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| Photo Credit unknown / Edit by Rita |
𝙋𝙇𝘼𝘾𝙀𝘽𝙊 𝙄𝙉𝙏𝙀𝙍𝙑𝙄𝙀𝙒 1997
Placebo are Brian Molko, 24, on guitar and vocals; Stefan Olsdal (23) on bass; and Steve Hewit (26) on drums. With their first album, “Placebo”, they have reached number four on the charts of their country, Great Britain. Nothing to do with brit pop, but very English. Live they sound the same or better than on the stereo. Until you have Brian’s 1.60m in front of you, you may think that he's a girl. He is the owner and lord of an asexual voice and likes to paint his face and nails.
𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? "𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨." Ambiguous, of course. However, they are not repellent or Martian. On the contrary, they are nice and being conceited is far from them (well, maybe of Brian not so much). Their music is charged with sensitivity and the lyrics are abstract and introspective.
𝐈𝐬 "𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨" 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐦?
Yes, I am talking about states of mind. It is a bit autobiographical because I explain feelings experienced by me.
𝐒𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧? 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐦?
Yes. The music belongs to everyone ... the lyrics don't appear on the album because we don't really want to give it much importance. We are not poets. We want to offer everything at once.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 "𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜"?
Of dehumanization.
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 "𝐍𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐁𝐨𝐲"?
It is our most popular song. It has a double aspect. It is both a mockery and a hymn to hedonism.
𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨.(𝘚𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘳)
I, (Brian) was on the dole. Stefan was studying at the conservatory and Steve was the drummer for the Boo Radleys. Stefan and I studied together. We weren't friends. After a while we met again at a concert and decided to do something. We got together with a drummer, friend of Stefan from Sweden (because Stefan is Swedish). The drummer left and we called Steve. We talk about our influences and we jump into it.
𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰?
Well, it was in Germany. Steve had been with us for a day and a half but that concert was already scheduled. It was in the former East Germany. This wasn't a club, it was a seedy dump. It was a bit of a mess but a lot of fun.
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞?
Steve had been screwed enough by record labels before he was with Placebo. They were all small labels and it was a nightmare. Offers began to rain on Placebo but we didn't want to rush. It was our first moment and we waited six months. (𝘖𝘯𝘭𝘺!)… Well, it's not so little. We had our own label. We edited our records and controlled everything.
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| Photo credit: Rastoin |
Interviews (𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵). Yes, really. We know many people that we will never really get to know at all. Like dwarfs and bugs everywhere. (𝘐 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘺𝘣𝘶𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦!)
𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝?
When we started playing, everything was fine. We had the respect of other bands and such, but we never imagined that we were going to make the charts. And less in four ... now we are all day from one place to another. You lose stability and friendships.
𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐞. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭?
Bowie saw us at a concert and everything went smoothly... he's "A lovely man !!" (𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘶𝘴). I met him at a club, but don't ask me what I told him. He's a guy you can talk to calmly. He has a lot on his mind and he knows what he wants. It's great to be able to talk to him.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞?
Well, not great things. Rock is garbage. With the Oasis boom, many groups came out, but what is really interesting is reduced to a very small underground circuit. There is also a lot of influence from the US. What interests us the most is the dance scene.
𝐒𝐨, 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮?
Yes - 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘴 -. It is vital, organic music. It's not about I'm going to put a little guitar here and there, no. It is something that comes in and out. And I leave it.
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭?
Everything.But what I really like is getting a blowjob.
𝐎𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐝!. 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬, 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞?
We have always had ambitions, but now they have grown. The fact that important artists request our collaboration makes your chest swell but it is also likely that you sink more easily.
Stefan has barely opened his mouth and he is the only one who knows some Spanish. He stares at drilling everything. He's the perfect shy and introverted guy. He plays the bass without much fuss despite being 1.90 m tall with dyed blonde on the highest end. Steve, the ex-drummer of the Boo Radleys, is the one who seems the most sensible. Brian is the whirlwind of the trio. He speaks through the elbows and has leadership skills. He likes the crazy and haughty vibe (that English pride!) and having all their after shows recorded on video.
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| Photo credit: Scarlet Page |
𝐅𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐒: They are dirty and dopey, not more in Germany! (𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯. 𝘏𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘎𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯).
𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐑: At first we were going to go on tour with them and we said: f*ck off! But the last two singles are very good.
𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐇 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒: Some c*ck s*ckers.
𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑: The situation has been like this for a long time and it will not change.
70'𝐒 𝐆𝐋𝐀𝐌: We love it. Bowie's "Hunky Dory" is the best. Right now we have done a cover version of "20 Century Boy" by T. Rex for a movie called Velvet Goldmine with McGregor (from Trainspotting).
𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐇 𝐆𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓: The change has been good. In France too. The previous ones were bastards without balls. Although the new one does not have enough either. In short, he is the least demon within the group of political demons.
𝐃𝐑𝐔𝐆𝐒: Do you have?
𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐘: It is the root of all bad things. Now we have money but no time to spend it. Look what shoes I'm wearing (𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘵).
In one year, Placebo have charted a dizzying trajectory. They go to full train assimilating stages that last days. “𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦”. Based on sedatives, it will have to be. Now they're up, wherever the pentagram sky is. Playing the songs from their album with painted faces in Europe. They will return to Spain to play with Bowie and at Doctor Music. If you enjoy watching them, it will not be by suggestion, it will be because they have a good handful of beautiful themes.
Original Text: Raquel Ramos - 01.07.97
mondosonoro.com
Translation to English: Rita Molko de L. for Placebo Anyway.
Post by Rita
