𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗕𝗢 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗞𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖, 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟵

Shortly before the release of “Battle for the sun” Stefan and Steve Forrest gave an ♦️𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪♦️ to Clickmusic. Enjoy reading what they revealed about the upcoming album, its production and what they had to say about Steve as new drummer of the band.

Photo credit: MTV – Europe Music Award 2009, Berlin

𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠 𝗜𝗦 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗞𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧. 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗔 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗨𝗟𝗔𝗥 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗡𝗗'𝗦 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗥𝗨𝗚𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗗𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗞-𝗙𝗨𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗦 𝗢𝗡 “𝗠𝗘𝗗𝗦“ 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗦 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗧𝗢 “𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣 𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧“?
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙣: “There is definitely a bigger sense of hope and optimism on this record, butPlacebo's music and lyrics are never going to be like a dance in a field of flowers you know? There is always the fascination in there with the darker side of human emotions. I think with 'Meds' we explored personal human pain, it was quite under the microscope and so, it is really hard to get any darker and bleaker than 'Meds'. In a way we wanted to do something different that was a reaction to the ideas on that album, something that was about accepting the darkness but embracing the light in a way and that is shown in the title 'Battle For The Sun'. Throughout the making of the previous album and throughout the tour, Placebo was in quite an unhealthy state and since then we have made a few important decisions and I think that 'Battle For The Sun' is a bit of a new beginning and it's the celebration of a new found freedom.“

𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗡 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗠𝗘𝗔𝗡 𝗕𝗬 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗗𝗢𝗠 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗖𝗥𝗢𝗦𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠?
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙣: “Well, the situation with our previous drummer towards the end was one where we weren't communicating, and where we didn't want to write together and we didn't want to jam together - that's not a band. So it became like punching the clock and that's not what we set out to do. So, as it was myself and Brian [Molko, vocals] who started the band 15 years ago, this time, we said to each other "We need to steer this shit back on the right track". We made some hard but necessary decisions and the two of us came together to start writing again like we did back in the day. We felt that there really is still the passion for it, and although we went through some hard times, it was never a case of killing Placebo it was just a case of finding the remedy. So, we found this little blonde boy.“ [Stefan laughs and glances toward Steve, who in turn looks back thoroughly amused]

𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠 𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗖 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗬, 𝗦𝗢 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗥 “𝗞𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗬 𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥“ 𝗧𝗢 “𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗠𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗡𝗘“, 𝗜𝗡 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗪𝗔𝗬𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗞 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗕𝗘 𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗙𝗬 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚?
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙣: “It's going to sound very vague, but I think it's more of a description of wherePlacebo is as a band right now, where there is a much brighter future. The idea is that, though it might not always be easy, you can build a better life for yourself and you can be happier if you try. That's kind of what is running through the tracks; it was never set out to be a concept album at all, it's just that during the process of recording and writing the record, our situation in life basically infused with the songs to create this thematic unity.“

𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗨𝗦𝗘 𝗔 𝗟𝗢𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗗𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗, 𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗟𝗨𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗦𝗔𝗫𝗢𝗣𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣𝗘𝗧𝗦; 𝗗𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗞 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗨𝗧𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗦𝗘 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦 𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗣𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗩𝗘𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗦 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠 𝗢𝗡 𝗔𝗡𝗬 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗨𝗟𝗔𝗥 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗞?
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚: “I think 'Battle For The Sun' was used quite well, or 'Kings Of Medicine' with the horns. On that one, it becomes quite an 'All You Need Is Love'-style Beatles-esque happy tune. It's executed very well. They are not so much underneath everything but they are not over the top either. So, there's good usage of a lot of horns, and there's also a piccolo trumpet and some flute on there.“
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙣: “Brian's very proud of that one [both laugh] because he thinks it's going to freak all the Goths out. That's actually Brian's motto: "let's freak the Goths out". We have always been seen as the purveyors of melancholy and luckily we have always had music to exorcise our demons. I think on this record we had a bit more fun and there is a bit more colour to this than on the previous ones.“
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚: “There was a lot of creative freedom; I think a lot of that came from working withDave Bottrill as well, you never felt odd or stupid. It was like, we could try everything and we would come into the studio every day and have a hug, a laugh and a fag and then we would sit down and do some writing together.“
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙣: “Don't forget the lattes!“
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚: “I think all that created this easy-going atmosphere, which actually in turn was a lot more productive - you didn't have any arguments with someone saying "no, I don't want to do that". So with those little noises we have like the toy keyboard ['For What It's Worth'] it was just like "why not, let's try it".
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙣: “It was Brian's twisted sense of humour.“ [laughs]
Steve: “There was freedom to try things like that, it's like you never know it might be shit but sometimes those happy mistakes end up being the best things in a song.“

Placebo live in Bologna, 2009.

𝗗𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗗 𝗕𝗢𝗧𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗔𝗟𝗔𝗡 𝗠𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗠𝗜𝗫𝗘𝗗 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗 – 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗪𝗜𝗦𝗗𝗢𝗠 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗛 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗕𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗙𝗜𝗧𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗?
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙣: “Well basically, you know Placebo made five albums prior to this one, and we all came out of those five recording sessions pretty fucking traumatised. We have always had a dysfunctional relationship with our producers in the past, God knows why? All the recording processes have been quite painful, and with this one, it's the opposite. I don't know if it’s because David Bottrill has won a couple of Grammys, so that might make him a better producer, I don't know? It's like Steve said, everything that we tried he always made it feel like what we were doing was worthwhile. He was very good at communicating and bringing out the best in us. So that was the recording process. In two months we did eighteen songs which is the fastest we have ever recorded that amount ever. Then, withAlan Moulder who is famous for doing almost all the stuff with Nine Inch Nails, as well as working with Smashing Pumpkins, Depeche Mode and White Lies. It was an absolute pleasure. Basically Alan made the music sound the way we had it in our heads, which may sound obvious to most people but it's actually difficult to do, but he did it and he made it look so easy. He was so nice, for us it was like "why haven’t we worked with you before?" It was the most painless recording session we have ever had - finally after our sixth album it feels like we have actually hit on the big league, and the A-team of producers and mixers.“

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗔𝗩𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠𝗦?
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙣: “Well, I am going to be biased obviously. It's weird because I have been listening to this new record a lot recently. The more you listen to something you don't hear it objectively, so right now it is this new record. It feels the less tortured and the most optimistic, and definitely the biggest.“
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚: [speaking to Stefan] “As an outsider and someone who has not been a part of the last five records, I can only comment on this one. When I joined the band, I had to obviously study the records inside and out. Whilst the others were great bodies of work, this one has brought out all the potential that you've always had, even fifteen years later. Seeing it from an outsider's point of view and working with you on this new record, even though you have been going for so long, there was still so much potential to make this huge, brilliant, fucking record. When we got the final product, it was just like 'boom'. That's why it is my favourite, it's like all the potential that you had to put that great live energy into a record, you finally did it and I'm very happy to be a part of it.“

𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 𝗦𝗘𝗘𝗠 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗘 𝗚𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗚𝗧𝗛 𝗧𝗢 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗩𝗘 𝗝𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗗 – 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟 𝗨𝗦 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗘𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗠𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗛𝗔𝗗 𝗧𝗢𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗔𝗦 𝗔 𝗕𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗪𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗦𝗧 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠?
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚: “Well literally they said "welcome to the family"...“
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙣: “You're still on trial...“
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚: “Yeah we still have to tour together, but actually for me, 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". It was on my first day and in the first five minutes playing with each other, but as soon as we started jamming 'Kitty Litter', I just felt it: "I'm not going anywhere and I am going to make damn sure I get this job and keep it, you have gone 15 years and I am going to take you 15 more". So, I think the very first time we played together was the defining moment. For me it was like this is the band I have been searching for all these years, I have played with all these different bands and dealt with different people but it was like finally I have found it, I've found the love of my life.“ [laughs]

𝗢𝗞, 𝗚𝗨𝗬𝗦, 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗛𝗢𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗕𝗢 𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗥 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗬, 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗛 𝗜𝗡𝗩𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗢𝗡 – 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗢𝗥 𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 – 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗪𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗜𝗡𝗩𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗪𝗛𝗬?
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙣: “I would invite the singers from Abba, Anni-Frid and Agnetha because they would both have very interesting stories to tell. I want to coax them into coming to do some guest vocals on my side-project.“
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚: “I think this is going to sound a bit typical and cliché but I would have to invite Keith Moon...“
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙣: “We wouldn't see him for around two weeks. He would be on a two week bender!“
Steve: “I would invite him because a) he would be the only person around the table that I could talk drums with, that would care. And b) he would be brilliant, it seems like he would be a right laugh! So, yeah it would be Keith.“

Placebo live at Main Square, 2009.

𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗘𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗘𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗬𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗦 𝗢𝗙 “𝗕𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗨𝗡“ 𝗧𝗢 𝗨𝗦 – 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗙𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗞?
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙣: “Well, Brian is the main writer for this band, so the only way I can answer is by offering you my own interpretation. There's always a bit of a conflict going on in the characters that are there in the songs that he writes. I think 'Battle For The Sun' works in the same way that 'Without You I'm Nothing' did as the title track on the second album.'Battle For The Sun' kind of puts a little umbrella over what the characters are going through in the other tracks, in the sense where the moon is in front of the sun, and when the moon is there like the umbrella, it's dark but when it moves away there is light and you can choose whether to be in the dark or in the light. You can choose to lead a happier life, it might not be easy, but you should hold on to the hope and the optimism.“
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚: “It's the idea that if you love something, it's worth fighting for.“

𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟 𝗨𝗦 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗣𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗩𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗢 “𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗜𝗧'𝗦 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗛“ 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗔𝗕𝗘𝗟𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗜𝗧 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧.
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙣: “We worked with one of our favourite video directors, Howard Greenhalgh, who has been working with us for a long time. He has done loads of stuff for us including 'Nancy Boy', 'Bruise Pristine' and 'The Bitter End', so we had a long relationship with him that enabled us to feel more relaxed, especially now we are introducing a new member to the public. We wanted it to be quite performance based and the tags were basically about the fact that sometimes what you see, is not what is real. We wanted to play with that. People like to portray themselves as something that is completely the opposite of what is inside of them. With the lyrics, Brian describes them as being quite optimistic but if you listen to them on face value, "got no friends, got no lover", it's like "shit, you're in the gutter" but to him the song is like a celebration of life. It's that dichotomy of what you see and what you hear not always being what is actually there.“
Steve: “You can take a photo and it can be two people, they can be hanging out and happy but if you put a label on, it completely changes the whole meaning of it. It could be like "cunt". My favourite bit is the guy with the suitcase walking to work and it's like "detonation". It's brilliant.“

𝗢𝗕𝗩𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗦𝗟𝗬 𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗖𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗪𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗔 𝗕𝗜𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗔 𝗦𝗟𝗔𝗣 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗔𝗖𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗦𝗛 𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗞 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 “𝗕𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗨𝗡“ 𝗜𝗧'𝗦 𝗔 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗕𝗘𝗚𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗬𝗢𝗨 – 𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗬𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗘𝗟𝗦𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗗𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗚?
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙣: “Well, I think that any band would be lying to you if they said they didn't want to be the biggest in the world, so we are still aiming for the moon you know? But, we are half way there.“
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚: “I have got a few years of travelling the world to experience.“
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙣: “When we played Brixton Academy for the first time, it was like "Wow", then we thought that we had made it, but there's always more things to aspire to, you know? I believe that myself and Brian chose to pursue the ambition of Placebo whereas our old drummer didn'. We just want to write that song that becomes a classic, and we haven't done that yet.“

𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗙, 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗛𝗢𝗧𝗘𝗟 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗔 𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘-𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗝𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗜𝗦 𝗩𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗟𝗬 𝗗𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗕𝗢 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗜𝗧 𝗜𝗦 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗬 𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗖. 𝗗𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗔 𝗗𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗙𝗘𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠 𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗘? 𝗪𝗘 𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗡 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗗𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗦𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗩𝗢𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗦 𝗦𝗢 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗡 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗩𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗫𝗧?
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙣: “Well, Steve will probably be cheaper than any other session drummer.“
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚: “I'll do it for free baby!“
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙣: “No, Hotel Persona is a side-project, when I'm not doing Placebo. I explore more of the entertainment side of making music, you know, it's more electro and it's more dance and a bit more pop-oriented. There would be no point in doing another Placebo. I mean on the first album, I got Samantha Fox in there! I guess as a musician not everything I write is going to be right for Placebo. Saying that, whenever I write a song, it always goes to Brian first and it's like "hey, do you feel this?" If he does feel it, then it becomes a Placebo song and if not, it becomes something for Hotel Persona.“

𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗩𝗘, 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗚 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗡 𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗢𝗡 𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗘𝗡𝗝𝗢𝗬𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗧?
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚: “I've been here for about a year and a half now and I have loved it, I have always wanted to live in London. I'm a California boy but for some reason I have always had an obsession with England. I think in my past life I was a Brit or something. I've always wanted to move here. It was a bit hard, it was hundreds of miles and my first time ever coming here and then moving here. The only people I knew were my bandmates who are all in their mid-30s and have their own lives, so it was like "see you at rehearsal". It was a little like starting all over again but it was a brilliant adventure and I think it definitely forced me to grow up a lot faster, it grounded me and got me prepared to be in the position that I am.“
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙣: “This is the kind of guy that walks into a pub and half an hour later he will be like, "hey Stef, meet my funny new friends". He goes out and then says, “oh yeah I went out last night, I met Clive Owen, I had a chat with him“.“

𝗜𝗡 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗪𝗔𝗬𝗦 𝗗𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗙𝗘𝗘𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗕𝗢 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗙𝗨𝗟𝗟 𝗖𝗜𝗥𝗖𝗟𝗘? 𝗗𝗢𝗘𝗦 𝗜𝗧 𝗔𝗧 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗜𝗧 𝗗𝗜𝗗 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗚𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚?
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙣: “Well, it's like we have a future again, which during the 'Meds' period was not the case you know. The future seems a lot less daunting.“
📢 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚: “I am psyched, I mean honestly, it sounds like every musician's story but since I was a kid, I always knew that this is what I wanted to do, I never went to college and I barely even went to high-school. I would just basically lock myself away in my room for as long as possible and just play and go to gigs, I was constantly studying music in any way that I could. I had all these part-time really shitty jobs just to get money for new equipment, to crawl my way up to this point it's the best feeling in the world. For the future it' like things can only get better from here. Of course there will be highs and lows, but it's going to be a privilege to have those times and I don't ever want it to end.“
(Clickmusic, April 2009)

Post by Silke