𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 for 𝑽𝒊𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏𝑴𝒆𝒈𝒂 𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 2003

Today I want to share a very interesting 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 with Placebo from 2003 for 𝑽𝒊𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏𝑴𝒆𝒈𝒂 𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 done as a 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐊𝐄𝐘𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐒.
Enjoy reading!

𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎: 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐃𝐑𝐔𝐆
They sleep with ghosts to glean the secrets of success. They illuminate their songs with flashes of genius. They are Brian, Stefan and Steve from Placebo, authors of a new album entitled "Sleeping With Ghosts", a collection of "mantra" songs refusing to leave the minds of victims who dare to taste them. The trio engaged for us in the game of keywords, a formidable method to discover the origins, tastes, and thoughts of our guests.
𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐌𝐞𝐠𝐚: Each in turn, you must randomly choose pieces of paper from this box. These pieces of paper contain keywords that should inspire you to answer.

Photo credit: Carole Epinette

𝑵𝑨𝑻 𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑪𝑶𝑳𝑬
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞: I think he has the most amazing voice in the world. And he was a heavy smoker.
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: He actually died of lung cancer.
𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐌𝐞𝐠𝐚: We read that you are fascinated by the voice of Nat King Cole.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞: That's right! His voice is so silky. Just playing one of his songs envelops you in a halo of blissfulness. It’s quite strange. I also think of Tom Waits and all those artists who drink and smoke a lot. Their personalities are far from being pure but their voices certainly are.
𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐌𝐞𝐠𝐚: These artists have never received any musical education. They were not professionals and forged their own style.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞: Absolutely! Nina Simone, Billie Holiday brought something radically different to the way of singing. They did not correspond at all to the criteria of the time.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧: They suffered from the music industry that was very misogynistic and racist at the time.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞: They were treated like shit but they stuck to their art.

𝑷𝑯𝑰𝑳𝑶𝑺𝑶𝑷𝑯𝒀
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: It immediately reminds me of a song by Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians. (Editor's note: Brian sings a duet with Steve "Philosophy is a walk on the slippery rocks Religion is a light in the fog"). I haven't read much. I don't know much about philosophy with a capital P. So, I couldn't discuss Wittgenstein and Heidegger with you. In high school everyone read Nietzsche.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞: I’ve got a few friends who have taken philosophy courses. They were good people but 3 years later they have completely changed. They suffer from asking too many questions. It's quite dangerous to torture yourself like that. You can leave your sanity there.
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: I already ask myself too many questions every day, I wonder if it's reasonable to add more with philosophy.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧: I think you have to learn to separate thinking and reacting to the world around you. You have to think or react physically instinctively, in moderation. I say this because I am Swedish.

𝑲𝑰𝑻𝑺𝑪𝑯
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧: It reminds me of a song we wrote but never recorded. It's called "Kitsch Object." Paris influenced creating of this piece.
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Aesthetically kitsch is not that important.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞: But you just had a great kitsch experience last night!
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Oh yeah, that's right! I ended up at the Lido for a charity event. It was totally kitsch. There were all these fashionable people strutting around. Elton John came over to play something. I had never had an experience like this. This is exactly the image you can have of Parisian nights at the Folies Bergères. Absolute kitsch!

Photo credit: Jesus Aparicio

𝑭𝑨𝑺𝑯𝑰𝑶𝑵
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: We're in the capital of fashion, aren't we?
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧: I think I take care of my clothing aspect. I often look for beautiful clothes regardless of their origin. I don't care if it's a designer’s piece or a collection from H&M. We have met many designers with whom we have become friends.
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: We just worked with Jean-Baptiste Mondino. This is our first "cross-over" with the fashion world. Mondino worked on the cover of our album.

𝑬𝑿𝑷𝑬𝑹𝑰𝑴𝑬𝑵𝑻𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵
𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐌𝐞𝐠𝐚: Does it play an important role in your creative process?
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Yeah, always. We started out with broken keyboards, screwed up toy instruments and an old 4-track analog. You would change the tape during recording or the tape speed to get weird effects. Material constraints end up guiding your style of expression which is very interesting. Over the years our old toys have been replaced by more expensive instruments but our approach to experiments has not changed. You can hear sound crafts on "Something Rotten". It's a jam-session that turned into a track.
𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐌𝐞𝐠𝐚: Brian Eno created an orchestra for non-musicians in the 1970s.
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Queens Of The Stone Age did the same with their project "The Desert Sessions". These are recordings in a studio at the gates of the Californian desert. Musicians from different bands came to play instruments that they are not used to play in their respective bands. For example, a guitarist would play drums, a drummer would sing.

𝑹𝑬𝑩𝑬𝑳𝑳𝑰𝑶𝑵
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞: It's the whole story of my life. It’s probably an inherent facet of the personality of all the band members, since our birth in fact. For me it’s a story of time and self-realization. Not doing things like most of the others. Raising a family and stuff like that.

𝑺𝑶𝑹𝑹𝑶𝑾
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧: The grief of losing a loved one. A good friend and supporter of the band died while recording "Black Market Music". It was a very difficult time for us. This is not a subject on which we want to expand.

Photo credit: Morena Brengola

𝑩𝑰𝑩𝑳𝑬
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: The Bible is a big part of my past. I was grown up in a very religious environment. Obviously, I experienced some rebellious attitude like Steve. I left the church as a teenager when my leadership qualities were recognized. My questioning about sexuality marked the beginning of my disillusionment with the church. But I'm happy to have been exposed to the influence of this book, the richness of its imagery, the madness of its narrative. I used biblical elements in my songwriting, like Nick Cave and PJ Harvey. I feel close to these artists. And also, to the great French romantics who drew on biblical imagery.

𝑬𝑹𝑶𝑻𝑰𝑪𝑰𝑺𝑴
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: You always have the best keywords.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞: This could be my C.V.: I have long been too erotic. A little clumsy like "Woooww Fuck!", You know what I mean? Since I joined the band, Brian Molko has always been considered the king of eroticism. His openness on the subject helped me a lot to discover many aspects of eroticism. Ever since I've been hanging out with the guys from Placebo, I've come to appreciate eroticism better than ten years ago.

𝑳𝑶𝑵𝑫𝑶𝑵
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Mary Fucking Poppins! Mary Poppins, cup of tea, crappy food: London!

𝑫𝑨𝑽𝑰𝑫 𝑩𝑶𝑾𝑰𝑬
𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐌𝐞𝐠𝐚: Is he some kind of godfather or old uncle?
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: No, he's an aunt actually! Aunty David!
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧: Our history with him is pretty amazing. He took us on tour with him long before our first album came out. He had just heard a demo with "Nancy Boy" which overwhelmed him. We performed in front of 8,000 audience thanks to David. He really supported us from the start.
𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐌𝐞𝐠𝐚: Is it weird to meet an icon from your teenage years?
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Recording with Bowie makes it seem like we were obsessed with Bowie. Of course, we love his records, he was one of the artists we admired but he is not a major influence on our music. Our relationship with him is very special. Robert Smith and Ian McCullouch were much more passionate about Bowie than we were.

Photo credit: Perou

𝑨𝑫𝑶𝑳𝑬𝑺𝑪𝑬𝑵𝑪𝑬
𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐌𝐞𝐠𝐚: It all comes from there!
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Yes, it is. My adolescence was dreary, lonely and boring. I had this feeling of not being in a right place. I was waiting for something exciting to happen and change my life. When I was 20, I experienced a second adolescence. With the band I was able to express all the fantasies that were impossible for me to live when I was a shy, lonely kid living in Luxembourg. So, my 20s have been chaotic, and I feel like I've come through this second teenage phase. I have a different view on the world now.

𝑫𝑬𝑨𝑫 𝑲𝑬𝑵𝑵𝑬𝑫𝒀𝑺
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: How lucky! Unbelievable! Dead Kennedys is one of my favourite bands. The album "Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables" with the titles "Kill The Poor" and "Let's Lynch The Landlord". I admired their political views when I was a teenager. It was an excellent catalyst for my aggressiveness. I received a lot of energy thanks to them. A mind-blowing punk band. They attacked the Reagan administration in the early 1980s. They fell victims to Tippa Gore's "Parents Music Resource Center" [an American NGO also known as the "Washington Wives"] which established the music censorship system. Jello Biafra was prosecuted for having released on his record a painting by HR Geiger, the designer of Alien, entitled "Penis Landscape". I also like the records "Spoken Words" by Jello Biafra. I tried to sample it. No doubt we will use his speeches in the future.
(𝑉𝑖𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑀𝑒𝑔𝑎.𝑓𝑟, 2003)

✨A curious thing: some days after working on a published version of this interview I found out that there are some parts of its 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧! So, I'm sharing it with you too🤩
https://bit.ly/2O49Y6q
https://bit.ly/3rfMYQz
https://bit.ly/2PtItDL

Post by Olga