Melanie Swan meets Placebo nancy boys Brian Molko and Steve Hewitt for some kiss and tell in a West London cafe.

1997 began well for Placebo, storming into the charts with the controversial single Nancy Boy then following it up with a nationwide sell-out tour as their eponymous album went silver and beyond. Soon to become global movie stars in the new Ewan McGregor film Velvet Goldmine, the world is at their Feet. McGregor portrays an Iggy-like character in the film with Molko and Hewitt perfectly cast as his band the Flaming Creatures. "It's a wonderful script and amazing to be involved," Molko explains. "We've also re-recorded Mart Bolan's 20th Century Boy which we play in the film."

So where did the name Placebo come from?

Molko: You want to find a name which you think is absolutely amazing or will blow your head off. We were having this joke about bands calling themselves after drugs like Codeine, Morphine, Dub Narcotic, and so we thought we'd call ourselves after one that didn't work. In retrospect the connotations of the word placebo bring a certain amount of deception, the psychological effect as opposed to a physical effect, and that appeals to me. My whole look is based on deception and fucking about with people's perceptions.

After studying at the American School in Luxembourg, Placebo's front man Molko came to London to the prestigious Goldsmith's College. So why England?

Molko: I grew up with what I call the "ugly American" upper middle class twats. People who complain if there's no ice in their coke and think that everything American's best. It gave me a very, very tainted view of the States. I wanted to be an actor and London seemed the ideal place. I like clubbing in London to the hardest techno I can find with some good swinging drum in' bass.

Were they surprised to reach the top 5 with Nancy Boy?

Molko: Completely. Our previous single Teenage Angst got to number 30 and we thought that was a coup. We never really intended to be a chart band but NancyBoywent straight in at number4 and it's still in the indie charts. We were blown away - particularly because it's so rude, provocative and subversive.

So who is the Nancy Boy?

Molko: It's me and the crazy situations I get myself into. I spend hours and hours removing myself from reality....usually through alcohol. It's about points in the evening where you're so off your head, all you want to do is funk. You get past caring and you just become this primal person that has to copulate NOW. It's strange. It's a celebration of that frame of mind but it also pokes fun at it a great deal.

Hewitt: It must make sense to a lot of people because it got to number 4. It must be very common.

With screaming teenagers following them around, members of both sexes masturbating over them and millions of people buying their records, life can't be THAT bad being in Placebo.

How are the poor lads coping with fame?

Hewitt: We've been receiving a lot of underwear which is good because I've always rated and admired Tom Jones for being able to pull that one off. Now we're getting the same treatment. It's all clean though.

Molko: There are a few fuck-ups who get so obsessed with you that they'll follow you around on every tour. They don't speak to you either, they just admire you from afar. We've had to change our phone numbers because we've been getting very dodgy phone calls. I get unwanted attention from very downy' blokes like in pubs, they'll scream 'oi Nancy Boy' and think 'there's that poof that my girlfriend wants to shag'. I bet the first time they saw me they thought I was a girl and incredibly cute and thought, 'Ooer, I'd give her one' then realised I'm not a girl and they get freaked out by the fact that they fancied me in the first place. I used to think that the wonderful thing about being in Placebo was being able to look like this without being beaten up for it, but I'm wrong because once you get famous people want to kick the shit out of you. People direct aggression towards me because they feel threatened. But it's a reward when you get positive admiration from people who don't go completely apeshit at the sight of you. I think we give something, like the Manics did, to outsiders. We're a band for outsiders. We're really the kind of band for square pegs and round holes and I feel very good about being in that position.

What role does politics play in Placebo's music?

Hewitt: Fuck the lot of 'em, fuck all the parties.

Molko: I guess on a lyrical level, our music's concerned with social and sexual politics, rather than politics with a capital R We'd do charity gigs for Friends of the Earth because these are bigger worldwide concerns and are more interesting for us to get involved with because they're not centred around Britain and British politics.

Hewitt: I don't know if I agree with bands getting involved with politicians. Oasis hangin' out with Labour - why the funk? Seeing Kenneth Clarke at the Brit Awards, I was like - fuck off, what are you doin' here?

Molko: That was a brilliant moment, telling Kenneth Clarke to fuck off. Seeing Noel Gallagher and Tony Blair sickens me. You just think, has everyone forgotten about the Criminal Justice Bill, the fact that probably the whole Labour party abstained from voting against the bill. It's like in America you have George Bush and Bill Clinton, where here you have Major and Blair and it's the case of being the lesser of two evils."

How can we forget the Spice Girls and their outright support of the Tories Margaret Thatcher, the first Spice Girl indeed...

Hewitt: Yeah, is that what politics is all about? Do the Tories really need 5 sets of tits to win the election - it's pathetic!

Molko: And does Labour need a couple of twats who can't write to help them win?

What do Placebo feel sets them apart from other contemporary bands?

Molko: Rock in Britain has become incredibly stale. I think we came along at a time when this country was looking and gagging for bands who were in your face, championing alternative lifestyles and embodying more the spirit of rock 'n' roll which is rebellion - the basic 'fuck you' to the world. We bring that along but bring it with pizzazz, glamour and style, and with complete contradiction as well. Where was the danger in the Top 40 until Nancy Boy hit it?

Hewitt: It's good that we're apart 'cos every other band's going off the back of an Oasis LP which is the most unimaginative thing you could ever do. They go, 'we'll sound like them' but why not sound like your fucking self? It's that simple!

How personal do Molko's lyrics get?

Molko: Incredibly so. They're about my own confusion, and my own struggle with my own emotions, what I think is good and bad within myself.

And finally, a question that no band or star is safe from: do you have a favourite Spice Girl?

Hewitt: I was well after Mel B 'til I met her at the Brit awards. She looks better on TV than in real life. Our favourite Spice Girl's Simon Le Bon!

Make of that what you will.