Although Placebo isn't quite a household name in America, it routinely sells out large venues like Wembley Arena in London and The Sports Palace in Mexico City. Fans are especially rabid in Latino countries. A few years ago, Brian Molko compared the reactions there to Beatlemania.
On concert DVD "Soulmates Never Die," one young man is shown chasing Placebo's tour bus across town - on foot - just to get a picture and a hug.
"That still happens in Mexico, Chile and Colombia and is spreading all over South America now," he explains. "It's insane getting mobbed at the airport.
" Answer: "There's a real passion and emotional honesty to what we do. Historically, melancholy music from the U.K.
- (whether it is) Morrissey or The Cure - has worked well in Latin America.? Q: Are you glad you didn't have to do a remix or edit to get "Infra-Red" played on the radio?
A: Yeah, it's a testament to (the fact) that you don't have to play it safe for people to really get excited about music. It's all about taking risks and trying to do something that is colorful and imaginative. Bands like TV On The Radio NO1 NO do it all the time.
People
" A: It's been 10 years, but never say die. A: I'm not going to lie to you and say we don't. 'Hill' is the first time we allowed focus on a cover version because we felt we reinvented the song so much.
We're not prepared to compromise our integrity - there's only so long you can do that kind of thing before people get bored. Q: You took a more "back to basics" approach on "Meds." What prompted that decision?
A: The previous album was so technology driven and very much an album constructed on the computer, so we did away with studio trickery and concentrated on songwriting and performance. Q: For "Sleeping With Ghosts," you said your lyrics expressed the core emotions of being alive. Was that also the case on "Meds.
" A: "Meds," is about addiction, anesthesia, 21st century malaise and what people will abuse on a daily basis - whether it's God, drugs or love. Those were the themes that emerged. Q: Did you find writing these songs as much a cathartic experience as before?
A: More so. I've felt uncomfortable with a lot of stuff we've done before, because I found it quite gimmicky. I wanted to grow up a little bit and use everyday words in order to say something profound.
It was a challenge to find a new way of writing. The simplicity and directness in the lyrics really works. Q: Did you try to create a strange atmosphere on "Space Monkey?
" A: Completely. It felt like it just dropped out of the sky ..
. our producer had one of those bicycles that you fold in half. We were using as little technology as possible on this record - in fact, we recorded in the same studio where The Jam did their first album and it still has all the same equipment.
We were looking for some interesting sounds, so we decided to mike up this bicycle, a trash can, an ashtray and empty water bottle. Q: What was the inspiration for "Follow the Cops Back Home" and its subsequent line, "and rob their houses"? A: That's about how when you're drunk, you think you have the best ideas in the world.
Q: Placebo always has intriguing CD covers. What was the story behind the blurred nude woman on "Meds?" A: It was an accident.
We had the model in the studio ...
and I just liked the image so much; it seemed to be iconic. There's a link to the "Sleeping with Ghosts" (CD cover shot of someone with an ambiguous gender). We were looking at a lot of paintings by Francis Bacon and trying to do that with a camera.
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