🟧𝐈𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄: 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐥𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐥𝐤𝐨🟧

Dear soulmates!
Again, I’ve got something for all of you who love old rare Placebo stuff. This is an 🔸𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧🔸 (and a little bit with 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 as well) done at his then flat in west London, that was published in 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒆, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟗, 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒆. Stef revealed some details about his everyday life and described his flat that was Placebo home studio back then.
Of course, too much changed since those times… but there are so many sweet curious moments about our beloved Placebo “babies” in the article that I’m pretty sure, you will love it!

Photo credit: Select magazine, 1999; edit by Olga

🟧𝐈𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄: 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐥𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐥𝐤𝐨🟧
One word: Ikea. Yes, post-Velvet Goldmine glam, Placebo's bassist reveals the more subdued home furnishings favoured by a Swede abroad. And he loves Abba too...
"I'm sorry about the mess. I'm afraid that we had a bit of a party last night." It's the day after Placebo bassist 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒇𝒂𝒏 𝑶𝒍𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒍'𝒔 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒅𝒂𝒚 [that is March 31st], he's got a splitting headache and his flat looks like the site of a bizarre zoological experiment on the effects of Buckfast on gorillas. So, he's not in the best of states to receive the Lloyd Grossman treatment. "Here, have some birthday cake while I clean up a bit," says the ever-courteous Stefan while 𝑺𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕 is treated to the strange sight of 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒐 doing the wash-up.
In keeping with the Swedish stereotype perpetuated by those annoying Ikea adverts, Stefan's homestead is usually a highly ordered affair, situated in one of the posher New Labour-favoured areas of west London. There's a strange karma-like coincidence that led Stefan to pick this flat however - it used to belong to fellow 𝑺𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒌 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓 𝑷𝒂𝒖𝒍 𝑾𝒂𝒂𝒌𝒕𝒂𝒂𝒓, the keyboardist from '80s Norwegian legends A-Ha. So, now they've got glam out of their system with their involvement in Velvet Goldmine, maybe it's time for a rolled-up-sleeves ‘80s revival from the 'Cebe.
Having finally put the Jif cleaner away, Stefan demonstrates that there's a homely side to Placebo that has nothing to do with breasts and all the rest...

🔶𝟏. 𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎 𝐓𝐀𝐏𝐄𝐒
There are tapes that we’re going to edit into projections for the stage show. If you just read the production notes it doesn’t look like it’ll be much fun – all things about amoebas and sperm and plankton. But when they’re all put together they’ll look fantastic. Trust me! We want to turn the concerts into real spectacles. Placebo are showmen! Like Abba!

🔶𝟐. 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐎
Despite our image, we’re pretty boring most of the time. I like to mess around recording bits in here. I could make up some story about the studio being haunted, except it wouldn’t be true. It can be a bit eerie being sat in here on your own though. The flat is situated in-between an ambulance and fire station, so there is dead silence punctuated by screaming sirens every so often. Maybe I’ll be able to incorporate them into a track one day. And, of course, if there’s ever an emergency we’re ideally situated. Considering our track record, this could turn out to be handy.

🔶𝟑. 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐑
The floor was sound-proofed by Paul Waaktaar – it must’ve cost fortune to do. So I recon he must’ve used this place aa a studio. Just imagine – maybe he recorded “The Living Daylights” here or even (whispers reverently) “Take On Me”. Actually, it might’ve been a bit cooler if it’d belonged to the singer Morten Harket – he was much better looking. But you can’t have everything. Even though the floor’s sound-proofed, the neighbours complain constantly about the noise. Maybe it’s just because we jump up and down on them a lot, especially when listening to Abba. I firmly believe that I’ve got Agnetha running through my veins. We are a bit noisy, but what I never understand is that there’s a club next door that plays pounding house, and they never complain about that. Maybe they just don’t like hearing “The Winner Takes It All” at four at the morning. Either that or they like their Pete Tong.

Photo credit:  Scarlet Page

🔶𝟒. 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝐍𝐀𝐈𝐋 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐇
Nail polish is our fashion downfall. We all love it – I’m wearing a nice shade of black on my toes right now. This is a special Placebo nail varnish. It’s a promotional tool from the record company, but we use it too. I’m pretty lazy – I should really shop around for the right colour for me. But it’s hard to get the right shade if you’re a six-foot Swedish bloke.

🔶𝟓. 𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐒
Yes, tragically they are from Ikea. It’s hard to resist, especially if you’re Swedish. I mean Ikea is worth visiting for their delicious Swedish menu alone. But I try not to go too often – it’s a bit of a cheat really.

🔶𝟔. 𝐓𝐎𝐘 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒
I love collecting these toys – the more absurd and silly the better. And the great thing is that you can really play them! (Breaks into a downright disturbing version of ‘Bruise Pristine’ on the miniature guitar). Well, you don’t sound like Jimi Hendrix, but they’re really good for producing unusual sounds you wouldn’t be able to get elsewhere. We even used a couple of them on the first album, which isn’t something that you’d see Oasis do. They’re wasted on children, I think.

🔶𝟕. 𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐕𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄𝐓 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄
“This was so much fun to film, not that my role was very big – I played bass in this band which sounded like a cross between The Sweet and Suzi Quatro. I leave the speaking to Brian.”
Brian: “It was a really mad film to make, just a bunch of glammed up lunatics running around London in outrageous clothes and wigs. I love all the music from that time – well, not ’Tiger Feet’, obviously, but Marc Bolan is great. I don’t care what the critics think – I think it’s a really beautiful film. Too many people thought it’d be an authorized history of glam rock, and that’s why they were disappointed.”

🔶𝟖. 𝐀𝐁𝐁𝐀 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊
“I admit that my Abba obsession is a bit out of hand, but they were the best. I don’t think we could ever cover them though – their songs are untouchable. They’re one of the few bands that could make a decent film – Brian, what was it called?”
Brian (excitedly): “It had a simple title – Abba The Movie. It was fantastic, all about this Australian radio Dj who spent the whole film trying to track Abba down for an interview. The best thing about it is that it features all these Australian soap actors, like Lou Carpenter from Neighbours as a heavy. Actually, it did have some annoying moments – the Dj spends the whole film making excuses for not getting an interview – “Hi, I’m in Perth. Nearly got them this time…”

 Velvet Goldmine movie premiere, 19 October 1998 

🔶𝟗. 𝐎𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊
“He just makes me laugh – this is just a great book to dip into if you’re in need of a quick blast of wit. [Picks out an epigram at random] ‘Wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others.’ Oops – maybe that wasn’t one of his better ones. But to be honest it doesn’t get read nearly as much as the Abba book.”

🔶𝟏𝟎. 𝐂𝐃 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

“These are just some of my favourite listens. I love the William s. Burroughs CD – his voice is amazing. People are surprised we like things like Blondie. They shouldn’t be – Placebo are definitely a pop group.
Brian: “Hang on, a couple of those look a bit familiar. You stole them off me, you bastard! Return them to me@”
Stefan: “No they’re mine! Fuck off!”

🔶𝟏𝟏. 𝐑𝐔𝐃𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆
“People come in and tell me that this picture is upside down and I’m like ‘I know! I like it better that way.’ There’s something really intriguing about it – sometimes I think it’s erotic, other times it’s really nasty and oppressive. I think it’s one of Madonna’s favourites as well. There isn’t very much art around the rest of the flat though – there’s not many pictures you could stand to look at every day.”

🔶𝟏𝟐. 𝐑𝐔𝐃𝐄 𝐅𝐑𝐔𝐈𝐓
“This is the prize we won at the In The City conference for being the Best Unsigned Band. [Clearly unamused] It’s very funny, isn’t it? Actually we were really pleased to win it, but the shine was taken off it as we were co-winners alongside Kula Shaker and Performance. [Paul Gallagher-managed no-hopers]. I mean, Jesus Christ, Performance! We were so obviously the best band there, but I think it was some kind of publicity stunt.”
Brian: “Actually, the story gets even more poignant. Peter Hook was on the judging panel and he slagged us off – he called us “a bunch of fucking whining Americans.” That really broke my heart – there’s few bands I like more that Joy Division [wipes away a mock tear]. Maybe Ian Curtis would’ve appreciated us more. Nobody’s ever looked into the abyss as deeply as him.”

🔶𝟏𝟑. 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐑
“This got us into terrible trouble with the neighbours. These speakers are awesome – they go up so loud you could kill a cat with them. So when we got the first copies of the album in, we couldn’t resist using them. The chorus of ‘Teenage Angst’ was unbelievable, just raw noise bouncing around the walls.”
(𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡, 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 1999)

Post by Olga