Do you get stalkers?
"Brian's had a stalker, and I had a psycho woman who turned up on my doorstep claiming she'd been going out with me for a year. She was quite lovely, actually ... but obviously mad. Shame."

What's the line between a dedicated fan and ...
"... Taking the piss and being a nuisance? It's when you get the sense that they want a piece of you. That way they waltz up to you and chat to you like they're your mate. 'Get out of my face, I don't even know you!' It just comes down to manners. You should know when to give someone some space."

What do you think Placebo represent to the people?
"Freedom. The right to believe in yourself, especially sexually. We give gay people confidence to come out - we have a lot of people coming out to us. It's so political, self-motivation, - If you really want to be a nutter, be a nutter, as long as you don't hurt anyone else. It's all good clean dirty fun. It's good, getting young boys and girls seeing us as personalities. On the first album, it's all about the music, but after that your career takes off and it's more about personalities. You have to accept that."

How often do you fall out with Brian?
"Brian and I have one major argument every six months, mostly along the lines of 'Who put the f***ing cheese over there, you bastard?' 'Dont know.' 'Well, it's your f***ing cheese ...' It'll blow up, and be resolved in the time it took to get going in the first place."

What's the vibe on the new songs?
"I don't have a f***ing clue. Sleazy. It feels underage, in a teenage wife kinda vibe, in a 'I'll get you when you're young, you slag' way. The first album was party, the second album was coming down from the party, the third on is 'I'm going out again, but don't tell anybody'. It's more emotional, more playful, a lot of melodies coming up. It feels very Swedish. A lot of nice, brittle melodies. It's got a European feel. Teacher/pupil relationships, they're sweet. I had a few crushes at school - mostly on English teachers. Female English teachers, they're f***ing sexy."