“Collectively, we did nine or ten videos for the album,” Lance explains further. So, it’s almost like the videos and the music were starting to intertwine. The next song they sent me, ‘Dark Side,’ opens with Matt howling. “For instance,” Lance continues, “we did this video for ‘Something Human’ where Matt becomes a werewolf. So, instead of listening to the album all at once and thinking of something to be like a visual album, we were almost riffing off ideas as we went along.” They would send me a song, and we’d do a video. The songs were recorded over about a year and a half. “They also didn’t record the album all at once.
#Muse simulation theory movie
The process for creating the music and movie for Simulation Theory involved another atypical move. Visually, the album was aligned with one voice, but musically, it’s their most eclectic album ever.” The thing that linked them together is that they worked with me on the videos. So, every song basically had a different producer. “Usually, when doing an album,” Lance explains, “they’ll work with one producer, but they wanted to work with an eclectic mix of producers this time. “What’s unique about these three years with Muse,” he says, “is that they wanted to try something conceptually different from any of their past albums with Simulation Theory.” Muse is a band that features a distinct rock sound and signature epic stage shows. I still think it’s the best video I’ve done for the band.” Lance continues, “We put Lauren in a mini-action movie, and along with the message of the song, it’s such a powerful statement. “I read her story and how inspiring she was that I was like, ‘I want to work with her one day.’ I wrote her into the pitch.” “I was dealing with personal family trauma,” Lance shares. “The video stars Lauren Wasser, who is a model, activist, and amputee.” Lance’s pitch for “Dig Down” was an ambitious effort with an important message. It’s just crazy to think that all these years later, they’ve become my friends.” They played on Stage C, which was in the parking lot. I saw them play when I was 16 during the Curiosa Tour. “It was super-exciting!” Lance was not only directing a new project where he could push the envelope but, he admits, “I’ve been a fan of Muse for a long time. Previously, Lance directed a video for Miike Snow for the song ‘Heart is Full,” which was a “ Ghost in the Shell, Akira, action mini-movie.” “Muse wanted to do something cyberpunk leaning,” he continues, “So, I pitched and got it.” I like pushing the boundaries of what is possible in a music video and telling a story in three or four minutes.” “But the idea I wrote clicked with the band,” Lance says, “and their manager had seen a lot of my work, which is super-narrative based. “I’ve pitched on so many songs with so many bands and so many near misses.” “It was for the song ‘Dig Down,’ and it was a hail-mary pitch.” Lots of directors make their case for why they should be in charge of a particular project. “Three years ago, I pitched on a track for Muse,” he says. Over the past ten years, I’ve been mainly a music video and promo director and also doing documentary work.” Dig Down “Over the years, I got hooked into doing music videos. Lance went to film school then moved out to LA. They were spoofs of our favorite films.”įrom an early age, Lance says, “It became such an obsession for my friends and me that from the age of nine to 16 we created a near three-hour long movie with action figures.” We used my neighbor’s VHS camera and made movies riffing off of the movies of the time. “Filmmaking for me began at the age of seven,” Lance recalls his earliest years, “while making home movies with friends and action figures.
PopAxiom and Lance spoke about becoming a filmmaker, making videos for Muse, and working on the ambitious project Muse: Simulation Theory.
The film’s story puts viewers in multiple realities, including one that’s all too eerily familiar that includes misinformation and pandemics. Woven into the concert footage is a narrative that marries the music and its messages to create an overall cyberpunk vibe undeniably Muse.
In Muse: Simulation Theory, viewers are treated with intense, powerful, and emotional music. Director Lance Drake has made music videos for Muse, and now he collaborates with the band for their most ambitious project yet, a film based on their 2018 album, Simulation Theory. Muse is an English rock band with eight studio albums, dozens of hit songs, and an eclectic sound that seems like it’s not only from the future but multiple versions of the future.