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BrIaN mOlKo
BrIaN mOlKo

 

All I can say is : GoOdByE

 


thank you ALL !
+   4 Jul 2009   by Little Mo | 
(Monday March 17, 2003 4:40 PM )

Placebo
(Monday March 17, 2003 4:40 PM )

Gig played on 10/03/2003
Venue: Astoria (London)

If Placebo's music is riddled with bitterness and bile, it's easy to understand why. Despite their first three albums standing scrutiny as some of the most consistent and idiosyncratic rock records of the last decade, the music press treats them as at best an irritant and at worst as somewhere on the Dahmer/ Bin Laden scale of human evil. Just this week a rock weekly casually questioned the justice in Brian Molko walking the streets unharmed.

So it comes as something of a pleasant surprise to see such a relaxed, confident outfit take the Astoria stage tonight. Maybe it's the fact their new single has just hit the Top Twenty. Maybe it's the rabid reception from the sell out crowd. Or maybe it's the fact they're sitting on a stockpile of contagious pop weaponry that Hans Blix couldn't possibly miss.

'Special K' remains as addictive and frenzied as the drug it's named after, built on thrashing drums and a frantic chorus. 'Pure Morning' is its spiritual flipside, a shuddering, squirming comedown of a tune, though its loyalty to melody make it as experimental and strange as any top five single has ever been.

Of course, these two also reveal Placebo's greatest flaw, Molko's fixation on drugs and deviancy as a badge of artistic merit which, frankly, he should have left behind in adolescence. Though much the same could be said of idols from Lou Reed to Kurt Cobain. The worst of it is that this trait obscures Molko's singular skill at chronicling embittered, dying relationships.

Take 'Lady Of The Flowers', a song whispered as if crushed under the weight of its sadness, and including the gorgeous couplet "she stole the keys to my house/and then she locked herself out". Or 'Without You I'm Nothing', where guitars seethe and bubble as Molko lyrically flagellates himself in front of the baying crowd.

Or what about tonight's highlight, 'Taste In Men', the salacious title and crunching electronica belying its plaintive, heartbroken tale of love lost too soon. For all Molko's drama-school phrasing, there is a real, beating heart at the centre of these songs.

The new tracks stick to the Placebo blueprint: songs shorn as short as possible, guitar solos clipped to a few dramatic slashes, without any loss in emotional depth. It's the economy, stupid. Molko ends the beguiling 'This Picture' with a cry of "can't stop? Grow up!". It's a knowing line, and may point to a wiser, more measured fourth album.

In a world where Feeder thrive, it's nothing less than criminal that Placebo aren't more treasured. But if injustice is the fuel for songs as twisted and addictive as these, then bring it on, journalists, bring it on. And they didn't even play 'Nancy Boy'.

by Jamie Gill

 

 
+   4 Jul 2009   by Little Mo | 
THE RELIGION OF GLAM: An interview with Brian Molko

THE RELIGION OF GLAM: An interview with Brian Molko, lead singer of Placebo, about art, reality, and the humanity of rock.

interview and photos by Chris Kelly -- (photos are from second night at Irving Plaza)

Standing onstage at New York’s Irving Plaza, Brian Molko is glam incarnate. His visage emerges from the darkness in a mask of pale makeup, and he is clad entirely in white. Suddenly, he is backlit by an array of lights, mostly red, which also illuminate the cloud of smoke enveloping the club. At the end of the verse, Molko steps back to take a drag on his cigarette, leaving bassist Stefan Olsdal and drummer Steve Hewitt to take control of the music.

The night is Placebo’s first of two, and the set list comprises various selections from their three records: their eponymous debut, Without You I’m Nothing, and the recent Black Market Music. To satisfy the true fans – which, in this case, constitute nearly the entire audience – several b-sides are included on the set list, including “Leni,” featuring Molko seated listlessly at the keyboard with a glass of liquor, and “Little Mo,” a song about Elvis’ demise on the toilet.

Those that have followed the band will know that lately, their aggressive sound has been renewed after an unwonted dip into the delicate pain of Without You I’m Nothing. According to Molko, however, the change was never intended to be permanent:

“We have to make music that is truthful to us and expresses where our heads are at during a certain time,” he said, during a recent telephone interview. “The first album was born out of tension and got rid of a lot of teenage frustration; the second album dealt with the impossibility of relationships and the breakdown of relationships. They’re like snapshots of where our souls were at the time. It’s never as calculated as one would seem to imagine.”

And on Black Market Music, guitar-charged songs like “Haemoglobin” and “Black-Eyed” were a result of the band’s greater involvement in production and mixing. Said Molko, “It’s essentially the sound we’ve always wanted to put onto tape.”

The reactions have been unanimously positive and strong: Music, which was released in Europe several months prior to the American release date, has already sold over one million records.

But for a band like Placebo, accustomed to receiving news of achieving platinum status while on a world tour, it comes as no surprise. As Molko says, the creative process is a very natural one:

“As when recording the previous records, we locked ourselves in our subterranean studio in Central London, where we threw a lot of sh*t at the wall and saw what stuck. The majority of it’s born out of playing with each other.” He adds, with a laugh, “Playing music with each other, that is.

“There’s something very magical that happens when we’re in a room together and we pick up instruments, something that was reinforced when other people would come to the studio and only make things more difficult. When it’s just the three of us, the music seems very instinctive. There’s a great deal of unspoken energy that goes between us that comes from spending so much time together.”

This is not to say that the band shies away from all outside intervention in the creation of its music. For example, they have worked on several occasions with David Bowie, with whom they crafted a special, single-only version of “Without You I’m Nothing” months before releasing Black Market Music. In addition, Music features a track titled “Spite And Malice,” in which rapper Justin Warfield supplies the chorus. Regarding his decision to invite collaboration on the latter, Molko noted:

“Originally, the track was just made up of the parts that I sung, so it was lacking a really big hook or unexpected twist. We wanted it to be on the record, but it had this big hole. So, I suggested that we call Justin up, as he is one of my very good friends, and I knew that he was essentially the anti-gangster rapper. Not surprisingly, he fit in perfectly with the Placebo ethos. He’s just incredibly literate and imaginative: quite unique, I’d say.”

Molko is less complimentary of American pseudo-gangster rappers or, for that matter, love-bitten teenage pop stars: “It’s functional music; it’s designed to make you forget about your life and stop thinking about yourself. Big blockbuster movies, soap operas, and the Backstreet Boys all have the same purpose. It doesn’t interest me, because what I want to do is create art.

“Art has to reflect the human condition, hold a mirror up to humanity. The rest is disposable, facile, and empty. It’s designed to make a very, very, very quick buck. Most of it’s the same, anyway. It’s kind of like a return to the eighties, when all these hotshot session musicians were playing on all the same records. Everybody from Fleetwood Mac to Tina Turner had the same snare sound or bass player. That’s extremely boring. Uniqueness, not homogenization, is what pushes culture and music forward.”

For Placebo, the key to musical growth lies in introspection, spontaneity and a constant willingness to venture into the unknown. Molko said: “We don’t just sit down and decide we’re going to write about something. It’s just feeling around in the dark, and it’s usually not until we finish a song that we know what it’s about emotionally. Contrary to popular belief, we’re very uncalculated in the way we write.”

According to Molko, the band has enjoyed perpetual absence of writer’s block, a feat attributed to the variety of influences and genres, whether it be other music (Sonic Youth and PJ Harvey) or literature, which constantly breathe new life into the mix:

“One book that had a huge effect on my life and musical approach,” said Molko, “was the Bible… I had a very Christian upbringing. There’s a great deal of religious imagery in the songs.”

Despite his roots, however, Molko does not define himself as a traditional Christian: “I don’t believe in God, I’m not a religious person. The spiritual side that exists in everything we do is the humanity, the honesty, the passion, and our own personal truth. There’s a humanist kind of approach to things. When writing the lyrics, my approach to the characters of each song is sympathetic, and that’s what makes it human. That’s the only attitude I believe in.”
+   4 Jul 2009   by Little Mo | 
Life of Brian

Life of Brian

Dressed in black, with perfectly epilated chest, doesn't take off his dark glasses and with boots on in spite of the heat. We have an appointment with the greatest alternative singer from the Island after Thom Yorke.

Three years ago Placebo played in Bulgaria, disappointed of the venue and charmed by the audience. After he recklessly threw himself into the audience, the singer even shared with us that he hadn't been touched by so many people for the last 5 years. This time Placebo were even more emotional, they changed guitars for each song and staked on long codes. An hour before the concert I am sitting with Brian in a stuffy room somewhere along the Winter Palace's corridors . He lights a cig. A nicotine one.

Svetoslav Petrov: Last time you were in Bulgaria you smoked Camel, too!
Brian Molko: Well, let's hope next time I come I won't smoke any, ha-ha.

S.P.: Aren't you sick of playing the songs of your last album, Meds?
B.M.: Ha-ha, no. Why are you so negative? Are you bored?

S.P.: Not at all. But aren't you tired of the tour, yet?
B.M.: Here it goes again. You're tired blah blah blah. You've said it again!?

S.P.: Relax, I have positive questions as well.
B.M.: You are going to make me feel bad even before going onstage. Today is a beautiful sunny day. All girls are walking around almost without any clothes on.

S.P.: One of these girls is waiting for you outside for an interview. (Elena Peneva from dnes.bg)
B.M.: Well.. in that case you have to hurry up, my friend.

S.P.: Have you recorded something new while travelling?
B.M.: No. We had some tiny ideas, but we are focused on doing amazing gigs.

S.P.: At what stage do you start to think of the cover of the album and the image of the project?
B.M.: Oh, at the final one. How can you deal with things like these without the finished product which would inspire it? The aim of the artwork is to give the final touch and to present our ideas even better.

S.P.: What do you think about musicians like Pete Doherty and Amy Winehouse, who seem to have turned their problems with certain substances part of their charisma?
B.M.: Let's say it this way - as an artist I would feel very bad to be more famous for my narco problems than for my music. Anyone can sleep with Kate Moss and take drugs. But I am more tempted to touch people with my art , to write something that can converse with them. What's the point of being the next rock&roll cliche?

S.P.: What do you listen lately?
B.M.: The last albums of the Queens of the Stone age and Eagles of Death Metal . As well as Arcade Fire.

S.P.: You like HipHop as well. Do you feel like recording such a song?
B.M.: I despise gangsta' rap and all the money , women, and big cars that go with it . We've tried to experiment with such elements in songs like “Spite and Malice. from the album Black Market Music, but we don't feel like repeating.

S.P.: You have made duets with David Bowie, Michael Stipe, and Alison from the Kills. Do you want to record with somebody else?
B.M.: I would be pleased to make something with Bjork. She is one of the most fantastic musicians for the last few years . But first we should make an appropriate song. I'm certainly not walking around with a list of people who we would like to work with, although there are volunteers all the time.

S.P.: Did you manage to concur the US?
B.M.: NO, but we want to, ha-ha. Now we are going on one big tour with Linkin Park, HIM and My Chemical Romance, so we'll see.

S.P.: Five years ago Kerrang magazine called you the last big rockstar of Great Britain. How did you feel then?
B.M.: It's almost unbelievable what kind of things people can write. I could not care less about this.

S.P.:And finally, what's your favorite abuse lately?
B.M.: You fukin' fukin' motherf***er.

 
+   4 Jul 2009   by Little Mo | 
VOX (06/97): IT'S ONLY ROCK'N'ROLE REVERSAL

VOX (06/97): IT'S ONLY ROCK'N'ROLE REVERSAL
by Roger Morton

He reckons he's s*xier that Jesus Christ, and who can blame him? Because in less that 12 month, the small but perfectly formed BRIAN MOLKO has become a bona-fide rock star. But how upfront will PLACEBO's gender-straddling frontman be when asked to reveal the secrets of his murky past?

"Bollocks! Avoid alcoholic drink!" mutters Brian Molko, cradling two white pills in the palm of a purple nail-varnished hand. At lunchtime in a London pub, the 24-year-old underworld elf is attempting to deal with the pain in his life by more conventional means than those usually associated with chart-slaying teen-angst figurines.

The ache from the bruised ribs which he acquired when someone threw him across the room at a party is being mollified by emergency-couriered painkillers instead of the bruised riffed exorcism of a Placebo song.

There's no need to scribble out a revenge tune about being beaten up for being a heteros*xual-taunting little guy with a big mouth, because Brian's already done that - 'Brick S*ithouse' - and, anyway, he has more pressing matters to consider. Like following through on the Top Five placing of Placebo's 'Nancy Boy' single, and running down the street in platform boots and feather boas for his first proper movie role in hipster director Tod Haines' Velvet Goldmine (reputedly based around Bowie's Ziggy period).

The presence in the  charts of disaffected bis*xual libertines may not exactly be a novel pop phenomenon, but Placebo have done better than spring randomly off a latex trampoline. Their timing has been impeccable. When 'Bruise Pristine' follows through on their run of benchmark achievements - the labels scrum to sign them, a critically adored debut album, Bowie support slots - they will have confirmed their place at the head of this year's revisionist movement. The NME tagging Placebo, Mansun and Marion as New Gravers might be a little flippant, but there's no question that the beaming face of Britpop has been thoroughly defaced by Brian's eyeliner
pencil.

So how did the American-born son of a Luxembourg banker, raised in a culturally tepid Eurotown, and relapsed on a London Goldsmiths drama course turn a Swedish/Swiss/Amerilux glower trio into the national alienation party? And is all that perfumed gloom and androgyny down to not getting picked for school sport teams, or was it a calculated career investment?
Over a brunch bowl of aubergine genies, Brian Molko confronts the deep, dark mirror of as much murky truth as we can get out of him.

Do you ever wish you were in a completely different sort of band?
"Sometimes, yeah. It hits me particularly on tour. It's got a lot to do with roadies and crew and being in a band with guys, and you get kind of tired sometimes of just talking about farting and genitals and the 'Oo er, I'd give her one' kind of vibe. It really makes you crave for being on tour with girls. I'm sure that girls are just as dirty, if not more dirty, but you just get a bit tired of the whole male point of view, being surrounded by men constantly. So sometimes I really wish that I was in a band with a few girls."

The Spice Girls, perhaps?
"Maybe. I'd probably be Dikey Spice though."

Are you at all worried about what you look like in photos these days?
"What I look like in photos is basically what I look like when I go out, what I look like when I'm not completely chilling out at home. I wear girls clothes because they fit me and they're usually more interesting as well. But what does bother me is  that, these days, it tends to be 90 per cent about the image and 10 per cent about the music, which gets on my tits because it should be the other way round."

What's your domestic environment like?
"My flat is really tiny. I'm not staying there for very long. It's a one-room studio with a very tall ceiling, and they've built a bed which basically goes from one end of the room to another, and you have to go up a step ladder to get there. It's actually very nice because you're sleeping in the sky, but it's bad when you're a bit pissed and you try to go to the toilet at two in the morning. There's been a few accidents down the old step ladder."

Do you become a different person when you leave your private space?
"It's not so much becoming a different person, it's just that when I'm at home I'm usually very quiet and this shy person inside of me presents itself. Going out, is almost like getting ready to go on stage, the application of the make-up, the jeans come off and good clothes come on, and then you feel up to it."

Do you make much use of your acting background?
"No, I only use my training in The Method on stage, because that allows me to open up emotional doors when I'm playing, so that I can get lost in the emotion of the song and get lost in the music. I've started to use my acting background more now that I've got my first feature film, and that's something that I want to pursue more, definitely. But for me it's not a sort of Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, different character-per-concept album kind of vibe, it's very much who I am. I'm not about to cut all my hair off. I'm not sure I'm allowed to."

You don't want to confuse the fans, after all.
"The fans want their Brian to be girly. If I went masculine they'd be disappointed."

What were you like when you turned up at Goldsmiths?
"It was October 1990. I was very shy, I was very closed in, I was very American as well, I had a much stronger American accent, so I spent the time at Goldsmiths sort of softening it up.
"Having grown up in a continental atmosphere in Luxembourg, being surrounded by people of all European nationalities in a Francophile country, I found myself faced with the English reserve. I was putting my foot in the mouth a lot and I had to teach myself to be a bit more diplomatic and less brash and maybe not say exactly what I thought all the time to people. It's kind of gone full circle. Now I have the power to say exactly what I think all the time to people and they can like it or lump it."

What were your actorly strengths?
"I was ridiculously bad at writing essays, taking exams. I basically flunked all my academic stuff, and scored top marks on all my practical work, which evened it out for a straight 2.2, which is what I got. But we were quite adventurous. There was a small group of people who came together, we did a lot of absurd theatre, did re-working of Shakespeare, and a lot of directing as well. I went in my third year to making small films on Super 8, and working them into performances... [the aubergines arrive]... It's alright. I can talk with my mouth full. It's the Italian blood in me."

You have Italian blood?
"Yeah, my grandmother's Italian. And my mother's Scottish and my grandfather was French. Hence my love of good living."

British people tend to be suspicious of bon viveurs.
"I hope so. If it sticks a fist up the ass of the British musical heritage and the splendid isolation of this island of yours, that's great."

Was there a mad phase for you when you first came to London?
"Completely. A lot of my mindless drug-hoover reputation is based on a lot of things that I got out of my system at college - what I liked, what's good for me, what I can handle and what I can't. I'm turning into a bit of a workaholic there days. I don't have time to abuse my body as much as I used to, and I have too many responsibilities and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let things get in the way, the trappings of rock'n'roll. But hell, I can still party as good as the next guy."

So why did you chose the band instead of acting?
"Well, drama students are possibly the most competitive and bitchy people you'll ever come across in the world, and I was quite apart from them when I was there..."

You mean you weren't competitive and bitchy?
"I wasn't interested in being competitive and bitchy with them. I was just interested in collaboration and the exchange of ideas. My focus changed a lot when I was at college. After getting involved in making films I was searching for something more instant, something that seemed like a hell of a lot less hard work, which of course was wrong, and something that suited my hedonistic tendencies more. And the band seemed ideal for that."

Was a lot of it ego-driven - wanting all the attention yourself?
"Well, that's part of being an actor anyway, it's part of what I've been trained in. I always kind of figured that my place would be on stage in one way or another."

Were you attention-seeking when you were living in Luxembourg?
"No. I was a very lonely kid and I was very quiet and I didn't have many friends and I kept myself to myself, wrote a lot, and just basically dreamt of getting the f*ck out. I used to get on a train and go to Holland as often as possible. It was very unstimulating, very rich, like a little Switzerland. Lots of good places to eat, but very boring."

Was it an 'unhappy childhood'?
"Erm... yeah. My brother's ten years older than me, so I spent my formative years as a teenager feeling much like an only child. There was a lot of loneliness involved and a lot of alienation, and I was surrounded by a lot of people who were trying to make me into themselves, and what it ended up doing was making me go: 'F*ck you, I'm going to forge my own's identity' at a very early age."

Was that family pressure to make you fit in?
"Family pressures, religious pressures, things like that."

Your parents splitting up must have affected you a lot.
"Yeah it does: it was very confusing, but in the long run what it's ended up doing is to make me quite distanced in general from my family, apart from my brother who's my best friend. That ten-year gap, once I got to a certain age, meant that there wasn't going to be any competition between us, which was great, and once I got to a certain age we could start partying together. He works in a bank. He takes care of all my money. And I know he's not going to rip me off, so it's cool."

Were you affected by your mother being a born-again Christian?
"Yeah, that's something I spent a lot of time running away from, and had to write a lot of songs about it, a lot of really bad songs, before I could get it out of my system and write some decent music. I did write a lot of songs about 'shedding the spectre of Jesus'. But I'm over that now."

Jesus is a kind of a rock'n'roll figure though.
"The ultimate rebel perhaps."

Who's s*xier, you or Jesus Christ?
"Oh, me definitely. Jesus was hairy!"

People who've had a religious influence on their life often replace that influence with something else spiritual. Have you done that?

"Well, it's very important to me that I live according to my own rules and that I let my life be dictated by my own madness. One of the things that is negative about religion is that it replaces choice with a book of rules. It takes away doubt and questioning, and it gives you something to follow willy-nilly without thinking about it. It takes away thought, it takes away confusion, and all of those are things that I'm particularly interested in. So, you know, music is a very spiritual thing, but it's also a very s*xual
thing."

S*x can be spiritual, too.
"Sure, if you can get enough of it, and if you're in love, otherwise it can be a very empty thing."

Do you think s*x, music, God and drugs are all interconnected?
"Well, yeah. That's what Prince would tell you."

A bright man.
"Also a very short man!"

But is there anything that you're interested in at all as a code?
"Well, within the band we just talk about karma, not in a religious way, more in a philosophical way. We just say: 'Don't f*ck with your karma', and if you want to tie that to some sort of Judaeo-Christian ethos then it would be: 'Do unto others as you would have done unto you'. And if you have one principle to live by, then live by that because it will keep you in good karma, and I think that the fact that we're here at this point so early in our careers must mean that there's a lot of good karma surrounding us. But I don't actually believe in it as an out-of-body force."

So what were the cultural eye openers for you - literature, movies, paintings?
"Mmm, well every kid when they hit about 15, they think it's cool to read Kerouac and then they find out that Kerouac's boring and they move on to Burroughs, and he's one of my favourite writers. I discovered the writing of Dennis Cooper while I was at college, who's like the modern Marquis de Sade, and I'm hoping to interview him quite soon actually. But it was a real musical discovery over here, more than anything else."

What posters did you have on your wall?
"Sonic Youth, from the 'Daydream Nation' record and it's them standing on the street looking really tall and completely blurred. I think Sonic Youth are aesthetically satisfying as kind of like geek-rock gone dissonant. They're very s*xy! They are. Kim Gordon is absolutely s*xy."

Lee Ranaldo's a bit too cerebral.
"Well, the real s*x organ is between the ears, not between the legs. It doesn't matter how small your dick is as long as your brain is big."

Was your androgyny present when you were a kid?
"When I was really young, I used to have really long hair, much longer that it is now, and yeah, I remember walking around Dundee with my mum and we were going to visit my grandmother and her bumping into people that she knew from years ago and they'd say: 'So who's your little girl then?' So it started at that point, when I was about three. When I arrived in London, I let my hair grow again and I started being mistaken for a girl a lot of the time. And I'd worn make-up in theatre since I was 11, so I was kind of used to it. And I decided to play it up a bit. I just started making up to see if people'd be confused even more, and when the band came along I started putting more on. Nail polish is great if you play guitar because it looks really good on the fretboard as your fingers slide up and down."

Do you think your s*xuality was altered by the way you chose to look?
"Possibly. I mean it was always something that was very much there. When I was a teenager I never ruled out the possibility of falling in love with another man, even though I had quite a healthy attraction towards the opposite s*x. It's one of the things I had a very big problem with the church about, and one of the things  I continue to have arguments with my mother about. As a teenager, I just made sure that I didn't close off opportunities. When desire manifests itself you have no control over it because it's there. It's your choice over whether you repress it or explore it, and I chose the more adventurous path and decided to explore. And I still do."

Was your initial learning process about your s*xuality problematic?
"Not really problematic. I lost my virginity when I was really young and then didn't have s*x for a while. As a lot of men do. They get over it with and then become friends with their right hand. i guess I've always been quite a lonely person and loneliness breeds a certain frustration and relationships have always been quite complicated for me and never seemed to have lasted very long, because I guess I can get too analytical about things and we all struggle with some kind of ideal within ourselves and we all want a relationship that's going to blow your head off, and it's hard to find."

Can you imagine a long-term relationship with a man?
"Yeah, I don't see why not."

Does the gay scene culture interest you at all?
"I don't really appreciate it because of the music. And I've never been into classic camp."

But you'd look good in hot pants and a vest.
"You reckon I'd look good with really short hair, a moustache, a white vest and a pair of jeans? Maybe. No, the gay scene's very crusey and the music is very cheesy and there's more mystery and ambiguity in the in-between spaces, those interest me, more than things which are steadfast."

Do the other members of the band resent the amount of attention that your persona gets?
"Absolutely not. No. Within the band we represent all facets of s*xuality. I think it was a problem with Robert [ex-drummer], but not now."

One point of view is that androgynous pop stars are no big deal anyway, so what's all the fuss about?
"Well, I'm not f*cking Julian Clary! Er, let me rephrase that, I'm not Julian Clary, for f*ck's sake! Even though we did go to the same college."

But it is something that's been around for a good while.
"It's been around since Little Richard, basically. It's been on Manics' T-shirts since their first album - 'All rock'n'roll is homos*xual' - and good rock'n'roll has always had a gay undercurrent to it. So it  really is no big deal. I'm not the one who places so much emphasis on it, it's people like you."

Do you feel less alienated these days?
"There is a lot more satisfaction in my life. I'm an artist and I'm being paid to be creative. I still can't hold a relationship together, though. And maybe all the things that made it impossible to hold one together in the past have been replaced by my job.
People think that when you get a record deal and you're successful and people know who you are  that all the voids in your existence are filled up. Some of them are, but most of them stay. Often they're replaced with a whole set of new voids. It can be a struggle... but without the struggle, it wouldn't be worthwhile."

And if the devil came to you in the middle of the night and said: 'Brian, I'll give you a Number One album in America, but in order to do it I have to take away Liam Gallagher's voice', would you agree?
"Would I have to sell my soul though?"

No. Just agree to the silencing of Liam.
"I'd say 'Satan... let's go for a drink!'"
+   4 Jul 2009   by Little Mo | 
Once More With Feeling (The Singles)

Placebo

Once More With Feeling (The Singles)

[Elevator]

Artist: Placebo

Released: 18 October 2004

Catalogue number: CDFLOOR23

Review

This is a singles collection which reveals to the listener the most seductively bruising rock band of recent years.

by Jaime Gill
25 March 2003

There are many different versions of the Placebo story. There's the accurate but dull one about how Brian Molko has an irritating public persona and a receding hairline. There's that depressing one about how maliciously and unfairly they've been treated by the British rock press. But my favourite of all is the one about this perverse trio who wrote these extraordinary songs...

It's about a band who became famous for a song so s*xually brave and confrontational that coy odes to boys called "Michael" sound feeble in comparison. A song about being a "Nancy Boy", about lube and rubbers and how "We're a couple / When our bodies double." And about how Molko, an actual functioning bis*xual, has been unpleasantly dismissed as a s*xual dilettante while the charlatan bis*xuals reap plaudits.

Once More With Feeling is all about a band who wrote a song called "You Don't Care About Us". A track that's propelled by an unstoppable, elastic bass line and that flips manically between wise, sighing despair and spitting adolescent rage. A song which feels like it had no choice but to be written and which is one of the rawest, most brilliant singles of the last decade.

It's a story about the shuddering electronica of "Pure Morning", the sleazy sneer of "Every You, Every Me" and the searing riff of "Bruise Pristine". It's about a band constrained by their musical limitations but who thrashed happily within them. It's about the way that "Special K" climbs frantically towards its chorus before collapsing sadly under its own weight.

This is a singles collection which reveals to the listener the most seductively bruising rock band of recent years. Each song stems from a songwriter so instinctive and precise that when he writes a song called "The Bitter End", that's exactly what it sounds like.

And yes, it's a tale about an imperfect band, a band prone to sloppy sloganeering like "Slave To The Wage" or clumsy posturing like "Black Eyed". But the band remain electrifying, alive and enthralling in all those imperfections.

This is a story about a band who have remained fiercely independent in a bland pop landscape. Read it.

 

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Comments

This band are the best rock band to come from anywhere in the last ten years, they've got so much balls and talent that they demand to be heard!! Amazing live, evry album is enthralling and original!
Thomas

greatest greatest hits album ever,every track a killer
proud welshman

Simply brilliant!
Chris, London

I bought the single of 'Nancy Boy' at the time and loved it (Cool Cover of Bigmouth Strikes again),... been following their music over the years but found myself buying their records as Birthday presents for Sisters and girlfriends rather than for me. I got this singles collection on the day of release and I think it is Very Very Good!! I'd definatley forgotten how cool 'Pure Morning' was!
Daniel P Edinburgh

Wonderful, a great collection of a great band! Placebo cant stop growing old and thats what you find listening Once more with feeling!
Fernando, Brazil

pumped
damian

A fantastic collection and the dvd superb aswell. They're a fab band, with loads of energy and so much to give to us fans!! They rocked Wembley and Reading Festival, as they always do live. And as they say ' there are 20 years to go'!!
Nicole

a absalutely gerat album best greatest hits shows placebos true talent, i cant stop listening 2 it!!!!!!
melia/ ashtray girl

The F......g best rock band in the whole F.....g world, a band of such brilliance and realism to life, when that small guy opens his mouth he pelts out such a passion of sound & words, FANTASTIC and a pleasure to have grown up with placebo and I will never stop growing old without them. A massive pat on there backs and wow what a gig at wembley arena 5/11/04. I am sure the best is yet to come from those 3 chaps...
Lucie Taylor, Kent

I LOVE THEM TO BITS BEST HING SINCE SLICED BREAD!!! best live act i have ever seen
allie somerset

Absolutely fantastic, the Wemblet gig that accompanied it was one of the best i've evr been to. Such an influential, genuine band.
Rach, Leamington

This is a great collection from the placebo boys. it really shows how they have progressed from the early days right up to the present day. There is a variation of heavy rock tunes 'bruise pristine and 'teenage angst' to melodic lullabies such as 'special needs and 'twenty years'great collection, cant wait for future releases.and a great set at wembley on friday night i loved it!
matt, bristol

One of the best bands ever. Can't slate this.
Hannah, Bristol

i saw them at wembley - they were amazing!!! the singles album rocks too. Placebo are the greatest!!
Amelia, Bradford

The wembley gig was brilliant - placebo still dare to be different - the album is a must. it will keep u going til 2006 when they tour again. rocksers molko!
molkos mum mcr

This album is truly amazing, throughout all of their albums they have progressed musically with each album being more fantastic than the last, this singles collection allows us to see the ways they have grown but still remained the same with their moody, sultry lyrics and unforgettable tunes. Molko, Olsdal and Hewitt have produced something to wow the world and i hope that they continue to produce such powerful, true to life material. Placebo, they can't be beaten!
Heather,

This is a really amazing band with a collection of four very different albums singles! It is a very good insight into the band and a good listen if you are new to placebo and want to get into them as all of there albums are very good and worth a listen & also like the fans like me who have made reviews have mentioned they are extremley great live with good energy and presence! The best rock band since nirvana ... Placebo YOU ROCK !!! ;-)
Scott Newman, Auckland New Zealand

A great album, one you can just put in a press play and sit back without skipping songs. well worth buying! a must to your cd collection
Billy, Ess*x

I flew to see them in Wembley the other week and they were the most f****** amazing band live. i was sat in the top , left tier, miles from the stage and their energy just knocked me on my ass. From opening with "Taste in men" to closing with the efortlesly brilliant "Nancy boy" they completley s*** in the face of the music press, who from what i can see completely ignored the gig. They continue to surpass themselves with there fantastic new material( "i do" and "20 years")and keep providing their fans with tracks that leave other so called Brit pop legends in the dust. There are few other bands from my lifetime(im 19)that can boast a range as diverse and as brilliant as Placebo.role on 2006
Seb ,Dublin

Placebo are amazing and all their albums are great! Also on top of that the s*xy brian molko! ^_^
Tally

A brilliant album. Like the chronological order...you can really see how they've progressed since '94. My favourite band, who have never before received the credit they most truly deserve...hopefully now they will. can't wait till2006
Kerri, Ess*x

Fantastic.....
Andrew Wigan

even the weakest placebo song rox :)
julie, warminster

great disc all 'round. i found the 'bonus' remix disc a bit superfluous, however.
Helmut, Sydney

I f****** love Placebo, seen 'em more time than I can count and this album rocks. Also wanna give credit to the guy who wrote this review, it's damn good.
Tash, London

Uff que esta re´ chido fantastico y rubbish ojala vengan otra vez a mexico besos a brian molko
mogollan,mexico d.f.

An evolving band with more balls than a christmas tree. Their music snags on each Listeners heart strings whilst composing a melodic melody worthy of the gods. A big band with attitude and are'nt afriad to push forward, break the barriers and hopefully continue into the next chapter of singles 04 to eternity. I love this band! Inspirational is only the tip of the iceberg.The singles album is a huge chapter of my life, buy buy buy!
Ross, South Wales

it is so cool and oridgenel so i9 will get it peace out
nathan fawbert hull

BRIAN MOLKO IS MY GOD! ive loved him from day one and always will. PLACEBO RULE THE WORLD!!!!!
hamburger queen

I loved Placebo since i bought Nancy Boy in 96, the first 3 albums are great - but jesus! With the exception of Bitter End they have not penned a seriously good 'hairs stand up' tune for a long time. Lads - step away from the ballads & find your b*******. "english summer rain....." jeez....
Lou (Molko) Devon

I begged my parents to let me go to Wembley but they would't let me go. But I could't miss out on this totally amazing performance by Placebo so went anyway. WOW what can I say! They were amazing and full of talent. Even if my parents did find out it was still bloody worth it just to see Brian Molko and the rest of his trio! If u ever get the chance whatever the consequences go and see Placebo they rocked our socks off!!!!!!!!!!
Jess Oxford

The most amazing band ever. A band who never cease to make me burst into tears whenever i hear the scratch of the beginning guitar in "The Bitter End." Fantastic. Amazing. Placebo.
Sleeping with Brian!!

I listen to music every night (or whenever I go to bed)and for the past few weeks my CD player has been playing up so a few months ago I had to record a few albums for traveling down to South Wales and when I go to bed for the past few weeks it has been Placebo that I have been listening to - they are Good
Gemma North Wales

Brill Album, They Only Pick the Best Songs For Singles, Great Vocals, Shame About The Drug Problems and s*x scandals.......
Kieren Thomson, Isle of Wight

sorry if i sound a bit of the track but if indie-rock music was a factory...placebo would be the greatest product ever made.....all albums/singles/not to mention the concerts are fabolous
Gabriel Romania-Constanta

Having never been a huge Placebo fan, (listened to the first 2 albums but was never captivated). Bought this on the off-chance at an airport and was pleasantly surprised and hooked. Anyone who produces something as brilliant as "Special Needs" deserves nothing but praise and admiration in my view.
Jon, Southampton

Placebo is a whiney, adolescent UK neo-glam rock group that is ruthlessly annoying. Look at their song titles: “Protect me from what I want” Other groups manage to be more involved with their emotions, something Placebo might be able to do if it knew how to break away from teenage angst. This is virtually impossible for them, since they married to the idea on the very day they named a song “Teenage Angst.”
Quirky, Taipei

Placebo rock, there new album of the collection of there songs is the best thing to have happened
Kaza, birmingham

all u placebo haters out there can die-placebo are the world's best band, the best band since the cure and the pixies. we havent had a band like them since they came out.Roll on 2006! oh and by the way, Molko's mine and always has been.
Brian's Bitch

Placebo is just the best band EVER and "once more with feeling" is a great tip of the rockin-est ice burg in the UNIVERSE!!! placebo rule!! applause to the guy who wrote this review...bravo!
Bride of Placebo, cumbria

I dont know much about their music,but that bird who sings is LUSH!!
scott,Bristol.

thankgod i found them the s*xiest rock band in the world.brian is my inspiration.my soulmatebrian give me a strange that i'm not alone.i'm your eternal soulmate.
dicky

Gods, pure and true
Barry England

it's grate
gerardo. mexico

Brilliant review. PLACEBO. f***ing rule.
Jessica, Hong Kong

Placebo starts their 2005 tour in Sudamérica WOW I CAN´T BELIEVE IT!!
Alejandra, México

i loved 'the bitter end' from the second i heard it. i as one of the unfortunate people who came to love placebo in the latter part of their career,feel saddened at the thought of never seeing this band live, but i still feel lucky to have found this greatest hits, its so mind-blowing, so adoreable and so fresh that every track is pure 'killer'. and brian molko is now, to me, the epitomy of 'cool'.
aidan, belfast

absolutely brilliant!! love this band, they are the most original thing that's come out of the nineties. to be joined by rob smith as well, awesome! just love the s*xy brian :)
erm, somewhere...

PLACEBO IS THE GREATEST ROCK BAND...IT SIMPLY EXPRESSES OUR STRANGE FEELINGS THAT EXIST INSIDE OF US..SPECIAL NEEDS IS THE BEST HIT I'VE EVER HEARED
EMMA,LEBANON

i absolutely love placebo but all my friends do is complain about them saying there crap but i love them and once more with feeling is just great id definately recommend this band to people and brian molko is hot!!
Charlotte uk

I have followed Placebo from the beginnig (1995). My brother had their first CD. I lisend to the CD and become directly a hugh fan. I have all their stuff. Placebo is a magnificent band. It's a pitty that some great songs are missing on the new album (once more with feeling), like Burger Queen and Peeping Tom. I have seen them one live and that was on Werchter, they where great. Placebo rocks the world!!!
Matthias Belgium

i have listend to placebo scince i was 6 :) my sisters where huge fans of the band and got me into there music - placebo have come on such a long way and "bigmouth strikes again" is one of my faves with a strong contender "the bitter end" if u havent bought the album ... go buy it. there the best band around and have been for a long time!! p.s if u havent heard bigmouth then do! love them all xx
em birmingham

i like the cd and i think,they where isgreat
betty mexico

There is somthing retro about placebo reminds me of the Adverts and X Ray specs period thats so lacking in many modern bands. there energy is so involving love so much about there music if a little dark
Richard South Africa

i met placebo when i was in a dark place, i found they music very uplifting and made me feel not so alone, now im not in such a dark place, they still inspire
claire cumbria

I absoulutely love Placebo... with their new album being out in 2006 there are rumours of them going on tour- SQUEAL!
Laura, Bristol

Placebo are most deifnately the best band around. All their tracks are great, my fave being The Bitter End, that song makes my hair stand on end. Brian is the s*xiest man alive and he's all mine!
Mrs Molko, Ess*x

jaime gill is good at reviewing things. One of the besdt reviews i've seen
leanne

I'm a techno fan but Placebo are one of my fave bands and this cd is one of the best in my collection
Tommo, Australia

I find Placebo from a sloganeering band. Infact I find them a band which you can easily identify. Not because they are music restrained but because they create music that is timeless and essiential for what it stands for. At the end of the day to who ever wrote this naff review, which I must say seem simular to thos seen in NME magazine that this is band which has clear and distinct method & messages in their music. For a man with little of no legacy to his name, I think you should find it very hard to judge.
Alex - Crowborough

Placebo are amazing. As pointed out by another writer, their songs can actually make you cry. Powerful, desperate music!
Chris, UK

fantasic album from a great band they have just got better and better in the years gone by brian is a fantasic front man with a perfect voice to match.it is a must have in anybodys cd collection.
joe / england

 

 
+   4 Jul 2009   by Little Mo | 
Placebo, Air & Style, 1998

 Placebo, Air & Style, 1998
PLACEBO

PLACEBO

  "We're not championing a cause or anything: We just want you to look at yourself and be scared at what you find."
Placebo's Brian Molko fronts a band who thrive on chaos and disorder, on urgent emotions and unsettling imagery. Only six months into their career, Placebo had managed to forge themselves a reputation that had as much to do with delighting people as it did with dismaying them. Every reaction has been extreme.
They also, in that time, set up their own label, Elevator Music, via a special deal with Hut Records, and recorded an astonishing, challenging and beautiful album, titled simply 'Placebo'. It could be underwritten: 'The antidote to Britpop'.
"You run the risk on the first album of making a record that has one particular sound, that runs the whole way through it," considered Brian Molko. "And we wanted ours to be like a collection of short stories, approach every single song individually with the orchestration and vocal styles. We wanted to take you on a journey, an emotional rollercoaster, with little surprises here and there, instead of just having a blanket sound."
'Placebo' took just two months to record, in Dublin and London, and was produced by Brad Wood, a founder member of Tortoise, who has also worked with artists as diverse as Liz Phair, Veruca Salt and The Jesus Lizard. "He's as much into electronic music as we are," says Brian, "and we didn't want to make pure punk record, we wanted to make something that was colourful." The moodswings and frissons of Placebo's songs were carefully textured, using analogue synths, and more unorthodox sounds from toy instruments and a didgeridoo.
Placebo's songs invite vivid experiences. "There's a lot of characters in there, and a lot of the lyrics are telling stories too. But if it makes you feel that it's an emotional record then I'm happy about that," offers Brain, "I'm happy to walk the line. To make things dangerous, hopefully. People could really hate the record, it could really annoy them - which would be cool. Indifference about it would piss me off more."
Placebo's unique vision of music and life began in Luxembourg, where Brian initially met Stefan, who is Swedish, at school, at the ages of 12 and 11 respectively. As Brian recalls, "in the space of seven years we might have exchanged one sentence."
Brian left for London when he was 17, but a chance encounter in South Kensington tube station brought the two of them back together. "There he was, with a guitar strapped to his back, and he didn't actually want my phone number he asked for it out of courtesy," Brian laughs. The singer happened to be playing a gig that night. Stefan attended, and immediately decided a band had to be formed.
After initial dabbling in what they describe as "art rock", the old school network came back into its own. The now departed drummer Robert Schultzberg, with whom Stefan had been at school and in a band with in Sweden, was coming to London to study music. Stefan called him up and asked him to join his new band. "It was perfect," said Brian, "it just gelled."
For all three, London was the perfect environment in which to create and unleash their musical medicine show, and they've attracted attention from the outset. Pursued by A&R men repeating the mantra, "You blew me away," Placebo secured their deal with Hut a mere 51 weeks after their first ever gig.
During 1995 they toured with Ash, Whale and Bush, determined to hook all-comers into their congregation, and released their debut single, 'Bruise Pristine' on the hip Fierce Panda label in November 1995. They began 1996 with the critically acclaimed 'Come Home' single in January, and toured the UK with Belgian art rockers Evil Superstars and Europe with David Bowie. "We went from 300 capacity venues to 8,000 to 12,000 capacity stadiums almost overnight, which was freaky," Brian notes. Bowie became a fan of the band instantly, and at his request, they have supported him again on various occasions.
They played at T' In The Park and Reading festivals during 1996. "Now we've played to 16,000 people in Paris, those festivals were not going to scare us," Molko said.
But their most challenging task was to create an album as powerfully different as 'Placebo'. From the licentious 'Nancy Boy' to the sparkling abandon of 'Bionic' and the full blown experimentalism of 'Swallow' this is an album that showcases the band's musical versatility. Its making was, at times, extraordinary.
"'Swallow' is what happened the last time Stefan and I took acid," reveals Molko. "It could mean many things, I guess at first you might think it's about losing all your drugs, or maybe it's someone who's so wasted during s*x they forget not to swallow. I don't know, it was never really written in a state of reality." Both 'Hang On To Your IQ' and 'I Know' employed toy instruments to "Bring a real loss of innocence feel, a real, naive vulnerability to the music," says Brian. 'Lady of The Flowers' takes its name from the Jean Genet prison novel, while the single '36 Degrees' suggests plenty of double meanings. "It's called that because 36 degrees is close to body temperature," explains Brian. "I guess it's all body metaphors. The sleeve has an arm and a leg wrapped in clingfilm, like they're being preserved. And you can put something in clingfilm and stick it in the refrigerator, or stick it in a microwave and warm it up or cool it down."
Brian is not afraid of making people uncomfortable. His unorthodox, androgynous appearance has already gained him a share of notoriety. "What I would find amusing, a reaction I would like to create, for example, is for somebody, who in his life has been homophobic, to come to a gig and mistake me for a woman for the first half of the gig, and actually think I was quite cute, and then discover that I was a bloke and have to ask themselves some questions about themselves, you know." And he draws from his formative experience as an actor to work through his most uncomfortable and unnerving emotions. "In acting, you could do things you wouldn't normally do in real life and get away with them," he furthers. "In writing, my characters can do that as well, they can do things you might be afraid of, or feel thing you'd feel guilty or uncomfortable about, And you can get rid of personal feelings through them."
'Placebo' was released on June 17th 1996, preceded by the single '36 Degrees' on June 3rd 1996, while the band begin a UK tour on June 2nd. The most wayward new spirits of rock 'n' roll are not prepared to be taking things easy. "The album carries through the urgency and immediacy of what we are." concludes Brian. "I guess it's moving at very fast pace now, but if there is ever a time to be moving at this pace then it's now, We can relax in a few years - maybe. I hope not." Take a deep breath now.
Robert Schultzberg subsequently left the band and was replaced by Steven Hewitt who has played in other bands including an early Boo Radleys.


Placebo, biographie, Air & Style, 1998

Source : Air & Style

 
+   4 Jul 2009   by Little Mo | 
Brian Molko, interview, Scars, 2006

Brian Molko, interview, Scars, 2006
PLACEBO

   Placebo is actually rehearsing for a 2006-2007 tour which will take them to the UK, Australia, Asia, Europe and America (meaning the whole continent). Fortunately could make a space in his tights schedule to talk to Anne Whrites about Placebo's new album and sincerely talked about his private life, including his childhood, his relationshops and s*xuality.


Scars : How did you select the songs included in Meds?

Brian Molko : To be honest, it was all so spontaneus. When we started we had twenty songs for the album, and from there, by an elimination process, we left the ones included in the album. Fortunately, our record label gave us the freedom to work at our own pace, contrary to the release of the singles compillation because the label is the one who decided when that one is going to be released. It's part of the contract artist sign with record labels. With Meds we had more freedom regarding time and preparation, and more in things such as releasing dates and other things, because the six week previous to the album's release are the hardest for us because we sometimes have to be in different cities in the same day. Since we released Black Market Music the record label wanted to release a 'singles' CD. Fortunately the label was very kind to us and postponed its release.
We had many things to explore with Placebo yet and we feared that releasing a compilation album would get the wrong message. Unless there is something new in it, a 'best of' feels like a way to get money from the fans and I've always been againt that. So when the Soulmates never die tour ended, we decided to release the compilation with a couple of new songs and a CD with remixes of some of our songs.


Scars : Of course, there's always songs that, even if they weren't singles, they could have been included because they perfectly represent what Placebo's style is.

Brian Molko : Like what song?


Scars : I think 'I know' is one of those songs...

Brian Molko : I love that song! In fact, it was included in the original tracklist I had thought of, but we couldn't fit everything in the compilation, that's why in interviews I told it was a singles compilation, that it doesn't necessarily mean they're the best songs. Do you know the story behind 'I know'?


Scars : No...

Brian Molko : I was living in New York, thinking about moving there instead of living somewhere in France where I had been living and where I was feeling very down. I don't talk a lot of my private life, but it's very well known and very 'public domain' that I was in a relationship duiring that time but it didn't work. We really needed to take some time off. So I was in that big city and didn't know anybody. I lost my home, my family and I fell into a very deep depression. We had decided not to talk to eachother but I couldn't bear it anymore. I remember I picked up a phone in some phonebooth in Broadway and called this person and said "see, I know I'm not supposed to be calling you right now, but I really need to talk to you". The song is part of the conversation we had over the phone, there's a lot of guilt in that song. Blind, included in Meds, is a somewhat alike song. The end of a relationship is kind like death. You have a life with someone and just suddendly, everything stops. The saddest part is that the world goes on and people go on minding their own business, without knowing the paint you feel. It's very interesting for an author to write about that.


Scars : I think the gift of an author is to be able to transmit these very complicated feelings into more simple terms

Brian Molko : It's very curous that you said that. There's part of the world that reacts to frankness, you know what I mean? I'm a very private person off stage because I don't want to be the gossip of the moment. But I show myself as a very open person through my songs.


Scars : Do you write your songs in minutes, or do you take days, or even months to finish a song?

Brian Molko : Sometimes it's a very quick process, sometimes it takes years. Sometimes when I write it's really crazy, it's like it just flowed out of me. Some songs come very easily but some others take a very long time.


Scars : With Placebo, you've had success across the world. Have you ever been forced to be politicaly correct? And I mean people who do not agree with your opinions.

Brian Molko : Yes, but not by a record label, but by the press' cesors.


Scars : Do you think your gay fans can relate to the feelings of isolation included in your songs?

Brian Molko : That's a good question. I think most of our fans have had difficult and painful experiencies, gay or not. The songs I write aren't really made specially for a sector. I've lived in very cosmopolitan cities where s*xuality isn't a big deal. But in some way, globaly, gay people still feel like srangers. I think one of the strong points of Placebo it's that we're a multicultural band that tries to respect different ways of thinking. If somebody doesn't like what we do, f*ck them. Knowing that you can't please everybody is a part of life, what is important is finding your own motivation. If you're not hurting people by it you shouldn't be ashamed and you just have to let closed minded people f*ck off. It took me a time to get this because I thougth myself to be a freak, I had a father that constantly traveled around the world and I also changed schools constantly, and the first years of high school were terrible for me, because I was being pointed out for being an artist and for being sensible. And you know what? there's something great in being successful by being a freak! I hope that inspires people. I simply don't understand discrimination of this kind, but people tend to fear things when they're different. Loving is loving. Just people you sleep with, certain people, it doesn't mean that the whole world has to know. I'm sure you have an opinion in my s*xuality, right now, and it doesn't bother me in the slightest, and that's what matters to me.


Scars : In other songs included in Meds, it seems like you took a deep musical and emotional experience. Is it the beggining or the end of an era for you and Placebo?

Brian Molko : It's both. We felt very rebelious with the way we looked at our own music and our lives. I was just coming down from a fair bit of sadness and dealing with other things. With Placebo we wanted to go back to our roots, to go on with the same force but still having our own style, leaving behind the image and play with far less makeup.


Scars : Is the 'Death of Nancy boy' documentary, included in the special edition of Meds, a reflection of the new Placebo?

Brian Molko : Yes, I think there are a lot more important things to talk about, like relationships and love. I recently lost a friend and saw how his/her partner full of sorrow was the complete opposite to being in love. This cycle of love and death is very interesting indeed. I also have a new light in my life. There are a lot of wonderful things, but there are also a lot which are sad. It's a mystery that I find in every kind of relationship.


Scars : People want to see you live this year. How would the new sound be while playing live?

Brian Molko : Sound will be a bit more ambiental, I think.


Scars : In your personal projects, having professional actoral training, do you have any plans to work in the silver screen?

Brian Molko : It's something I would like to do even though right now I don't see any chances of working in a set since the tour is first priority right now, but I would like to, for example, do the score for a movie: to create based in a finished work. Something like what Marilyn Manson did for Resident Evil or Jonathan Davis for The Queen of the Damned where they made a great score. The nearer the band got to a set was an invite to include one of our songs in Halflight, the movie, with Demi Moore and my friend Hans Matheson. In the end the negotionations didn't get that far and it was such a shame because I really liked the movie.


Scars : And finaly Brian, what music are you currently listening to?

Brian Molko : I love Madonna's new album, and I love 'Gold Lion' by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. And I also love Rosenrot, the new Rammstein album, the collaboration Sharleen Spiteri did in 'Don't die before I do (Stirb nicht vor mir)' is amazing as well as the song in Spanish which is very funny. That left us thinking we could write and record a song for our Spanish speaking fans. I really like 'Club foot' by Kasabian, and Mogwai is great.


Brian Molko, Interview, Scars, 2006
+   4 Jul 2009   by Little Mo | 
Brian Molko, SuicideGirls, 02 février 2004, par Anais

Brian Molko, SuicideGirls, 02 février 2004, par Anais
PLACEBO

For nine months Placebo (Brian Molko, Stefan Osdal and, Steven Hewitt) have been vigorously touring around the globe promoting their fourth album, emotionally charged ‘Sleeping with Ghosts.’. I traveled to Las Vegas in November to see them play with the Eagles of Death Metal. The anticipation in the audience before they took the stage was electric. Placebo began the set with instrumental “Bulletproof Cupid” which only increased the electricity and ensured what was to be a powerful set. Vocalist Brian Molko and Bassist Stefan Osdal feed off of one another's energy and lay to rest the notion that the singer of a band is the main focal point. I had the pleasure of sitting down with charming Brian before the show to bring you another Anais of SuicideGirls interview.

Anais: It’s been a while since I have planned a trip so last minute. How do you keep a level mind with such a lengthy, fast paced tour?

Brian: It helps being on tour with some friends. If they are the support band, you know. The Eagles of Death Metal are kind of like a super group. Josh from Queens of the Stoneage, Tim from Millionaire, a really really cool Belgian band who I’ve known for about seven years. He was in several other Belgian bands. Yeah Jesse is kind of new on the scene. This is his fifth or sixth ‘rock gig,’ I guess. So that helps, this sort of communal family and sharing atmosphere.

A:Fifth or six gig ever playing?

B:Yeah, yeah, but we also spent a long time getting a really good team around us. Getting people that we feel really close to, and we can trust, that we have a laugh with on tour. Our crew is really important to us. We have a very English way of showing affection, which is to be extremely insulting to each other. It’s the English way, so there is a lot of laughter going on depending on the level of insults.

A:Dave must be English then.

B:Does he have torettes as well? I think we also have the torettes.

A:More like if I say something to him its ‘Wait, hold um, I’m sorry my secretary is going to have to get back to you of weather or not I give a sh*t.’

B:Oh yeah, yeah, sounds right, that’s about right. Physically, I guess, just a lot of water and a lot of vitamins. Kind of replenish your system. Stupid amount of vitamins. What was the original question?

A:How to you keep a level mind?

B:A level mind? Well..

A:You know, without privacy.

B:Well that’s an issue but it’s kind of so family like on the bus that that’s not really too bad. It is lovely when you get a nice hotel room, unpack a little bit and spread out. You get used to living on top of each other. It’s like a little commune on wheels. At least you’ve chosen the people that you are living in that commune with. And to try and keep a level head, you know, to have the luxury of having some kind of counselor with you on tour continuously. It would be fantastic.

A:Hire a therapist.

B:But, they cost so much an hour that to take one with you would be absolutely crazy. I suppose you could communicate by telephone but I think that I sort of, maybe need to see somebody face to face. So If we ever make it as big as Guns N’ Roses we might be able to get our own shrink.

A:There are ways of self medicating. Have you heard of Lucid Dreaming?

B:Lucid Dreaming?

A:Dream manipulation. Realizing that you are dreaming and being able to guide your dreams. It definitely helps if you are trying to avoid chemical substances. Once you able to recognize you are dreaming you can enter a calm, lucid state in daily life. Basically it’s letting go of your mind and letting the reality of what is going on with yourself at that moment take you over. It’s a very peaceful moment. There’s different ways that you can do it. You can either stare at something and simply trip out on it (signals that you are dreaming) or accept everything that is going on at that moment.

B: A super reality that is very calm?

A:Yeah, more like some people describe as watching your life in a movie. That’s a really simple way of putting it. If you can get yourself in that mind you can avoid a lot of mental breakdown. That’s how I do it.

B:That’s interesting. I’ll have to read up about that and try and understand it better.

A:Have you seen ‘Waking Life?’

B:’Waking Life’, no that’s the Richard Linklater film isn’t it? I haven’t seen it, no.

A:See that sober.

B:(snicker) See it sober? Okay.

A:First. If you are into mushrooms, see it on mushrooms second.

B:Okay. I don’t know about mushrooms anymore. I think I’ve kind of grown out of mushrooms.

A:I can understand. That gives you the basics of lucid dreaming as in dreaming while you are awake. Being aware that your mind is awake, but in a dream, and having control. ‘Waking Life’ is different than what I am talking about, the after affects of lucid dreaming in daily life. It will introduce what it is to be in that awake state and dreaming.

B:I’ll definitely check it out. I’ll see if I can find a little cliff notes on lucid dreaming. A small book on lucid dreaming so I’ll be able to understand more of what you’ve said.

A:This is all ADD and out of order, because that is the way I think. I wanted to mention that when I first saw you in Chicago at the Metro in 96’ ‘Bionic’ was the song that caught my attention. There was just such a pure, raw, s*xual energy about that song that intrigued me. That is how I got into you guys and it seems you’ve grown more dynamic with each album. Do the shows now feel more connected than they did back then?

B:There’s a strange kind of feeling of interconnection between the songs that we are playing live at the moment. Simply because they are the only ones within our *repertoire* that we have, at the present, right now, an emotional connection to. We find it very difficult to play, to keep every member of the audience happy by playing all the hits all the time. We’ve changed. We don’t have an emotional connection to those songs anymore so therefore it would be, for us, a lie to play those songs to them. We’re not connected to them emotionally so how can they be connected to them emotionally in a real true fashion. So that way, when we play this show, they all seem to fit very well together. There is only one song from the first album that we are playing and that happens to be ‘Bionic’. Strangely enough, because we went back and played quite a bit of the first album and we act on instinct and ‘Bionic’ was the only one that felt right. It’s true, it’s screaming s*xual energy. You know, it’s absolutely belting out desire. I was desperately so. That’s kind of a reflection of the person I was at the age of 20, you know, 10 years ago, 11 years ago. I don’t know, maybe I’ve come full circle. Maybe that’s why we are playing it again.

A:On the first album, when I think about the songs that still connect to me, as a listener of your music it is really ‘Bionic’ and ‘I know’. That line, ‘The past will catch you up as you run faster.’..

B:Yeah well it’s the one thing that you can’t run away from.

A:Exactly.

B:You can’t run away from your past and your memories..

A:Oh I’ve tried many a time.

B:Yeah. You know that’s what ‘Sleeping with Ghosts” really is about. It’s about trying to deal with your memory and trying to deal with those ghosts that you carry around with you, continuously, the people, the events that shaped you. Trying, I guess, to accept them and learn from them in order to take healthier steps towards the future.

A:That’s why I practice the affects lucid dreaming. It’s about retrospect.

B:Well there you go. Instead of lucid dreaming I use sort of an emotional exorcism, you know, through the creative process of writing songs. It’s definitely a form of therapy.

A:It’s amazing music and writing songs become forms of therapy, like taking self portraits is therapy for me.

B:There you go, yeah.

A:It’s fascinating, that’s why I love artists.

B:That’s why you should maybe familiarize yourself with Asia Argento’s work Her stuff, especially her first film, ‘Scarlet Diva’, it’s all kind of about her. She wrote a book when she was a teenager which is kind of about her. I think you’d be very interested by her work. We’re doing the music for her next film.

A:How do you find the US tours now vs. 1996, 1998 etc.? I mentioned to you that I was there in Boston, first gig off of the European...

B:At Mama Kins?

A:Yeah, twenty of us...

B:The Mama Kins culture shock. Yeah, yeah.

A :You did have a few devoted fans there but out of twenty it had to have been a culture shock.

B:Yeah from three thousand people to twenty. It was a bit much. We weren’t really prepared for it at that point. We’d just done kind of the biggest tour in our lives which took us up to an eighteen thousand person gig in Paris, you know, which is really intense. We had been touring since March and so by the seventh month I started to really sort of buckle a little bit under the pressure. Really feel the weight of expectation. I was getting tired. So even though these were kind of like the biggest shows of our lives, with a massive crew and three big visual screens and lots of projection, it was very show biz. Towards the end of it I kind of, I lost a little bit of a connection with the audience and it was kind of bringing me down. Coming here, it’s been so refreshing. It’s been like learning the ropes again. It’s been a long while since we’ve done this kind of tour and I think it’s going to turn us into a better band. We’re finally getting energy again. We’re feeling such immediate energy. You can see the whites of the eyes of the people in the audience. You know, you stand on the barrier and they’re trying to unzip your fly, you know stuff like that, it’s much more punk rock. We’re really, really enjoying it. It’s fresh. It’s brought a real freshness back to Placebo. I’m having a great time. It’s taken a little bit of readjustment but we’ve thrown ourselves kind of head long into it and are going back in time and learning again. Learning what it feels like to do these kind of shows, learning from them. I think it’s one of the best things that’s ever happened.

A:Yeah I do have the say the show other night, aside from Portland's lethargic audiences, that was one of the best shows I have seen of you.

B:Oh that’s cool. Yeah in? Portland the audience was amazing. Seattle was six hundred and five people, you know, and it just, it ranks in my top five gigs of all time. I had the most amazing time that night. I crowd surfed for the first time in years. It was electric.

A:Yeah Portland audiences can be snotty. I have a problem with that. There’s a cartoon slashed down the middle, LA and New York. It’s a guy in LA saying ‘Hey how are you doing?’ and there’s a thought bubble above his head , ‘Hey, F*ck you’, and the New York side is ‘Hey f*ck you’, and a thought bubble above his head ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ That for me explains a lot of East Coast and West Coast. Well, my experiences with it.
How has two new members affected the feeling and outcome on stage? This is the first time I’ve seen you guys with all five.

B:Well, yeah, Bill has been around since day one, you know. Bill used to drive us in his ford transit van, you know,with a mattress in the back and the equipment and do everything for us, sound etc. He’s been our close friend since day one so when we needed and extra guy it was obvious that Bill was going to be that person. It took us a long to time get him out from behind the amps. He was shy so he liked to hide behind the amps. Now that he has come out in front of the amps it’s actually changed him into a bit more of an extroverted rock and roll person which is nice, which is good to see. The reason that we decided to have an extra keyboard player was because the sound and the album had become just too complex for even just the four of us to play live. Stefan and I would have had to become two computer operators, you know, a bit like Kraftwerk. It’s not very rock and roll and it’s not very s*xy, it’s not very fun, to see that, I think , sort of onstage. Plus I wanted to take a step towards the audience a lot more. I wanted to put my guitar down and just be the singer. How could I do that if I was operating a computer? We decided to get Zav in so that Stefan and I could concentrate much, much more on the performance Take closer steps towards the audience, and fill out the sound.

A:I’ve definitely noticed that Stefan’s been a little less shy...

B:Yeah

A:Definately from 96’...

B:Stef's really come out of his shell and it’s fantastic. It’s great to share the front man duties with him. I don’t believe that in a band the front man is necessarily the singer. It’s nice that we’ve reached this point where there’s kind of like a two front man thing. And two very different personalities as well. It’s great, the knowing smiles and giggles that we share onstage are, you know, our special things. Yeah he’s definitely come out of his shell, it’s great.

A:yeah it’s good to see onstage. One thing that I have always appreciated about you guys is that you don’t seem to follow the trend of the day. Your music definitely has grown since the first album but you’ve still remained true to Placebo’s sound. Which is good because so many bands now are trying to be....

B:Garage..

A:The White Stripes, The Strokes, BRMC...

B:Yeah keep going on..

A:And I like the fact that Placebo has always been that band that I like that is just Placebo.

B:Yeah, I mean, a difficult equilibrium to strike is to try and find something fresh and to feel that there is an evolution in your sound and in your song writing. Just from being bored with it , whilst not turning your back on what matters, what’s uniquely you. That’s kind of the biggest challenge that you face every time that you make a new album. Yeah, I think you’re right. I think we’ve kind of always operated to the left of musical trend and fashion in music. When we started we were ridiculously unfashionable. We stuck out like a sore thumb. It was the height of Brit Pop. It was the Blur and Oasis days, you know? The Blur vs. Oasis days. So we were quite in converse in the scene at the time.

A:I think that’s why I found Placebo because I ignored the Blur and Oasis...

B:Mmm. Which we were really lucky. It seems a little bit like it’s more fashionable to do the kind of stuff that , you know the kind of, either the faggy punk rock or just, well, rock is more kind of in fashion now and I guess we are a bit contrary. We always like to sort of walk against the waves, you know, and try to be unfashionable.

A:I think the most fashionable thing someone can do is just be themselves.

B:Well, that’s all that we are trying to do. And obviously our record collection has grown over the years. We’ve been exposed to so many different styles of music over the years more and more so it’s obviously just going to evolve. I just hope it continues to evolve organically, you know, that will make it remain truthful and that it involves sort of vital pieces, keeps us now, you know, keeps us today.

A:What do you think your current musical influences are?

B:Oh well, it’s difficult to say. That’s the question that I always think of when I want to buy lots of records. I walk into a record shop and...

A:Records, movies, books...

B:I can’t remember what I wanted to get. What are we listening to? Well we’ve been listening to, on the bus, the Outkast album ‘Speakerbox’ and ‘Love Hey Ya’, and Reggae. I’m listening to Arvo Part a lot. Let’s see, there’s a lot of Michael Jackson being played in the dressing room before going on stage and we’re really digging the new Janes Addiction album. I saw Janes Addiction in London a couple of weeks ago.

A:I’ve been listening to a lot of Gram Parsons.

B:Oh yeah?

A:That’s kind of what the bar I work at is aiming towards during the day shift.

B:We have to write some country stuff for this film soundtrack so I think, yeah that’s a good pointer. Actually I might go back and listen to some Flying Burrito Brothers and some Gram Parsons.

A:What’s the writing process like for you? I know you write the lyrics.

B:The lyrics. Well most of the time the lyrics will come after the music. The lyrics will be kind of an intellectual interpretation of the collective emotion of the music which the three of us come up with. Sometimes I’ll come with a very, very, skeletal guitar structure or piano structure with some lyrics half finished. Only on occasion will there be a set, you know, three versus and a chorus with a vocal melody line that I’ll bring. Usually the magic happens when it’s the three of us playing, jamming. We write a lot at sound check on tour. To be creative for a little while during the day, even if it’s on at night time, then it helps you to not feel like a performing monkey because of the repetitive nature of what we are doing. It’s good to feel that you’ve still got it in you. You should take opportunity to be inspired by the places that you don’t know very well, you know, that you’re in. Sometimes when you travel through middle America everywhere can start to really look the same. That can be a little bit uninspiring. If you are doing a U around North America as we are, and taking in Mexico, places have a tendency to to have quite the same personalities. It’s a good place. it’s a good time when you’re out of your element to see new things, you know, learn something new.

A:Is there an album or song, whichever you want to choose, that you hold dearest to you?

B:Mmmm...phew, it’s difficult, it’s very difficult. There’s a french song by Jacques Brel called ‘ Ne Me Quitte Pas’, ‘Please Don’t Leave Me’ and being the sappy old romantic that I am that’s the one song that always makes me cry. It’s been covered by Nina Simone in French. It’s really charming, Nina Simone with her American accent singing in French. It’s also been covered by Scott Walker. It’s called ‘If You Go Away’. That one song for me really just kind of, yeah it’s the one that always really really just doesn’t pull at my heart strings it tugs with great *might* at my heart strings.

A:I’ve spoken to a lot of other musicians who feel TV appearances are a bit forced. How do you feel about TV appearances?

B:I don’t mind them if you can keep a live element. Even if that means just singing live, I don’t mind them. To me it’s when you have to do a complete mime that you feel like a prick, you know, you really do feel quite uncomfortable. Um, I don’t mind TV appearances because I get to wear nicer clothes than I get to do onstage. I can really break out the designer gear. It’s only a few minutes or four minutes at a time. The designer gear can be a bit cumbersome on stage. You need to wear stuff that’s a lot more functional. I enjoy that aspect of, well you know, being quite vain I suppose I quite like being on TV. And you can reach a lot of people by doing it. I guess the highest profile thing that we’ve done over here has been Conan.

A:Who was the last one to cause a ruckus on tour?

B:Who was the last one to cause a ruckus? Within the...

A:Not necessarily within the band.

B:Within the entourage? Oh a couple of members of our crew got extremely drunk at a hotel bar in Spain. It was the last gig of the European tour and actually got into a fight with our production manager outside of the hotel. The Police were called and stuff like that. They were just very lucky that they were in Spain and not in the US otherwise they would have been face down on the pavement and handcuffed. They’ve come to America with a more timid approach to their drinking. (laughter)

A:Best they got that out of their systems there.

B:Yeah, I think, it was the last day and they were just kind of blowing off steam.

A:Speaking of such things, you’ve been known to be somewhat of a misfit...

B:(Laughter)

A:Which I appreciate, personally. Do you find you act more on impulse versus stopping to kind of...

B:Absolutely. That’s what gets me into trouble.

A:(laughter) Me too.

B:I’m impulsive. I often don’t consider the consequences of my actions until afterwards. I get wrapped up in an emotion and kind of somehow allow it to engulf me because it’s exciting, it’s very strong. So yeah, so I act on impulse.

A:Yeah I do that a lot too. Probably a lot of it is being 5’2 I often try to overcome preconceptions about being a small person.

B:I think I have a bit of a sort of, probably because of my childhood Imagine, a bit of a persecution complex with people who, I guess are taller and older than me. Sometimes I feel that people are talking to me like I am a child.

A:Exactly

B:You know, and it really really makes me angry. It brings out a real bucolic side of me which is not really very nice. I think that definitely comes from being a kid and being, you know, a little bit smaller than everybody else. Just below average height. I don’t know, there’s something about that I guess that sort of also contributes to your predilection for exhibitionism. Sort of up there, on stage, and compensate I guess. I don’t know if you feel that way with what you do?

A:(This is where Anais completely misses the point) Well it’s amazing how many people think I’m tall. Not only because I wear four and a half inch platforms most everyday but via being photographed usually a large physical head and a small body makes you look taller on film and pictures. So, usually people are shocked as hell when they meet me in person. Almost to the point where I don’t get recognized.

B:Well, people always look taller on stage.

A:Next to Stefan unfortunately....

B:I know, of course, next to Stefan, but even still tackless people that you meet along the way go ‘Oh my god you’re so much shorter than I thought you were.’

A:I was surprised when I met you but I am short too so it was more of a collecting short people that are witty and good in the world.

B:Solidarity.

A:Actually most of the suicidgirls, well I don’t know what the ratio is now, but when it was just about twenty five of us I think the ratio was about 85% 5’3 and under. One of my favorite SG’s Robin is a little one.

B:Wow, wow...

A:Yeah, she’s a lil’ firecracker. Um, oh I was going to share a Spice Girls story with you.

B:Share a Spice Girls story?

A:Yeah, well I’ve heard of experiences that you’ve had with the Spice Girls being around. The fight and such.

B:You know about the infamous incident where I got beat up at a Spice Girls after show? Yeah, it was all my fault. It usually happens when you insult somebody's wife and you’re so off you face that you don’t realize that he’s standing next to her. You know, but it was funny, it was just one of those nights. I broke a few ribs getting thrown across the room into table and chairs.

A:Yeah I was never into the Spice Girls but when I lived in Ohio a street kid came up and dropped some breath freshener on my hand. About an hour or so later I got home and was flipping through the channels and I started to realize I had been dosed and I flipped through channels and I landed on the Spice Girls movie. I sat there horrified for about an hour and a half just staring at it.

B:What do you think it was?

A:It was acid.

B:It was acid?

A:Yeah, definitely.

B:Oh my god I can’t imagine anything worse. Watching the Spice Girls film on acid.

A:Yeah it was one of the worst trips I ever had. Especially because it was while I was watching it that I fully grasped that fact that someone had dropped four drops of it on my arm.

B:Hmmm.

A:Horrifying. And that was my Spice Girls story.

B:The worst trip that I’ve ever had was when I was in college. It’s when I gave it all up. Gave up hallucinigenics and stuff like that. It was this purple arm was just so strong that I felt like it was so fresh. I don’t know, the sheet must have been dipped in different places at higher concentrations and I got one. And I was literally, I felt like every muscle in my body was about to sort of tear itself apart. And I thought I was going to die. I found myself in Greenwich park, in London, sort of just, and I’m embarrassed to admit it, hugging a tree. Trying to feel something natural, you know, against my face. Against my skin in order to try and calm myself down and tell myself ‘It’s only a drug. This will stop. You may be a causality after this but you will still be alive.’ So that was my worst experience.

A:We could go on a three hour long interview if I even got anywhere near into my trip stories. As an SG my initial response to my ‘Nice ass’ letter is ‘Thanks I like to poo out of it.’ Do you find you ever have fun playing with responses to repetitive questions?

B:Yeah whenever we get asked by an interviewer ‘How did you meet?’ we try to invent some sort of calicoes, licentious story about being young boys and stuff like that. You know, ‘We met in Thailand’, just stuff like that. Yeah it’s just sort of to alleviate the boredom.

A:I was jokingly going to start the interview with ‘What’s the difference in size between your cocks and frocks?”

B:Ummm
(laughter)

A:It’s not actually a question...

(laughter)

B:Probably, I’d say quite a large difference, you know?

A:Tell me about your DJ night.

B:It was funny. We decided to start, just for the hell of it during time off, we decided to start this club called Introvenis. It was to be a kind of fetish night. It was to be a doctors and nurses night. Simply because we wanted to create an atmosphere were I think people could put some kind of mask on and dress up, cut loose a bit more. Probably cause they have something to hide behind, have a little bit more fun, feel a little less responsible. It was a little bit of a cross between sort of a club and a cabaret. DJing in a blood spattered surgeons outfit into a mannequin with effects in the mannequin and have the whole thing set up like a sort of operating theater. Kind of have adult babies come on and do a bit of go-go dancing and dancing nurses. I had a guy dressed up as, an NME journalist actually, was dressed up as George Bush. So we had a George Bush go-go dancer once. It didn’t last very long because we had to start work on the album and we made no money whatsoever but it was a lot of fun. People actually did travel from Europe to come and see that night. It wasn’t that successful it was just a fun thing. After that we were thinking of starting a collective of Introvenis DJ’s. People that we would bring on tour with us that could DJ between sets. But they would be anonymous, obviously, because they would have surgeons masks on, things like that. So you could never be sure who it was, a member of the band or a promotional DJ that we had. That could be something for the future. Introvenis has been laid to rest for a while. It was spelled Introvenis, I-N-T-R-O-venis.

A:The most I ever did during my DJ night was roller-skate. I was a karaoke jockey and a DJ. I decided to wear roller-skates one night and get completely blitzed. I’m at the age where, obviously, I don’t throw up in public anymore but when I took those roller-skates off to go home the gravity hit me...

B:Yeah?

A:Way too soon. It was at a Suicide Girls event that happen to occur at my bar. Tons of people anyhow that knew who I was and I usually don’t try to get too drunk around and I just went (puts hand up to mouth) pardon me.

B:Ah ok...

A:(zooooooooooooom)

B:Oh yeah, yeah.

A:What helps you through moments where silence allows inner convictions to speak all at once? Do you recognize madness?

B:That’s probably why I am an insomniac to a great degree. That’s why I kind of often fall asleep not in bed because I am trying to delay the time where I have to be face to face with my own soul.

A:Exactly.

B:And consider my own morality, and consider all of those things. It’s a too quiet moment. Quiet, in itself, does bother me. Continuous quiet, being in a totally still room will freak me out sometimes. I need to have something around me.

A:One of the moments I am most happy to be alive is when I realize that moment after a difficult time where it’s ok. ‘Wait a minute, I’m happy right now, and I haven’t felt that in a while.’ That, to me, is the most beautiful moment and I was wondering if you’ve ever noticed that and when last?

B:Hmmmm...(silence) Wow...I don’t know if I can actually answer that one

A:It’s a difficult moment to notice. Maybe like, three times a year I ever do.

B:Hmm...I’m sorry you’ve stumped me on that one. You’ve managed to..

A:I never thought I’d stump you. (laughter) The last one is,and this is my joke question, is this the first time you will be able to see your interviewer naked on the internet?

B:Yes. (laughter) And I’m looking forward to it. (laughter)

A:Nice.



Brian Molko, Interview, SuicideGirls, 02 février 2003

Source : suicidegirls.com
+   4 Jul 2009   by Little Mo | 

for Nessa n' Suni

For What It’s Worth

چه ارزشی دارد

Album : battle for the sun

2009

The end of the century

در پایان قرن

I said my goodbyes

من وداعم را کرده ام

For what it’s worth

چه ارزشی دارد

I always aim to please

هدف من همیشه خوشنود کردن دیگران بود

But I nearly died

ولی , من دارم می میرم

For what it’s worth

چه ارزشی دارد

Come on lay with me

بیا با من بخواب

‘Cause I’m on fire

زیرا به جنون رسیده ام

For what it’s worth

چه ارزشی دارد

I tear the sun in three

خورشید را به میانمان می کشم

To light up your eyes

تا چشمانت را روشن کند

For what it’s worth

چه ارزشی داره

For what it’s worth

چه ارزشی داره

For what it’s worth

چه ارزشی داره

For what it’s worth

چه ارزشی داره

Broke up the family

خانواده ای از هم پاشیدند

Everybody cried

همه گریه کردند

For what it’s worth

چه ارزشی دارد

I have a slow disease

من بیماری ای دارم که به آرامی پیش می رود

That sucked me dry

و خشکم می کند

For what it’s worth

چه اهمیتی دارد

Come on walk with me

با من بیا

Into the rising tide

به سوی این موج برافروخته

For what it’s worth

چه اهمیتی دارد

Filled a cavity

که حفره ای پر شده

Your god shaped hole tonight

خداوند این گودال را حفر کرده است ... امشب

For what it’s worth

چه اهمیتی دارد

For what it’s worth

چه اهمیتی دارد

For what it’s worth

چه اهمیتی دارد

For what it’s worth

چه اهمیتی دارد

For what it’s worth

چه اهمیتی دارد

For what it’s worth

چه اهمیتی دارد

For what it’s worth

چه اهمیتی دارد

For what it’s worth

چه اهمیتی دارد

No one cares when you’re out on the street

برای کسی اهمیتی ندارد که تو در خیابان قدم می زنی

Picking up the pieces to make ends meet

چیزی بلند می کنی تا خرج زندگی ات را تامین کنی

No one cares when you’re down in the gutter

کسی اهمیت نمی دهد که تو در جوی فاضلاب بیفتی

Got no friends got no lover ( x2)

نه دوستی , نه عاشقی

For what it’s worth

Got no lover (x7)

چه ارزشی دارد

وقتی عاشقی نداری

Got no friends got no lover

نه دوستی , نه عاشقی
+   5 Jun 2009   by Little Mo | 
 
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Brian Molko interview in MTV Europe Music Awards