I hope the second part will please you as much as the first ^^ ๐ธ
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| Photo credit: Jean Baptiste Mondino, unknown, edit by Laetitia |
๐ฌBrian: I think it's the best acoustic session we've done.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Really ?
๐ฌBrian: Yeah, yeah. There's some magic.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: I think it deserves to be on the B-side of a single.
๐ฌBrian: We already have a studio version of Plasticine. We'll see. We'll arrange for the tapes.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: You've already got the CD that we burned for you.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Just have a question before we take a break: Loretta asks if you're going to play Peeping Tom again at the next shows?
๐ฌBrian: For the moment, we're leaving Peeping Tom aside to make room for the new songs, the ballads from the new album, to have a little bit of time on stage. Maybe that song will come back. It's taking a holiday at the moment.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Ok. Another question for you: are you still planning to remix the Sneakers Pimps' Loretta Young Silks?
๐ฌBrian: Well yeah. We didn't really have time. It was difficult. I'm not sure if it's already out as a single. If it's already out, we missed the opportunity. But they're still good mates of ours and it would have been great. But we thought about remixing Indochine too, but we didn't have the time either.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: So wait... Question about Indochine before taking a break. Everybody wonders, as you're pretty good friends with Nicolas, if there would be a common title: Placebo/Indochine? Is that possible?
๐ฌBrian: I don't know. Maybe we'll do a version of Bonnie and Clyde together.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Ok that would be a good idea. A Gainsbourg's song. A Bonny and Clyde cover, Placebo/Indochine, that would be good.
๐ฌBrian : But there is no project to do that at the moment but you never know, we get along very well.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Ok, a short break and we'll be back (...)
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: I have a question on the chat: as you speak French well, and you have such a charming accent at the same time, could you participate in an album of covers of Gainsbourg or Jacques Brel songs? Would that be in the realm of possibility?
๐ฌBrian: It could be interesting, but for me it's hard to write in French because I don't read enough, I don't speak enough. But my accent is not bad so maybe it could be done. There might be a compilation of English versions of Gainsbourg songs coming out with Les Inrocks soon.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: On which you are participating in a track.
๐ฌBrian: Yeah, we're working on a track at the moment.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Which one?
๐ฌBrian: We're working on Melody Nelson at the moment.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Melody Nelson.
๐ฌBrian: Yeah. Something very sacred I think.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Yeah, yeah it's sacred actually.
๐ฌBrian: But writing, I find it difficult but you never know. I'd like to do that. During the break we were talking about Nina Simone who did a version of Brel's Ne Me Quitte Pas which is incredible with a very very heavy accent but it's really very charming.
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| Photo credit: Helena Berg |
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Note Bowie tried his hand at Amsterdam with an accent...
๐ฌBrian: Yeah he did Heros in German too.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Yeah and Peter Gabriel sang in German too, you know. Since we're talking about influence, you have reference points where you talk about Gainsbourg, Jacques Brel, where you talked about Janis Joplin earlier, what are your reference points? Can we talk about the Doors, the Velvet Underground, The Cure? Listening to your last album, two/three sounds that sound very Cure on Disintegration.
๐ฌBrian: The Cure and The Smiths were the soundtrack to every afternoon when it rained in Luxembourg. The rainy afternoons of my teenage years so it's still there, a little bit in our music. There's Sonic Youth too, PJ Harvey, The Pixies, Jane's addiction.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: And you cover Where is my mind by the Pixies on stage?
๐ฌBrian: Yeah, we've covered it for a few shows.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Ok, and you're gonna do it again?
๐ฌBrian : We don't know, we don't know, we don't really like to do the same covers for people because they "expect" so...
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Ok. What about Steve for example, what are his influences?
๐ฌBrian: What influences baby, Stevie ?
๐ฌSteve: Pretty much the same as Brian actually. Public Ennemy, Sly & the Family Stone. Earth Wind and Fire.
๐ฌBrian: Tom Waits.
๐ฌSteve: Nick Cave, Captain Beefheart.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: And Stefan?
๐ฌStefan: When I was a kid, for me it was ABBA, all the time, disco too, like Boney M.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Yes, so you covered Boney M, it just came out, so where did the idea come from? Is it you Stefan?
๐ฌStefan: It came from the three of us, because we all three grew up in the 80s. And in the band, Steve is the Daddy Cool because he has a little girl. But it's a joke.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: But it worked, it's a bonus track on one of the singles that you guys release.
๐ฌBrian : But it will never be released as a single...
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐ : Yeah, believe me I have it. It's coming out everywhere, and believe me, people who listen and who do a bit of radio have already fallen for this track anyway (...)
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: A question Loriane.
๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฒ: Yes, it's about the Desert Sessions by Queen Of The Stone Age. There's a rumour that you might be involved?
๐ฌBrian: We might be involved. The offer is still on the table but we haven't had a chance to go back to the States to do it yet. If we're all together in the States, Queen, Josh and us, it could happen. It's an open invitation. I know he recently worked with Polly Harvey on the sessions. At the moment they've taken a bit of a break. We're still friends so it could happen.
๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฒ: Would you be interested?
๐ฌBrian: Sure. What's interesting is that not everyone who participates has to play their instrument of choice.
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| Photo credit: Jรฉrรดme Brรฉzillon |
๐ฌBrian: How techno crazy are we ? Do you take your computer with you ?
๐ฌSteve: I am a technophobe completely. Useless.
๐ฌBrian: Steve is a technophobe. Stef is the most internet savvy of the three of us.
๐ฌStefan: That's true. But it's not very difficult.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: You Brian ?
๐ฌBrian: I had a computer and it stayed in the box for two years. I just got it out and now I have broadband. I'm just starting to use it. There's a lot of porn...
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: The first time you go on the internet is for your hobbies. Thank you, you're burnt out.
Another song we like on Sleeping With Ghosts is English Summer Rain.
๐ฌBrian: Cool.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Can you explain how it came about?
๐ฌBrian: First time we're going to hear this on the radio. We took a break. We bought some digital and identical studio equipment and started working on it. This is the second song I started working on during that eight month break between touring and studio. I've been listening to a lot of Hip Hop, Dr Dre and DJ Shadow. The demo was created in a DJ Shadow atmosphere.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: And it turned out to be a bit 'Cure' I repeat.
๐ฌBrian : Do you hear some Cure in English Summer Rain?
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Yes, a little bit. On Fascination Street by Disintegration, the bass that... Well, all right (...)
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Questions on the internet: What do you think of Nirvana?
๐ฌBrian: Nirvana? We love it of course, it's a legendary and influential band, incredible. Everybody should love Nirvana.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Yeah, it's a landmark, in music anyway. There's talk of a Bauhaus influence too somewhere, is that...
๐ฌBrian: Bauhaus? Well, I don't have a Bauhaus record, I never had one. I never really listened to Bauhaus or Peter Murphy so it's possible but it's probably an accident.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Right.
๐ฌBrian: But everyone knows the Ziggy Stardust cover and Bela Lugosi's Dead and stuff like that but I never had any of their records at home.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Right. A purely aesthetic question, Brian: "Every album you have your hair shortened, is that a gamble?"
๐ฌBrian: No not really but I think it's important to stay one haircut ahead of your fans.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Yeah, okay. So does that mean that when your fans come to see you at your gigs: short hair?
๐ฌBrian: Well you can always cut your hair but you can't force it to grow, that's the problem. I had short hair on holiday and then I ended up making an album and what can you do but wear a wig.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Yeah no it's fine you look good.
๐ฌBrian : Thanks.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Don't wear a wig (...)
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: So why does it end so abruptly? A bit like I Want You (She's So Heavy) by the Beatles.
๐ฌBrian: That was Jim Abbiss' idea. I have a pretty crude metaphor, but I'm not going to say it on the radio.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Yes, please do, it's after 11pm.
๐ฌBrian: Well it's when you pull your finger out of your ass, it goes a little bit like this.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: That was a nice metaphor. There's another metaphor in French that says: "I'm going to Kรคrcher your cave".
๐ฌBrian : I didn't know that one...
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Ok. And the genesis of that track we just heard from the album? (Protect Me From What I Want)
๐ฌBrian: It was written at the very end of the Black Market Music session and it was more of an "exorcism" song. Songs that come out, that you almost throw up, without really having to do much work intellectually and writing on them. It's almost stream of consciousness. When you have something inside you that is so unbearable that you have to get it out. We were making music so it was natural for me to get those emotions out in that way. It was a kind of exorcism, a kind of therapy I guess.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: When you start a recording session, well an introduction that will maybe last... How long did it take to record the album?
๐ฌBrian: It took four months over a six month period. Black Market Music took nine months. This time we wanted to do it in a quicker way, just had to make decisions early on that's all.
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| Photo credit unknown |
๐ฌBrian: It's more if there's a Queens of The Stone Age gig the day before. We don't do much the day after. It happened while we were doing the... We went to see the Queens play with Dave Grohl on drums. It was maybe the 20th time we saw them play but it was really something amazing.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: I have a few more questions coming up: "What do you think of U2?"
๐ฌBrian: We always loved U2 and still do. When we toured with U2 it was like being part of the biggest circus in the world. It was a great experience.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: What about the relationship you had with them even though you were the opening act?
๐ฌBrian: Yeah they are very very generous, they are very friendly. We even went on their private jet and stuff, it was nice.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: There's no problem of "I'll turn the sound down for you at the beginning, I'll mess up your sound a little bit"?
๐ฌBrian : I think all the opening acts are always not so loud because the ears of the U2 fans have come...
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: To listen to U2.
๐ฌBrian: Yeah they came for that. But they've been very, very nice.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: A question about the venues: "Do you like the Olympia as a venue?"
๐ฌBrian: We love it. I came out of the Olympia last week crying. It was a very emotional thing for me. It's a fantastic thing.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Another question a bit symbolic: "What do you think of the French public? I know that the French public is always very warm. There was a shot today on the Champs at Virgin, I heard it was quite friendly. How do you perceive the French public?
๐ฌBrian: It's an enormously generous audience, they've accepted us with open arms from the first day of Placebo. Placebo and the French public share a very, very continental romanticism and it's also because we grew up with the French culture that there is a bond.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: So for those who have listened to you and discovered you tonight and those who love you and have known you for a long time, what would you have to say to them? If you had a word to say to them?
๐ฌBrian : We rock!
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: So before we leave, Brian and Stef, you chose a record. This is Steve's choice.
๐ฌSteve: The Kills.
๐ฌBrian: The Kills, it's a new band but we've known Jami, Hotel, that's his name in this band, for a long time. I've known him for 13 years, we went to university together. We toured a lot with his old bands. He really found an artistic partner in Alisson and he has something very incredible. We went to see them in Cologne last week and it was a bit like watching the Velvet Underground or something. It was really something so special and so unique that now we're all about the Kills and he's a very, very good friend of ours. It makes us very, very happy that he makes music like that.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Good music. There's a band that we've been playing for a few days in Pop Rock Station that will be your opening act I think on the UK tour. It is ...
๐ฌBrian: The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Yeah. It's got the nostalgia of rockabilly and at the same time the potency of punk.
๐ฌBrian : That's true, yes.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: This is for the UK tour. Is there a band planned for the French tour?
๐ฌBrian: I think we're playing with Operator who played with us at the Olympia. Yeah it's almost definite, almost.
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| Photo credit: Oliver Bernardt |
๐ฌBrian: Thank you very much, we really enjoyed it and thank you for the session it was really...
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Well done for the album and for the session on our side too it was really... Hooray for the music.
๐ฌBrian : Yeah. Thank you very much.
๐ญ๐ฒ́๐ด๐๐: Thank you for stopping by.
๐ฌBrian: Thanks Francis.
⭐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐
๐ฅ https://bit.ly/3EdeeVw
⭐๐ท๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ท๐๐ ๐น๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐́๐๐๐, ๐๐ ๐๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐ข https://bit.ly/3H0udrD ๐ต๐
Post by Laetitia
Translation and transcription by Laetitia
