Dear soulmates, today I bring you an amazing interview provided by ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ for the MTV blog "You R Here" at the time Placebo toured with the Projekt Revolution US tour in 2007.
In this abridged version of Stefan's confession, you will learn, for example, whether his homosexuality affects his music, what the fateful week of his life was, and what Stefan thinks of love, monogamy, and infidelity.
Enjoy it, my dears, and then come to share your impressions.
 |
| Photo credit:M_A_G PHOTO ARCHIVES, Fenix Underground, Seattle 2007.Edit by Marti |
๐๐ข๐ซ๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐ค: ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ — ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฑ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ
Love, Death, Drugs, Rock, Sex, Suicide, God and ABBA. Yes, we asked about and covered all the essentials! Not only did Placebo bassist Stefan Olsdal genuinely answer everything we dared throw his way, but he surprised us with some of the most personal information we’ve ever received, especially from a band of Placebo’s caliber!
In our 25-minute interview, the enchanting Olsdal openly spoke (with that gorgeous UK accent!) about what it means to truly hit rock bottom and suffer for your art, the MOST addictive drug he’s ever experienced and how Queens of the Stone Age gave him an inferiority complex. From a subway stop in London to present day, Olsdal allowed us, and now you, a unique look into the med-hazed journey of Placebo.
“Can you hear when listening to Placebo that there’s GAY people in the band?” Olsdal, wearing a white shirt, tight black pants and black sunglasses, rhetorically and sarcastically asked us when the topic of being a homosexual and a rock-star came into play. /.../
“There were times where our lifestyles, yes, were, or could have done with a bit of toning down,” Olsdal explained. “Our lifestyles and our sexualities and our images have been written about a lot.” /.../
 |
| Photo credit unknown |
“Both me and Brian [Molko, lead vocals/guitar] have experienced homophobic attacks, both physical and verbal,” Olsdal said. “And I guess being in a band is kind of a license to do and look and sound like whatever you want to be because you have absolute freedom in EVERYTHING. We used that and embraced that quite a lot, especially in the early days - the way that we dressed. A lot of people mistaked Brian for a girl for example…”
We are interrupted by the sound of a bicycle bell and Olsdal turned his head and laughed while saying, “Speak of the devil!” in the direction of Molko waving to Olsdal. Olsdal turned back to us and joked, “HAH! His little gay wave on his little gay bike!”
We all laughed and then Olsdal continued, quickly taking the topic of homosexuality far from a joking matter.
“The three of us felt like outsiders when we were kids, for different reasons,” he said. “I guess for me it was because I was gay. But it gave me more time to sit and think more and become more tolerant and understanding and it gave me more time to listen to music. But does [being gay] mean I’m going to go out and make gay disco records? Not really, you know? It’s like when Billy Cogan shaved his head - did that affect his way of performing or writing music?”
Olsdal then cocked his head to the right as if trying to remember something and then said, “Uhh… does being gay affect my music?” unearthing our original question over 5 minutes later. “I guess my record collection is bit more “gay” than others, you know? I’m a huge ABBA fan, but that’s mostly because I’m Swedish. But I mean, everyone loves ABBA!”
His favorite ABBA song is “The Winner Takes It All.” As the story goes, after keyboardist Benny Andersson and vocalist Anni-Frid Lyngstad divorced in 1981, Andersson wrote that song for Lyngstad to sing.
“She’s basically singing, “I was left, I was dumped, and YOU, the winner takes it all!” Olsdal exclaimed, still dumbfounded by the story decades later. “That’s pretty hardcore. THAT is suffering for art!” /.../
 |
| Photo credit unknown |
Although both students at the same school (the American International School of Luxembourg) together, Olsdal explained that they had never had a friendship and the story of Placebo’s beginning was both unexpected and somewhat cosmically intervened.
“It was one of those days where you just think that the hand of fate had something to do with the whole thing because it was just too much,” he recounted. “That week that I met Brian, I also met my partner. In one week my whole life kind of changed!” /.../
So after everything is said and done, what is Olsdal’s drug of choice?
“There have been a lot of songs written about it: LOVE,” he answered. “You know that feeling you have for someone else. Whatever happens inside you chemically when you feel that sort of affection or affinity to someone. I think that’s an amazing feeling. And if you’re sober while feeling it, that makes it even more intense and satisfying.”
“It’s like Nature Boy,” Olsdal said about the greatest lesson he’s learned from love. “What’s the lyric?…“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return.” I guess I found out the value of [love] when I didn’t have it. And the person I was with actually took me back after I dumped him. And THEN I realized that I loved him.”
The love Olsdal repeatedly mentions throughout the interview comes from a 13-year relationship with his current partner. And although in an obvious monogamist partnership, Olsdal has his own definition of what that entails.
“We are not made to be monogamists really,” he said matter-of-factly. “It doesn’t matter how good a sex life you have with your partner. After about 7 years, you know that person inside and out – every inch of their body. And of course other flesh is going to be attractive. I believe that SEX IS A DRUG. You get your fix and you’re done. It doesn’t have anything to do with love whatsoever. To be unfaithful does not mean that you don’t love your partner.”
Post by Marti
Post by Marti
