🔸 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐙𝐄𝐂𝐇 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐔𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐂 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟕 – 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 🔸

⭐"𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐, 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑼𝑵 𝒐𝒓 𝑵𝑨𝑻𝑶." 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒐⭐

Photo credit: Kerry Torres

Dear friends,
in 2007, the band Placebo visited the Czech Republic on their MEDS tour. From this event, we have an edited video from the concert on YT and also an interview that Brian provided to the Czech media.
Enjoy today the translation of this interview as well as the concert memory of the band's dark times before drummer Steve Hewitt had to leave the band after long disagreements.


🔸🎶 You can see the edited recording from this show here, the first 10 minutes is the performance of the Finnish supporting band ManBoy:
https://bit.ly/3oXfSov

In the end, you can see a bit of the interview that Brian gave right before the concert. Unfortunately, the entire record is not available.


⭐𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐌𝐎𝐋𝐊𝐎: 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤⭐
The British trio Placebo stopped in Brno on tour with their new album Meds on Tuesday. Concertgoers could see that singer Brian Molko (34) is no longer a make-up being of indefinite gender.


𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑏𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒. 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑢𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙?
BM: "I happen to remember that exactly. I was thirteen, my mom and I went shopping, and I was sitting in the car in the passenger seat.
At that time, I really enjoyed the first album of the band Violent Femmes. I sang aloud to a song, and at one point I realized that my voice sounded exactly like the voice of their singer, Gordon Gan. I said to myself: Hey, maybe you could sing, you have a voice for it!"


𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑦 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒?
BM: "By agreeing on several things, such as a change of interests, boredom, dissatisfaction. At school, I played, directed, and made films ...
I only came close to imagining what I wanted to do by making movies, otherwise I felt that it didn't suit me to be a character in a story made up by someone else.
But I still found the shooting laborious. It didn't have the same magic of the moment as when you hit the strings of an electric guitar and there is a noise and you immediately see the reaction of the people.Thanks to music, you can create your unique universe on the stage."


𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 - ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑑𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒?
BM: "It doesn't matter how I feel, but when you ask, it's something between embarrassment and flattery.
Embarrassment, because in those ten years I have committed several crimes against fashion ..."


𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒?
BM: "For example, leggings with a leopard pattern which I had on the Top Of The Pops show, I don't think was the best idea.
I could have chosen something more moderate ... On the other hand, I'm not sorry at all that I started to dress as a woman in my time, it was great fun.
But to those fans - you know, there's no theater on stage for me, it's more of one of my faces, a side of my personality.
Exhibitionist, a flashy part of me that needs to be seen. I don't want to be like that in everyday life, but it's convenient that there is a place where I can express myself. Ninety minutes four times a week on stage is enough for me."

Placebo live in California, USA. Photo credit unknown

𝑆𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑒? 𝐴𝑠 𝑎 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑠 ...
BM: "There aren't that many... But I also have no great desire to star in a movie. After all, I also don't make hip-hop records, in this style it's common to have simultaneous careers in film and music. I'm quite good at what I do - being a musician and a singer, writing songs. I want to focus on that and improve. I used to have a lot of offers about movies, but mostly to play vampires or someone like that. It does not interest me. And I also think that a musician who wants to be an actor has to be careful. I'll sum it up in one word - Madonna ..."


𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑏𝑜, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠. 𝐷𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑢𝑝 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑦?
BM: "In fact, it would be enough for me not to have to go to work ... That was my driving force from the beginning - that I would earn rent and food without having to sit somewhere in the office.
I wouldn't mind if we didn't sell so many records, it would be enough for me to survive. The whole meteoric rise was just a pleasant surprise. The problem is that flying up is not nearly as difficult as staying there. So each new record must be a better art work than the previous one. You can't stay where you are, repeat yourself."


𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑏𝑜 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 ...
BM: "Sure, but we haven't slept together in a long time, we're only in the band for the money!"

Photo credit unknown

𝐷𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑢𝑒?
BM: "Still. For ten years in Placebo, we are qualified to work for the UN or NATO.
We have become masters of diplomacy, we know how to deal with each other, we know all the important tricks. It would be an interesting sociological study. Watching a dysfunctional relationship between three guys who have talent but also difficult problems. They have to stay together for ten years and spend more time together than with the people they sleep with. It's a very strange relationship, something like a surrogate family."


𝐵𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑛𝑠 - 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒-𝑢𝑝 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑛𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑠. 𝐷𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢? 𝐷𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑐 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑦?
BM: "We are definitely not music for the party and I have this impression for quite a while. I want to make more serious music.
The topics on the last two records, in my opinion, had their depth. It is not easy to talk about human emotions, emotional violence, identity issues or the feeling that you have not found your place in the world, but it is precisely these aspects of human existence that interest me.
I think Placebo has always had a strong flavor of melancholy, I call it happily sad music. Things that make you cry, but at the same time you are happy that you are alive and you can feel something like that at all. A large part of our fans have grown up with our music. At the same time, we see very young people in the front row who were about five years old when we started. I'm glad that those who loved our debut when it came out are still with us. But I'm also glad that guys in their thirties, by which I mean us, have something to say to fifteen-year-olds. However, I try my best not to think about it - I would start consciously trying to do what should go naturally to a person."
(𝐿𝑖𝑑𝑜𝑣𝑘𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑔., 𝐽𝑢𝑛𝑒 2007)

Pist by Marti