๐น ๐ซ๐๐ ๐ช๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐ is a French biography about ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ written by ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐๐ in 2005. He's a radio journalist. He has been a journalist since 1999 on Chรฉrie FM in Angers and a music critic.
Apart from ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, he did write the biographies of many others artists as ๐ท๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐ผ๐๐๐๐โ๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐โ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐๐.
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| Photo credits: Sebastien Michaud unknown, Book cover by Corbis / edit by Laetitia |
The biography is illustrated with Carole Epinette's photographs and live pictures from Zรฉnith in Paris (2001), Olympia (2003) for example, except the cover which is edited by Corbis.
๐น Here's an interview of the author done before the book was removed from sales.
๐ ๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง: ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ข๐๐๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐จ'๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ก๐ฒ?
๐ฌ Before starting to write a biography, I ask myself three questions: which artists do you like so much that you spend several hours writing about them every day? Which artists do not yet have a serious and detailed biography on the French market? And finally, which of them have a career worth developing in several hundred pages? Placebo met all three criteria! It's a band with a unique sound, a strong image and a rich history... In short, it was time to do something about them!
๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ญ, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฐ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ง ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ฌ, ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐๐ง'๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ?
๐ฌ Yes, the Placebo bio is my third book. At the beginning of 2002, I published a biography about Depeche Mode, รthique Synthรฉtique. They've been my cult band since I was fifteen! A fan's dream that I absolutely wanted to fulfill... It was when I discovered Indochine's return to the forefront the following year that I had the idea of my second biography... I knew that Nicola Sirkis was a big fan of DM, so I sent him a copy of it along with a letter asking him if he would collaborate on a bio of Indo, on the same model... He showed up three weeks later, really enthusiastic, and thanks to him, the latest Indochine bio was born, Insolence rock... It was the time (and still is, by the way! ) when Indo fans were also very interested in Placebo... I didn't hesitate for long... I also collaborated on an "essay" on Bjรถrk, La Fรฉe Septentrion. All these books are available from Camion Blanc.
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| Translation of the quote down below. Photo credit: Carole Epinette |
๐๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐จ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ?
๐ฌ As I explained above, I write about the artists I like. I've already seen Placebo several times: in 97, for the Rock ร Paris festival, in Nantes and at the Vieilles Charrues on the Black Market Music tour, as well as at the Olympia, at the Benicassim festival, at the Werchter festival and at Wembley for the last album...
I already briefly met the band in 1997, but at the time I was far from imagining that I would dedicate a bio to them... It was in Paris, after their concert at the Elysรฉe Montmartre. I was in the courtyard of the hotel where Depeche Mode was, on a promotional tour in Paris. With some fans, we were there to take pictures, and the Placebo guys arrived a few moments after the DM guys... It was a coincidence! I just had time to say hello to Brian... Steve, on the other hand, came down to talk to us for about ten minutes. At first he thought we were Placebo fans! A very nice guy in any case... Otherwise, I sent copies of my DM and Indochine bio to Brian, last year, through a French EMI representative... I know he received them by hand, but unlike Sirkis, I never got an answer.
๐๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐จ๐ง, ๐ฐ๐ก๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐จ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ก ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ ?
๐ฌ Like any "cult" band, Placebo already has an extremely charismatic singer, someone who has perfectly understood that great rock bands are often more than a simple association of good musicians... You also need the flashes, the provocative phrases in the press, the look, a writing style and a philosophy of life that can touch the maximum number of people... Well, those who are interested in rock anyway! It's the combination of all that. And beyond all that, Placebo is one of the only bands, over the last ten years, to have preserved its musical qualities intact, while evolving... The result: an impressive number of great songs that we'll still be humming in ten, or even twenty years... It's not given to everyone to be able to produce so many "classics" in a few years.
๐๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ก๐๐ ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ค๐จ'๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ, ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐๐ก ๐จ๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฌ๐ ? ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ง๐?
๐ฌ Sensitive, human (with all the qualities and faults that entails...) and also a bit "crazy", like any great artist... It's hard to answer the question for the other two: they are much less easy to understand because of their under-exposure to the media... Steve seems to me to be a rather simple person, Stefan too.
๐ฌ "Without You I'm Nothing": without hesitation! It's Placebo's first big metamorphosis from raw, stripped down rock to something much more complex and worked out... Each track develops a particular mood but at the same time there's a real sense of unity in this album. It's not just a collection of songs thrown together by chance... It's really an intimate, coherent, sometimes violent, disillusioned notebook, with an incredibly sincere tone.
๐๐๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ค ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค. ๐๐ก๐ ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ก๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ "๐๐ข๐ง, ๐๐๐ฑ & ๐ ๐ฎ๐ง". ๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐๐ง'๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ค๐๐๐ฉ ๐ข๐ญ ?
๐ฌ My publisher wanted a title in French, more understandable to the general public. I understand it a little better in retrospect. And then all the other titles in the Camion Blanc collection are in French.
๐๐๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ง "๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐ง๐ฌ" ?
๐ฌ " Des cadences " because the band has hardly stopped working during its 10 years of career, while living a very " sex, drugs and rock'n'roll " career... " Decadence ", then... and " des maux " : Brian's " ills " which show through in his lyrics, his fragility, his inner conflicts... All this is translated into " words "... I like this kind of title which forces you to question yourself.
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ก๐ฒ? ๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐๐ข๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค?
๐ฌ Seven months, including the corrections. What is difficult in writing a biography like this is to synthesize all the information available for a given period. You have to try not to fall into the endless enumeration of anecdotes... But the most difficult thing, above all, is to talk about the band's music, to try to describe it, even though I myself have no musical training... Knowing how to transcribe your own emotions, what you hear, without falling into a too personal approach. Because a musical bio should not only talk about sales figures and the singer's moods: you have to explain why the music is unique, touching, and make people who don't know the band want to go to the record shop.
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| Translation of the quote down below. Photo credit: Carole Epinette |
๐ฌ I already had a lot of articles about the band (I've been buying a lot of rock magazines for over fifteen years). And then there's also my personal knowledge of the events, through what I've seen and heard of the band since its beginnings, or heard from certain fans. Finally, there are also radio and television interviews, listening to some pirate records... As the band did not want to collaborate, it was difficult to proceed in another way.
๐๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฌ (๐ฉ๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฃ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ) ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ? ๐'๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐...
๐ฌ I contacted Carole after seeing some of her photos on your website... She immediately accepted the project. She is a very nice person. And the advantage is that she knew the band from the beginning... So we didn't have to go around looking for pictures covering the whole career of the band. Otherwise, I didn't have any other contacts. Nicola Sirkis was to write the preface to the book. He was very interested in the idea at the beginning... Then he finally told me he was working on the new Indo album, and that he couldn't meet the deadline... Too bad... Anyway, it was nice of him, and I hope it will happen when we'll consider re-releasing the book.
๐๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ก๐จ๐ฉ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ก ๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐๐๐ซ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐จ ๐๐๐ง๐ฌ?
๐ฌ I was talking about Indochine just now... I think that part of their audience is also Placebo's... Otherwise, this book is as much for fans as for people who don't know the band and who want to know more... I tried to please everyone. Anyway, Placebo has an ever-growing audience.
๐ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ค๐จ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐, ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ก๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ? ๐๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ , ๐ฆ๐๐ฒ๐๐, ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ.
๐ฌ I don't know... I find it hard to believe. Placebo is a band that sells millions of records and must not be very interested in this kind of private initiative anymore. Brian, in particular, is someone who seems to be very concerned by the control of his image: I don't know if some of my comments, if my subjective tone about his character and the image of his band will necessarily please him. An artist necessarily has a vision of himself different from what he can read or hear. Brian, if you read me: I'm open to any criticism!!! Don't hesitate to give me a call, my contact details are available at the Camion Blanc !!!
(๐น๐ด๐ฐ๐ง๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ฐ.๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ต 2006)
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| Translation of the quote down below. Photo credit: Carole Epinette |
More details about why the book has been removed from stores:
https://bit.ly/3pPc8ar
After it was removed, the prices became 'crazy' ! The most expensive I saw was 144 € ! But you can now easily find it at a reasonable price ;)
๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐ (2003)
๐ฅ https://bit.ly/3r0fkPM ๐ต๐
QUOTES
"Without the Pixies, Nirvana would never have existed. And without Nirvana... The Pixies were one of the greatest rock bands in the world. And this song, in particular, is a wonder, as if it were an evidence. The chorus alone, "Where is my mind?" is enough to make it essential."
Stefan Olsdal
"I find it strange to be worshipped in this way, because the fans can't know who you really are. I don't feel very comfortable with that, and sometimes I feel like cutting myself off from the world. When you start believing in your own myth, you become arrogant and megalomaniac. That's why I play with preconceived ideas and insult myself. Before others do it. Music is an exorcism."
Brian Molko
"I wouldn't say we feel pressure, because we all love what we do. We maintain a balance. It's true that we're getting tired of playing shows. We have less and less free time and more and more shows, but really I shouldn't complain. (...) We've got a lot of new material in the pipeline, but it's in its very preliminary stages at the moment. There's not much time to settle down and analyse the good vibes. But we hope to start recording in January."
Steve Hewitt
Translation of the quotes by Laetitia
Post by Laetitia
