AsiaOne

FANS of the insanely popular vampire saga Twilight may have British alternative rock band Muse to thank (at least in part) for its creation.

The books' author, American Stephenie Meyer, is a huge admirer of the trio and mentions them in the acknowledgement page of each volume, thanking them for "a saga's worth of inspiration".

Not only that, Muse has also been featured in the soundtracks of the past two movie versions of the books: Twilight and New Moon.

For the Essex trio, who play their second Singapore gig as part of promoter LAMC Productions' Big Night Out 2010, that association has brought only good things.

Speaking to my paper recently from Sydney, Australia, where the band was playing at the annual Big Day Out festival, bassist Christopher Wolstenholme revealed: "I was vaguely aware of the books (before Meyer approached us) but we didn't think anything of it at the time.

"The next thing you know, it's Twilight fever. It's good because it has made a difference for us in trying to break into America."

Muse - comprising Wolstenholme, 31; lead singer and guitarist Matt Bellamy, 31; and drummer Dominic Howard, 32 - last played here in 2007. They will headline Big Night Out on Wednesday, which will also see sets by American rockers Saosin and Rise Against.

The flamboyant singer has been covering their 2006 hit, Starlight (from Mercury Prizenominated album Black Holes And Revelations), in his performances.

And Lambert's debut album, For Your Entertainment - released last November - features a track, Soaked, written by Bellamy.

"It was actually a song we wrote for Black Holes, but it didn't quite fit in with the rest of the album," said Wolstenholme, who is married with four children.

"Adam was interested (in it), so we let him have it."

The affable guy insists there is no formula to the band's success - last year's The Resistance debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold 148,000 copies in Britain within its first week.

"The main aim (when recording) is to explore areas we haven't been in before or, if we have, we want to push them to an extreme," he said.

Formula or not, it sure works for them.