𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐌𝐎𝐋𝐊𝐎 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐖 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟏

In June 2001, Placebo visited Russia for the first time to play their concert of the 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒓 in Moscow.
Today, I want to share an 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 that Brian did right after Placebo press conference before their show at the 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤.

The interview (in Russian) is taken from the personal archive blog of the 𝑹𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒐 𝑴𝒂𝒙𝒊𝒎𝒖𝒎 presenter and as far as I know, has never been translated into English before.
Enjoy it, dear soulmates, and let us know if you’ve seen Placebo in Moscow back then!

Photo credit: Getty Images

Well, I'm recording, ok? I'm a bit nervous…
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Are you nervous?

Yes…
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Don’t be nervous, everything’s fine!

Ok. My name is Nikita, I'm from Radio Maximum. I have some questions, and since we’ve got not so much, let's get started. And the first question is probably usual for you. You are in Moscow for the first time and so, what are your emotions and impressions? You came to a country that is talked about a lot, but in fact, quite little is really known about it "out there”. Here you are in Moscow - how do you feel?
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Yes, this is my first time in Moscow, and you know, I can't say anything bad! I’m here to see the city, it’s very interesting to me in terms of architecture, and then, I’d really like to feel the atmosphere of your city. I saw the streets, bars, restaurants, regular buildings… everything is nice, it’s a beautiful city, very modern. I'm happy to be here.

You know, Moscow is full of interesting places, we have a very busy nightlife! You can find anything you want!
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Yes, I know that you have a lot of interesting clubs here, today we’re going to go somewhere to dance. But I’m not going tell you what kind of place it is!

Okay. The next question. You have great remixes, but how do you choose DJs? What considerations are you guided by?
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Yes… but we work with a few DJs, really. First of all, we work with those who we respect and whose music we listen to ourselves. Our oldest friends in this regard are Brothers In Rhythm. Do you know them?

Yes of course.
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Well, that's how it all works. By the way, sometimes we are also asked to do a remix for someone. But we’re not ready for that yet.

Photo credit: Liam Duke

Well, who do you want to work with in the future in this regard and generally, who would you like to be in the studio with?
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: I just dream of collaborating with The Avalanches, The Young Gods, The Chemical Brothers - there are so many of them! Who else… Paul Oakenfold. And of course, I wouldn't mind working with UNKLE again. So, there are many of them…

How do you like the fashionable Timo Maas?
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: He's great, he made a remix of 'Special K' for us. Very talented guy, great DJ.

How do you like Deep Dish and modern dance music in general?
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: I’ve never heard of Deep Dish. Ss for modern dance culture, yes, it’s very familiar to us, I think that in the future, we will mainly develop in this direction.

Can I have a personal question? What do you think of Madonna? She’s so popular In Russia.
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: I think it's impossible not to love Madonna. This woman is a phenomenon, she’s kind of unique. Of course, she is not the most beautiful woman in the world, not the best singer and not the best dancer but she has so many other features. A combination of talent, ambition, constant pursuit of perfection. She's just an icon of feminism, that's for sure. So, I can't say anything bad about Madonna. Of course, I don't like all her music, but… she's a fantastic artist.

Do you like to dance?
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Oh yes, very much. I dance everywhere, on the streets, in clubs, even on the tables in bars!
Excellent!

Ok, I’ve heard you're going to release a b-side album soon? Is that true? Among your "non-album" songs there are some very good ones, and some of them are even better than the ones from your records!
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Yes, we’re already working on this idea because I know that some b-sides are hard to find because the singles have been released with different b-sides in different countries. And yes, you're right, the time has come. It's time to choose the best of them and release as a separate record.

But there are so many of them…
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Yes, but we will choose the best ones and our personal favorites! I hope we have the same opinion with our fans on them, so… it’s coming soon!

Photo credit: Jamie Beeden

Well, what about your next studio album? Are you already thinking about it? And if so, how do you imagine it?
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: We approach the recording process at the level of instincts, it’s not like ‘the time has come and now it's time to go to the studio.’ If we feel like we can do it, then we go to the studio and record new songs. And I can't say what our new album will be like yet, I don't know. I don’t have a large crystal ball like a fortune teller.

So when will you possibly start to approach the idea of the fourth studio album in any certain way?
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Definitely not this year.

Sure. Now you still have concerts.
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Yeah…

And then?
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: And then we'll take a big vacation and have one long Sunday!

Great! And here is another "standard" question. You worked with David Bowie. How was it, what is it like and do you plan to work with him again?
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: David Bowie is a legend, and I'm sure you can't live and not listen to (or not hear) his music because it's beautiful. He’s amazing, both as a professional and as a person. I don't know, he's so talented, I've asked myself several times what a huge brain should he probably have?! He's very intelligent, yes! And then, he just has a wonderful sense of humor. Being with him is an indescribable pleasure, well, just…!

What about working together again?
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: I don't know, we don't have any plans yet. He changes, we change… I don’t know. I would really like to, but let's see how it goes (Brian looks kind of confused), let's see…

Good. I know that you carry a lot of CDs with you all the time, so your time on the road doesn’t feel that long. What do you have with you?
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Well, let me remember… Well, the album of the new band from Liverpool Ladytron, the record of the Mexican band Titan, then the album of the Canadian artist Peaches.

Amazing!
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Yeah, I also really like it. Then Gonzalez, something Canadian-Berlin… Then Primal Scream and Cat Power. And something else, I can’t remember.

Primal Scream - which album? The last one?
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Yes, ‘Exterminator’, the most powerful album, my favourite.

Yes, I also really like it!
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Yeah.

Well, what about more "pop” names such as Radiohead. Thom York has changed their sound a lot, what do you think about that?
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: I really like Radiohead. ‘Kid A’ is a great album, ‘Amnesiac’ is no worse either. And of course, I still listen to ‘OK Computer’ and ‘The Bends’. Radiohead is an amazing band, and believe me, I like everything they do.

Photo credit: conny.at 

And what do you think of them changing their image?
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: That’s great, the band and their music have to change, of course. You need to take a risk, try something new. This is the only way to achieve something, to exist really. If you listen to Limp Bizkit albums, that's not interesting because they stay the same, and it's not fascinating. It's boring. So, the band have to develop, that's natural. And Radiohead is a great example for everyone, I would say that today they do it the best way!

You mentioned Limp Bizkit: what do you think about this pop mania in general, pop culture? All these Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys?
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Limp Bizkit and Britney are the same.

But almost everyone listens to them…
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: That's it! But every time we write new songs, we try not to think about it. We say to ourselves: well, billions of people can't listen to this shit!

Each band probably has its own deadline. How do you think, how far is it for Placebo?
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Nothing lasts forever, what to say. I don't want to guess, but I'd just say that we're going to stay on stage for a long time. As long as we have enough of it. Until the fans want to listen to us and buy our records.

That's great! And again, about music. Some people consider ‘Black Market Music’ to be your weakest album. Although you called it your best one at the press conference. I partly agree that it's more "pop". Pop melodies, pop arrangements. Comparing to the previous ‘Without You I’m Nothing’, it’s really, well, I think it’s a little weaker. And what do you think?
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Well, I don’t agree with you, the songs on ‘Black Market Music’ are not so pop, they are aslo deep. They may be less depressive. But no, I would still say that this album is much more interesting and better than the previous ones, it’s more unusual, with its own special sensitivity. This is our best album.

Photo credit: Liam Duke

Tell us about ‘Without You I’m Nothing’, this is your best album, I'm sure anyway. Why is it sometimes so hard to listen to it? It’s depressive…
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Do you like it?

Very much
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Ok. When we were writing that album, we were going through a pretty dark and difficult period. And since we approach the work in the studio from the emotional side first of all, so of course, that reflected in the songs. Yes, it did. But it’s in the past, and now we’re a bit different.

Ok, oh, we're running out of time… So, last question, will there be more singles from ‘Black Market Music’?
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Yes, and not one but two probably. The next one will most likely be ‘Black-Eyed’.

Great song!
📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Yes, thank you.

𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙, ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝐷.
(𝑅𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑜 𝑀𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚, 𝐽𝑢𝑛𝑒 2001, 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑏𝑦 𝑁𝑖𝑘𝑖𝑡𝑎 𝐹𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑣)

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