After a successful Australian tour that included a near sell-out Perth show last May, Placebo are returning. With a show of their own and another with the eagerly anticipated return of silverchair, Perth audiences will be offered a double dose. Hype Magazine's Matthew Anthony spoke to Stefan Olsdal about all things Placebo.
Ambiguity, confusion and glorious noise, Placebo thrive on it all. With Stefan Olsdal on bass, guitar and keyboards, Steve Hewitt on drums and the unstoppable Brian Molko out front, Placebo have managed to race to new heights and will soon be celebrating the sale of the millionth copy of 'Without You I'm Nothing'. Not bad for an American, Swede and Englishman who had no common background other then their love for the sound.
Perth audiences were given their first real taste of Placebo three months ago, but unfortunately it now appears as though we missed out on witnessing the full potential of the band.
"When we played that I had a really bad chest infection," recalls Stefan, "so apologies if I was looking a little bit pale and wobbly on stage. After Perth we had a bit of a break; it was the last show on a three-month tour. Then it was time for a short holiday until the start of all the European festival tours. We played in Greece two days ago, they seem to love us there, all the Mediterranean countries are well up for it. Also Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden, it's all been good, we are really enjoying summer this year."
But what did they think about Australia?
"We love it," answered Stefan. "It was really surprising, we got there in May and it was our first time but there was this huge response. All the signings were massive and most of the shows came close to selling out. It was very positive for us, that's why we will be coming back very soon."
Ever since 1996 when David Bowie invited Placebo to support him on several of his concert dates there has been a deep connection. As an early convert it appears as though Bowie has always had great faith in the band, this August's release of the album's title track 'Without You I'm Nothing' as an EP cements the connection with the addition of his vocals. Stefan eagerly recalled what it was like working with David:
"It was amazing really. It was just after the Australian tour and we were both in New York at the same time. Basically he had been listening to the album and said that there was a song that he liked, 'Without You I'm Nothing'. David said that there were two options, either he came in and sang on it or he was going to cover it. So we said, 'O.K why don't you come into the studio and see what you want to do on it'. He came in and we ended up recording his vocals onto this new track; it's the same as the regular album version, but with these amazing backing vocals that he did. We didn't know what it was going to sound like but once he had done it, it was just like 'fuck yeah'. It's amazing, we're really happy with it and just to have him singing on one of our tracks is unbelievable.
"Working with David Bowie was a new thing, he would be like 'Is that all right boys?', then it's 'I think you could do it better David', actually telling him what to do. It's a different single for us too, it's the first love song that we've released."
With this now likely to be the last release from the hugely successful 'Without You I'm Nothing' album, it seems a certainty that the band will soon pass over the one million sales mark, certainly no small achievement.
"We just went gold in Australia about two weeks ago," says Stefan. "That was a bit of a cause for celebration."
So what about new material, have they been thinking about the next platinum effort?
"Yeah we have been doing a lot with our sound-checks," explains Stefan, "especially on the Australian and American tours. We would just be there on stage doing the sound-check, so we would use our time to work on new material that had been kicked around, there's definitely stuff their. What we are going to do is come back and do Australia, this will be our last tour, then we are going to go away and finish working on the next album."
So look out Placebo fans and start saving your dollars for the big double header. This may be your last chance to see them for quite some time, that is, until they emerge from wherever with their next offering. Outdoing themselves will be quite a feat.
-Matthew Anthony