🔸⭐OF MEDS AND MEN: AN INTERVIEW WITH BRIAN MOLKO⭐🔸

🔸⭐🔸„𝑰 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔." 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒐🔸⭐🔸

Dear friends, today I have Brian's interview from Toronto, Canada 2007 for you, which is full of very interesting information.
You will learn what Placebo song has become more popular among American fans and why.
And also - why the United States ordered the censorship of the MEDS album.
To make your joy of the evening complete, I share the video of the song mentioned in the article below with you.
🔸𝑬𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈 "𝑹𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑼𝒑 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑯𝒊𝒍𝒍", 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒖𝒙 𝑱𝒂𝒛𝒛 𝑭𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟕, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆💗.🔸

Photo credit: Virgile Biechy

📌 Of Meds and Men: An Interview with Placebo's Brian Molko
Written By: Graham Silnicki

🔸Before the fall of 2006, most North Americans with a passing interest in music knew Placebo as that androgynous band with a couple hit singles from the late '90s ("Pure Morning" and "Every You Every Me," both from 1998's Without You I'm Nothing). They've had something of a cult following here, but most of their popularity has been concentrated in other parts of the world, particularly Europe. But then, as has happened to so many bands, The O.C. brought them into the mainstream spotlight; their cover of Kate Bush's "𝐑𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐔𝐩 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐥" appeared twice in the show's fourth season premiere.
Though the song was originally released in 2003 on a bonus disc with the album Sleeping With Ghosts, the band started including it in their set while touring the UK in early 2006 and eventually released it as a single in October.


🔸"𝑰𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅𝒘𝒊𝒅𝒆," says Placebo's frontman, Brian Molko. "There was The O.C. effect, coupled with the fact that when we were last touring, when we started touring this record, Meds, so many people came up to ask and asked where they could get a hold of the song."


🔸Placebo is currently in their second year of touring behind Meds, the band's most recent studio album. They're in Toronto for a concert at the Kool Haus, and I'm sitting with Molko in a small, oddly decorated club somewhere off the complex's main room. /.../


🔸Molko's looks are much more restrained than the svelte, feminine image that made him something of a poster boy for modern glam almost a decade ago. He's wearing a navy blue button-up shirt with small white polka dots, tight blue jeans, and Converse sneakers (he'll change into dressier black shoes for tonight's show).
His dark hair is cut short and boyish, and at 34, a coat of makeup isn't entirely hiding the touch of age in his face. He chain-smokes Camel Lights and talks softly with a refined British accent. When his band-mates – bassist Stefan Olsdal and drummer Steve Hewitt – walk by, heading to another interview, he turns to look at them, drawing on his cigarette, and says, "𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒖𝒔𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔."


🔸While Meds (their fifth studio effort) came out in most of the world in March 2006, it wasn't released in North America until January 2007.
Molko says that he doesn't mind the delay, since "𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒔𝒎𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒙 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒂𝒚."
But he wasn't happy with all aspects of the album's re-release. Listeners on this side of the Atlantic were treated to a couple bonus tracks ("Running Up That Hill," plus original track "UNEEDMEMORETHANINEEDU"), but the song "𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠" was left off the North American version. Though the situation confused many fans, it was actually Molko who forced the band's management and their U.S. label, Virgin Records, to remove the track.

Photo credit unknown

🔸"𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 '𝒄𝒐𝒄𝒌' 𝒂𝒏𝒅 '𝒅𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒐,''' he explains, suggesting that the conservative ownership of major retailers like Wal-Mart made the label want to censor the material.
"𝑽𝒊𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒃𝒖𝒎, 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝑨𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒌𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, '𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒃𝒖𝒎𝒔.' 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆, '𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒊𝒍, 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍.' 𝑺𝒐 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒓𝒆-𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈."


🔸The rest of Meds, however, survived the re-release. The album isn't much of a departure for the band in terms of material (sex, drugs, etc.) and sound (synthy, menacing, occasionally brash). Meds also keeps with the band's seeming penchant for collaborations (between the stage and the studio, they've teamed up with the likes of David Bowie and Robert Smith in the past); both Alison Mosshart of The Kills and Michael Stipe of R.E.M. have guest spots on the record.


🔸Molko says that the title track was "𝒄𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 – 𝒂 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍." He knew Mosshart through her bandmate, Jamie Hince, with whom he'd been a friend since the two attended university together in the early '90s.
"𝑺𝒐 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝑨𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒗𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕," he recalls.


🔸While the decision to include Mosshart was partly whim, Stipe's guest spot was integral. Molko says that "𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞," the song on which Stipe appears, was written as a duet and wouldn't have gone on the record if the right guest weren't found. The band's known Stipe since 1998, when they appeared in Velvet Goldmine, a film he produced. But the idea to feature him on the track didn't come until a chance run-in at a Paris hotel.


🔸"𝑰𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒅𝒖𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒚," Molko says of Stipe's inclusion, "𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒅, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒎𝒆𝒏? 𝑰𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆, 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏'𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆. 𝑷𝒍𝒖𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑴𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒆𝒍, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒊𝒔…𝒂𝒉𝒉…𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆, 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔, 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒊𝒈𝒖𝒐𝒖𝒔, 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏."


🔸Though provocative material like the duet with Stipe features heavily on Meds, it doesn't necessarily reflect a life that Molko continues to lead. In 2005, he had a son, Cody, with his partner, Helena Berg.
"𝑰𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒚𝒍𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕," he says, admitting that he hasn't written much since the birth and doesn't know whether or not fatherhood will factor in his songwriting. "𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑰'𝒎 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 [𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒓] 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆, 𝒂𝒔 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒔 𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆, 𝒓𝒊𝒑-𝒂-𝒑𝒂𝒈𝒆-𝒐𝒖𝒕-𝒐𝒇-𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓-𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔. 𝑰 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔." /.../
("𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑃𝑂𝑃 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑒", 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑜 2007)

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