Chris Wolstenholme
Encyclopedia
Christopher Tony Wolstenholme (born 2 December 1978) better known as Chris Wolstenholme, is an English musician and the bassist
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

 and backing vocalist
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...

 for the English rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band Muse
Muse (band)
Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy , Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard...

. Wolstenholme also sometimes plays keyboard or guitar instead of bass, though the latter is occasionally handled by Morgan Nicholls
Morgan Nicholls
Morgan Nicholls is an English musician, member of Senseless Things and best known for performing with Gorillaz, The Streets, Muse and most recently Lily Allen. He released one solo album under the name Morgan.-Career:...

 during live performances.

He lives in Oxshott
Oxshott
Oxshott is a village in Surrey, England with a growing population of around 6,100. Neighbouring settlements include: Chessington, Claygate and Cobham. It is situated in fields and woodlands between Esher and Leatherhead on the A244, five minutes by car from both the A3 and the M25 London Orbital...

 with his family.

Early and personal life

Chris Wolstenholme grew up in the English town of Rotherham
Rotherham
Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...

 before moving to Teignmouth
Teignmouth
Teignmouth is a town and civil parish in Teignbridge in the English county of Devon, situated on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign about 14 miles south of Exeter. It has a population of 14,413. In 1690, it was the last place in England to be invaded by a foreign power...

, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

. While living there, he played drums for a post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...

 band, while Matthew Bellamy
Matthew Bellamy
Matthew James Bellamy is an English musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the lead vocalist, lead guitarist, pianist, and main songwriter of the alternative rock band Muse.-Early life:...

 and Dominic Howard
Dominic Howard
Dominic James "Dom" Howard , is the drummer for the English rock band Muse.-Early life:Howard was born in Stockport, Greater Manchester, in England. When he was around 8 years old he moved with his family to Teignmouth, a small town in Devon. He began playing drums at about the age of 12, when he...

 played in another. While the two bands rehearsed in the same building, Bellamy and Howard walked over to Wolstenholme and asked him if he would like to play bass in their band, Rocket Baby Dolls, later renamed Muse
Muse (band)
Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy , Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard...

. Wolstenholme was eager to join their band but didn't know how to play bass. He picked one up quickly and taught himself.

In 2003, when the band sued Nestle
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...

, he was the main reason behind it, being against the company that had a dubious reputation when it came to the promotion of powdered milk to new mothers in the third world. At the time, he had had his third child.

Wolstenholme and his wife Kelly married in December 2003 and have five children: Alfie (age 12), Ava-Jo (age 9), Frankie (age 8), Ernie (age 3), Buster (age 1), and are expecting their sixth child, due in January. He is known to be very devoted to his family, phoning home twice a day when on tour. In late April 2010, the family moved to Foxrock
Foxrock
Foxrock is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County, in the postal district of Dublin 18 and in the parish of Foxrock.-History:...

, Dublin. He said their decision to move to Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 was based on their need to be beside a major airport and a desire to avoid London, England. During the 2011 NME Awards
NME Awards
The NME Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine, NME .The first awards show was held in 1953 as the NME Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding of the magazine....

, it was confirmed that he, along with his family, have moved to London, due to the band's wishes to live in the same city whilst creating the new album. Despite not living in his hometown since his childhood, he remains an avid supporter of Rotherham United F.C.
Rotherham United F.C.
Rotherham United Football Club are an English professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, who compete in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club's colours have traditionally been red and white, although these have evolved through history...

, his hometown football team.

The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

 magazine published an article in the summer of 2010 in which Wolstenholme admitted he had been a "raging alcoholic" and openly spoke about the depths of his addiction. He went into rehab halfway during the recording of The Resistance
The Resistance (album)
The Resistance is the fifth studio album by English alternative rock band Muse, released in Europe on 14 September 2009, and in North America on 15 September 2009....

. In an interview with the Q Magazine
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...

it was revealed that he would drink so much he would vomit blood, but that he could not grasp the seriousness of his situation. His bandmates had tried to broach the subject of his drinking several times without success. In the end, he had come to his own realization that unless he quit drinking, he would end up like his father who had died due to excessive drinking when Wolstenholme was only seventeen. Since then, he has not drunk alcohol and said that his relationship with his wife and bandmates has greatly improved. He also had a habit of smoking and would have a few cigarettes daily. In 2010 he switched to smoking out of a pipe. He has stated, via Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...

 that he had quit smoking, using an electric cigarette but he had taken up smoking again.

Wolstenholme holds an honorary doctorate of arts from the University of Plymouth
University of Plymouth
Plymouth University is the largest university in the South West of England, with over 30,000 students and is 9th largest in the United Kingdom by total number of students . It has almost 3,000 staff...

.

Muse

His biggest influence on the band is his love for heavy rock music, and his band mates have been quoted many times as saying that he's the one that brings the rock into Muse. During the recording of The Resistance, he has admitted that he was in the studio only when he had something to record, and spent the rest of his time "getting pissed". In 2011, readers of Gigwise named him the best bassist of all time.

Musical equipment

Wolstenholme has used many different basses since the start of Muse's career, starting out with Warwick
Warwick (bass guitar)
-Overview:Warwick basses were originally a premium brand offering a small range of models built from high quality and exotic tonewoods with 'Neck-through' design...

 and Bass Collection basses, alongside an electric double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...

 for use in the song "Unintended
Unintended
-Release history:...

". He favoured the Ampeg
Ampeg
Ampeg is primarily a musical instrument amplifier manufacturer headquartered in Woodinville, Washington, though they also manufacture guitars to a small extent...

 SVT amps, with 1x18, 2x10 and 2x12 cabs.

Wolstenholme often uses distortion. Favouring the Russian Sovtek version of the Electro Harmonix Big Muff
Big Muff
The Big Muff is a fuzzbox produced in New York City by the Electro-Harmonix company, along with their Russian sister company Sovtek, primarily for use with the electric guitar...

 distortion / sustainer, this was used alongside a BOSS
Boss Corporation
Boss is a manufacturer of effects pedals for electric guitar and bass guitar. It is a division of the Roland Corporation, a Japanese manufacturer that specializes in musical equipment and accessories...

 Bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

 overdrive and other effects.

In the Origin of Symmetry
Origin of Symmetry
Origin of Symmetry is the second studio album by English alternative rock band Muse, released on 17 July 2001 by Taste Records. In the UK it reached #3 and was certified platinum. The title for the album comes from a concept put forward by Michio Kaku in his book Hyperspace.On Origin of Symmetry,...

era, Wolstenholme had many custom-made Pedulla basses, mainly having five-string bass necks outfitted with only four strings, allowing for a wider 4-string neck. Only using the Pedulla Rapture SB4 basses with a single humbucking pickup, the JB4 bass with two jazz
Fender Jazz Bass
The Jazz Bass was the second model of electric bass created by Leo Fender. The bass is distinct from the Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midrange and treble with less emphasis on the fundamental harmonic...

 pickups shown in the Plug In Baby
Plug In Baby
"Plug In Baby" is a song by English alternative rock band Muse, featured on their 2001 second studio album Origin of Symmetry. Released as the lead single from the album on 5 March 2001, "Plug In Baby" became the band's highest-charting single when it peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart,...

 video was sold on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...

. Wolstenholme also changed to use two Marshall
Marshall Amplification
Marshall Amplification is a British company, founded by drummer Jim Marshall, that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, brands personal headphones/earphones , and, after acquiring Natal Drums, drums and bongos. Marshall amplifiers, and specifically their guitar amplifiers, are among the most...

 amplifier
Amplifier
Generally, an amplifier or simply amp, is a device for increasing the power of a signal.In popular use, the term usually describes an electronic amplifier, in which the input "signal" is usually a voltage or a current. In audio applications, amplifiers drive the loudspeakers used in PA systems to...

s (3 cabs in total counting his combo amp), he had two separate channels, one for clean bass
Bassline
A bassline is the term used in many styles of popular music, such as jazz, blues, funk, dub and electronic music for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played by a rhythm section instrument such as the electric bass, double bass, tuba or keyboard...

 and one for distorted bass. Chris has also been known to use his Marshall Bass State b150 which he drives to the edge because "it distorts nicely". His effects rig also expanded to include some Line 6
Line 6
Line 6 is a manufacturer of digital modeling guitars, amplifiers and related electronic equipment. Their product lines include electric and acoustic guitars, basses, guitar and bass amplifiers, effects processors, USB audio interfaces and guitar/bass wireless systems...

 effects and more BOSS
Boss Corporation
Boss is a manufacturer of effects pedals for electric guitar and bass guitar. It is a division of the Roland Corporation, a Japanese manufacturer that specializes in musical equipment and accessories...

 effects.

For Muse
Muse (band)
Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy , Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard...

's third album, Absolution, Wolstenholme kept the Pedulla basses but also recorded using Warwick
Warwick (bass guitar)
-Overview:Warwick basses were originally a premium brand offering a small range of models built from high quality and exotic tonewoods with 'Neck-through' design...

 basses (his old ones) and others. He also added a Fender Jazz Bass
Fender Jazz Bass
The Jazz Bass was the second model of electric bass created by Leo Fender. The bass is distinct from the Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midrange and treble with less emphasis on the fundamental harmonic...

 into his lineup for "Sing for Absolution
Sing For Absolution
"Sing for Absolution" is a song by English rock band Muse, serving as the title track for their third studio album, Absolution. It was released in May 2004 as the fourth single from that album, peaking at #16 in the UK Singles Chart . The song also appears on the Absolution Tour DVD...

" and a Zon Sonus Studio 4. For live performances of "Stockholm Syndrome
Stockholm Syndrome (song)
"Stockholm Syndrome" is a song by the English alternative rock band Muse from their third studio album: Absolution. The song was released as the album's lead single and also appears on the Absolution live DVD. It was released alongside its artwork as a download-only single through the...

" Wolstenholme used a beat up Pedulla Rapture SB5 - so beaten up that a tuning peg has been lost and is now only used as a four-string bass. No surprise that Wolstenholme threw it onto the stage from the audience, then into Dominic Howard
Dominic Howard
Dominic James "Dom" Howard , is the drummer for the English rock band Muse.-Early life:Howard was born in Stockport, Greater Manchester, in England. When he was around 8 years old he moved with his family to Teignmouth, a small town in Devon. He began playing drums at about the age of 12, when he...

's bass drum
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...

 at the UK's biggest festival, Glastonbury
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...

.

He still kept his Marshall
Marshall Amplification
Marshall Amplification is a British company, founded by drummer Jim Marshall, that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, brands personal headphones/earphones , and, after acquiring Natal Drums, drums and bongos. Marshall amplifiers, and specifically their guitar amplifiers, are among the most...

 amps, and also included more rackmount effects in the form of Line 6
Line 6
Line 6 is a manufacturer of digital modeling guitars, amplifiers and related electronic equipment. Their product lines include electric and acoustic guitars, basses, guitar and bass amplifiers, effects processors, USB audio interfaces and guitar/bass wireless systems...

 Bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

 Pods and filter modelers, and more. His effects rig became so big that Rocktron All Access MIDI controllers are used both on and off stage to control everything. Also adding in an Akai
Akai
Akai is a consumer electronics brand, founded by Saburo Akai as , a Japanese manufacturer in 1929. It is now headquartered in Singapore as a subsidiary of Grande Holdings, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate, which also owns the formerly Japanese brands Nakamichi and Sansui. The Akai brand is now used...

 Deep Impact synth pedal for the hit single "Time Is Running Out", a Digitech Synth Wah and a Big John Granny Puker alongside more effects.

For Black Holes and Revelations
Black Holes and Revelations
Black Holes and Revelations is the fourth studio album by English alternative rock band Muse, released on 3 July 2006. Recording was split between New York and France, and it was the first time Muse had taken a more active role in the album's production...

, Wolstenholme has changed his rig almost completely. Now favouring Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker, is an electric and bass guitar manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California...

 4003 basses and Fender Jazz Bass
Fender Jazz Bass
The Jazz Bass was the second model of electric bass created by Leo Fender. The bass is distinct from the Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midrange and treble with less emphasis on the fundamental harmonic...

es for new and old songs alike, he also uses a pick on a few new songs, including "Assassin", the beginning of "Map of the Problematique
Map of the Problematique
"Map of the Problematique" is a song by English alternative rock band Muse, released on their 2006 fourth studio album, Black Holes and Revelations. It was released as the fifth single from the album on 18 June 2007 as a digital download only...

", the beginning of "Invincible", and the beginning and middle of "Knights of Cydonia
Knights of Cydonia
"Knights of Cydonia" is a song by English alternative rock band Muse and is the closing track on the British release of their 2006 album Black Holes and Revelations. The song's title comes in part from the region of Mars named Cydonia, famous for the "face on mars"...

", according to Muse's 26 August 2006 performance at the Reading Festival. He also plays an upright bass in "Soldier's Poem". The Electro Harmonix Big Muff is used more often in this album, nearly in every track, and his vocals are sometimes sung through a vocoder
Vocoder
A vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...

, most noticeably in "Supermassive Black Hole". Additionally, on the recent HAARP DVD he can be seen playing guitar, with Morgan Nicholls manning the bass, and Bellamy on the piano. Specifically, on the DVD, he uses a PRS 513 Rosewood. Recently, he has begun using Fender 1951 P-Bass, in a unique silver colour with tortoise shell style pickguard. Also use a Noah Bass(maybe the same as the before mentioned p bass just misidentified as a Fender P-bass)
Before "Knights of Cydonia", Wolstenholme sometimes plays "Man With The Harmonica" (composed by Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, , is an Italian composer and conductor, who wrote music to more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces...

) on harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...

, which fits in with the western style of the song.

After the release of The Resistance
The Resistance (album)
The Resistance is the fifth studio album by English alternative rock band Muse, released in Europe on 14 September 2009, and in North America on 15 September 2009....

, Wolstenholme was seen playing a 1980s Status Bass, which he uses to play "Uprising
Uprising (song)
"Uprising" is a song by English rock band Muse, featured on their fifth studio album The Resistance. Written by lead vocalist and guitarist Matthew Bellamy, the song was released as the lead single from the album on 7 September 2009...

", "Guiding Light" and "Unnatural Selection" live. He has also been seen playing a Gibson
Gibson
Gibson may refer to:* Gibson Amphitheatre* Gibson Appliance* Gibson Girl* Gibson Guitar Corporation* Gibson * Gibson Generating Station-Places:In the United States:* Gibson, Arkansas* Gibson, Georgia* Gibson, Iowa* Gibson, Louisiana...

Grabber in the studio.

External links

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