any one see the
USAToday article today?
Coldplay searching for a balance
By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. ? Chris Martin, singer for British quartet Coldplay, hovers somewhere between the bipolar pulls of self-importance and self-doubt.
"I'm a tremendously arrogant young man," Martin confesses during a poolside conversation at the Chateau Marmont. "I believe in my band to ridiculous extents. There's a little side of every singer that believes what he's doing is the best thing ever."
In the next breath, Martin will reveal his imposter syndrome, geeky persona and dread of irrelevance.
Fans and critics beg to differ. Parachutes, the band's 2000 debut, sold 1.4 million copies largely on the strength of mellow hits Yellow and Trouble. Coldplay won the 2002 Grammy for alternative album, an honor that could be repeated with current album A Rush of Blood to the Head. It entered the chart at No. 5, has sold 893,000 copies since September and spawned In My Place, which is up for a rock duo/group Grammy. The band, now on a 26-city U.S. tour with a second leg in May, will perform on the Grammy telecast Feb. 23.
Of course, Martin has mixed feelings about all this glory, stating firmly that Coldplay has earned approval even though it's likely to vanish any second.
"It's helpful to have some arrogance with paranoia," Martin, 25, says. "If we were all paranoia, we'd never leave the house. If we were all arrogance, no one would want us to leave the house."
Martin, who has been linked romantically with actress Gwyneth Paltrow, is girl-crazy, apprehensive about relationships and opposed to casual sex. He's terrified of dying and equally fretful about losing his hair. His neuroses offer a wealth of inspiration for Coldplay's lovelorn tunes about mortality and tenuous romance.
"People who reveal a lot of themselves, like me, are the least interesting people," he says. "I get sick of celebrities talking about relationship problems, and yet I sing about relationships all the time. My own have been unmitigated disasters. Sometimes I worry ... "
Martin restarts. "I know that I've chosen my band ahead of anything or anyone else. I'm obsessed."
Martin was a budding teen when he began composing "very simple, very terrible songs." Coldplay took shape in 1996 at college in London. He and guitarist Jon Buckland, drummer Will Champion and bassist Guy Berryman pressed 500 copies of a self-financed four-track EP, Safety, which landed the band a show at a Manchester music festival in 1998. That got them signed to Fierce Panda for the single Brothers and Sisters and later to Parlophone in the U.K.
Parachutes garnered praise and scorn (Oasis' manager dismissed it as "music for bed-wetters"). Detractors aside, Coldplay emerged as one of few British acts during the past decade to triumph on these shores. Panicked by success at one point, the teetotaling Martin imposed a "no-cocaine" rule and ousted Champion, who was invited back two weeks later.
"I was being an idiot," Martin says. "I woke up and thought, 'I've messed it up.' I realized Coldplay couldn't survive if any one of us left."
The band managed to leave the pressures of global fame outside the Liverpool studio while Rush of Blood was rushed to completion in late 2001. The Coldplayers felt confident their sophomore effort would please fans ? until they got an earful of vintage George Harrison. During a brief trip to Los Angeles, the band stopped by Capitol Records and heard Isn't It a Pity from Harrison's All Things Must Pass.
"That knocked my head off," Martin says. "On the plane on the way back to England, I realized we didn't have a single song as good as that."
A refurbished Rush surfaced months later with fresh and sophisticated tunes, a quicker pulse and palpably cozy chemistry. Martin hopes it lasts.
"We're only on our second record," he says. "Even the people on Jerry Springer thought their marriages were OK at one time. I can't predict the future, except that I'll always be the loudmouth frontman."
He catches himself and laughs. "I've been talking terrible nonsense. When a singer does a lot of interviews, it's like genetically modified vegetables: You get more quantity, but the quality's not as good. I start to feel everything I say is a hollow load of bollocks."
Plagued by insecurities, Martin nonetheless feels certain Coldplay has followed a wise course in its artistic, political and financial decisions. Taking leads from such models as U2, Radiohead and R.E.M., the band has turned down millions in commercial offers from the Gap to Gatorade. The musicians he most admires ? Bono, Bob Marley, Johnny Cash ? approach their craft with passion and integrity.
"They don't sell out, and they don't sell themselves short," Martin says. "We want to carry on that uncompromising tradition. We've learned from U2."
Inspired by U2's activism, Coldplay threw its support behind Oxfam International and its Make Trade Fair campaign (maketradefair.com).
"All you can do is raise awareness," Martin says. "Sting got a lot of flak for talking about the rain forest, but that's how I heard about the problem. I'm aware that a singer talking about politics can come across as a twit, but if only two people look at the Web site, it's worth it. The rock myth has gotten so twisted. Rock 'n' roll is about doing what you believe in, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. It's not about cocaine and throwing TVs out the hotel window."
It'll be a great time!!!!!
.....and all that fun stuff!!! 
awww CHRIS...he is normal and a paranoid freak like myself. 
I am crossing my fingers and hoping to see them soon in concert!!!
