♦️ 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐀 𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 ♦️

Dear soulmates,
We hope you enjoyed the Brian Molko Birthday Special on our page so far.
To end this day I translated an interview that was printed in a German music magazine. As far as I know it is the first English version of it, so I think this interview will be very interesting for most of you. It is a very personal conversation and Brian talks a lot about meditation and his son Cody.

♥️ Many thanks to everyone who have joined us today to celebrate Brian's birthday! 🍾🥂
Silke, Susie Bosco and the Placebo Anyway Team

Photo credit: Joseph Llanes

🔶 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗡 𝗠𝗢𝗟𝗞𝗢 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗠𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 – 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗖𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗖𝗜𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗦 🔶

𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦.
📢 Brian: “Touring always leads you far away from your family. I wanted to spend some time outside this tour bubble. This is such an unnatural lifestyle. We are travelling, like gypsies, and we are inevitably interdepended. “

𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 20 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶?
📢 Brian: “It is normal as soon as you have grown into it. Nevertheless, everday life is very different from that. On tour everything comes down to the one important moment in the evening: the show. Basically, you don't care about anything else. The more important it is to come down to earth from time to time, to make everyday experiences, to simply be a human being. “

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦?
📢 Brian: “Unfortunately I don't have any hobbies. But I'd need some, Do you have any recommendations for me?“
𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨?
📢 Brian: “I do that anyway. I need something physical. “

𝘐 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘨𝘢.
📢 Brian: “That's good. I also practise yoga. It's part of the fitness routine that is necessary on tour.“

Photo credit: Alfred Steffen

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘨𝘢?
📢 Brian: “Three to four times a week.“

𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘺𝘰𝘨𝘢 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯?
📢 Brian: “On tour we have someone with us who cares about our nourishment, our fitness and also about our psychological needs.“

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘨𝘢?
📢 Brian: “Good action begins with good thoughts.“

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵?
📢 Brian: “I meditate.“

𝘚𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭!
📢 Brian: “Meditation is very important. I try to do it every morning. Meditation has a calming effect on me and helps me to ground myself. On days I don't meditate I am much moodier and have less patience. It is something I discovered in Thailand in 2011. When I was there for a few months, in the north, in the mountains, I started to love meditation. “

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?
📢 Brian: “For two months. I wanted to learn how to meditate and to study Buddhism. “

𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵?
📢 Brian: “Oh, yes. Very much indeed. “

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦?
📢 Brian: “The Dalai Lama has written several very readable books which had a positive effect on me. The best-known and probably most successful is 'The art of happiness’. “

Photo credit: Heiko Laschitzki

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴: 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦?
📢 Brian: “Yes, absolutely! But to be honest, the first thing I do in the morning before I meditate is to drink a great quantity of coffee. “

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯...
📢 Brian: “I know. But apart from that I almost don't have any guilty pleasures anymore. Coffee and cigarettes are essential for me at the moment. A few cigarettes and some cups of coffee at the beginning of the day, then I sit down and start meditating. “

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘯𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦?
📢 Brian: “This is a common misbelief! Meditation is not about freeing your mind from all thoughts. I think even the thoughts of the most experienced still wander sometimes. Meditation is more about allowing your thoughts to pass yourself by. Like a river. You're always aware of them, but you concentrate on breathing and create an attitude towards your own mind which doesn't judge or condemn your thoughts. This way you can reach a state of inner peacefulness. It takes me about seven to ten minutes to get “in the zone “.“

𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘻𝘰𝘯𝘦?
📢 Brian: “You start from scratch. At first, I meditated for only ten minutes. I know people who meditate for more than two hours a day. And I met Tibetan monks who meditates seven hours a day. I also remember a Lama in a Buddhistic conventual in Scotland who said to me 'When people work for seven or eight hours a day I prefer to meditate for that length of time’. “

𝘌𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬.
📢 Brian: “Well, in fact this is their work. I am still a beginner, especially compared to those people. “

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 2011. 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮. 𝘞𝘢𝘴 '𝘓𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦' 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘪𝘵?
📢 Brin: “I don't think so. Mediation just helps to focus on yourself. And to maintain discipline. Moreover, it keeps the mind opened for what people around you do and say. We keenly work together as a band. Meditation helps to overcome your own stubbornness. It makes you listen to others more carefully. “

𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 41 𝘰𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 10𝘵𝘩. 𝘏𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭?
📢 Brian: “Oh no, quite the opposite. The longer you are in a band like Placebo the more questions you ask yourself. In the beginning, as a young man in your twenties, you are full of bravado and arrogance and you feel like you're invulnerable – which is absolutely necessary at that time, a kind of juvenile incitement. After 20 years you raise to question a lot more things than when you were younger. For example, if your music is still relevant and good enough, if it deserves to be listened to. It's just like as if you'd have to reapply for your job again. There seems to be more and more questions with every album. “

Photo credit: Joseph Llanes

𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘥𝘺?
📢 Brian: “Yes, an eight-year-old is a good audience. To play our songs to him is a good test. If an idea is catchy enough for him you know that you should stick with it. “

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘵.
📢 Brian: “Yeah! I played one of the bonus tracks from our new album aloud to him the other day – it's called 'Pity party of one'. He just sat there, keeping a straight face, with arms folded and said 'Nah, I don't like that one. No, sorry’. “

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦?
📢 Brian: “He likes 'Loud like love', 'Too many friends' and the last song of the album, 'Bosco'. He likes the string players on it. “

𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘭𝘺𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯?
📢 Brian: “No, he doesn't get it at that age. He only pays attention to the tunes; how catchy they are. “

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘣𝘰?
📢Brian: “One Direction, of course. But also distorted guitars and heavy rock music. “

𝘚𝘰, 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴?
📢 Brian: “Possibly. But I don't want to play them to him, so I don't have to listen to them myself. Anyway, he finds old Placebo stuff on YouTube once in a while. This leads to questions like 'I saw a video with you in which you're wearing a lot of make-up. And a dress! Why did you wear this?' And I am like 'Um... for no reason. Just because I felt like that back then. Maybe you will wear a dress and make-up too one day’. “

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘵?
📢Brian: “Uh, I don't know. You'd have to ask Cody himself.“
(Musikexpress 10/2013, Translation by Silke Mitteregger)

Post by Silke