Brian Molko – The soundtrack of my life

As Placebo just announced some news about their forthcoming 8^th studio album I thought it could be interesting to draw our attention to the bands, albums and songs that are important and special to Brian. Here is an interview with NME from October 2017 that was part of the series „The soundtrack of my life“. 

BRIAN MOLKO: THE SOUNDTRACK OF MY LIFE 

THE FIRST GIG I WENT TO

“The band was Tèlèphone. It was in a field in Belgium. I was 11 years old and living in Luxembourg. My brother was 21 at the time, and he took me along. During the gig I was so small that I made myself to the front and scaled over the barriers. I spent the gig hanging out with security. It was my first experience of rock’n’roll. They were basically the biggest French rock band in the ’80s. I was pretty blown away.“

THE SONG THAT CHANGED MY LIFE
“Sonic Youth – ‘Dirty Boots’. Me and my buddy Nick were 16, he came over to mine, we smoked a joint, turned the lights out and put ‘Goo’ on. I’d been playing guitar for about three years, but my entire perception of what was possible for what could be done with electric guitar changed that day. It opened up an entire new universe of possibilities. Sonic Youth remain possibly my biggest influence to this day. They’re the greatest rock’n’roll band of all time.”

THE FIRST SONG I REMEMBER HEARING

“Claude François – ‘Alexandrie Alexandra’. He’s a French artist who died mysteriously, changing a light bulb while he was taking a bath. He was quite a pioneer. It’s a disco tune, but this came out in the early ’80s, possibly late ’70s. He had a special dance that used to go along with this song. Part of it involved putting your hand on your ass and jiggling it around. In a way it was a form of primitive twerking. I’d do the dance for my parents and my brother.”

THE SONG THAT MADE ME WANT TO PERFORM

“PJ Harvey – ‘Sheela-Na-Gig’. It came when I was leaving university. It felt kind of raw and visceral. The record itself sounds so unproduced and so real. I fell completely in love with Polly Harvey and became obsessed with her music.”

THE SONG I WANT PLAYED AT MY FUNERAL

“Nina Simone – ‘Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood’. It’s the one song in the world that I identify with the most. If you listen to the lyrics, that’s me.“

THE SONG THAT I CAN NO LONGER LISTEN TO

“The National – ‘I Need My Girl’. There have been many over the last 20 years. Recently though, I decided ‘f**k this’ and set myself a challenge to psychologically and emotionally steal back these songs from exes. It works. The most recent one is ‘I Need My Girl’ by The National.”

THE FIRST ALBUM I BOUGHT

“Michael Jackson – ‘Thriller’. I bought it at John Menzies in Dundee in ’82 with my mum. I would have been 10 years old. I was really obsessed with ‘Beat It’, more than the title track. ‘Thriller’ was the golden age of Michael.”

THE FIRST SONG I FELL IN LOVE WITH

“Leonard Cohen – ‘Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye’. I was brokenhearted, I’d been dumped. Back at school that was a really big deal – the end of the world. I’d just bought Cohen’s greatest hits on cassette. This came on and something really magical happened. It was a transcendental experience. I was the song. I remember falling to the ground, bursting into tears and crying for about 20 minutes.
(NME, October 11^th 2017)

Photo credit unknown

Post by Silke

Interview about Velvet Goldmine

In 1998 the musical drama film „Velvet Goldmine“ was released. Placebo did not only contribute a cover version of “20^th Century Boy“ to the soundtrack but also played minor parts in the movie. Brian embodied frontman Malcolm of The Flaming Creatures and Steve Hewitt was their drummer, while Stefan personated the bassist of Penny Small's band (obviously Placebo's film characters refer to the real band).„Velvet Goldmine“ is set in Britain during the glam rock days of the early 1970s and tells the story of a fictional pop star called Brian Slade. The movie won an award at Cannes which especially Brian was very happy about because he adores film director Todd Haynes.

In October 1998 Placebo talked with a journalist of Melody Maker about the film and their experiences during its production. Below you can find this interview. Enjoy reading!

HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH „VELVET GOLDMINE“?

Brian: “It’s almost two years ago that we did it, not long after “Nancy boy” came out and our face were all over the music press at the time they were casting, and I just got a phone call. I was a big Todd Haynes fan anyway so I was really keen. I wanted the part of Jack Ferry which I didn’t get because they’d already cast. It was made for me, basically, he was me he has no words and was the precursor to them all. So, anyway, I auditionated and was finally cast as Malcolm, the singer from The Flaming Creatures. They were doing “20th century boy” in the film so we suggested we record it for them. Then we suggested Steve and Stefan played in The Flaming Creatures as well and what happened was that Steve played in the creatures and Stefan ended up in Donna [Elastica]’s band “Polly Smalls.”

WHAT WAS IT LIKE BEING IN A FILM?

Steve: “It was good fun, but one of the weirdest times was hanging around Brixton Academy when we were filming. All dolled up, not the coolest place to we walking around like that.”

Brian: "It was like making a really long video. There were certain days where you’d get there at 10 am all glammed up and you would have done nothing by 8 pm. It was a lot of sitting around, pretty boring really. We did about nine days shooting altogether. Steve broke one of my ribs on the first day of filming. Well, I ran into his elbow, I have fragile ribs. We were running down the street in our platforms and I ran into him and I just went crack.”

WHAT WAS THE FUNNIEST MOMENT?

Brian: “One night, we were outside Brixton Academy trying to find the way in. We were all in full costume, walking around with Michael Stipe, and this Number 94 bus drives by and Michael says, “I dare you to go and get on that bus now.” I said “No way! You go and get on the f***ing bus Stipey”.

HAS THE EXPERIENCE MADE YOU WANT TO BE MOVIE STARS?

Steve: “No, It was the beginning and the end of my silver screen career, I’m just not made for it, It’s not my idea of fun.”

Brian:“I have a degree in drama from Goldsmith’s College, so yeah, I’d love to do more, I’d love to do french films, that would be great. I’ll wait for the offers.”

Stefan: “I’d love to. My part was quite small. I felt quite comfortable even though I looked like a very tall Nigel Tufnell [from Spinal Tap]. I really went for it. I’ve done a few school plays, In fact, the first time I met Brian was when we did “The Boyfriend”, at school.”

HOW DO YOU THINK IT WOULD AFFECT YOU AS A BAND?

Steve: “It’ll be interesting to see what happens. The film’s not even out in America yet, but we know we’re running the risk of getting known from somebody else’s song. It’s sad how quickly people assume you’re a glam band.”

WEARING MAKE-UP ANYWAY PROBABLY DOESN'T HELP.

Brian: "Yeah, but there is a big difference between glamorous and glam. To me, glam is lager lads in make-up. We enjoy being glamorous, we enjoy dressing-up, and wearing make-up, but we're not any way in that glam tradition, on a musical or physical level really".

AT WHAT POINT DID IT HIT THAT YOU WERE IN A MAJOR MOVIE?

Brian: "When we were on stage performing "20th Century Boy" and Michael Stipe and Ewan McGregor were standing in the audience."

WHAT WAS THE HARDEST PART?

Brian: "Finding myself standing onstage without a guitar for the first time in my life and not knowing what the f*** to do. I thought "Hmm, I haven't researched this, have I ?" Steve had to be my Seventies dancing coach. He showed me some moves, lots of legs kicks and ass wiggles".

DO YOU HAVE ANY LINES?

Brian: "Me and Steve got two lines each. I learned them on the day. I also spent a whole day practising how to sing this Roxy song "Bittersweet", in perfect lip sinch and then Todd Haynes said they wanted to do it live. But that was ok.

WHAT DID YOU LOOK LIKE IN YOUR STAGE CLOTHES?

Brian: "Steve looked like one of the Jacksons."

Steve: "Yeah, Latoya Jackson. I had Jimmy Page's pant on with all this flames down the side of the flared legs and big red platforms. And I had all this mad long hair extensions in. I looked like a big sexy lion."

Brian: "We all looked pretty stupid, basically."
(Melody Maker, October 24^th 1998)

Credits: Screenshots of the movie

Post by Silke

Interview with Placebo's first drummer Robert Schultzberg

Stefan Olsdal and Robert Schultzberg knew each other from Sweden where they played in the same school band. Independently of each other they both moved to London later. When Brian and Stefan started Placebo they needed a drummer. Stefan suggested to ask Robert Schultzberg, and he joined the band in September 1994. He played on Placebo's first studio demo in April 1995, which garnered much attention and finally led to a deal with Virgin Records. Robert also did the drums on the band's early singles and on their self-titled debut album. Unfortunately he had a strained relationship with Brian and due to their problems with each other he left the band in October 1996.
Below you can read an interview with Robert Schultzberg where he talks about his experiences with the band. 

PLACEBO'S FIRST ALBUM WAS RECORDED IN 1996 IN DUBLIN-WESTLAND STUDIOS. COULD YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT THE RECORDING, WHICH MEMORIES DO YOU KEEP ABOUT IT?
“The recording of the album was a fairly rushed job, and it would have been better to spend a little bit more time getting certain things right (I think the drums should have been played better!) but that’s what most bands say anyway. I was sharing a flat in Dublin with Brad Wood the producer whom I got on well with, whilst Stefan and Brian shared another place together. We spent two weeks recording and then went back to London to mix for two weeks. We took off halfway through the recording to go to Austin to play South by South West out of which we managed to get our publishing deal. It was non-stop.“

MORE SPECIFICALLY, WHAT ARE YOUR BEST AND WORST MEMORIES AS A MEMBER OF PLACEBO?“My best memories include the initial sense of disbelief when things started taking off. It happened so quickly: We recorded our first demo in April 95 (seven months after forming) and were picked up by our managers in June 95. We hadn’t even recorded our debut album and were invited by Bowie to do four dates with him in Italy in February 96. All he had heard was our demo, which he loved. So we basically went from playing small places in the UK, to playing arenas, literally overnight. I guess there was a sense of having a world of opportunity at our feet. A lot of people, notably our managers and the record company, seemed determined to make Placebo successful. However, this was all very stressful at the same time because the relationship between Brian and me was never easy and it led to there being a tense atmosphere a lot of the time. We were both proud and opinionated and seemed to lock horns over most issues. I always knew my time in the band was going to be limited.“

IN 2006, THE FIRST ALBUM WAS RE-RELEASED WITH ADDITIONAL B-SIDES AND RARITIES. HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN YOU FIRST HEARD ABOUT THIS PROJECT?
“Alex, their manager first told me about this at a Young Gods gig I went to in June 2006. I was delighted to hear about it as it seemed to me the record company thought it was the band’s best piece of work and that it needed to be reappraised. However, I’m aware that the re-release coincided with the end of Placebo’s five album deal with Virgin, so there was an obvious marketing motive on behalf of the record company, but it certainly didn’t bother me.“

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE SONGS ON THE ALBUM?
“My favourite song has always been Swallow. The first version of this Brian and Stefan recorded on acid when I was in Germany for a month in September ’94 visiting an ex-girlfriend of mine. When I heard it, I thought it was amazing: it really did something for me. The vocal sounding genuinely fucked up repeated over that eery bass motif and cool harmonics on the guitar (there were no drums on it). I believe Brian played bass on that, and Stefan the guitar. We never played it live because we could never really replicate the vibe of the original recording, even though I’m happy with the album version.
Out of the faster tracks I suppose Bruise Pristine was my favourite to play, along with Come Home.“

ACCORDING TO SOME RUMOURS YOU LEFT AFTER HAVING REPEATED ROWS WITH BRIAN. COULD YOU TELL US WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED?
“I was fired. I left initially in September 95, but just around then we were offered to record our first single (Bruise Pristine) so I felt I needed to at least have accomplished one release with the band. Upon rejoining (after having left for two weeks) things really started taking off. Unfortunately, we had a big argument in August 1996 just before going to record our first TV show (the White Room). Brian said he couldn’t stand to play with me anymore and I said more or less, that the band was not solely his to decide what to do with. Incredibly, I volunteered to get therapy in order to be able to deal with the ‘situation’ (him) better to which he replied he “did not have time for me to sort my head out”, clearly taking no responsibility for his own behaviour/actions. I suggested (and we ‘agreed’) that we carry on playing together until December 96 and complete the promotion of the album and see if things could improve by then.
In September 96 we had our first US tour for two weeks and the first date was in New York. The atmosphere was super tense and I could tell something was up as Brian was no longer making the slightest effort to be agreeable. I asked Stefan what was going on and if I would be doing the German tour (after the US tour) just before going on stage, and he just said ‘no, you’re not’. I did two more shows with the band in Paris after the US tour at the manager’s request, the last one being a performance on “Nulle Part Aillleurs”. Brian has said that he was “tired of being the focus of Robert’s rages against the world” and quite frankly, I was tired of being his! If you’re wondering where Stefan stood in all of this, he was tired of being piggy in the middle.“

THE GROUP CARRIED ON FOR 10 YEARS WITH STEVE HEWITT, HAD YOU EVER EXPECTED THE BAND WOULD BECOME SO SUCCESSFUL?
“There was a lot of good will behind Placebo. A lot people were determined to make a success of it, including the band obviously, so it was hardly surprising. And they have written some good pop songs after all!

SINCE THE FIRST ALBUM, PLACEBO'S SOUND ENVOLVED A LOT AND SOME FANS WHO KNEW THE BAND FROM THE VERY BEGINNING HAVE FELT INCREASINGLY DISAPPOINTED. HAVE YOU MET A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO SHARE THIS POINT OF VIEW?
“I have met many, though I guess the fans who talk to me are more likely to say that kind of thing (rather than saying the band are way better now). However, it has been a great source of comfort and vindication for me to meet people who share this point of view.“

WHAT IS YOUR PERSONAL OPINION ABOUT THE BAND'S EVOLUTION?
“Some good stuff, some not so good.“

NOWADAYS, MORE AND MORE PEOPLE TEND TO CONSIDER THAT ROCK IS DEAD. THE “SEX, DRUGS 6 ROCK'N'ROLL“ MOTTO IS NOT AS INFLUENTIAL AS IT USED TO BE IN THE 70s AND 80s. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT NEW BANDS, ABOUT THE WAY THEY DEAL WITH THIS HERITAGE?
“I’m not sure about sex drugs and rock’n’roll not being as influential as it used to be. Being in a band will always attract the other two, whether or not those are your reasons for starting a band in the first place. I think the motto gained its notoriety back in the 70’s because it was happening on uncharted territory, and has since become a tired cliché that I guess most bands are aware of. There is no point trying to be crazier than Keith Moon, it’s already been done.“

ARE THERE ANY BANDS OR ARTISTS YOU REALLY LIKE AND WOULD LIKE TO TELL US ABOUT?
“There is a French band based over here in London called John and Jehn who I think are great who have a cool dark poppy sound. Worth checking out.“

APART FROM BEING A PROFESSIONAL DRUMMER AND PLAYING THE DIDGERIDOO (LIKE IN “I KNOW“) DO YOU PLAY OTHER INSTRUMENTS?
“I play the guitar as well. In fact I tend to play more guitar than drums, though the drums are where I feel most comfortable. I’m unlikely to perform live on the guitar but enjoy plucking away most days.“

WHAT OTHER VENTURES HAVE YOU UNDERTAKEN AFTER YOUR COLLABORATION WITH PLACEBO? WE HEARD THAT YOU PLAYED WITH THE BAND LOMAX AND THAT AN ALBUM WAS RELEASED IN 2003... COULD YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR AMBITIONS AND PROJECTS?
“Lomax was a great band to play in as we had a lot of fun, but it couldn’t last as Paul Epworth’s (singer/guitarist) production career took off with him producing Bloc Party, Futureheads, the Rakes, etc. I’m now playing in a new band with Jon the bass player from Lomax and a guitarist called Mike who used to be in Hope of the States, though we are still nameless. The stuff we’re doing is quite experimental with the use of loops and effect pedals to create soundscapes whilst we thrash about over the top. We are making steady progress and plan to be playing live soon.
I’m also playing in an electro-rock project called Cristine (ndPlacebocity : MySpace Cristine) with a French friend of mine. We’ve got two singles being released through new label Mute Irregulars (subsidiary of Mute records). The sound is a Velvetsey/Jesus and Mary chain vibe over an electro backdrop.“

STEVE HEWITT LEFT PLACEBO DURING THE SUMMER. IF BRIAN AND STEF OFFERED YOU THE JOB, WOULD YOU ACCEPT? WHY?
“If there was a musical chemistry there, and if our demons could be restrained, it would be great, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen.“

Source: Placebo City, November 2007

Photo credits: Mary Scanlon (2), Hayley Madden, Ian Tilton, Pat Pope

Post by Silke

The last page - Interview with Brian Moiko

Would you agree that interviews are usually given to spread news and to promote upcoming events and releases? But “The last page“ in contrary was an interview series which put its focus on the artist's past. For this purpose a special keyword was used in every single question, and this specific word was “last“.
“When were you last...“ “What was the last ...“ “When did you last ...“ That way the interview became a collection of “last times“. An interesting concept, but it works.
“The last page“ with Brian was published in Bang Magazine in September 2003.

WHEN WERE YOU LAST PROUD TO BE AMERICAN?
“I don't think I've ever felt proud to be American in that flag-waving sense. I still travel on a US passport but I considered giving it up after the appalling treatment of the internees of Guantanamo Bay, the travesty of justice there. Still, when I was weighing it up, I imagined that Bill Hicks would've said: You'd be giving up your right to scream about what's going on.“

WHEN DID YOU LAST SAY SOMETHING ABOUT SOMEONE IN A SONG THAT YOU REGRETTED?“On tour we had T-shirts made that read “I went out with Brian Molko...“, “I went out with Stefan Olsdal...“, “I went out with Steve Hewitt...“ and on the back it said “... and all I got was this ballad.“ People know the score; if you go out with one of us, eventually you're going to end up in a song. The only consolation is that by the time it happens things will be long over. And you'll be extremely heavily disguised.“

WHEN WERE YOU LAST IN LUXEMBOURG?“We're playing there later this month. It's always a little odd being treated like a local hero in a place you don't like very much (laughs). It's fascinating playing somewhere where ypir old teachers are in the audience – the ones you got on with, the ones you didn't, all the settling of old scores,“

WHEN WERE YOU LAST CHATTED UP?“On tour in Australia. When people chat you up and they know what you do it's definitely different from when they don't – it's a lot more boring. Contrary to popular belief I to get tired of talking about myself. That said, I can't remember the last time someone chatted me up where they didn't know what I do. Should I go out in disguise? Hmm. Maybe a prosthetic nose.“

WHEN WERE YOU LAST IN A FIGHT?“A very, very long time ago at a Spice Girls aftershow at the Brits. I ended up being thrown across the room, hitting the wall, and got a few ribs broken. Did I know the guy? I'd definitely recognise him now. It happened because I said something about his wife – and yes, it probably was that mean.“

WHAT WAS THE LAST FILM YOU SAW?“Last night I saw a documentary called “Etre et avoir“ about a year in the life of a teacher in a rural French school – a lovely, warm, human film. And if you're at all emotionally inclined it will have you in tears by the end. It's just about communication between adults and … babies, basically.“

WHAT WAS THE LAST LIE YOU TOLD?“When I called you late this morning and told you it was because I overslept (laughs). I'm sure the last lie I told would also have been in an interview, and I would doubtless have told it for the mutual benefit of all concerned.“

WHEN WERE YOU LAST SURPRISED?“We played Mexico City in July and the crowd was so loud we literally couldn't hear ourselves, Our Beatlemania moment. There's definitely something in the Latin temperament that responds to dark, romantic music – The Pixies, Depeche Mode, PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, us I suppose. And it was fairly surprising coming across a band in the Maldives covering one of our songs.“

WHEN DID YOU LAST WEAR SOMETHING YOU REGRETTED?“In public, you mean? My fashion sense has definitely improved as I've aged. Certainly the first few years of the band involved a lot of fashion crimes. The camouflage tights were probably the worst. In private? Hmm. My birthday suit.“

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU TALKED TO DAVID BOWIE?“The last time I actually spoke to him was about three and a half years ago. Although we of course exchange Christmas cards – does that count? (laughs)“

WHERE'S THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH YOU'D WANT TO BE SEEN?“At a Spice Girls aftershow, having my ribs broken.“

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR LAST WORDS TO BE?“One for the road...“(Bang, "The Last Page: Q&A with Brian Molko", Sep'03)

Photo credit: James Shamrock, 2003

Post by Silke

Interview with photographer Robin Sellick

I think many of you have seen this photo of Brian Molko. Do you know the story behind it?

The picture was taken by Australian photographer Robin Sellick in his house in North Adelaide in 1998.

The photoshoot was commissioned by Australian Rolling Stone. But somehow the guys from the magazine forgot to tell Robin that Placebo were coming to his house on the particular day! So when the band arrived, he was in the middle of some other work, and nothing was prepared... Anyway, thanks to the creativity of everyone involved in the process the whole photoshoot turned out great!

Robin Sellick shared his memories about that day on his IG account: “I really enjoyed this shoot. @rollingstone forgot to tell me they’d arranged for Placebo to come to my house at 2 o'clock. Three guys appeared in the hallway and said we’re here for the photo shoot.”

You can also read an INTERVIEW down below where Robin tells a lot of other interesting details about his work with Placebo.

Anastasiya Loginova: Robin, thank you for your participation in the project. I've seen several pictures of this photo shoot on the Internet. Was it your suggestion about the idea of the photo shoot?

Robin Sellick: The shoot was commissioned by Rolling Stone magazine who arranged for the band to come to my house at 2 o'clock on this particular day. However, they somehow forgot to tell me about it so when the band arrived, I was in the middle of some other work. I heard a noise in the hallway and walked out to find these 3 guys standing there. One of them said "We're here for the photo shoot." So we just worked it all out from there...

AL: What can you say about the whole process of the photo shoot? I've read in your comment that it was in your house. How much time did it take? How many people were involved in the photo shoot?
RS: I think the band were there for 90 minutes or 2 hours - something like that. One of my roommates was a very good stylist. He was asleep at the time so after we woke him up and explained what was happening we were able to ask him to organize some things. My assistant was already there working with me on that day and there was someone from the record company too so we had enough people to quickly pull it all together.

AL: Did you work with a stylist for the session? Who did make up Brian's style and prepare clothes/other necessary things?
RS: I think Brian did his own make-up. He brought the hospital gown with him and asked if we could use it for one of the shots. Stefan had a cast on his arm, which he'd broken recently, falling off a stage somewhere, so there seemed to be a theme emerging…
Someone (I think the guy from the record company) drove down to a nearby hospital and got the wheelchair and crutches and someone else gathered up some empty bottles that were in the bin, or laying around the kitchen from the night before, and put them on the coffee table in the living room for that set up - Steve and Stefan may have helped with that… 

AL: Was it planned as a photo shoot only with Brian or other members of the band could take part in it?
RS: The brief was to shoot the whole band for a feature story. We did the first set up in the bathroom, which worked best with Brian by himself so I did the next shot in the hallway with Stefan and Steve in the wheelchair, so the magazine could run the two pictures together on facing pages. The set up with all 3 together on the couch was the last shot.

AL: What do you remember about Brian during your mutual work? What can you say about your impressions from work with him?
RS: Brian had all the skills required to make collaborating with him a very smooth process. As soon as he showed me the hospital gown, I showed him the bathroom and we quickly exchanged ideas for the shot and how to go about it. He's a great collaborator, as he's demonstrated over the last twenty years.

AL: What was the most interesting for you as a photographer in this session?
RS: Because it was an unplanned shoot and everything had to be arranged spontaneously, everyone helped with whatever needed to be done, including Brian, Stefan and Steve. They dived into the process and worked hard, along with everyone else, to produce the best possible result. For a band as big as they were at the time, and still are, it says a lot about them as people, and as artists.

AL: What kind of photo shoot would you do with Placebo if you got an opportunity to work with the band at the present time?
RS: It's an interesting idea to photograph subjects again after such a long time - particularly when they're people who have also spent the last twenty years changing and growing and evolving. So much would be different so I would need to rely on what we might still have in common - some sort of truth. More than meets the eye, you could say.
(Interview for Placebo Story Project, 2019)

Photos by Robin Sellick

Styled by Pete Woodward

Post by Olga

Placebo interview - Les Inrockuptibles 2009

I want to share an interview with Brian that was published in Les Inrockuptibles  in May 2009. He talks about the recording of “Battle for the sun”, why he feels the need to perform live on stage, why he does collaborations with other artists when Placebo takes a break, the time when he was in rehab because of his drug and alcohol addiction... It's a really interesting interview given by a very openly and honest Mr. Molko. Enjoy reading.

Photo credit: Joseph Llanes

INTERVIEW WITH BRIAN MOLKO, 2009

THE ALBUM BEGINS WITH THESE WORDS: “I NEED A CHANGE OF SKIN”.
Brian: “There really is a feeling of rebirth. After Meds we were at the end of our contract with our major, it forced us to ask ourselves the question: what future do we imagine for Placebo? It was time for a big cleaning, we were not happy anymore in this band. If we had not taken the bull by the horns, we would have kept the band in survival for several years before an inevitable decline. I have not sacrificed everything for fifteen years to let the band dying away. When an angle in a triangle collapses, it jeopardizes the entire balance. We were growing apart from each others, it was affecting the creativity. Instead of standing together like at our beginnings, Stefan and I huddled in our corner, by survival instinct, Placebo, instead of being a band, became a brand, a simple brand: I was in the compromise, without any sincerity, I had the impression I was going to work with colleagues less and less close to me. It was a travesty of democracy.”

WHEN DID YOU FEEL THAT PLACEBO WAS DECLINING?
Brian: “During the recording of Meds ... We left the studio without pride, disunited, washed out. But there was a tour to achieve, then we marched to the front lines, as if nothing had happened. I hoped it would heal the wounds: it bruised them. For two years on the road, I really felt alone. I had no choice but to continue - I know nothing else, it's my destiny, my only value ...
With Stefan, we decided to get our band back, its spirit, the innocence it had when we were composing, in 1994 in a city housing ... We could no longer continue in this cynicism. Even on stage we were pretending, it was not "us against the rest of the world" anymore.”

SPECIFICALLY, THE PROBLEM WAS YOUR DRUMMER, STEVE HEWITT, WITH WHOM YOU HAD PERSONAL AND MUSICAL DIFFERENCES. DID YOU SET THIS IN PERSON?
Brian: “At the end of the tour we couldn't even look each other in the eye ... he was ... unpredictable, I was scared of his reaction, emotionally and even physically. So I told him by email, and then our manager officially announced him that he was no longer part of the band. That was two years ago, we haven't spoke again. Since then we have recruited another Steve on drums. His youth, his hunger, his optimism of a young Californian has been crucial for us. He had tattooed "Open Minded" on his knuckles, but not for fun. We needed him to get us out of our thirties-crisis to make us kids again.”

HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR RECORDING'S PATTERNS?
Brian: “While recording the new album, we forced ourselves to stay as far away as possible from rock, we were only listening to classical music, or the Fleet Foxes and Sigur Ros. It was important to live in a full void, quit our habits, temptations - that's why we left London for Canada. This was in reaction to Meds, to its black, claustrophobic, hopeless side - and also to its context of debauchery. I was dreaming of an album more positive, more colorful, in Technicolor rather than black and white coarse-grained ... We felt a real relief when we finished Battle For The Sun, we had surprised ourselves, got rid of our inhibitions ... We needed to challenge ourselves. We came back from the brink.”

BEFORE RECORDING THIS NEW ALBUM, HAD YOU FALLEN INTO A ROUTINE?
Brian: “Since we started, fifteen years ago, there has never really been a break, a routine settled itself: writing, recording an album, then two years of touring, and then six months of idleness ... There the gap has been even longer since we had little desire to turn our music to a Major compagny, we wanted to fund all and do it all by ourselves. So the recording in Toronto of Battle For the Sun has been a real pleasure, without the marketing manager on our back to ask if we had a single in the works ... Even our manager didn't knew what we were doing. She was receiving invoices - brass and strings recordings - and was worried about what was going on ...”

Phoot credit: Franck Juery

ARE YOU EAGER TO RETURN TO THE STAGE?
Brian: “I need the public's feedback, its recognition. Here I am in doubt, the confusion, it kills me. I need to be on stage, financially, of course, but psychologically above all. This exhibitionism is as necessary for me as drinking and eating. Without the stage I could not be happy, accomplished.”

YOU SEEM UNABLE TO STOP WHEN PLACEBO GIVES YOU A BREAK, YOU RECORD ELSEWHERE, WITH OTHERS. IS THAT A HEADLONG RUSH, A WAY TO NEVER RACK YOUR BRAINS?
Brian: “I have to be constantly busy. Loneliness does not work for me, I can easily sink into total isolation. I was already like that as a kid, sidelined, alienated from others, even my family. I used to lock myself in my room, in Luxembourg, with my records and my guitar. It is very easy for me to relapse. I must fight against it: having too much time to think can be very harmful to me.”

CAN YOU READJUST TO EVERYDAY LIFE AFTER TOUR?
Brian: “I avoid to go directly home, I still travel a bit, I go through stages of decompression. For two months, everything I do is sleep. All diseases that I managed to postpone for two years of touring then fall over me. I emerge from a bubble, I feel weak, absent, reluctant to do anything ... I'm there for nobody, I fade. On tour, every decision is taken by someone else, I become totally dependent and it eat me up to be so dependant, I would often like to cook, do my laundry ... When I come back home, I regain some skills, autonomy. Doing dishes and cleaning becomes a necessity.”

DID THIS BAND COME UP TO YOUR EXPECTATIONS?
Brian: “Since I am 14-15 years, all the decisions I made in my life went in this direction: to find my way, by the theater, the cinema and then the music, to deny the working world. Blindly, I believed in my lucky star. I remember, when I was a kid, sitting on the toilet, answering imaginary interviews ... In my head, it was never question of "if I succeed? "... I cut all the bridges behind me for this dream. Living in my dreams, it was a form of protection. I felt totally divorced from society, I knew I could not find my place in it.”

TO BE PLACEBO SINGER, DID YOU HAVE TO CREATE A CHARACTER, FORCING YOURSELF?
Brian: “I had, it was my answer to success, I invented a character very confident, brash, yelling - that was an exaggeration of myself. A circus freak and a party freak... It is a way to stop feeling anything, to deceive my lack of confidence, the hate of myself... And also part company with a chronic depression that follows me since adolescence. Because if I could speak through songs, I was unable to do it everyday ... But I had to finally kill this character, to face it. It took place shortly after the recording of Meds, which was a veritable orgy of drugs and abuse - this was the way we draped ourselves in the veil of denial, refusing to see that Placebo was not doing well ... I was totally addicted to drugs and alcohol, I went to a clinic to heal (silence) ... Four days after I left the hospital, I went on tour. In solidarity, Stefan has also stopped to drink, it was the first time we were touring sober, it was terrifying ... After so many gigs being drunk or high, I realize how much I disespected the public. Today, all that I feel on stage is true, while until now all my emotions were distorted by what I was taking ... It exacerbated my discomfort: I was on stage, in front of dozens of people with my face on their T-shirt, who were screaming "I love you" while I hated myself. I wanted to shout to them : "You would not like me if you knew me ..." But whatever the mythology says, you sing better, you play better when you are sober ... During the recording of the new album , in the studio, I was both mentally and physically present (laughs) ...”

YOU GREW UP IN BELGIUM, LUXEMBOURG, ENGLAND, WITH AN AMERICAN FATHER WITH FRENCH AND ITALIAN ORIGINS AND A SCOTTISH MOTHER. DID YOU MISS ROOTS?
Brian: “At home I was torn: my mother was very religious, my father was a businessman, and both, for different reasons, didn't agree with my desire for an artistic career ... Since childhood I had to cut my own path with a machete, I knew there was nothing to wait from others, that one day I would show them they were wrong, that I had something ... It gave me the strength and determination to become myself. This uprooted side had with no doubt contributed to the fact that I feel nowhere at home. It had especially encouraged my solitude. I would have loved to belong to a culture, a family, a clique, but it was out of reach to me. That's why I started Placebo: as a substitute family. It is not just a band that's my raison d'être.”

ONCE AGAIN THE SUBJECT OF DRUGS COMES BACK ON THIS ALBUM. CAN YOU LIVE WITHOUT THEM?
Brian: “It's not hypochondria, I just have to take medications to heal my depression. For a long time as a teenager, I lived with this pain that had no name. I was 25 years when a doctor finally diagnosed my depression. It was a relief to know that I was sick, that it was not something that I was inflicting on myself, that I had no control over my emotions, my permanent sadness. The only positive side is that I have sought to overcome the pain with creativity, hoping to find a form of therapy. One can not imagine how it is a relief to finally know you are sick, not crazy.”
(Les Inrockuptibles, May'09, translation by Pam)

Post by Silke

Placebo interview from 1996

The last two weeks we published two interviews that our soulmate Jun M. From Japan shared exclusively with Placebo Anyway. Today we bring you the third and last one that goes back to the band's early years, when Robert Schultzberg was still on drums. We hope you enjoy reading it!

💖𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘣𝘰 𝘈𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘛𝘦𝘢𝘮💕

♦️ 𝙄𝙉𝙏𝙀𝙍𝙑𝙄𝙀𝙒 (1996) ♦️

𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒆: This interview was found at an archived Japanese fan site, the only info is that it was taken from an unknown fanzine.

𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐫: 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐥𝐤𝐨: Huff huff (suddenly breathing heavily)

𝐈: (𝐎𝐛𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠) 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠?

𝐁: Mic test's over.

𝐈: 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐞?

𝐁: (Happily) We depart tomorrow morning, at 9.

𝐈: 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨?

𝐁: Italy, Switzerland, France, then Holland I think.

𝐈: (𝐓𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧) 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 [𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐞]?

𝐁: (A bit offended) We didn't, we were invited to. He took a liking to us.

𝐈: (𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝) 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐁𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐞?

𝐁: Hmm, I'd like to talk to him and hang out, if possible. It'll be quite the experience to be around someone so famous.

𝐈: 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡?

𝐁: Yeah, more precisely Latin. It means 'I will please'. It's basically a drug that has no effect. A lot of bands jokingly name themselves after drugs.

𝐈: 𝐒𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐬?

𝐁: (gets worked up) That's what I'm saying, it's a drug that doesn't work. Though, drugs may or may not make life more interesting. (Suddenly turns to the camera) Will you stop with the pictures already?

𝐈: (𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬) 𝐔𝐡, 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧? 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠?

𝐁: Originally I went to the same school as Stef, our bassist, but we were in different groups so we didn't talk. Then, 2 or 3 years ago we met in London by chance. So we decided to make the band together.

𝐈: 𝐀𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐈 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫.

𝐁: Yeah, exactly. Because it changed my life. After that, we created the band and we had no luck with the drums. But Stefan's friend Robert offered to play the drums and it was perfect.

𝐈: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞?

𝐁: The 3 of us have wildly different tastes. Stefan is more into pop music such as The Beatles and Abba.

Robert likes The Cure and The Police.

And I like British underground stuff.

(Sheer's soundcheck starts)

𝐈: You said underground stuff, what kind?

(Very hard to hear...)

𝐁: Minxus, Pram, Moonshake, these are pretty good.

(The volume of the soundcheck only goes up, making it impossible for us to keep on talking... unfortunately?)

Copyright credits to the original author of the text.

Interview translation credits: Jun M.

Source: https://bit.ly/3dcd5QL

📸 Photo credits: Unknown photographer at unknown Festival from 1996 / Edit made by Rita

Post by Rita

Placebo interview, Japan 1997

𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞!

𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐉𝐮𝐧 𝐌. 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐉𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐧, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 𝐀𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐤𝐲𝐨, 𝐉𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐧, 𝐨𝐧 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 19𝐭𝐡, 1997 𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐲𝐚 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐨 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞.

𝐄𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠!

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 𝐀𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 ❤️

♦️Placebo Interview (Excerpt) 1997♦️

With only one Japanese concert date for this summer, their show betrayed our expectations with a tough performance. After the show, in a very good mood, Brian greeted me with a hug and a shriek!

𝐇𝐞𝐲 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧, 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭?

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐥𝐤𝐨: (laughs) I was quite drunk.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐝?

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: The gig was just so great... Ah, (to the sofa) excuse me for laying down. My hangover is quite severe and this is our last interview, so I'll take it easy. (laughs)

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐨𝐤. 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 '𝐤𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐢'.

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: What? What does that mean?

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞.

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Ah.. Thank you. (laughs) Someone also said 'Eat me!'

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲? (𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐬) 𝐃𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞?

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Yeah, before the band it really bothered me when someone called me cute. And recently I hear that I'm sexy? I think it's a strange thing. If you're in a rock band does it mean you're 'f*ckable'? Well, I understand it very much as a compliment. Perhaps if I were a journalist then maybe no one would say I was cute, but I guess being in a band means there's some other explanation.

Marilyn Manson is also considered sexy because of the band.

Ringo Starr is also considered sexy because of The Beatles.

𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟: It's unbelievable anyone thinks Noel Gallagher is cool or sexy. (laughs)

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Yeah. He has an unibrow. (laughs)

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 '𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐨-𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐬'.

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Because there is something very violent about the ideal role models of 'male-ness'. So I turned to a more feminine way of thinking.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜?

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: I was 16 when I started playing the guitar. At that time it was meant to be an escape for my increasingly lonely little world. Music was a way to turn that loneliness into something positive.

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨'𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭.

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Absolutely. It's a way to place these feelings of loneliness into something, but in no way it's 100% all there.

I think a lot of the songs on our first album follow the same story.

𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐈 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: You got it. (laughs) If one is always happy and having fun, with balance in their lives, would they want to express that in some way? If such a person makes music, then it's just going to be happy and fun music. I wonder if that can be called a great work.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 '𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐧 𝐓𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐈𝐐', "𝐈'𝐦 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲...". 𝐘𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐞'𝐬 '𝐑𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐥 𝐒𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞'.

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: "Oh no, love, you're not alone!" It's a lovely song. Curiously, I was humming that same song today.

When I was writing the lyrics [for 'IQ'] I think at the time I was very easily hurt by others.

𝐒𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲?

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Yeah, maybe I've gotten better.

Copyright credits to the original author of the text.

Interview translation credits: Jun M.

Source: https://bit.ly/2XRgMHd

📸 Photo credits: Placebo backstage Tokyo,Japan June 1997 - Photographer unknown / Edit made by Rita.

Post by Rita

Placebo Quiz with Brian Molko

In 2013 NME invited Brian to take part in a quiz series titled “Does Rock'n'Roll kill braincells?” in which the magazine “tested musicians memories after a life full of abuse”. Brian participated and was asked ten question concerning Placebo.
What do you think how many questions did he answer correctly? And what would your result be in this quiz?

Photo credit unknown

QUESTION 1
At which UK festival in 1997 did your monitors catch fire, prompting you to declare “I just rum those bitches too hard!”?
BRIAN: “T in the Park, it was an absolutely disastrous day, everything was going wrong from the start. There was a little incident backstage between myself and a stalker fan and I ended up pouring a beer over her head and the next day it was printed in The Scottish Sun that I had attacked her to the ground and thrown rocks at her head while celebrities watched, a complete fabrication. Then we went onstage and the monitors caught fire – it was one of those days, man!”.
CORRECT

QUESTION 2
Which 2005 film featured “Pure morning” on its soundtrack?
BRIAN: “Is it a Spanish film? I think it was directed by Bigas Luna.”
WRONG. It was “The Chumscrubber”.
BRIAN: “NO! We were in “The Chumscrubber”!? I've seen that film, I didn't even fucking realise! I'm holding the DVD in my hands right now. I'm gonna have to go back and watch that again. It's a film with Jamie Bell and Ralph Fiennes and Carrie-Ann Moss, an American indie film. You got me, you bastard!”

QUESTION 3
Name all the celibrity guest vocal appearances on your studio recordings in the order they appeared.
BRIAN: “Ok. David Bowie, Alison Mosshart and Michael Stipe.”
WRONG. David Bowie, Justin Warfield, Alison Mosshart and Michael Stipe.
BRIAN: “Is Justin a celebrity? He's a very good friend of mine and he's in She Wants Revenge. Ok, he's a celebrity, I'll give you that one. Ye bastard!”

QUESTION 4
Complete the lyric from “Black-eyed”: “Borderline bipolar...”
BRIAN: “... forever biting onyour nuts”. Just me acknowledging the fact that I'm an irritating little shit at times. Winding up people the wrong way just seems to be part of my nature, even if it isn't intentional. It's something that I do without trying. It's my cross to bear but I'm learning to live with it.”
CORRECT.

QUESTION 5
In how many countries was 2006's “Meds”album number one?
BRIAN: “Four.”
WRONG. Seven.
BRIAN: “Here I am forever underestimating myself! Shit, I'm doing really badly.”

QUESTION 6
Which venue were you prevented from playing twice – once because it was closed down following a drug raid before you arrived and once because it was hit by a cyclone?
BRIAN: “The Bikini in Toulouse, France.We did play there once with Six By Seven. That was the second time we showed up at the place, the first time it'd been closed down, and then we finally got to play and then the cyclone had taken in. They've since rebuilt it in a different place, where we've also played.”
CORRECT.

QUESTION 7
Which band's T-shirt were you wearing during your first Top of the Pops appearance for “Nancy Boy”?
BRIAN: “That was the AC Acoustic “Stunt girl” shirt. They were a very influential Scottish that never really broke through into any orm of indie success. They were very influential on the Glasgow sound.”
CORRECT.

QUESTION 8
What was the name of the fictional band you played in in “Velvet Goldmine”?
BRIAN: “The Flaming Creatures, which is actually a film and obviously a great influence on Todd Haynes. It's an early gay film in the style of Jean Ganet's silent films.”
CORRECT.

QUESTION 9
Which single had your cover of “Bigmouth strikes again” on the b-side?
BRIAN: “Hang on” … (long pause, sound of CDs being shuffled)
Are you cheating, Brian?
BRIAN: “I am cheating! It's “Nancy Boy”. Yay!”
CORRECT.

QUESTION 10
What unusual item are you playing on in the video for “The bitter end”?
BRIAN: “We're playing on Jodrell Bank, the big satellite dish the Americans used to spy on the British public by checking their emails and text messages. I don't know if you remember that scandal about ten years ago. It's also Cockney rhyming slang for masturbation.”
CORRECT.

TOTAL SCORE: 7/10
BRIAN: “I scored the same as Iggy [Pop], and I'm pretty happy about that. I just wanted to be up there with the Iggster. Actually I wanted to ace it, but the questions were too hard.”

(NME, “Does Rock'n'Roll kill braincells?”, June 2013)

Post by Silke