It’s been six long years since their last concert in Singapore, but Coldplay’s Guy Berryman told us that pretty much only two things have changed for the band members, as fans will see during their five concerts here in January 2024 at the National Stadium.
“We’re just a little bit older and we’ve got a few more grey hairs on our heads!”
Speaking to CNA Lifestyle in an exclusive video interview ahead of the upcoming Asia leg of their Music Of The Spheres world tour, the 45-year-old bassist said that “we always love coming to Singapore. We had a great time when we were there the last time – all of our families came out with us and we enjoyed doing some sightseeing and trips around Singapore.”
After 26 years together as a band, nine albums and, now, on their eighth world tour, it turns out the secret to the band’s longevity is really just being friends since they were in their early 20s.
“We’re very lucky and grateful for the fact that we still enjoy each other’s company, and we’re still friends after such a long period of time,” said Berryman, one-fourth of the band that also consists of frontman Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland and drummer Will Champion.
“There are really not that many bands that tend to last this long, for different reasons. I think it’s important to note that before we actually formed the band, we were all friends. We met at college, university. And I think our foundation is really based on friendship first, rather than being a band together. I think we’ve all just been very supportive of each other over the years and, of course, in any journey that is 25 years long, there are ups and downs along the way. I just think there’s a great sense of respect for each of the other members, from everyone in the band."
Importantly, "We love what we do. We love making music together. There’s nothing else that any of us would rather be doing. I think when you realise that, you understand how important it is to nurture the relationship and make sure that everybody’s happy at any given time," he added.
Coldplay performing on stage (Photo: Anna Lee Media)
Of course, a quarter of a century is a lot of time for a band’s music to develop and evolve. Coldplay has gone from making songs like Yellow, Clocks and Fix You in the 2000s to introducing a puppet band called The Weirdos in their latest album, Music Of The Spheres.
“For every album we’ve ever made, we’ve always tried to explore new territory. We’ve never stayed in one place. Some people don’t like the fact that we’ve changed our style of music over the years. Some people love the first two albums that we made; some people love the last album we made but they don’t love the first,” Berryman mused.
Personally, he loves all their albums equally, like children. “There are things on all of our albums that, in retrospect, if I were doing it now, it might be done differently, but that’s just the nature of art,” he conceded. “Whatever you create is part of that moment, or part of that person or that group that you are at a certain point of time. But, honestly, we’ve only ever thought about moving forward, so revisiting or changing any of our work that we’ve done previously is not something that any of us are interested in doing.”
Some of that musical evolution has come by way of, in recent years, collaborating with artists ranging from Brazilian singer Seu Jorge and Iranian actor Farahani to Selena Gomez and BTS.
“I think it’s exciting for us to work with other people. We spent many years of our career not entertaining the idea of working with anybody externally – everything had to be created by ourselves in the studio, and we were very protective of that. I think a few years ago, we decided that, well, maybe it would be interesting if Beyonce came and sang on a song, or perhaps if it was a duet kind of song and required somebody to come in. But I think the idea of collaboration is something we just moved into after quite a long period of time,” he said.
“The important thing is to just always try and evolve, always try and work with different people, always try and make music that is different from music that we’ve made before. Collaborations are just a very good way of being able to do that.”
Concertgoers at a Coldplay show (Photo: Anna Lee Media)
Music Of The Spheres takes on a galactic theme to signify the necessity of taking a step back to look critically at the world we live in, Berryman told us.
“It is really just a vehicle for us to look at the planet that we all live on and we all share, from an outside perspective,” he said. “As human beings who are separated by imaginary boundaries and countries, sometimes it’s hard for us to realise on the ground that it’s a very precious situation that we all live in, and the planet’s a very special and precious place.
"And sometimes, it’s very difficult to realise everything that is great about the world and to clearly see everything that’s terrible about the world when you’re in it. So, we try to look at everything from further away and analyse things as if the planet were being seen by an alien race or something. That really set the framework for everything the album is about.”
In doing that, “I think the hard part is sometimes just not living in denial about the situation we’re all facing at the moment,” he said. “It’s very easy to ignore all of the problems that are in the world, whether it be environmental or political or wars that are going on. Of course, we all see and read the news, but it’s also very easy for us to then walk away from that and not do anything. So, I think the hard part is just opening your eyes and realising that the situation in certain circumstances is pretty bad.”
On the environmental front, Coldplay has fought hard to make progress in sustainability when it comes to the impact of their tours. On a show-by-show basis, they say, their current tour has so far produced 47 per cent less carbon dioxide equivalent emissions than their previous stadium tour in 2016/17, and that five million trees, one for each concert goer, have been planted around the world.
“I’d like to express how excited we are to be coming back and playing shows in Asia, and we’re always sorry that we can’t come more often – it always seems to be years and years between the shows,” Berryman said. “But, I think we have a great show and we’re super happy to be coming and excited to get in front of our fans.”
Coldplay's Music Of The Spheres World Tour will take place in Singapore on Jan 23, 24, 26, 27 and 30 at 8pm at the National Stadium. General ticket sales commence on Tuesday (Jun 20) at 2pm via Ticketmaster, with ticket prices starting from S$68, excluding booking fees.
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“We’re just a little bit older and we’ve got a few more grey hairs on our heads!”
Speaking to CNA Lifestyle in an exclusive video interview ahead of the upcoming Asia leg of their Music Of The Spheres world tour, the 45-year-old bassist said that “we always love coming to Singapore. We had a great time when we were there the last time – all of our families came out with us and we enjoyed doing some sightseeing and trips around Singapore.”
Related:
After 26 years together as a band, nine albums and, now, on their eighth world tour, it turns out the secret to the band’s longevity is really just being friends since they were in their early 20s.
“We’re very lucky and grateful for the fact that we still enjoy each other’s company, and we’re still friends after such a long period of time,” said Berryman, one-fourth of the band that also consists of frontman Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland and drummer Will Champion.
“There are really not that many bands that tend to last this long, for different reasons. I think it’s important to note that before we actually formed the band, we were all friends. We met at college, university. And I think our foundation is really based on friendship first, rather than being a band together. I think we’ve all just been very supportive of each other over the years and, of course, in any journey that is 25 years long, there are ups and downs along the way. I just think there’s a great sense of respect for each of the other members, from everyone in the band."
Importantly, "We love what we do. We love making music together. There’s nothing else that any of us would rather be doing. I think when you realise that, you understand how important it is to nurture the relationship and make sure that everybody’s happy at any given time," he added.
Coldplay performing on stage (Photo: Anna Lee Media)
Of course, a quarter of a century is a lot of time for a band’s music to develop and evolve. Coldplay has gone from making songs like Yellow, Clocks and Fix You in the 2000s to introducing a puppet band called The Weirdos in their latest album, Music Of The Spheres.
“For every album we’ve ever made, we’ve always tried to explore new territory. We’ve never stayed in one place. Some people don’t like the fact that we’ve changed our style of music over the years. Some people love the first two albums that we made; some people love the last album we made but they don’t love the first,” Berryman mused.
Personally, he loves all their albums equally, like children. “There are things on all of our albums that, in retrospect, if I were doing it now, it might be done differently, but that’s just the nature of art,” he conceded. “Whatever you create is part of that moment, or part of that person or that group that you are at a certain point of time. But, honestly, we’ve only ever thought about moving forward, so revisiting or changing any of our work that we’ve done previously is not something that any of us are interested in doing.”
Some of that musical evolution has come by way of, in recent years, collaborating with artists ranging from Brazilian singer Seu Jorge and Iranian actor Farahani to Selena Gomez and BTS.
“I think it’s exciting for us to work with other people. We spent many years of our career not entertaining the idea of working with anybody externally – everything had to be created by ourselves in the studio, and we were very protective of that. I think a few years ago, we decided that, well, maybe it would be interesting if Beyonce came and sang on a song, or perhaps if it was a duet kind of song and required somebody to come in. But I think the idea of collaboration is something we just moved into after quite a long period of time,” he said.
“The important thing is to just always try and evolve, always try and work with different people, always try and make music that is different from music that we’ve made before. Collaborations are just a very good way of being able to do that.”
Concertgoers at a Coldplay show (Photo: Anna Lee Media)
Music Of The Spheres takes on a galactic theme to signify the necessity of taking a step back to look critically at the world we live in, Berryman told us.
“It is really just a vehicle for us to look at the planet that we all live on and we all share, from an outside perspective,” he said. “As human beings who are separated by imaginary boundaries and countries, sometimes it’s hard for us to realise on the ground that it’s a very precious situation that we all live in, and the planet’s a very special and precious place.
"And sometimes, it’s very difficult to realise everything that is great about the world and to clearly see everything that’s terrible about the world when you’re in it. So, we try to look at everything from further away and analyse things as if the planet were being seen by an alien race or something. That really set the framework for everything the album is about.”
In doing that, “I think the hard part is sometimes just not living in denial about the situation we’re all facing at the moment,” he said. “It’s very easy to ignore all of the problems that are in the world, whether it be environmental or political or wars that are going on. Of course, we all see and read the news, but it’s also very easy for us to then walk away from that and not do anything. So, I think the hard part is just opening your eyes and realising that the situation in certain circumstances is pretty bad.”
On the environmental front, Coldplay has fought hard to make progress in sustainability when it comes to the impact of their tours. On a show-by-show basis, they say, their current tour has so far produced 47 per cent less carbon dioxide equivalent emissions than their previous stadium tour in 2016/17, and that five million trees, one for each concert goer, have been planted around the world.
“I’d like to express how excited we are to be coming back and playing shows in Asia, and we’re always sorry that we can’t come more often – it always seems to be years and years between the shows,” Berryman said. “But, I think we have a great show and we’re super happy to be coming and excited to get in front of our fans.”
Coldplay's Music Of The Spheres World Tour will take place in Singapore on Jan 23, 24, 26, 27 and 30 at 8pm at the National Stadium. General ticket sales commence on Tuesday (Jun 20) at 2pm via Ticketmaster, with ticket prices starting from S$68, excluding booking fees.
Continue reading...