๐ธ Dear Soulmates, I'm sure you've already seen these caricatures of Brian, depicting him at different times in his career. Today I'm going to tell you the incredible story behind these fabulous drawings, the author of which is none other than a fan, ๐ซ๐́๐๐๐, who had an exceptional experience in 2003, which I'm sure she still remembers today ! ๐
She was interviewed and her adventure has been published in ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ in 2005. ๐ธ
Dรฉlia is 19 years old and very talented. A talent that simply allowed her to meet the band, two years ago…
๐ I can't remember the exact day when this whole story started, that particular day when I met Mr L. I just remember that it was a nice day and that I had taken the opportunity to spend some time in Paris. I know an Ali Baba's cave there, a little treasure chest well hidden, in an alley around the rue Rivoli. It's there, in this record store, that I search and find most of the Placebo rarities that make up my collection. It's therefore out of habit that I pushed the heavy black door of the shop that day, without thinking about what awaited me inside... My curiosity pushed me to dive my hands in this indescribable mess which gives all its charm to the shop. I didn't suspect at this moment that the man leaning against the cash register and who seemed to know the salesman well was going to be the red thread of my whole story. As I approached the counter, in possession of my latest find, I saw him cast an interested eye: "๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ผ ๐๐๐๐ค ๐กโ๐๐ ๐ค๐๐๐ !". I look at him astonished: "๐
๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ? ๐ด๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ ?". "๐๐๐ , ๐๐ก'๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐, ๐๐ข๐ก ๐๐ก'๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐กโ๐๐ก ๐ผ โ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐คโ๐ โ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ก ๐ค๐๐กโ ๐ต๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐บ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐́, ๐ผ ๐๐๐'๐ก ๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐ค โ๐๐ ?". That's all, everything started from there, from this little bit of chance, from this unexpected sentence... We took the time to talk a bit, and I took the opportunity to show my work to him. I have always drawn and I am passionate about art in general. So I often take time to draw the band's members, as one would take time to listen to a record... It's just another way for me to 'sketch' them, to swallow their words like a placebo... The man was not very demonstrative but seemed convinced by the few reproductions he hold in his hand and offered to show them to Gaspar, who had to see Brian himself during the week. We exchanged our e-mail addresses, then our paths separated, Mr L. taking with him the precious contents of my old drawing bag.
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| Photo credit: Hamish Brown |
A few days later, I received an email that made me shiver with happiness... He kept his promise"๐บ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐ค ๐กโ๐๐ก ๐บ๐๐ ๐๐๐ โ๐๐๐-๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐๐ (๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก โ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐น๐...). ๐บ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐, ๐ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐ก๐๐. ๐ฟ.". That was on 8 September 2004. I never met him afterwards. So I decided that same day to go to the famous radio station where the members of the band were invited, hoping of course to bump into them and say a few words. Of course, I didn't come empty-handed, just to make sure that all this wasn't the product of my imagination... Once at the reception, I introduced myself to the person in charge of the band during the interview. My request seemed bold at first, as I asked for the few drawings I had brought with me to be sent to them. He took the time to look at them and then promised to do everything he could.. Another promise kept ! Everything was happening before my eyes, through the large windows of the building. I couldn't hear what they were saying to each other but the reaction of Brian, Steve and Stefan was amazing: discovering their caricatures, they all started laughing out loud and seemed to quickly notice that the content of the bag was identical to the one Gaspar gave them the same day. They had also just been told that the young cartoonist was present ! Scanning the few fans present, it wasn't hard for them to understand that it was me... Brian gave me a thumbs up and said: "๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐ก๐๐ !" They too ended up keeping their word and I finally managed to exchange a few words with the three musicians as soon as they left the studio. Stefan made the effort to speak French, Steve says: "๐โ ๐๐ก'๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก !", while Brian was still trying to find his words, with his special little smile in the corner of his mouth. We were probably as intimidated as each other... "๐๐ ๐๐ก'๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข, ๐๐ ๐๐ก ? ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ก ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐คโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ ๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ก ? ๐๐๐๐... ๐๐'๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ , ๐โ, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ฆ. ๐โ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐โ !". This is the most beautiful reward of all...
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| Photo credit: Stefan De Batselier |
I would have liked to thank them for what they do, for who they are, but also for all the encounters I made thanks to them... But none of that came out... so I just made sure that Brian didn't take the caricatures of my drawing entitled 'Molko evolution' the wrong way. "๐๐ ! ๐ท๐๐'๐ก ๐ค๐๐๐๐ฆ, ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐ค๐ ๐กโ๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ฆ'๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก, ๐ค๐ โ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ !". That's it, that's all, it's short, but we had the opportunity to meet again later and it has always been with the same smile and the same class... A few days later, on my way home from school, a small black letter was waiting for me on the big table in the living room. It contains a Polaroid photo of Brian Molko sitting on a hotel sofa, holding up one of my drawings. And this message from Mr L.: "๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ ! ๐โ๐๐ก๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐บ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐́ ๐๐ก ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐ค๐๐๐๐ , ๐ฆ๐๐ข'๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ..." ๐
(๐๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ข๐จ - 2005)
๐ธ The only unfortunate thing is that the drawings of Steve and Stefan were never published. I'm sure they are just as good ! I also wonder if she went on drawing them until now. I'm curious how it must look like, don't you ? ๐
๐ณ๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐
๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ! ๐ ๐ธ
๐ฅ
https://bit.ly/3ErkZ6u ๐ต
Photo credirs pic 1: ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ฃ๐บ ๐๐ฆ́๐ญ๐ช๐ข, ๐๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ (1996 ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข), ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ (1998 ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข), ๐๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฆ (2000 ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข), ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐๐ถ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ (2003 ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข)
๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฆ
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