Most Placebo interviews are given by Brian, but today I have one for you that was done by Stefan and ex-drummer Steve Hewitt back in 2007. Enjoy the conversation they had with a journalist from US music magazine Scene Point Blank
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𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐓 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐊
Much to the delight of my parents, Placebo were the band who inspired me to steal my mothers eyeliner at the lofty age of eleven. Unfortunately, even after a career with such longevity, these overtones are still what many associate with the band. For fans and anyone else paying attention, however, the trio bring so much more than a pretty boy aesthetic. This became evident after sitting down with Stefan (bass), and Steve (drums). Promptly ignoring the no smoking by law, and killing my efforts for small talk, the two showed they weren't there to shoot the shit, and certainly gave no affirmation of the decorated exterior they are often pigeon holed into. What did I get then? I got something closer to what you typically find in their music. Two guys with more rock and roll than they should rightfully be allowed to have, and something a little more honest than I expected. Here's how it unfolded:𝗜𝗧'𝗦 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗦𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨'𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗔, 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟯, 𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨'𝗩𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗢. 𝗜 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗪𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗛𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘'𝗦 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗦𝗨𝗖𝗛 𝗔 𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗚 𝗛𝗜𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗦, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗗 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗚𝗜𝗚𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗦𝗢 𝗙𝗔𝗥?
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦: “I think the reason we haven't come back is because of...well I don't know. Record companies I guess?“
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯: “I think the main answer is we've been playing countries we haven't played before. We played in South America since we were here last, then there was Korea and China. We've just kind of been scoping out the world, really.“
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦: “The first three shows of this American tour has been great. Montreal was crazy with a sold out show humming along...“
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯: “The last time we were here was in October with She Wants Revenge and that tour didn't hit Canada, so it's why we didn't come here then.“
𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗕𝗢 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬 𝗖𝗢𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗔 𝗙𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗔𝗟 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗨𝗣 𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗛. 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗠𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗛𝗬𝗣𝗘, 𝗜 𝗖𝗔𝗡'𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗔 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗜𝗡 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗠𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧'𝗦 𝗛𝗔𝗗 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗚𝗜𝗚. 𝗔𝗦 𝗩𝗘𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗔𝗟 𝗦𝗖𝗘𝗡𝗘, 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗗𝗢𝗘𝗦 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗗𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗧𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗢 𝗖𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗗𝗦 𝗔𝗦 𝗟𝗔𝗥𝗚𝗘 𝗔𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗦𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗚𝗜𝗚𝗦?
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯: “Well you're playing to a bunch of people who haven't seen you before, so you've kind of got to shove it down their throats and sell yourself in a different way. When you do your own show you have much more freedom and much more control. A festival is sort of like a conveyer belt of bands really. You go on and try and do your best to win people over...“
𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗢𝗨𝗦𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗚𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧?
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯: “There is a nervousness going into every show.“
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦: “Still, yeah.“
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𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗔 𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗢𝗥 𝗚𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨'𝗟𝗟 𝗕𝗘 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗞𝗜𝗡 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗞'𝗦 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗝𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗢𝗟𝗨𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗨𝗣 𝗧𝗢𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥. 𝗚𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗔𝗣 𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗞 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗬 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟬'𝘀 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗦𝗘𝗘𝗠𝗦 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗗𝗗 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗕𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡.
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯: (laughs) “Well, it's a rumor.“
𝗦𝗢 𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗬 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗧𝗛 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧?
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯: “It's a rumor.“ ( laughs )
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦: “We're rather diplomatic today, aren't we?“
𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗟, 𝗠𝗢𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗢 𝗠𝗬 𝗡𝗘𝗫𝗧 𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗡: 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟 𝗠𝗘 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗔𝗟𝗩𝗨𝗠 𝗬𝗢𝗨'𝗩𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗟𝗬 𝗣𝗨𝗧 𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗔𝗦 𝗔𝗡 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘?
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦: “That was something that was just released on the special edition of 'Sleeping with ghosts'. There was a fan demand for it, because many people couldn't get a hold of it due to a limited run. We decided to put it out on Itunes as a mini album, just because of that demand really, wasn't it? It's a nice little disc really; all the stuff we grew up with, used for soundtracks, and done for ourselves really. We just wanted to make it available for people to get because a lot of people were trying to find it.“
𝗢𝗡 𝗡𝗨𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗦 𝗢𝗖𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 𝗬𝗢𝗨, 𝗔𝗦 𝗔 𝗕𝗔𝗡𝗗, 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗩𝗢𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗧 𝗔𝗦 𝗔 𝗠𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗨𝗠. 𝗪𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗗 𝗥𝗘𝗜𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗛𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗣𝗨𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗗?
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯: “The thing is you can't stop technology. As you said, we've really embraced it through out our career. Keyboards have gotten more expensive, but we've incorporated electronics into our recording processes and writing processes. When you're on tour the internet is the most easy way to access music. We don't have much time to go to record stores anymore and having everything ready at your finger tips makes it so much less complicated. You can have your whole record collection in your little Ipod.“
𝗔 𝗠𝗔𝗝𝗢𝗥 𝗗𝗘𝗕𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗜𝗡 𝗦𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗜𝗥𝗖𝗟𝗘𝗦 𝗜'𝗩𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗜𝗡𝗩𝗢𝗟𝗩𝗘𝗗 𝗜𝗡 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗟𝗬 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗗𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗟𝗢𝗔𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗣𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗔𝗦 𝗔 𝗪𝗛𝗢𝗟𝗘. 𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗣𝗘𝗢𝗣𝗟𝗘 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡 𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠𝗦 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗕𝗘 𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗪𝗢 𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗦...
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯: The thing is, the album concept was invented in, what, the sixties ? Before that it was just single songs. People just have this sort of nostalgic attachment to albums. It's a concept that came, and now it's probably going.
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦: When people buy music they buy the songs that they like, and a lot of time, I know from what we've experienced, you buy an album and you many not like all the tracks. It's more consumer orientated and gives you a choice. You're not stuck with the one format. You can do your own mix tape and compilations, and that's a positive thing. I prefer it that way.
𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠𝗦 𝗔𝗦 𝗔 𝗪𝗛𝗢𝗟𝗘, 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗜'𝗗 𝗦𝗔𝗬 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 '𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗜'𝗠 𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚' 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗗, 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗦 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗔 𝗙𝗟𝗢𝗪 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗔 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗣𝗧 𝗜𝗡 𝗜𝗧𝗦 𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗬. 𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗣𝗘𝗢𝗣𝗟𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗟𝗘 𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗦 𝗗𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗦 𝗨𝗣 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗪𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗧𝗥𝗬𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗢 𝗗𝗢?
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦: “There is a part of that, but I think again you've got to modernize what's been done before. You've got to give the costumer that much freedom. I think that's the just the way people think these days; they all think differently. You've opened up an old sort of format, haven't you? It can break something up, especially from an artists point of view. You make a record you want the whole thing there, but if you don't like the tracks you don't like the tracks. End of story.“
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯: “I think we're still part of the album generation in a way. The tracks on the album (Covers) are from various parts, some of them were written six years ago. They span a long period of time, and all inhabit their own little world. Making records, we're still doing that, so you try to make it as much a journey as possible. But what can you do about it, you know? There are going to be negative and positive sides to this whole story. The positive side of this is music is so much more readily available for everyone. Like Steve was talking about the other day, there are records we haven't thought about in years, and shit man, those are probably available now. You're just sitting at the computer and you can get it. It's probably reignited an interest in music for many people:“
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦: “And discovery as well. It's healthy in a way, there is a lot more back catalogue stuff being used.“
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯: “I think we should just get away from this whole nostalgia thing. Just because that's the way it was then doesn't mean it's the way it needs to be now. Technology has changed the way we listen to and consume music. First it was sheet music, then vinyl came and sheet music goes out of business. Then CD's came, and there was the golden era of CD's with record companies just rolling in it. Now the internet, it's just the next phase in the way we consume music. Of course it's going to be "no I don't like this" you know...“
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦: “Music has changed.“
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| Photo credit unknown |
𝗠𝗢𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗬 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗢𝗣𝗜𝗖, 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗚𝗨𝗬𝗦 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗗𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔 𝗩𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗢 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗞𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗕𝗨𝗦𝗛 𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥 '𝗥𝗨𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗨𝗣 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗟' 𝗪𝗛𝗜𝗖𝗛 𝗜𝗡𝗩𝗢𝗟𝗩𝗘𝗦 𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗔 𝗕𝗜𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗙𝗔𝗡 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗣𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡. 𝗪𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗗 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗣𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗘𝗢𝗣𝗟𝗘 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗗𝗢𝗡'𝗧 𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗜𝗧, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗣𝗧 𝗖𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧?
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯: “It's intended to be a tribute to our fans. We left it open for them to sing the track in the close up and we'll edit it all together. It's a cover versions so it's not our track, and this is just a way to bring the fans closer to the band and have some fun moment with it, you know?“
𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗩𝗜𝗥𝗚𝗜𝗡 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗟𝗬 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗜𝗥𝗘𝗗, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗔 𝗟𝗢𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗕𝗨𝗭𝗭 𝗔𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗡 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠 𝗢𝗥 𝗡𝗢𝗧...
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦: “None of your goddamn business.“ (laughs)
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯: “It's too early to call at this point. We try to keep our business and private lives out of the public eye. It's safest that way.“
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦: “We've been burned in the past.“
𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗔´𝗦 𝗙𝗢𝗖𝗨𝗦 𝗦𝗨𝗥𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗕𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗟𝗔𝗥𝗚𝗘𝗟𝗬 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗢𝗟𝗩𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗔𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗦𝗘𝗫𝗨𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬. 𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗣𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗜𝗧'𝗦 𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗔𝗦𝗞 𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗦𝗘 𝗧𝗬𝗣𝗘𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦, 𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝗪𝗛𝗬 𝗗𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗕𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗘𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗦𝗨𝗖𝗛 𝗔 𝗟𝗔𝗥𝗚𝗘 𝗧𝗢𝗣𝗜𝗖 𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗜𝗥 𝗕𝗔𝗡𝗗?
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯: “It's just the easiest aspect to criticize and comment on. We come from a very tabloid, journalism, mentality in England and that's kind of what the world first read about Placebo. They just bought into the character, and it became a character assassination after awhile. I think it's just the superficial, celebrity obsessed, media world we live in right now. There is a shallowness that's become so much more present in the last couple of years. We don't like it, we don't want to be part of it. I think the whole issue of our sexuality and our personal lives have been written about so many times to a point where it's really fucking boring to talk about.“
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦: “It's the day and age of analyzing on anybody. Whether you're famous or not, anybody who's anybody, people want to fucking tear apart. Nature of the beast, really. It's a modernist thing, isn't it? Obsessive.“
𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨'𝗩𝗘 𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗗 𝗜𝗡 𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪𝗦 𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗜𝗦 𝗔 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗢𝗙 𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, 𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨'𝗩𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗗𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗔 𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 𝗡𝗢𝗪. 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗜 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗪𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗦𝗜𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗦, 𝗢𝗥 𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗘𝗩𝗢𝗟𝗩𝗘𝗦 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗔𝗦 𝗬𝗢𝗨'𝗥𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗨𝗣?
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯: “Oh. I think by the nature of not trying to be something we're not, you can still hear in this last album 'Meds', though it's our fifth album, it still sounds like Placebo. There is still a red line that connects it to the first couple of albums. To be honest with you, it's not something we consciously think about when we're writing and recording. If we all hit off on the same ideas and lyrics then that's what becomes a Placebo song. We don't say not that we've done that we have to go off and do our Kid A for example, or we have to sound like the Velvets or the Stones on this one. Now it's cool to do a new wave or an electronic punk album or something, but it's much more organic when it comes to the way that we work. By the fact of not trying to be something that we're not, we're still here. It's not something that we analyze really...“
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦: “We always make music in a vacuum anyway. We never listen to anything else when we're in the studio so there is a sense of purity there. If we all agree then it becomes a Placebo thing. We've never been cool or trendy, so we've never had the problem of having to find the next step. Just really on our own root. Pretty much just the same way as Radiohead, we're just doing our own thing so we never had to contend with what's hip, or worry about it. I think that's been a saving grace of the band.“
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| Photo credit: Robin Sellick |
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯: “We intend to sleep. (laughs) This has been the most intense tour we've ever done with about 130 shows in nine months last year, and we're going to go until September. So when we get off that I think we'll need a bit of a breather.“
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦: “It's been nothing but rock and roll.“
𝗜 𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗢 𝗦𝗢𝗥𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗥𝗘𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗫𝗧 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗨𝗠?
Steve: “No.“ (laughs)
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯: “That's the answer to that one.“
𝗔 𝗣𝗘𝗧 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗝𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗜'𝗩𝗘 𝗗𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪𝗦 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗧𝗢 𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗗𝗘𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗧. 𝗦𝗢 𝗪𝗛𝗬 𝗗𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗚𝗨𝗬𝗦 𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗗𝗢𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗥 𝗗𝗢 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗬𝗢𝗨?
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦: “First and foremost it's about expression. That's the bottom line for me. You have many ways of doing that. From making records comes other things like videos. I've had many channels to produce art but it all stems from expressionist feeling for me.“
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯: “We're very lucky to be doing it, it's not a bad job. Art is art, and everything else is everything else.“
𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧'𝗦 𝗔 𝗚𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗜𝗧, 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗞𝗦 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘. 𝗔𝗡𝗬 𝗖𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧?
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯: “It's good to be back, and hopefully it won't take as long to get back next time.“
(Scene Point Blank, April 2007)
Post by Silke
