Turning up at the London Astoria at 6 o'clock and there is already a queue round the   building and down the side of the delightful Soho Square, haven of all the freaks in the neighbourhood it seems. However queuing is not in the vocabulary of the Seditionaries team, (comprising of myself self styled team leader/question-asker and Jennifer, flag holder/bringer of moral support), so we get whisked inside by Coldplay's Manager to carry out the business in hand.
By this point in the day Coldplay have already been very busy boys, with interviews with Q magazine, recording pieces for television programmes, sound-checks and now even more interviews and all this before they perform on the last night of their tour with the mighty Muse. Tensions appear to be running a tad high which is only to be expected, as everyone is tired, emotional and probably hungover, suitably expressed by vocalist Chris Martin storming through the Astoria doors growling that everything was 'All right!'
We requested a 'nice' member of the band to interview and that was exactly what was    delivered in the shape of, the somewhat poorly Johnny ,(lead guitar), who when faced with the Seditionaries treatment had this to say for himself:
Starting off at a gentle pace, here are the obligatory Smash Hits Stylee Questions:
Starsign: Virgo
Teacher's Pet or Rebel: Teacher's Pet but hated school.
Favourite Book: Catch 22- Joseph Heller
Last book read: Tortilla Flat- John Steinbeck
What song do you wish you'd written: Subterranean Homesick Blues
What is the first single you bought: Either a Beautiful South song with flutes in it or a Jive Bunny and the Master Mixers abomination.
We were warned by the Manager not to ask how they got the name so now on to some thing more topical, namely how is the tour going? "It's really good actually, very, very good and it is the last show tonight so could get better "The best gig so far seems to be a bit of a blurry subject, "I can't really remember where it was but Wolverhampton was really good, the others have kind of merged, Liverpool as well" but surely living a rock n' roll lifestyle is one of the chores you take on when joining a band.
The album is finished now and it appears to be everything the band wanted it to be and maybe even more, the confident affirmations to this effect, "Yeah, pleased, very pleased" leave me with no doubt that this could be 'the' album of the year. The album was not     constructed with any plan in mind, "It's just songs that we liked that fitted together", a     simple but well worked formulae for an any album. The writing of the songs on the album are a joint effort between the band members, which you can see as they all share a credit on previous CD sleeve's, "When we are writing Chris will come up with a melody and a few lyrics, a few chords or maybe even a structure, then we will just write our parts around it, people will suggest things as we go along."
The subject of whether recording is a source of arguments is raised and honestly the      answer is "Yes, of course" but with a laugh so you know it is not anything major to worry about.
Strangely enough when asked what new bands around at the moment were rated, Johnny answered "I really like Muse and My Vitriol", who just happened to be making a Coldplay sandwich that night, on stage not literally. Doves and Badly Drawn Boy also gained the stamp of approval, and who in the same clutch of bands as Coldplay and Muse, in that they are not only popular with the music critics for making innovative, exciting music, but also loved by fans for simply being brilliant.
For all you trivia fans out there, you might like to know that Coldplay went to London     University College with a member of My Vitriol but the educational bond did not get them the support slot tonight, the record label fraternity with Muse did. Speaking of university  experiences, Johnny studied Astronomy and Maths, chosen because he was "Quite good at them and did not want to do Physics". As with many people going to university was seen as an "Easy way to move away from home and meet people who wanted to be in a band", as coming from North Wales the opportunities for impassioned music followers would be scarce to say the least.
Looking back to the past it seems that the desire to be in a band was felt from an early age as Johnny started his quest for fame and fortune at the tender age of ten, by the formation of a rap band, which then progressed to pop, and only then did he learn how to play the guitar. Considering the future, and faced with question of 'Stadium fillers or Cult heroes' in five years time, the answer must be "Both, if you can", for someone who sees this as their vocation it is only natural to want it all. Now that the dream has been achieved, playing  music can serve another purpose, as a cathartic release, "Playing gigs, especially, can be really good for getting things out, if you feel that need" The content of Coldplay songs,  lyrically and the emotional soundscape they conjure, can produce a cathartic release for the audience alone. To be actually performing the songs must magnify that feeling ten-fold but could also have the adverse effect of bringing you down from a perfectly good mood, a chance we should all be willing to take.
The future of music, does it fill you with confidence or disillusionment?  Discuss! "There are a lot of really great bands around at the moment more than there has been for years", the prospect of an world where Artful Dodger dominates over the indie/alternative genre is not envisioned as " If dance music were to completely take over then it would have to change, as people have been saying that for years, ever since Rave broke, obviously the culture of dance will effect things but there will always be a place for guitar bands" The fact seems to be that Dance music will develop and so will new genres but "there will always be a place for a good song as no matter what happens, people want something to relate to." With that Johnny has summed up what draws most people to Coldplay, that fact that their songs are accessible, filled with humanity and intelligence so that you can relate to them, literally or even just on an empathetic level.
Thank you to Johnny for doing the interview and the wonderful Philip Harvey for setting it up.