Change has come to Placebo on album six
Change has come to Placebo on album six
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Wednesday, 03, Jun 2009 10:05
After ten million album sales, a landmark show at an ancient Cambodian temple and the loss of two drummers, most bands wouldn't have been criticised for packing it in after a long-standing record deal with one of the biggest labels in the world came to an end.
But having persevered through countless musical fads and with the fate of recorded music at its most unstable in years, Placebo have taken the road less travelled and pursued a daring funding strategy for the writing and recording of their sixth album Battle for the Sun - by no small coincidence, their finest in a decade.
With frontman Brian Molko engaged with other promotional duties, Lewis Bazley met up with bassist Stefan Olsdal and new drummer Steve Forrest as Placebo look to make a triumphant return.
You guys have been together for 15 years now - how do you achieve that kind of longevity?
SO: By having no choice! (laughs) This is probably the best path that we could choose for our lives. It's not like working in an office, we can make up our own alternative reality. And we get to create music.
It's not been plain sailing the whole way though, has it?
SO: No, there's been a few hardships along the way - I think me and Brian invested a lot of blood, sweat and tears to keep this band going and I think that's why we're still here after our sixth album.
Are you still 'resigned to being unfashionable' as you said a couple of years ago?
SO: We always kind of have been! (laughs) When we first realised material in the mid-90s, there was very much a 'lad' culture, it was bands like Oasis and Blur that were dominating the charts so we stuck out like a sore thumb. But I think there's a danger in trying to follow a trend - as soon as you do, it tends to have passed. So we record and create in a bit of a vacuum and follow our own path.
Does this method of isolating yourself from what's fashionable mean that in the three years since Meds, music that's been released hasn't had much of an effect on your own sound?
SO: I don't think so. Whether consciously or unconsciously, we absorb things as people, so there'll be times when we're writing a song and will say 'that sounds f*****g amazing', and then Brian will turn to me and say 'well, it's a f*****g Sonic Youth riff'!
So it does get harder to make something completely original and not repeat yourselves?
SO: It does and we made a conscious decision on this record to push ourselves. I think with Placebo MK II, with our old drummer, it got to a point where we weren't communicating or creating, so in order for the band to improve and evolve and not insult our listeners - who I believe are intelligent and discerning - we had to go through changes in order to make this record.
The video for new single For What It's Worth
For What It's Worth
So Steve - what have you brought to the band? Is there something different about the drumming style of Placebo Mk III?
SF: I wanted to take the epic size and energy I'd seen Placebo have live and put that into a record, and I knew that my drumming style was a lot different to the previous drummers, so I wanted to bring a new smell and sound to the band. I also wanted to bring a harmonious writing atmosphere into the band because like Brian and Stefan, I came from a band where I'd get to the rehearsal studio and just hate every single person there! (laughs)
Other than a changing line-up, this album also sees a new beginning in terms of record company, right?
SO: Yeah, our contract ran out with EMI and we'd felt that being shackled to a corporate label was frustrating. We just felt we were being ripped off, because that's what the majors do - they get away with f*****g murder! (laughs) So we decided to bring more of the control back to the band, which is a bit more work but a lot more satisfying.
A lot of bands are doing that now - is that just the way the industry's going to go?
SO: Yes. The only way majors are surviving now is through signing bands on a 360 degree deal, where they take the publishing, the merchandise, part of the live income, the performance royalties. and I feel sorry for those bands, because you're signing away so much of your art and yourself.
In terms of the new album, and the positivity of its title and epic, anthemic choruses - was there a concerted decision to go in that direction?
SO: No, I think it's just the sound of a band that's happy to be in a band again. Before, we were walking into the studio to write and you could cut the tension with a knife. It's a band wanting to expand and being free - we wrote more songs for this record than we have for any album in the past. With the change in personnel, all this pent-up creativity burst out. There also things in the record that are more pop, more colourful and more optimistic than we've ever done.
Especially in contrast to 2006's Meds?
SO: The title says enough alone! It was pretty much about self-medication and locking away everything that hurts. Whereas this record is about dealing with the hurt but also realising that life is full of hope and joy.
So does that mean that the new look Placebo wouldn't adhere to your old lyric that 'a friend with weed is better'?
Both: Haha!
SF: Well, that's always the case with me! (laughs)
Lewis Bazley
Battle for the Sun is released on June 8th.