(𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚏𝚊𝚗 𝙾𝚕𝚜𝚍𝚊𝚕, 𝙼𝚃𝚅 𝙰𝚜𝚒𝚊 𝟸0𝟷𝟹)
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| Photo credit: Digital21 and Stefan Olsdal Instagram: Afterdepth Photograph; Edit by Marti |
about a month before Placebo's performance in Singapore during the Loud Like Love tour in 2013, MTV Asia presenter Hanli Hoefer interviewed Stefan Olsdal.
It is clear that the questions revolved around the new album and especially around the burning topic of social networks.
I share this conversation with Hanli's preface, because I just like it.
As she herself stated - "overall, Stefan was well mannered, friendly, conversational and incredible thoughtful. I enjoyed my time speaking to him."
I would also like to point out that there is one small mistake in the transcript that I did not dare to correct - Placebo first played in Singapore in 1999 and since then in 2006 and 2010. The text should probably have written "first" not "last".😊
So enjoy today's reading.
By the way, how do you like Stefan with a mustache as a porn star from the 70's? 😁
You may not know that this photo was taken during the Movember charity campaign.
But we'll talk about it some other time.
💢𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐅𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐋𝐒𝐃𝐀𝐋, 𝐌𝐓𝐕 𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐀💢
𝙿𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝙹𝚞𝚕𝚢 𝟷𝟿𝚝𝚑, 𝟸0𝟷𝟹 𝙰𝚝 𝟽:0𝟿 𝚙𝚖 𝙱𝚢 𝙷𝚊𝚗𝚕𝚒 𝙷𝚘𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚛
Hey guys!
Last week I had a phone interview with Stefan Olsdal, bassist and guitarist from the alternative rock band, Placebo.
I like Placebo, I don’t have any of their full albums but I do listen to a handful of their songs.
My top 3 favorites are: “Every You Every Me,” “Running Up That Hill,” and “Post Blue.”
The questions I asked him were mainly revolved around their up coming album, Loud Like Love. He described the album as the most colorful and honest album they’ve made to date. The first single, “Too Many Friends,” is based on the changing norms of society especially with the influence with social media.
When talking to him about the message behind the song we touched on the topic of social media as a whole and he brought up a very thought provoking point which was that, primarily, privacy is sacred. What you share may hurt you and at the same time how do we know whether social media is actually bringing us closer or isolating us.
Stefan shared with me that Brian (Molko) and himself don’t actually have a social media account of any sorts.
He did have one before but then felt as if he was being invaded by all these people asking to be his friend so he shut it down because he felt like it was in a way, emotional blackmail.
“There is a reason I’m not in touch with these people any more,” said Stefan. I find it a very different and interesting way to look at social media, as opposed to, “Oh I haven’t seen or heard anything from this person in ages, let me check up how they’ve been!
One thing that I find very interesting about Placebo is that Brian and Stefan are incredibly multilingual.
Stefan speaks Swedish, English, French, German and Spanish.
Actually, you can find many Placebo radio interviews online that’s done completely in European languages.
And when the conversation lightened up in the end, I asked him a fun question: “What trend would you like to bring back?”
He actually answered: “Mustaches. A strong porn ‘stache from the ’70s.” Very nice!
Overall, Stefan was well mannered, friendly, conversational and incredible thoughtful. I enjoyed my time speaking to him.
The full interview is typed up as a transcript below so read away!
In the mean time, power to the peo- just kidding. Take care you guys!
- 𝑯𝒂𝒏𝒍𝒊
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Photo credit: Gwen
🔸𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭🔸
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| Photo credit: Gwen |
🔸𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒖𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒂𝒍𝒃𝒖𝒎, 𝑳𝒐𝒖𝒅 𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒊𝒕?
Stefan: It’s Placebo’s 7th record and probably our most colorful and honest album to date.
🔸𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒃𝒖𝒎?
S: Itʼs funny how the first two songs – “Loud Like Love” and “Bosco” – are the first and last track of the album. They seem to set a bookends for the theme and for the vibe, sound and feel of the record. “Loud Like Love” is an upbeat song, and “Bosco” is exposing the dark side of relationships and love. Also music style Loud like love is up beat, whilst Bosco is introverted and a stripped down piano track.
🔸𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒃𝒖𝒎?
S: Itʼs difficult. “Too Many Friends” was the one that jumped out at me and Brian as being the first single and it also channeled our love for old ’80s epic pop tracks, like “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” So it seemed like the perfect first single. Personally I think “Bosco” is an achievement for the band for it transcends what we imagined Placebo to sound like. It’s something that sounds like we haven’t gone to that space before, vulnerable and emotional.
🔸𝑻𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 “𝑻𝒐𝒐 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝑭𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔,” 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒄𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝑭𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒑𝒂𝒈𝒆, 𝑰ʼ𝒎 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈.
S: You touched on something that we relate to – privacy. Neither me or Brian are engaged in social media.
I set up a Facebook account then I immediately shut it down. I felt, first of all, that I was being invaded by all these people who wanted to be my friend and there is a reason Iʼm not in touch with these people anymore.
(It felt) almost like an emotional black mail, asking to be my friend. And I donʼt like to over expose myself. You put yourself in a vulnerable position.
Iʼve seen a lot of people to share their lives on social media and get really hurt by it. So the song questions the nature of friendship with these new “cyber friends.”
The big question is – Is it really bringing people closer together or is it isolating people? Considering the fact that people spend more time at home in front of the computer then interacting face to face.
🔸𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆!
S: Yeah! I even find myself reaching for my phone during social events. It has led to this new compulsion and there are treatments for internet addicts.
It’s a technological lifestyle change that is happening so fast I think its hard for us to say what effect its having to society and what the long terms affects may be.
It’s a really interesting formula and that’s what Too many friends touches upon.
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| Photo credit: Joseph Llanes |
𝑨 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒆𝒔, 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆?
S: I mean its interesting because I think there isn’t a singular music movement at the moment.
Like you say electronic dance music, that is happening in various parts of the world. I have friends from the States who are all “Hey man, have you heard this EDM?”
And Iʼm all like, “What? Yeah, we had that in Europe 20 years ago!”
Whats happening in Europe now is that the banjo is becoming quite popular every band has a banjo on their album.
So I don’t really see it as a global trend anymore with so many different outlets for music, with internet tv and internet radio.
Everything is out there and it’s much easier to listen to variety of music. For us, if you look at our history we never try to follow another sound or a band. Intrinsically, we feel that if you try to be something you are not, youʼre not going to get all the way there, you only become a copy of whatʼs out there.
If you follow a trend, by the time you end your record the trend has passed and itʼs like your shooting yourself in the foot. Basically we try to do what feels right for us, and so doing weʼve carved out our own little path.
🔸𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒆?
S: Yes, we are! That’s the part of touring we enjoy the most! We’ve performed in Singapore a few times I think the last was in 1999.
There were some issues with cross dressing and it got heated politically. But yes, we do want to come back to play. We have good memories there, and we love playing in places where we have a history with and Singapore is definitely one of those places.
🔸𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐? 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒊𝑷𝒐𝒅?
S: Iʼve been listening to Sigur Rosʼ new album. They are this Icelandic band. I also listen to an English singer/songwriter named James Blake. It tends to not be rock music, it tends to not be loud.
Something more contemplative, something to get lost in, something that does not follow the conventional pop structure with singing on it.
Some instrumental piano music by modern day classical composers.
🔸𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈!
S: You know, it gets tiring to listen to the type of music you make yourself.
🔸𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒚𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒆?
S: The mustache! The ’70s porn mustache. Thereʼs something about it. It can look very wrong but when you have a guy that carries it off, it is a look that can be really attractive and sexy.
🔸𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒙𝒚! 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒍. 𝑪𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝑨𝒔𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔?
S: No, I’ve not spent enough time in Asia to pick anything up.
🔸𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝑺𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔?
S: Iʼm Swedish by birth so I speak Swedish. I was educated in English so I speak English. I grew up in a French and German speaking country so I speak French and German. My partner is Spanish so I learnt that.
🔸𝑨𝒏𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑨𝒔𝒊𝒂?
S: We’ll see you very soon!
Post by Marti
