Jimi Hendrix
A journalist once called Matthew Bellamy "Mini Hendrix".
He used to smash his guitar at the end of the gig as Jimi Hendrix did, but it was more a way to evacuate the frustrations when the concert was not as good as he had hoped[ as opposed to...?].
Dominic Howard would like to have a drink with Jimi Hendrix, were he still alive—"He was just such a cool guy; the way he played, how he seemed to be in his personal life or whenever he was being interviewed".
As with Bellamy, Hendrix was a longtime science fiction fan, often singing about space and travelling into it. "Purple Haze" was reportedly inspired by a short story by science fiction writer Philip Jose Farmer; Hendrix's explanation of the song explained his lyrical approach. "It's about going through this land", he said, "I like to [...] write a lot of mythical scenes [...] Like how they got the Greek gods and all that mythology--well you can have your own mythology scene, or write fiction". Several of Hendrix's more widely known songs—such as "Third Stone from the Sun," "Up from the Skies," "And the Gods Made Love" and "1983...(A Merman I Should Turn to Be)"—fit within this lyrical style.
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