The band released the following statement concerning Steve's departure:
“The split is very amicable and Steve was keen to pursue his own musical ambitions, and has been writing and recording his own material over the last few years. Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal would like to thank Steve for all his work with the band and wish him all the very best in his future career."
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| Photo credits: main photo by Laetizia Forget, other credits unknown, edit by Silke |
♦️ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ♦️
๐๐ง ๐๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ง๐ข ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ'๐ฅ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ง ๐๐ก๐ข๐ช๐ก ๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐ข. ๐ช๐๐๐ง ๐ช๐๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ก๐?
“Music for me began at a very early age. By the time I was 8 years old, I was already obsessed with the drums, and listening to all of my parent’s music and the drummers in those bands was all very exciting for me. Only thing is, we couldn’t afford a drum kit. Money was scarce in those days, and my parents were struggling to even keep on the lights at times, so spending $500-$1,000 on a drum kit for your kid wasn’t really the most practical thing for them to do. However, one day when I was 11, my father took me out to help him sell off a dirt bike we had. After which, he drove me straight to the music shop and bought me my very first drum kit! It wasn’t much, just a little Yamaha stackable travel kit, but it did the trick! Eventually I would move on to own all sorts of different drum kits over the years, and play with many bands as well. My first band was a Nirvana tribute act when I was 13… haha.“
๐๐ข๐ช ๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ ๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ช๐๐ง๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐ข?
“My career with Placebo started with my career in Evaline. Evaline was a group consisting of myself, and four of my mates out of Turlock, CA. We started in my garage in the summer of 2001, and from there went on to sign a record contract with Maverick records, soon to sell us to Warner Bros. records. At this time, we were doing a number of festival runs and support slots. One of the bands we supported was Placebo, and we bonded with the guys instantly. A few months later, me and Evaline parted ways, and whilst out on tour with my friends “We Are The Fury” (now Jeremy & The Harlequins), my mother calls me up and tells me Placebo was without drummer. So next thing I knew I was on the phone with Brian Molko chatting about musical influences, the band, life, love, etc.. We really had a strong bond straight out the gate me and Brian; I always felt really close to him, especially in those early days… Anyways, four months later on January 12th, 2008 at 21 years of age, I landed in London, and for 7 great years I would see, hear, taste, smell, and experience those most amazing things this world had to offer.“
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| Photo credit: Kayla Wren, unknown (3), edit by me |
“Extremely hard decision to make. I loved that band and still do… It’s a hard one to talk about because you never really know what you can and cannot say about a person or a situation, but what I can say is that my time with Placebo was amazing. I loved every member of our awesome crew, I loved the hard working cats in our management, and most of all I truly loved my bandmates. Miscommunication, and egos got in the way of a lot in the end, and when that happens, it’s very hard to keep it going. We had taken our personal journey as far as it could go, and as hard as it was for me to go, I feel it was the best move in the long run for not only myself, but for my brothers as well.“
๐๐ง ๐ช๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ก ๐ง๐ข ๐ฃ๐๐๐ฌ ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ฆ?
“I was 9 or 10 when I received my very first drum. It was just a snare drum with an old pair of marching sticks. I used to throw a towel over the drum so as to dampen the sound and play along to the radio. I was immediately hooked.“
๐ฆ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ'๐ฅ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ก ๐๐, ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐ช๐๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ก๐๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ?
“Very much so, yes. This past year in Brighton has been the toughest year that I can possibly remember having. For both myself and Xa, life has been seemingly cruel, and calloused towards us in many ways. But in a funny way, I believe it all to be what was necessary for me and her to change our lives so drastically! Sitting here now from my bedroom in my mate Brady Leffler’s East Hollywood flat, I’m reminiscing about all that’s taken place, and all that is about to take place, and I’m excited. Me and Xarah have many plans out here, and it feels so good to be working and creating again. Most of all though, I do miss my teammate. She’s my best friend, and it’s very hard to function properly without her. She’s my rock, and even though it’s only a week and a half until I get to see her again, it feels like an eternity! Haha but that’s how these things go I guess.“
๐ช๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐๐ก ๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ?
“On tour somewhere, sun on my face, cold beer in my hand. Would love to have a kid by then too. I know it’s probably not very rock and roll of me, but I like the idea of having a little one kicking about. Kids are the best, and both me and Xarah think we’d make pretty cool parents. In the meantime, I’m gonna keep making records, and doing what I love. I ADORE performing, and will do anything I can to make sure that I do it for as long as my body allows me…“
(Beauty & Ruin, March 24th 2016)
๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ก ๐ข๐ก ๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ ๐
๐ข ”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.”
(Les Inrockuptibles, May 26th 2009)
๐ข ”Stefan and I have experienced everything there is to experience in this crazy circus. Steve is experiencing it all for the first time, his enthusiasm and astonishment work contagious. It’s a good anti-poison against midlife-tiredness.”
(De Standaat, May 30th 2009)
๐ ๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ข๐ก ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐ข ๐
๐ข ”From the very first time we played together, it just popped into my head that "this is the last band I am ever going to be in".(Clic Music, April 2009)
Post by Silke
