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| Photo credit: Joseph Llanes |
๐น๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ 2014, ๐ต๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐ โ๐๐๐๐ก ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
An interview where we find a rather calm and confident Brian, where the promotion of the album almost takes a back seat. It's like getting inside Brian's head in that the topics discussed here are very intimate.
I invite you to enter Brian's soul to find his views on how to find inner peace, what the band really means, his vision of being an artist in his mind.
Enjoy reading ๐
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๐ธ I was thinking that all these years, you have never played indoors in Greece. You always perform in summer. Given that you've generally been playing in big venues and stadiums in recent years, do you ever miss small, dark clubs, like the ones that hosted you in the early years of your career ?
๐ฌ Of course. There's a certain intimacy in small clubs that we sometimes crave for that and we seek it out from time to time. It's quite scary on the one hand because you're so close to so many people, but on the other hand, it's very, very good for a band like ours because it makes us try harder. So we like to combine the two and it's a nice opportunity to get back to our roots a little bit.
๐ธ In general, do you miss things from that first period or are you a person who always looks forward and lives in the present ?
๐ฌ The thing is, the past is the past. And there's nothing you can do to change the past. It is what it is. The future is something you can plan for but not necessarily something you can control. All that really exists is the present. In English, the word "present" also means "gift". So what we're saying is: "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift and that's why we call it a present". And that's exactly how I try to live my life. With every day, every moment. It's not easy, but if you manage to live in the moment without worrying about the past and the future, then you can find peace within yourself. And I think we all seek that, in one way or another. We are all looking for peace of mind, for a certain amount of calm power. We're all looking for a way to feel good in our own skin. It's not always easy, you know, but we can try. Hope is a very important thing.
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| Photo credit: Ollie Milligan |
๐ฌ I think people have a tremendous ability to learn from their mistakes but very often, it's other people who will help you. So it's very important not to isolate yourself. It's important to be vulnerable and to connect with others. To communicate. To have friendships in which you are honest and vulnerable because the more honest and vulnerable you are, the more others can help you. So no matter how many mistakes we make, there is always a huge amount of room to learn from them.
๐ธ Was there a time when you felt really bad and thought about giving it all up ?
๐ฌ There was a crisis in the band, after the Meds Tour, around 2007. It was the moment when we thought that something had to change, otherwise we wouldn't be able to continue. Instead of giving up, we made a brave decision and said we would continue by changing one band member. This allowed us to have a future. At that time it was very traumatic what we were experiencing and a very, very difficult and dark period for us. So we decided to continue and we made Battle for the Sun, an album very happy and hopeful.
๐ธ If for some reason you had to stop what you were doing, what would you do ? Have you ever thought about that ?
๐ฌ I really have no idea, because I've been writing and performing for over 20 years. My whole life is tied up with it and the truth is that I don't know how to do anything else. I can't imagine anything else I could do. It's a very interesting situation though because it shows that what I do is valuable and I have to constantly evolve so that I never lose it.
๐ธ The Battle for the Sun album, as you said, was very happy. I would add extroverted. The last album, Loud Like Love, has a very optimistic title but on the other hand, it contains a lot of tracks that talk about pain and how to heal it. It's much more introspective. Is the internal battle between happiness and loneliness always there ? Is it the curse of the artist ? Can he never calm his mind ?
๐ฌ You're absolutely right in your description of the two albums as well as your interpretation of the artists but I don't think it's every artist's choice. Battle for the Sun was an extroverted album, dynamic, relying too much on strong guitar riffs and at the same time it was the result of a band trying to find a new identity. It was what we had to do at that moment. Something a lot of people don't know is that every time we record a new work, we have an allergic reaction to the previous one and we want to do something completely different. So, when we were making Loud Like Love, we thought okay, we did what we wanted to do, it's gone, it's over, so let's do something different now. Let's do something more colourful, let's do something more vulnerable, let's start anyway and see where it takes us on its own. We're human, we're all struggling not to be alone, we're all struggling to find inner peace, happiness, so we're constantly moving and changing to achieve that. Someone once mentioned something very wise to me, first said by a Buddhist: "Trying to find happiness outside of yourself is like trying to hold on to a cloud." Songwriting is a form of catharsis, it's not something I do as a profession. It's a necessity. So it's also very valuable. It's a form of communication that seeks recipients in the world. People who in turn want to feel that someone understands them and feels the same way. Because when there is that communication, there is the potential to find inner peace.
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| Photo credit: Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza |
๐ฌ What everyone needs to understand is that in order for an artist to move forward, he has to change. Everything in life is constantly changing. The only thing that's real is change. So we have to understand that every artist will always be looking for something new to him, something that will fill him with excitement. Many artists have little patience and want to move on very quickly. Some others don't. For example, the British artist Damien Hirst, can paint a thousand identical paintings and feel fine with it. But other artists, like me, are not like that. We are constantly in need of change. Something pushes us to discover new things. Some get bored, some have a desire to improve what we do. I want to get even better at what I do. I don't think I'm good enough.
๐ธ Really ? Or is it the artist's insecurity speaking ?
๐ฌ I really think I still have a lot to learn. Some may disagree with that, some may not. But I want to be able to play better guitar, better piano, write better songs, and become a better songwriter. And those are all desires that push me forward. And of course I want to experiment with the musical identity of Placebo. That's why I tell you, change is the only constant thing in life. Every moment, even in our bodies, everything changes. If everyone can understand that, it will be very redemptive. A kind of spiritual awakening. Personally I've accepted it and it's a comforting thing. I'm not afraid of change. Some people fear it because they are more comfortable with what they know. I'm not like that.
๐ธ All the new artists that are popping up now, obviously want it all at once and operate with inexperience. You, after so many years in music, what do you think is the number one rule that should never be forgotten by those starting out in music ?
๐ฌ Oh yeah, I know exactly what I'm going to answer. Never ever, ever try to follow fashion. Everything in music changes so fast that by the time you complete a song/album that you want to be in vogue, it's already out of vogue. So the number one rule is to follow your own heart and stay true to your own identity. Only by being yourself will you be able to stand out in the crowd.
✔️ ฮฮฝฯฮนฮณฯฮฝฮท ฮ ฮฌฮฝฯฮฑ-ฮงฮฑฯฮฒฮฌ for popaganda.gr
Translation by Laetitia
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| Placebo at Itunes festival 2014. Photo credit unknown |
If you'd like to know more about this concert, feel free to read a ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐๐ on our blog here --> https://bit.ly/3L3GBKk ๐
♦️ I'd like to share pictures from ๐ฒ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ taken that very night ๐
๐ป https://bit.ly/3KZSH7c ✨
♦️ Mentioning a concert means sharing videos, right ? Here are a few that fans have shared on YouTube. Although the images move around a bit, it's always appreciated ๐
◾ ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐
๐ฅ https://bit.ly/3IOaLiO ๐ธ
◾ ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐
๐ฅ https://bit.ly/3ofxe07 ๐ธ
◾ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐ ๐ป๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐๐
๐ฅ https://bit.ly/35ISrJH ๐ธ
◾ ๐ญ๐๐ ๐พ๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐'๐ ๐พ๐๐๐๐
๐ฅ https://bit.ly/3gfsp2C ๐ธ
◾ ๐ณ๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐๐๐
๐ฅ https://bit.ly/3uevRCW ๐ธ
◾ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ ๐พ๐๐๐๐ ๐
๐ฅ https://bit.ly/3Hqno3o ๐ธ
◾ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐จ ๐ฒ๐๐๐
๐ฅ https://bit.ly/3scoYPH ๐ธ
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Post by Laetitia
