🎈🎉 𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐘 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐃𝐀𝐘, 𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐋! 🎉🎈

Today we celebrate the birthday of Bill Lloyd, a man who has always been very important for Placebo but usually prefers to stay in the background:

🎈🎉 𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐘 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐃𝐀𝐘, 𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐋! 🎉🎈

Photo credit unknown, edit by Silke

Bill Lloyd was part of the band's history from the very beginning. He played an important role in Placebo's career by helping them to get their first record deal.
“I first met Brian Molko at the Edinburgh festival in 1993. I was also working for a record company at the time, so I asked Brian to send me a demo tape of him, Stefan Olsdal and their original drummer. It had four or five tracks on it and I was immediately blown away; it’s how Placebo got their first management deal,“ Bill explained in an interview with Native Instruments.

As the band was very inexperienced he started to drive them around, helped them to get some equipment and did their sound. Later Bill became Stefan's tech and also started programming a bit. Around the release of “Without you I'm nothing“ Placebo asked him to play live with them. Bill Lloyd: “At first, I used to play behind the cabs because they wanted to keep it to three members on stage [laughs], but after a while they said, no it’s silly, come on stage with us.“

Soon he also started to assist the band when they worked on new releases. He mainly plays bass, guitar and keybord, and since “Loud like love“ he is also involved in the songwriting.

I thought it would be interesting for you to get to know a bit more about Bill Lloyd in his own words, and so I added one of his rare interviews. And in the quotes right below you can read what Brian has to say about him.

Brian and Bill DJing. Photo credit unknown

📌 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗟𝗟𝗢𝗬𝗗 📌
📢 ”Bill has been around since day one, you know. Bill used to drive us in his ford transit van, you know,with a mattress in the back and the equipment and do everything for us, sound etc. He's been our close friend since day one so when we needed and extra guy it was obvious that Bill was going to be that person. It took us a long to time get him out from behind the amps. He was shy so he liked to hide behind the amps. Now that he has come out in front of the amps it's actually changed him into a bit more of an extroverted rock and roll person which is nice, which is good to see. The reason that we decided to have an extra keyboard player was because the sound and the album had become just too complex for even just the four of us to play live.”
(Suicide Girls, February 2004)

𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦?
📢 “He’s Bill Lloyd from the group Tram, and he plays a little bass when Stefan and I are both playing guitar, and plays a little keyboards. It’s his choice he’s offstage. He doesn’t want to be seen. He’s our tech, who got promoted.“
(NME, "Missive Attack", December 1998)

Bill Lloyd, Stefan Olsdal, Nick Gavrilovic, Steve Forrest, Brian Molko, Fiona Brice.

♦️ 𝗕𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗟𝗟𝗢𝗬𝗗 – 𝗕𝗘𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗖𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗦 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗕𝗢 ♦️

𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐔𝐏 𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐇 𝐀 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐐𝐔𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍?
📢 “I started off as a tech for Placebo around the time of the second album, and they asked me to play some stuff at gigs so I developed this dual role. Then eventually I got to contribute a few little ideas and bits of playing in the studio on the odd occasion; a bit of bass or keyboards.“

𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐎𝐋𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂?
📢 “I was in a band from the Croydon area called Faith Over Reason and we got a publishing deal while I was still at school. Then we carried on after we left school for a few years. I mainly played keyboards and then bass.
The music was kind of folky indie rock… a bit dodgy really, and not very cool!
Then I worked for a small record company for a while where I sometimes had to drive bands around and help them set up. It was a really cool label called Big Cat; they had bands like Pavement who I really liked.
I was always interested in technical things so I learnt a bit about it… you have to be interested in technical stuff to be any good at it otherwise you’d get bored!“

𝐈𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐌𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐀 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐋𝐎𝐀𝐃: 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐁𝐘 𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐈𝐂𝐄?
📢 “It’s more out of the necessity of keeping the profile up. It’s not too bad though, we have had a bit of time off here and there.“

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐔𝐏 𝐓𝐎 𝐈𝐍 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟓?
📢 “We were touring, then we did some writing sessions where I had to set up the gear and get the sounds so we could record it for the demos. Then we started doing the album.“

𝐃𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐄𝐍𝐉𝐎𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐎𝐋𝐕𝐄𝐒?
📢 “I mostly like it but it can get a bit much after a year or so!“

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓'𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐅𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘?
📢 "We went to South America for the first time earlier in 2005 and that was fantastic, I had a great time.
France is a good place for us to play; we always get treated really well and the venues we play are designed for bands whereas in countries like the UK you’re sometimes playing in classical music venues, which sound terrible. And I always look forward to going back to Australia.“

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐃𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐆𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐒 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐋?
📢 “It’s kind of unique and doesn’t follow any particular styles; it just does its own thing.“

𝐃𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐎𝐍 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒?
📢 “If you’d have asked me that a few years ago I’d have said no way but the longer it goes on the more I think I can’t really see a finish!“

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓'𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐅𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐘𝐏𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆?
📢 “Probably the darker, mellower stuff interests me more than the up-beat songs. I really like the album we’re making now because it has that darker flavour.“

Photo credit unknown

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓'𝐒 𝐈𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐁𝐄𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄? 𝐃𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐘?
📢 “I really like it; I wouldn’t like to be at the front of the stage and I don’t like the limelight. A couple of times the band have pushed me to the front if it’s my birthday or something and I hated it! It was kind of sweet of them but I didn’t feel comfortable. I prefer being out of the spotlight and just working on the music.“

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝐆𝐈𝐆 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐀𝐖?
📢 “I think it was the Thompson Twins… I was in my early teens and I was really into synthesisers. I learned to play my grandmother’s electric organ and wanted to get a proper synth. I seemed to have a fairly immediate understanding of that type of technology, it was definitely my thing. I had a triple keyboard stand and a home-made A-frame which I thought was really cool but it was the 80’s so that’s ok!“

𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐉𝐎𝐁 𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐃?
📢 “Probably not! I don’t think I could start all over again with anyone else; getting to know them and exactly how they do things.“

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐏𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐃?
📢 “If you’re starting out, Fender probably do the best guitars for the least money. You can get something playable for £200 or so that will sound all right, you can gig with it. All the amplifiers I like aren’t starter amps; my favourite bass amp is the 200T Ampeg. For guitars, Marshalls are always good but if you can afford it, you can’t beat the Fender Twin ’65 reissue… it’s the best reissue I’ve heard.
With keyboards, the old classics tend to be my favourites, my first keyboard is my favourite still, it’s a Korg 700S monophonic synth. The latest thing I like which is quite cheap is the Korg Legacy reissues of their old synths. You can get all the vintage sounds like the Poly 6, Wavestation and MS20 and they’re all really good.“

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐃𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆?
📢 “We don’t use sequencing live, but I’ve started using a sample programme called Contact. Live I use a keyboard and pedals to trigger clicks and sounds and stuff.“

𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐀 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐀 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍?
📢 “I’ve done it a couple of times! It’s a nightmare.“

𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐀 𝐇𝐔𝐆𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘! 𝐈 𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐂𝐀𝐍'𝐓 𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐃𝐑𝐔𝐍𝐊 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘?
📢 “I probably used to but I can’t play drunk now! None of us get wrecked before we play; maybe just a couple of drinks!“

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂 𝐃𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐎?
📢 “The Sigur Ros album was my favourite from 2005. I like a lot of film soundtracks by people like Ennio Morricone and John Barry. I like such a wide range of music; all the greats and some obscure stuff too, it’s hard to specify anything in particular…“
(WAREZ Magazine, August 25th 2006)

Post by Silke