate how it felt when you first held the
album in your hands?

A: I had previous samples sent to me, but I didn't get the final artwork till the date it was released. The record label was sending me a package but I couldn't wait! So I went to buy my own copy of CD and vinyl. I was so excited and happy, it was amazing! Every single detail you see on the album design was designed by me and there were so many steps to get it done that it wasn't till I saw the final copy, that I was happy. It was such a relief it looked great! I couldn't be more excited. Everybody loved it, and that was very rewarding.

Q: What did you enjoy most about making the art?

A: I enjoyed working together as a team. I learned that doing collaborations can take you out of your comfort zone and explore areas of your creativity that you were not aware of and that is an amazing feeling.

Q: Is there anything you'd like to say to the fans at Coldplaying.com?

A: I just wanna say that everything is possible. This job was like a dream come true to me. I always dreamed to do artwork for very talented artists and it's all happening because I devoted myself to my passion and I do it with all my love.

Thank you so much to Fraser from agallery.co.uk and also Pilar Zeta who gave wonderful answers! Stay tuned for more questions and answers from Pilar which were left out of this interview.

We previously had an opportunity to chat with him back in February of 2015. However, we also finally had a chance again to chat with Davide Rossi before Christmas as we also are gearing up him collaborating with the band for the latest album, A Head Full Of Dreams, and Superbowl & lots of stuff to catch up on! Curious to know the details? Read inside the scoop right here, right now! (Yep!)

We believe that you are going to release a CD of songs with which you had appeared/played on. Could you tell us when will the CD be released?

If you are talking about my own music being released, there are several things on the go. It’s new material with my band Black Submarine (www.blacksubmarine.co.uk), my very own album and other collaborations, but it’s still early days to talk about them in depth, as I’ve been too busy and still am with my work as orchestrator and arranger for Coldplay and many other artists. Just to give you an idea, in 2015 I worked on nearly 50 albums.

You have had a collaborative relationship with the band for 4 albums now. What would you say the most unique contribution from each band member when you are collaborating?

[caption id=attachment_51468" align="alignleft" width="300] Credit: Pepsi[/caption]

Well... it’s very subjective and personal obviously, but if I could pinpoint the main qualities of the boys I should say that Chris for example is so exuberant, enthusiastic, passionate, hard working and so inspiring to work with. Jonny’s guitar playing is very

unique, distinctive and I feel it’s more and more the strongets trademark of the Coldplay sound. Will is a truly talented multi instrumentalist, also he’s such a solid guy, the kind of guy you can trust in any situation, which makes a great drummer in my opinion. Guy is a fantastic producer and he demonstrated that a few times also outside the band.

Did you record your voice parts with the band in the latest album of A Head Full Of Dreams?

My voice as in singing? Hahaha, no I didn’t I believe, unless they secretly recorded me talking while in session.

How did you decide to play the parts on Birds and Amazing Day? Did the band invite you along to include the violin parts?

When I work on a Coldplay album I usually start to work on demos quite early in the process. I worked on 5 songs on this album, but only in two my arrangements remained. With Coldplay it’s always such a in depth collaboration because they try so many avenues before deciding finally which direction to go with. I just happen to be their string/orchestra guy of choice and I’m obviously always very happy to work with them, as it feels like being back in the family somehow. Anyway... it’s not really a decision on my part on which songs I play but rather an invitation. Although recently, Chris asks me more and more my opinion and even tells me to freely play on stuff where I feel I could contribute best. I’ve been working with them for the past 10 years now, so I guess we know each other better and better and things go rather smoothly I should say.

There are lots of beautiful counter melodies in Amazing Day and Birds. When did you first hear the tracks and were they fully completed or different to the final version?

I first heard Amazing day at the beginning of 2015 and worked on at least 4 different versions of the song, as mentioned before we go through quite a few trials before finishing. Birds was a last minute intervention and it was kind of a quick fix.

Speaking of Superbowl, what kind of preparation with the biggest band in the world? We bet you must be super excited!

[caption id=attachment_51464" align="alignleft" width="158] Credit: Pepsi[/caption]

Yes, indeed… I’m not allowed to spoil the surprise yet, but I’m preparing something with the band for their Super Bowl show in February. I’m not going to be performing myself personally, but it will be a rather fantastic event I believe. Really thrilled to be working on this and I believe that sooner rather than later, the band will give out some spoilers so that I can tell more about it in my various social medias.

Have you seen American football before and do you have any comments about it?

Yes I did… I don’t really get the actual game to be honest… I’m more of a European Football kind of guy, but regarding the actual Super Bowl game, my comment is that there’s no bigger TV show in America as far as I know, so it is quite a big deal and an honour to be asked to perform there.

We're talking about some non-Coldplay stuff now. Do you think the Verve will get back together at one point?

Hahaha… well… I’ve been asking myself that question quite a bit in the last few years… I don’t see it happening to be honest with you, but you shouldn’t ask me, rather Richard Ashcroft I guess. Me, Nick McCabe and Si Jones are still working together, so we keep kind of part of the Verve spirit alive I suppose? Although what we do is so much different. It certainly seems a lifetime since the last few amazing concerts I did with the Verve at Glastonbury and other Festivals back in 2008. It was for sure something unique and unforgettable.

Talking about A Head Full Of Dreams, name your top 3 favorite songs.

Amazing Day, Birds and Hymn for the weekend.

[caption id=attachment_51509" align="alignnone" width="1000] Credit: Coldplay Official[/caption]

We know how the band write many songs more than being released. Could you tell us how many songs you might have contributed to in A Head Full Of Dreams that did not end up being released? Also you mentioned that you worked on 5 songs this time around. Can you name the other 3 songs?

On this album I can’t remember working on extra material, also because nowadays I’m not in the studio constantly as I used to with Viva La Vida or Mylo Xyloto. In AHFOD the other song that I know I worked on and which didn’t make it was Hymn for the weekend. The other two they didn’t make it to the album.

So, what's next? Birds is a very catchy song by the way!

Yes it is, right?

Well… for what’s next, for me it’s a continuous working on many many albums. As said earlier, nearly 50 by the end of this year… just released a live show I performed with Australian electronic duo Flight Facilities, where I conducted the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne. Other stuff released this year was Paper Gods with Duran Duran, All I Need with Foxes, All We Need with Raury, The Inevitable End with Röyksopp and others I can’t recollect...

Meanwhile, we wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Likewise to you and all the amazing Coldplay fans around the world and thank you for taking interest in my music too!

Davide has mentioned about 'new materials to be released' back in July - and guess what, he made it happen!

Here's a video of Chris and Davide performing 'Viva La Vida' in London a few years ago. We're pretty sure this song brings you a Coldplay nostalgia right now!

Editors Note: Hey Guys, I'd just like to congratulate Thalia (Batman) on interviewing one of the biggest bands in the world!! Also thanks for making the expensive trip to Berlin to represent the site, we truly have the best team members ever! We are forever grateful to the wonderful Debs Wild and Phil Harvey. Phil set us up with Debs and she has been the most kind and helpful person that we could have asked for. Enough babbling out of me, enjoy the interview!

Coldplayers! We are absolutely thrilled to present to you the latest instalment of Coldplaying Asks Coldplay!

This time, we have an actual interview! In this post, Batman shares her incredible journey and what it was like to interview Will and Guy from Coldplay! This interview is the result of many months of negotiations with the band. We tried our best to use the questions that were asked in the original thread.

At first, we did forward the most voted questions to the band, but they were not answered, for various reasons. We were eventually able to get a real interview, thanks to Phil and Debs, but given the limited time and the very in-depth questions, or the fact that some questions were management issues, we could not get all of them to the band. We tried our best and this interview is the result of all our combined efforts to give you guys an interesting and exclusive interview.

We hope you enjoy it. -The Coldplaying Team

Discuss Here

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Transcript:

Transcript

Batman's Journey

Hello everyone,

*takes off worn out shoes*

I've been quite on a journey the past few days

*throws off smokey smelling cape*

not to mention quite a spectacular one at that

*lays all kinds of electronical devices, cams and phones down onto the table*

and I really need some good sleep.

Like, a 3 day long lasting sleep..

*throws travel bag into the corner and sits down heavily*

…

*picks some flower confetti out of hair*

What can I say? As a few you of you might remember, we have been collecting all kinds of questions from you guys. Questions for Phil to forward to the band and get them answered.

But we all know the band has been quite busy the past few months with the album and all so that little project kind of died down a little.

Or so we thought!

The Beginning

One nice day in november I logged into Coldplaying to see if any of you guys had been spamming up the threads with all kinds of random wonderfulness, only to discover I've got a mail from the Admin himself titleing "Arranging Coldplay Q&A" stating the following:

I'm messaging you because your close (well, sort of ) and wanted to give you the first chance of meeting Coldplay and asking them questions for Coldplaying. Looks like they're gonna arrange a date and a place in Berlin.

Please let me know if you can do this.

As you can maybe imagine my heart stopped for solid ten seconds there, as did my breathing, and I was like whu

okay I mean yes I can totally do this heLL YES YOU BET I CAN

wait Berlin is like 6 hours away from me

uhh

*checks bank account*

*realises almost all of the money went to the recent concert tickets for Cold freaking Play*

Well darn it. If this band isn't gonna be my financial ruin I dunno what else is gonna be

let's GET SOME THINGS DONE and organize this monster of a journey, WHOOP!

So I did some things, asked some people, asked the admin that told me I had to go to Berlin alone because of management reasons, asked some more people how to come around in Berlin without paying a crap load of money, and then after a few stressful nights I had managed to book a cheap flight, a cheaper (and craptastic) hostel with no toilets in my room, and a rented car!

The only thing I didn't know was at which time the interview would start BUT HEY NO STRESS RIGHT LMAO. At least I knew this whole thing would happen on the 17th of December so that was settled then.

As the days went by and December was approaching, I asked the Coldplaying HQ if this was all indeed happening to ME out of all people, and they kindly reassured me that yes, it was. Okay, no reason to freak out, right? I'm just gonna meet Coldplay, sit down for a lil' talk, record the audio if I was allowed to, or write the answers down, and then get back home.

Ha, sounds simple, doesn't it?

Yeah?

No, I didn't think so, either. NO WAY IN HELL! I was SO not prepared for this.

The Journey

The night of the 16th of December was now finally there and of course I couldn't sleep. I tried to somehow prepare for this interview by imagining all kinds of scenarios, having Guy storming out of the room for a toilet break to Jonny coughing constantly to me having forgotten putting on any clothes. I had it all nicely layed out in my head. Still, my brain decided it was best if I didn't get any sleep at all so I would be constantly tired on interview day because why the frick not BATMAN DOESN'T NEED SLEEP

And then Debs finally messaged me and told me the interview was going to start at 3PM and I should meet her at 2:40 PM.

In the end I fell asleep at 3AM and got up at 4AM, got all of my stuff (2 phones to record the interview, one canon camera for extra audio recording, artworks and CDs to be signed, and everything else you need for living) hopped into the car and drove to Cologne/Bonn airport one car hour away.

I've got there, went on the plane, got out at Berlin Schönefeld one hour later, hopped into my rented car that didn't work for an entire hour because the company forgot to activate my registration card, and finally drove to my friggn' hostel after I thought God had already abandoned me. Oh yeah, and finding parking spots in Berlin city is like trying to find a Coldplay fan at Wacken festival.

After 20 minutes of searching and being tired as hell I finally found a space, jumped out of the car and ran to the hostel because of bodily needs and because I really needed to charge my phone since I had 15 Coldplayers nagging every 10 seconds about where I was and what I was doing and if I was excited and if I already had pooped my pants and how I was anyway and did I dress nicely and oh do you know you're GONNA INTERVIEW COLDPLAY TODAY HAHAHAH GOOD LUCK THERE.

…

*cough*

anyWAYS

On my way to Coldplay

I chilled around the lounge of hostel a bit, wasted some time until it was noon, got up and ate something for the first time of the day, and then decided I couldn't wait any longer and went outside to the train stations. And every time I slowed down for a bit, or stopped moving, I felt sleep kicking in and making my legs go all weak. Alright, so no time for rest, I have to keep my body working! I jumped into the next best train and headed for the location I was given. It was the building the German TV show „The Voice of Germany“ was being filmed, so I had to find the correct studio.

After 45 minutes on the train I took a bus, and got out at a street that was full of giant expensive buildings and studios. Okay cool, now where is my address....

After a little bit of walking through a cloudy, windy and wet day, I spotted my final destination, only to find out if was heavily secured by mean looking security guards. Approaching one of the men I cautiously asked if this was the right address and he just eyed me and said „I guess so? I don't know I just check if people wear THESE badges *waving one in front of my face* and if they do, they're allowed to get in“

Well okay then, Debs told me she would hand me out one of said badges once she was getting to me (I sent her a photo of myself prior so that she could get it printed).

I went back to the opposite of the building and waited under a canopy since I was one hour early (talk about being German =D) and let Debs know I was already there.

I spotted two women next to me talking, so I gave them a friendly smile, which they did as well, and they continued chatting about the people inside the building and what was going in there so I just eavesdropped on them casually without being too obvious. And then I heard some „Coldplay blah blah black van blah blah this side of the building? Blah maybe not bLAH“ and my right ear grew a few sizes larger HAHA. Then I took off walking again since they stopped talking and Debs happily replied she's gonna get me as soon as the Coldplay soundcheck was over. Ooooh so Coldplay was already in the building, nICE :O

It was really nasty outside so after checking the place out further I went to my little spot with the two ladies still chatting to each other. They were probably working there or taking a break or something. ANYWAYS I was a tad bit nervous since my brain finally realized I'm gonna interview Coldplay in less than an hour and I think my nervousness started leaking a little haha. Because the next moment a box of chocolates were shoved into my face and I followed the arm that was holding the box and at the end was the face of one of the women, smiling at me.

„What did I do to earn these ?!“ I asked her, bewildered.

„Yeah I thought you could use one of those, you look kinda nervous!“ She beamed and moved the box further into my face. I laughed and took one of the chocolates out and devoured it because damn, I really was craving for some energy!

I asked her what she was doing here anyway, if she was working and just taking a break and she downright laughed her butt off and said: „I wish! Nah I'm just her with my bestie (she pointed behind her to the other woman who happily waved back) to see some celebs!“

„So you're one of these infamous celebrity spotters huh?“

„Damn straight I am! So, what are YOU doing here then? Why are you so nervous?“

„Well I'm gonna uh, I'm going to interview my favourite band in half an hour“

„Hey that's awesome- wait, BAND you said? There's only one band performing on The Voice of Germany tonight!“

„Yes, Coldplay“ She gave me quite a stare.

„SORRY I was super lucky I ain't rich or anything D:“

„DUUUUUUUUUDE don't apologize it's alright HAHAHA damn gurl! Come here you need some more of that!“ and she put three more chocolates into my hands.

I walked over to her friend and we chatted a little about our lives when after a while I got two messages on my phone:

Debs:

Thalia where are you? We can't find you we need you here ASAP. Hurry!

Debs:

Hurry please! Literally, run!

So I quickly said bye to the two ladies and ran for my life to the front of building, only to realize that Debs wasn't there. Then she even called me and asked me where I was and I told her but she didn't see me...

In the end, I talked to 3 different people on the phone, having all of them telling me to run around the building 2 times, while dodging and asking angry securities at the same time to let me through.

After being all sweaty and exhausted I ended up at the exact same spot I was in the beginning (lolwat) and saw Debs running out of the studio thANK GOD.

„I'm sooo sorry Thalia oh my gosh but we REALLY HAVE TO HURRY NOW come with me here's your badge keep it with you at all times and don't lose it WE HAVE TO RUN NOW“

So Debs was apologizing profusely to my left, and another management lady to my right was leading the way, while I was in the middle trying to process everything and just repeated „Yeah no it's cool it's alright hey no problem everything is ok“ over and over again.

Then Debs told me there were two interviews happening at the same time so I were to talk to Will and Guy only because Chris and Jonny were being interviewed by another person.

Alright then, half of the band is better than no band. And seriously, I wasn't to complain anyway EVER about this, I had no right!

So we ran past securities, lots of other people and straight to the offices where I already saw some Coldplay signs at the walls like „Coldplay Catering/Management/Warm up“

WARM UP!?

I was in the Coldplay Matrix holy crap °__°

Meeting the Band

Then there was a tiny office room with a „Coldplay Management“ sign next to the door and I was being led into it.

„You can put all of your stuff there and just settle down aND OH MY GOSH THALIA I'M SO SORRY“

After telling Debs that it wasn't that terrible that she chased me around the entire facility two times we both calmed down and laughed and talked about the interview questions. I had sent her a list beforehand but decided to add a few more questions the night before because I wasn't happy with the older questions. So I just told her to overlook the paper and blacken everything that wasn't okay to ask, or too personal.

That was what was left of it haha. Debs even apologized for how it looked like and I just said „it's alright it's just a paper!!1“

While I sat down on my chair my excitement level rose just a tINY LITTLE BIT when all the roadies walked past the door and Debs went in and out to check if the band was anywhere to be seen. I set up my two phones and camera (just in case) to record from three different audio sources in case two of them died. Better be safe than sorry!!

I also put everything I need close to me. Because I thought it would be nice to start the interview in good spirits I brought each band member a little Christmas present. Guy got a chocolate spanner,

Will German gingerbread „Lebkuchen“, Jonny was getting a gingerbread man and Chris got his chocolate santa haha. I also printed out two of my Coldplay fanarts on nice paper and got 3 Coldplay Cds out to get signed.

Then Debs came back in and said „It's been very quietly have you noticed?“ and I just stared at her like YES I HAVE NOTICED THANKS and she got all excited and made clear that the band just came around the corner and she grinned at me like „alright let's GO“

Soo uhh

I heard Will saying something behind the door and there he freaking WAS, closely followed by Guy. They both wore their stage outfits and as soon as they saw me my face went like „BOOM LAVA“ and I just grinned like a fool and said, way too friggn high pitched, „HI“ and stretched ot my hand. They both smiled at me and shook my hands and I just stood there kinda stuck between chair and table because the room was way to freakin small haha.

Then the following interview ensued:

Links at the end of the post!

Needless to say Will and Guy were more than humble and friendly and I already expected them to be be, but they were so super kind, especially Will. I honestly wanted to hug him so bad omg

I hope I did you guys justice with the questions and the way the interview went. I never interviewed anyone ever before, so this was new to me. I apologize for my horrible English and German accent, if you have any questions or didn't understand something, just ask and I'll try to help!

Batman Backstage

After they signed everything and took pics they left and I just stood there like „did this just happen or did I fall asleep somewhere at home and having some uber real dream right now?!“ combined with my lack of sleep this definitely didn't feel real. But then Debs said she had to go again to organise the event and hugged me and told me I could probably stay for the show and go everywhere with that backstage pass I had. Oh and she also told me she would take the artwork to the band to get it signed, and give it back to me later somehow.

And hell Will and Guy even signed it so I felt like I could go anywhere with that plastic card HAHAH

I was told where to stay and which rooms to avoid and what was ok for me to do and what not, and I won't tell you all of the details now because first I'm not allowed and secondly they're not very interesting either.

I stayed in the room a little bit longer to organise myself and to take pictures of stuff, when suddenly Miller/Roadie 42 came strolling into the room. WHAT A NICE COINCIDENCE!

We both awkwardly greeted each other and I said „Hey aren't you Roadie 42, Miller?“ and he just stared for a moment, then smiled and said „yeah that's true“

Me: „So how are you doing ?“

Him: „Oh well everything is madness now with the tv show and the tour slowly starting so I'm tired and exhausted but it's alright“

Me: „Yes I'm tired as well haha. Soooo.... you might know about a big but quiet bUT BIG fanbase over at Coldplaying, waiting pATIENTLY FOR YOUR BLOGS“ ← insert reproachful bat stare here

Him: „Ahahah yes uh well ERM I have not forgotten about them! I might continue them one day but right now I'm super busy“

Me: *coninues staring* „Well anyways, we'd love to read your blogs again, they're amazing“

And then he continued tinkering with a camera and I couldn't help pointing my camera at him and asking him if I could take a pic and he was like wAIT! And hid in his hoodie lol:

Miller stop being such an adorable dork we know how you look anyway haha

And to prove it was Mr. 42 himself I have further proof:Then he went outside and continued taking pics of people sitting in a chair but I didn't bother him any further because he's a Coldplay Roadie and Debs told me to leave the Coldplay roadies alone.

And about 99% of them looked at me like they were to kill me in a second so I gladly followed Debs' advice and just smiled and nodded at them and left them the hell alone :3

While packing my stuff away and getting ready to leave the room I heard some noise coming from the corridor, so I looked up just in time to see Jonny walking past the door, followed by Chris who was moving rather slowly so I couldn't help myself and shouted "Hey!" and he looked at me, smiling, and casually said "Hey how're you doing?" aaand went past the door out of my field of vision lol. I just stared at the blank spot where CHRIS MARTIN just happened to stand and blinked a few times, when suddenly Will appeared in the same spot looking all adorable with a big cuddly black hat and seeing me, he gave me the warmest smile ever and disappeared as well.

hooooOOOO my God how was I even alive at this point I still cAN LITERALLY NOT believe it jesus

After that I went out of the room and headed for the catering since I was supposed to stay there and out of the „family and friends“ area since I certainly didn't belong there. And I honestly was trying to avoid as much awkward fan moments as possible *cough * I really didn't feel like interrupting any Coldplay family meetings oh Gosh hell naw I was outta there as soon as possible haha.

So I just sauntered between roadies and headed for a lil' snack and spotted all the famous Coldplay roadies we know by names, and they all eyed me suspiciously and I just pokerfaced right through them slowly, trying to take in as many details as possible for you guys without being to obvious. Gotta keep that Coldplaying fangirl hidden at all costs!

The most hilarious thing I saw this day was a couch made for 2 people being occupied by a pile of 7 sleeping roadies. They were just lying all over each other, reminding me like a pride of lions sleeping in the midday sun.

One of them glared at me so I continued like I wasn't totally staring at them and took one tiny little croissant from the buffet. Roadies everywhere staring at me yeah no I didn't feel out of place at ALL nu-uh I totally belong here hahah WHERE'S THE FUCKING EXIT

After asking about 5 different people I was finally heading into the right direction of the tv studio and to the front seats of the stage.

It was 3:30 PM at that time and Coldplay was on at around 10:30 PM or so.

It was very exhausting trying to stay up all that time with having not really slept at all.

Not much happened worth mentioning, so when Coldplay finally came on, the people didn't even notice at first! The band was almost already in the middle of the stage when people finally recognized that there were musicians walking around and only then started applauding.

The moderator of the show kept rambling on about useless crap and Chris was moving the

entire time, ready to dance, but wasn't allowed haha. It was painful seeing him all pumped up and ready andswinging his arms and legs around waiting for his cue to start that took like, forever. But then the song finally kicked of and Chris flowed over the stage, with the band playing along. I grinned when I saw Guy and Will doing their thing and didn't even get my hopes up they'd see me, they were already in concert mode and Will was most definitely thinking about doing his laundry HAHAHAH. Oh, and the new confetti looked like this, which was lovely:

Anyways, when the show was over Debs kindly messaged me that the band was already on their way to the airport so they weren't at the aftershow party. That was great because that meant I could totally go back to the interview room and try finding the signed artworks that the crew left for me there.

I went straight back to the room and found my signed posters neatly hidden away in the closet there. Oh man how awesome was that!

After that I went back to my hostel, slept for another 3 hours and got up somewhere in the early dark hours and flew back home.

What a crazy day that was. I was like a constant stream of stress, nervousness, insomnia and awe.

I still live off that „juice“ of the experience and haven't really felt tired yet.

I'll be forever thankful for this opportunity and respect the band and management even more now for giving a random fangirl like me the chance to talk to them. I didn't feel like a stranger there but like I was invited to a family meeting of a good friend. I was being taken care of the entire time and everyone was super friendly.

It's time for session 3 of our on-going feature, Coldplaying asks Coldplay! The question we have proposed to Chris, Guy, Will, Jonny & Phil this time round is, "What has been your favourite music video to shoot and why?".

Here are the answers from each band member *drumroll*.....

Guy Berryman

Will Champion

Chris Martin

Jonny Buckland

Phil Harvey

Some fantastic answers, a very interesting fact on the 'Paradise' videos from Chris and we now know that Jonny doesn't like music videos! The ongoing feature will be back next month. Until then, you can post your question to the band, and vote for others, here.

Discuss Coldplaying asks Coldplay, here

We have been chatting to Jonas Åkerlund, the director of Coldplay's recent music videos for 'Magic' and 'True Love'. The Swedish director, who was interviewed by Coldplay's official website in 2014, tells us of his experiences and ambitions, including how he wanted to direct the video for 'The Scientist', back in 2002.

You can listen to our phone interview with Jonas, below:

Link

Let us know your thoughts, on the messageboards

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Coldplay Live/Shows/Concerts/Setlists/Gigs 2015

There are no Coldplay concerts scheduled so far. Coldplay will headline a 'Why Not People?' show, believed to be sometime this year.

For 2015 live rumours & gossip, please check out our rumours section.

Upcoming Coldplay Events

No upcoming events within the next 30 days

Fansites

Check out our Coldplaying accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram! (ENG)

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Other fellow fansites, who we recommended to follow:

(Links to their Twitter/Facebook page)

Coldplayzone (IT)

The Atlas Project (ENG)

ColdplayCorner (FR)

Coldplace EU (PL)

Coldplay Turkey (TR)

Chris Martin for Freedom Of Exeter Award (ENG)

Welcome to our new feature, (imaginatively) titled 'Coldplaying asks Coldplay'! Every so often, we will pose a question to the band themselves. It's a very first for Coldplaying and the whole team are very excited to bring you these mini Q&A's.

To start of, we asked the guys, including fifth member and creative director, Phil Harvey for their favourite songs at the moment, which they want to rave about. Here are the responses:

Perfect Ruin by Kwabs

Detroit by Gaz Coombes

play by iamamiwhoami

Earned It by The Weeknd

Love Me Harder by Ariana Grande and The Weeknd

What do you think of Coldplay's choices? Let us know!

"The creative boss" and "the most important" member of Coldplay, to quote Chris Martin. He's the man behind the scenes, who is instrumental to the band's success. We've been chatting to Phil Harvey about his personal upbringing, the inner workings of the band, what the story is with Glastonbury and more.

Coldplay are currently working on their new album, A Head Full Of Dreams and are not revealing much at this moment about the record but we are sure it will be worth the wait!

Coldplaying.com Interview with Phil Harvey

Thank you for your time to chat with Coldplaying Phil. We would like to know firstly, where did you grow up? And who was your childhood hero?

I grew up in Devon - about 30 minutes from Chris’ parents' house. We went to the same school.

My early childhood heroes were Phil Collins and Richard Hadlee (the New Zealand cricketer). At a certain point in my teenage years I had to make a choice between cricket and music… and music won.

What if you had to pick one song that defines the band? Or if they could only play one song out of their catalog what would it be?

I think it would have to be Clocks. To this day, I still don’t really understand where that song came from and how the band managed to record it so quickly (a few days before we had to deliver AROBTTH to the record company).

What kind of music that influence the band most of the time and why?

In the early years there were certain bands who had a massive influence on the band’s sound: U2, Radiohead, Echo and the Bunnymen, REM, The Flaming Lips, etc, etc. As time has go on, I think the band have become more catholic in their tastes. They will literally listen to - and draw influence from - anything.

If you or anyone of the band (if you are willing to ask them) were a great artist and had the skills to make a painting of whatever they wanted, what would it be?

I would do a painting of my wife and our two boys (probably with Ajax, our cocker spaniel, as well).

Do you or anyone of the band has a favourite ambient genre artist/song (or something in that direction) and who/what is it?

It has to be the godfather of ambient… Brian Eno.

Is there any possibility that Coldplay will be playing at Glastonbury anytime soon?

We would love to play Glastonbury again…it’s the best festival in the world.. but there’s a lot of competition for headline slots so we’ll just have to wait and see if we get asked...

There is a campaign for Chris to be honored by his home city of Exeter. A lot of the newspapers came out with a story saying Chris had refused it. What is the latest news regarding this?

Chris was bowled over by this incredible honor from his hometown. He didn’t refuse it, but he asked if the City would allow him to do 'something significant for Exeter’ before he accepted the award. He feels that he hasn’t quite earned it yet.

Question about Chris. Does he undergo a special fitness routine prior to or during a large Coldplay tour?

Chris always trains pretty hard but he definitely ramps it up in preparation for a tour. He’s the fittest person I know.

Are Coldplay planning on playing in countries they have never been to before?

Yes. 100%. All suggestions welcome!

What is your favorite concert venue?

Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival

What would say is your biggest achievement in your music career so far?

Staying close friends with Chris, Guy, Will and Jonny.

The guys said in an interview recently that the record deal was coming to an end, will they be creating their own label?

I don’t think so. It sounds like a lot of work!

Thank you very much Phil for taking an opportunity to interview with us, we can’t wait to see what the band have in store for Coldplayers because you guys have the best fans in the world.

We have set up a suggestion thread on our forums, where you can voice your opinion on where Coldplay should play for their next world tour!

 He has collaborated with Coldplay on their greatest hits, Viva La Vida and Paradise, added strings on a plethora of songs, including Yes and Rainy Day. Now, Italian producer/composer, Davide Rossi is looking forward to an even brighter future as he continues his work with the biggest band in the world.

Coldplaying.com interview with Davide Rossi

Afi, from our team (known as Grids on the forums) caught up with the Turin born violinist to find out what it's like to work the stadium rocking behemoths.

Hello Davide, thank you for taking your time to chat with us on Coldplaying. First of all, it’s an honor for us to be able to interview with you.

Hello to you Afi, thank you for getting in touch and for you generous compliments.

So our first question is how does it feel to work with Coldplay? What is your favorite music work so far along with them?

I love to work with them. They're not just great musicians but also amazing guys. I always feel super positive energy when I work with them and I miss them terribly when I'm not in the studio working on some Coldplay stuff, which happens more and more as both me and them are getting busier in our own careers.

I'd says my favourite period was the viva la Vida one, perhaps just because it was a first for us and also because that's when we created the viva la vida song, which was a real game changer for everything I suppose.

When we first listened to the True Love remix, we were actually falling in love with this record instantly. What was the main idea to have a dominant violin sound in the beginning? The song really suits with the movie soundtrack in my opinion as it comes so flawlessly, though.

I started working on true love very early on, I think it was May 2013? I usually get Chris demoes and ideas very early, before the band its on it. I guess Chris, with the years, is trying to give me more creative space right from the beginning of a song. The band works another version and I just fill all with my strings. This is why I always had ideas to make an album of string re-interpretations of their songs, but maybe that would be too much and too boring to be honest. I'm glad on how well true love turned up though and was thrilled that the boys decided to release it eventually.

What is your favorite record so far with Coldplay? How does it feel to have Viva La Vida as the #1 single and is still playing a lot in radio stations today?

Feels absolutely great. will always be proud of the fact that I contributed heavily to possibly their most successful song until now? And there's paradise too of course...

Another question about Viva La Vida, who came up with the main violin riff? Was it you or Chris?

He always comes with the chords and with a vague idea of a rhythm. Together we developed and refined the rhythm and the harmony. This is why you need an arranger around when you work with strings. Plus I have my way of using rhythm with strings, it's kind of my signature if you know what I mean. I think especially with viva of all Coldplay's songs I've worked with, it was a case of true collaboration between the two of us and the band of course.

Above : Davide and Chris performing 'Viva La Vida' live in 2009

If we go back to your personal interest, why choosing to play violin? Have you come across that you will be collaborating with such big bands like Coldplay?

It's an interesting question. To be honest, all I've always been interested in my life was to be a musician and to be where music is. I've been lucky to study with amazing teachers and work with amazing artists. I think you should always be prepared to work with a big band if that's what you want. I always thought big, even when playing with 'smaller' bands. In my world, quality is what counts, more than quantity, which is usually what people judge a band nowadays. How big it is compared to what it sells or how many hits has on YouTube.

How much of an influence did Karlheinz Stockhausen have on your career?

Well, I spent a very very brief Period with him, but it was so strong it really changed my perception of what it was to be a musician. His discipline, the depth of his electronic music compositions and the whole vibe really. What an amazing man.

We believe you must have been proud with all of your achievements for the last few years, but we’re a little bit curious about how does it feel like when your piece of work is used for the whole song like when Viva La Vida happened last time?

It's really amazing and such a lucky thing. I don't even think about it to be honest. I always think that music happens on its own and if you are working on it and open to it, you may get lucky once in a lifetime...

Are you looking forward to more live shows collaborating with groups/bands you have been working for many years now?

Live shows not so much, I'm very busy writing/composing and arranging these days.

Above : Davide on stage with Chris Martin at the Oremeley dinner in June 2013

Are there any chances to work with Coldplay again in the future? We have been wanting to listen more of your violin sounds on their record too, though.

Well, I'm working on and off with them since almost nine years now. I'm working with them on LP7 as we speak.

We are also hoping, though, to meet you one day as you have now become a musical inspiration alone and with the musicians you have been working with.

Thank you, you are too generous. Hopefully we'll meet one day. Make yourself noticed!

We appreciate your time to interview with us Davide, and thank you very much in advance. We hope to chat with you soon.

We'll leave you with Davide's most prevelant and famous work to date, on Coldplay's 2008 #1 single, Viva La Vida. 

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