Fortunately, the type of musical interference we’re talking about here is far less serious. Apparently, at several TV talk/music shows in Europe, it’s customary for the musical guests  to mime to a backing track. Muse doesn’t buy into this. Not at all. So they did what they could to stick it to the producers. Taking a note from Nirvana, the trio made their lip-syncing as obvious and hilarious as possible on the BBC.

In 2001, Muse appeared on the soon-to-be-canceled children’s series Live & Kicking to play their then-current single “New Born”. The BBC producers told the band that they had to pretend to play their instruments and that there couldn’t be any live vocals as well. So how does Muse respond in the performance video? Well, for starters, Bellamy spends the piano intro gliding his hands over the keys randomly. In case that didn’t get the message across, he soon starts waving his hands in the air, nowhere near the keys he’s supposed to be playing. Once the guitar kicks in, Bellamy makes some of the most exaggerated gestures possible during the intro riff and then spends the verse with his hands in the air while the rapid guitar section plays out of the speakers. Oh, and bassist Chris Wolstenholme switches places with Howard.

The best part of this video is just how absurd Bellamy’s behavior is. He holds his guitar upside down, randomly gestures to the audience, and literally rolls around on the floor for the last 30 seconds. Howard gets in some good moves too, as he jumps around, strumming the bass like a guitar.

Muse revisited these antics later on another TV series, including the famous performance of “Uprising” on an Italian TV show about football (Why Muse was performing on a football show, I have no idea) during which all three band members switched places, with Bellamy on drums, Howard on bass, and Wolstenholme on guitar. They not only did this for the song but for the short interview afterward, too. Both of these performances should serve as a warning to future TV producers. Let Muse get on with the show. Otherwise, they’ll embarrass you and have a laugh for themselves.

“It was not Muse ever,” the film’s director Louis Leterrier recently revealed to MTV (via Spinner). “It was [frontman] Matt Bellamy. I love Muse, I’m the biggest Muse fan ever, but I wanted something a little different. [Matt] wrote a lot of stuff, but he started his tour. So not so long ago, he called me and he was like ‘Louis, I’m so sorry. I have to be respectful to my audience and professional and I have to stop on Clash.’”

Letterier, who has also directed films like The Transporter and Unleashed, had planned for Bellamy to work with composer Craig Armstrong on 30 minutes of music for the movie. Instead, Neil Davidge of trip-hop act Massive Attack will now take the helm of the film’s soundtrack, which of course ain’t a bad replacement.

“Craig Armstrong is still doing the score and I called my friend Neil Davidge from Massive Attack to replace Matt for the areas that Matt was doing. So it’ll be Craig Armstrong and Massive Attack, which is pretty exciting.” Duh.

And just because Bellamy’s music didn’t make its way into the film doesn’t mean you won’t ever hear it in another Letterier film.

“On my computer I’ve got great Matt Bellamy stuff,” Letterier said. “It’s like a rain check, like let’s do something later.”

Clash of the Titans is scheduled to hit theaters March 26th, 2010. But you can catch the band out on tour now.

Muse 2010 Tour Dates:
01/12 – Toko, JP @ Budokan
01/15 – Auckland, NZ @ Big Day Out
01/17 – Gold Coast, AU @ Big Day Out
01/22 – Syndey, AU @ Big Day Out
01/26 – Melbourne, AU @ Big Day Out
01/31 – Perth, AU @ Big Day Out
02/03 – Singapore @ Singapore Indoor Stadium
02/06 – Lantau, HK @ Asia World Expo
02/27 – Atlanta, GA @ The Arena at Gwinnett Center *
03/01 – Fairfax, VA @ Patriot Center *
03/02 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wachovia Center *
03/03 – Baltimore, MD @ 1st Mariner Avenue *
03/05 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden *
03/06 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden *
03/08 – Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Center *
03/10 – Montreal, QC @ Centre Bell *
03/12 – Chicago, IL @ United Center *
03/13 – Auburn Hills, MI @ The Palace *
03/15 – Nashville, TN @ Sommet Center *
03/17 – Forth Worth, TX @ Forth Worth Convention Center *
03/18 – Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
03/29 – Edmonton, AB @ Rexall Place *
03/30 – Calgary, AB @ Pengrowth Saddledome *
04/01 – Vancouver, BC @ Pacific Coliseum *
04/02 – Seattle, WA @ Key Arena *
04/03 – Portland, OR @ Rose Garden Center *
04/05 – Salt Lake CIty, UT @ The E Center *
04/06 – Denver, CO @ Odeum
04/09 – Phoenix, AZ @ US Airways Center *
04/14 – San Francisco, CA @ Oracle Arena *
04/16-18 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
05/27 – Lisbon, PT @ Rock In Rio
06/05 – Nurburg, DE @ Rock Am Ring
06/06 – Nuremberg, DE @ Rock Im Park
06/08 – Milan, IT @ San Siro
06/11 – Paris, FR @ Stade de France
06/12 – Paris, FR @ Stade de France
06/19 – Nijmegen, NL @ Goffertpark
06/24-27 – Pilton, UK @ Glastonbury Festival
07/01 – Werchter, BE @ Rock Werchter
07/03 – Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival
09/04 – Manchester, UK @ Lancashire County Cricket Ground
09/10 – London, UK @ Wembley Stadium
09/11 – London, UK @ Wembley Stadium

* = w/ Silversun Pickups

Over the last few weeks, the English musician has been engaged in a war of words with some of her fellow musicians over the practice of file sharing. She’s become so involved in fact that she has formed an anti-piracy blog, titled It’s Not Alright, and rounded up the likes of James Blunt, Muse’s Matt Bellamy, and Bat For Lashes’ Natasha Khan to serve as contributors.

“I want to put my hand up in support of Lily Allen,” wrote Blunt in the blog’s debut entry. “She’s asking British musicians to galvanise over a serious crime: the death of a Great British Industry — our music business.”

The issue at hand relates to whether the British Government should tackle online piracy by suspending people’s internet connections.

The Featured Artists’ Coalition, whose members include Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien, Billy Bragg, Blur’s Dave Rowntree, and Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason, oppose the proposed sanctions sanctions. However, in a statement posted on the Coalition’s website this morning, the group noted that its stance does not means its “pro-illegal.”

There has been much discussion over the past few weeks regarding the Government’s proposals to combat the challenge of copyright infringement through the suspension of the internet connections of individuals alleged to have illegally downloaded copyrighted material.

Statements made in opposition to this idea by members of the Featured Artists Coalition have been taken to imply that we condone illicit file-sharing. This is not the case and never has been.

We wish to make it clear to all parties that we believe the creative work of artists should be paid for by those who enjoy it and that whenever our music is used, royalties should be paid.

The focus of our objection is the proposed treatment of ordinary music fans who download a few tracks so as to check out our material before they buy. For those of us who don’t get played on the radio or mentioned in the music media – artists established and emerging – peer-to-peer recommendation is an important form of promotion.

Allen immediately responded to this with a statement of her own:

I want to make it clear that I’m not after a fight with the Featured Artists Coalition – I want us artists to stand together on this – but they’ve released a new statement which just doesn’t make sense. The FAC seems to be viewing the government’s proposed legislation as an attack on freedom and liberty, but stealing’s not really a human right, is it?

If we’re going to change anything us artists need to stand together. If you’re in the business and you agree that we should be encouraging new talent, preventing file-sharing  and preventing the collapse of an industry — as well as coming up with new ways to legally get music — then help me out.

Knock ‘em out, indeed.