In September 1998 an interview with Brian and Steve Hewitt was printed in Discover magazine. It's a long article, so I split it in two halfs. Here's the first part of the translation. Enjoy reading!
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| Photo credit: LUZ Photo Agency |
๐๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ'๐ฉ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ ๐ฆ๐๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ง ๐๐๐๐จ๐ ?
๐ข ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐ฃ: “The first album, in our opinion, was full of energy and radiated a bright beauty. The new album is more emotional, more intense, goes more in the direction of loneliness and hopelessness. It's like coming down after a euphoric high, a kind of first depression.”
๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ง๐ข ๐ ๐๐ก๐...
๐ข ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐ฃ: “Yes, if the first album was about sex, then the second one is about the unpleasant consequences of it or a relationship in general. There were a lot of love songs on the first album and actually I wanted to write more about other things on the second album, but I had a lot of fucked-up-relationships in the meantime and I couldn't really get away from that thematically. So I had to put those impressions on paper somehow.”
๐๐จ๐ง ๐ง๐๐๐ง'๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฆ ๐ช๐๐๐.
๐ข ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐ฃ: “Right. That also comes from the change in the line-up, Steve Hewitt left the band but then came back and with him we gained confidence in our songwriting. I suddenly dared to write more complex stuff, we gained more confidence in our technical abilities on our instruments and so we wanted to try more and more. We're pushing our limits more often now. With Steve in the band, the atmosphere within the group has become a bit more familiar and intimate again. Somehow it's like 'Placebo Mark II', a new chapter, a new era.”
๐ช๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ๐ง [๐ฆ๐๐๐จ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ๐] ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐ง๐ช๐ข ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ? ๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ง ๐ช๐๐ง๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐๐จ๐ ๐ช๐๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ก๐.
๐ข ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐ฃ: “We just couldn't make music together anymore because our relationship had sunk to a very general level. But Placebo is not a music purpose group, so Robert left the band. After that, we started looking for a new drummer, but we couldn't find one who fit that quickly. So I made Steve an offer he just couldn't refuse, so he left Breed and came back to us.”
๐ข ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐: “He threatened to beat me up, and well, here I am.”
๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ฉ๐, ๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ ๐๐ก๐ฉ๐ข๐๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ก ๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ก๐๐ช๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐ง๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ช ๐ฅ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ก๐?
๐ข ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐: “Yeah, after all, I've been back at it for two years, just after the first tour for our first album. We've been working on the new album for a long time, coming up with new ideas every now and then, experimenting and discarding a lot of things. But we also noticed during the first rehearsal sessions that we can communicate well with each other.”
๐ข ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐ฃ: “Yes, we are constantly pushing ourselves. We are already developing new ideas for the next album and rehearsing new songs. We can't stop writing at all.... at the moment. In addition, we have also had similar personal experiences in recent years. We noticed that more and more while working on the new album and so our style changed while writing and sharing our recent pasts.”
๐๐๐ก ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ ๐ก๐๐ ๐ ๐ข๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ก๐ ๐ข๐ก ๐ง๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ช ๐๐๐๐จ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ง ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ ๐ง๐๐๐ฆ ๐ง๐จ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ก๐ ๐ฃ๐ข๐๐ก๐ง?
๐ข ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐ฃ: “No, actually there is no specific song. We had slower songs on the first album, but this time they go a notch deeper. It was a subconscious process, a kind of drive that you don't realize until it's done. Maybe it was because we disconnected from the outside world more than usual this time. We spent a lot more time outside of our usual environment, maybe that's how we discovered the afflictions that had been with us for years but that we hadn't worked on before.”
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| Photo credit: Adrian Green |
๐๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข ๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐ง๐๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ง ๐ง๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ ๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ง ๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐ง๐๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ ๐ก๐๐ช ๐ฆ๐ข๐ก๐๐ช๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ก๐?
๐ข ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐ฃ: “Especially when you're touring, there are some very strange things going on. You encounter situations that no normal person would, you live in extremes that you wouldn't normally encounter. This is the first time we've experienced that on a larger scale, and it's been quite upsetting. During the tour we were already writing songs, "Brick Shithouse" was basically written during a sound check.”
๐ข ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐: “You suddenly have more access to yourself, I certainly did. Even during the tour our expectations of our music and our approach changed. We went from a simple rock feel to the things that had been on our minds for years, and we wanted to bring more emotion to the stage.”
(Brian had played a new version of "Teenage Angst" at the beginning of the interview session, he refers to it in the following sentence).
๐ข ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐ฃ: “That's the difference between "Teenage Angst" and the new version of the song, which has become very melancholic, which we transformed more and more to that during our tour. We want to explore the scope of our skills more and more and the tendency is towards melancholy. But we can say about ourselves today, when we go there, we really go in that direction, it's not playing around anymore, the emotions are real, we don't need to pretend to anything. When you see us on stage on our next tour, you really see us. That's Placebo.”
๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ข๐๐ฌ, ๐๐ฆ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐ก ๐ฆ๐ข๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ “๐ ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ช๐๐๐ง ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ก๐๐” ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ญ๐๐๐๐.
๐ข ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐ฃ: “Really? I've never heard Gene Loves Jezebel.”
๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐๐ก ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐ง๐ข ๐ง๐๐๐ง ๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ญ๐๐๐๐ '๐ต๐ฏ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ .
๐ข ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐: “On "My sweet prince" I think it's one hundred percent spot on. That's the perfect sad song.”
๐ข ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐ฃ: “Yeah, on that song it's hard to go any deeper, I mean basically what we want to do is look deeper inside ourselves and stir up more emotions.”
๐ข ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐: “When you've spent a whole day working on a song like "My sweet prince" and then you listen to the finished song, it makes you so happy-sad that you want to jump out the window.”
๐ข ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐ฃ: “You laugh, but he really wanted to. Well, at least he hinted at it after the two days it took us to write the song.”
๐ข ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐: (recreating the situation from that time) “Aaahh (sigh), and now I want to jump off the skyscraper.”
๐๐จ๐ ๐ฃ, ๐ก๐ข๐ง ๐ช๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ก ๐ง๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ข?
๐ข ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐: “No like your sticker: Suicidal Tendencies.”
๐ฌ๐ข๐จ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐ข๐ง ๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ก ๐ง๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ง ๐๐๐๐จ๐ . ๐๐๐ฆ ๐ง๐๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ฃ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฌ๐๐?
๐ข ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐ฃ: “Absolutely, but we found that every little stupid detail you'll have heard about a rock'n'roll life is actually true. And that was a big disappointment. Because not only are they true, they're even worse than what you hear.”
๐ข ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐: “Too many hangovers and stuff.”
๐ข ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐ฃ: “The rock and roll lifestyle can get you all down in the dumps and chase your soul into the blender, or better yet, the meat grinder. It's disillusioning to realize that it doesn't fulfill your desires, for example my desire to be able to make even more music, to be even more creative. On the contrary, it prevents you from being creative. And we as Placebo feel a fundamental need to make music. Without that, we would be pretty fucked-up people. But it hasn't affected our optimism in our abilities and potential. We lead a very schizophrenic life anyway, our job offers a lot of insecurities and also outrageousness, we also reflect that on "Without you I'm nothing”."
๐๐ง ๐๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ช๐๐ ๐๐๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ง๐๐ฌ.
๐ข ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐ฃ: “He invited us to Madison Square Garden for his 50th birthday, we played there as an opener. And we toured with him a total of three times. Of course it helps you when a David Bowie invites you to join him on his tour and we were very happy to do that. We like him and he likes us. But that's also it: he likes us and our music, no, the music first, just and that's it. It's nice to have impressed such a great musician like David Bowie already with your debut album. It has filled us with pride, not without reason, but it had no influence on us as a band or on our next goals.”
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| Photo credit: David Tonge |
[I'd dug out an old press release in which Brian was ranting about Placebo's role in the Britpop era. Before I could even ask a question, he ripped the note out of my hand and just said, "There is no more Britpop, end of the story," crumpled it up and threw it behind a cabinet].
๐ข ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐ฃ: “Okay, next question. Seriously, Britpop is deader than dead, Blur and Oasis are American bands now and Placebo were never really a British band. That's why Steve left us the first time. But then he realized that we were right.”
๐ข ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐: “And this great offer that I couldn't refuse...”
๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐ก๐ง๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข ๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ง๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐๐ฆ๐ง. “๐๐จ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ค๐จ๐๐๐ก” ๐๐ข๐จ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐๐ง ๐ข๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐ง๐ข ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ฆ ๐ช๐๐ง๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ฆ๐ง, ๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ [๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ก ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐ง๐๐๐๐ก ๐ข๐๐ฆ๐๐๐'๐ฆ] ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ง๐ข๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ฅ?
๐ข ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐ฃ: “First of all, we just called the song "Burger Queen" because it attracts more attention that way as opposed to Burger King, so to speak. It just stands out more in terms of the title. But it's not an autobiographical lyric, if that's what you mean. The song is about fictional characters. Stefan and I grew up in Luxembourg, spent a lot of time there and we really like Luxembourg. Our memories of it are really good in nature, although there's never too much happening there. But we've always felt that one day we'd have to get out of there to live a different, better, more exciting life elsewhere than it would have been possible in Luxembourg. But the person the song is about, a very, very sad song by the way, is a person who feels incredibly lonely, who believes he is ultimately alone, alienated and disconnected from everything that surrounds him. The character is gay and does drugs, and that's bad enough without living in Luxembourg. But when all three come together, then mercy be to God, it's fucked. The song is about such a person who feels like a stranger in his surroundings and even in himself. But it's really just a story, has nothing to do with me.”
๐ฆ๐ข ๐ช๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ ๐๐๐ข๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก ๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ง๐ข๐ฅ๐ฌ?
๐ข ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐ฃ: “Because I know what I'm talking about. I always want to be able to understand everything very well when I write about something. And I can relate to this person's situation because I know Luxembourg. Gay and drug addicted in Bombay, I have no idea about that, I couldn't write a song like that.”
๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐ข ๐๐ฆ ๐ก๐ข๐ง ๐ ๐ข๐ก๐-๐๐๐ง-๐ช๐ข๐ก๐๐๐ฅ, ๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐จ๐๐ “๐ก๐๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ฌ” ๐ช๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ง๐๐๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐ก ๐จ๐ก๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐ง๐๐๐ ๐๐ก ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐จ๐๐ฆ. ๐๐ข๐ช ๐๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ง๐๐๐ง?
๐ข ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐ฃ: “Lucky, yeah we got really lucky with that. We had more success with the whole album than we ever dreamed of. Of course, people at our concerts expect us to play "Nancy Boy", but we're happy to do it because it's not the same pressure as if we had written a world hit that hit like a bomb. But I still have to say that the success of "Nancy Boy" has kept me a little bit from writing a song like that again. On the one hand, because I really didn't want to create a new "Nancy Boy" and we didn't want to repeat ourselves, but mostly because I wanted to challenge our audience anew, with new songs and a new style. Entertaining a live audience over and over again is the biggest challenge for me. "Nancy Boy" is just a kind of spot on Placebo in 1996, two years later should and must be refocused. In our band history, "Nancy Boy" should once be nothing more than hit no.1!”
๐๐๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐จ๐ง ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ ๐ข๐ก ๐ง๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐ง๐ฅ๐๐๐?
๐ข ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐ฃ: “Not necessarily. We think "O.K. Computer" is nice, although it comes across too Pink Floyd-like to me at the end, but Radiohead are not a source of inspiration for us. Thom processes his mental lows and highs and we process ours. There may be unintentional parallels, but musically there are no similarities. My emotional power is also more introspective than Thom's. He always relates to the whole world, while I cannot. I don't even know myself inside out.”
๐ข ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐: “There are other records that we've been listening to a lot more than Radiohead lately or in the last year, DJ Shadow for example, "High Noon" is a fantastic song.”
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| Photo credit: David Titlow |
๐'๐ฉ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ง ๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ฅ๐ข๐ก๐๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐, ๐๐ข๐๐ฆ๐ก'๐ง ๐ง๐๐๐ง ๐๐ข๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ง ๐๐ก ๐ง๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ช ๐๐๐๐จ๐ ?
๐ข ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐: “Definitely not. I like this kind of music but we want to make rock music. Still, I was really looking forward to working with Steve Osborne, who has worked with the Happy Mondays and U2 and does a lot of remixes for bands.”
๐ข ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐ฃ: “Yeah, we wanted a producer who was more in contrast to us than purely on our wave. We know enough about rock music, in our opinion, so we needed a producer who knew something about technology. So with the help of the machines, which were foreign to us, we were able to fabricate a kind of eclectic mix that brought us the modern, forward looking sound that we wanted to have.”
๐ช๐๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ฉ๐ข๐๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ก ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ก๐๐ช๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ก๐?
๐ข ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐: “Steve [Osborne] is a tech geek, he just helped us find the right way to sound, but he wasn't involved in any creative part of the songwriting.”
๐ข ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐ฃ: “He got our demos and then he developed some kind of strategy how the songs could sound as much as possible according to our idea. That's why the new album is more complex on the sonic level, the first album sounded maybe more ambitious but also more superficial.”
๐ฆ๐ง๐๐๐, ๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ก ๐ง๐๐๐ง ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ ๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ข๐ก๐๐๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ ๐ช๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฆ ๐ง๐๐๐ก ๐ช๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ.
๐ข ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐: “Exactly. We just use other people's music to distract us a little bit, but it doesn't play a role in our sound. To stay unique you can't steal someone else's sound or try to represent something that doesn't come from you. Everything has to come from within and that's what makes us so proud of "Without you I'm nothing”."
(Discover, September 1998, interviewer: Ralph Buchbender)
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