Steve Hewitt, Nottingham Evening Post, 01 décembre 2006
PLACEBO
PLACEBO STORY
Placebo are back next week with their biggest, best and most interactive show yet, according to
drummer Steve Hewitt. STEVE HAINES spoke to him...
He is enthusing.
"It's a full production," begins Placebo drummer Steve Hewitt, almost spluttering with excitement about the show they're bring to town on Thursday.
"It's loads of screens and songs spread across the five albums, lots of lights, but the screens will be mainly showing the band up close, trying to pull the audience in,
so it's not just playing videos while the band are playing.
"It's important that wherever you are in the arena, you get a feel for what's happening on stage.
"It looks fantastic!"
Unlike the band's flamboyant frontman Brian Molko, Steve is one of us. A Brit. Born in Manchester, he started playing drums at the age of 11 but it was only after a move
to Liverpool that he first tasted some success behind the kit with the Boo Radleys and Breed.
"I was still in Breed at the time," he recalls of his first meeting with Molko in London.
"But there was a musical interaction between us straightaway. We did an acoustic gig under the name Ashtray Heart and Brian got Stef (Stefan Olsdal, Placebo bassist) to
come to the show. They started to play together while I stayed with Breed. They brought Rob Schultzberg in, but that didn't work out."
Laughing, he adds: "So Brian practically put a gun to my head and said 'join the band!' The rest is history. Ten years and ten million albums later, it seems it was a good
decision on all our parts!".
Over the past decade, Placebo have gone from musical flame-bearers to figures of derision at least in some sections of the media, largely due to the unorthodox nature of
Brian Molko. As a result of the negative press in the UK, the band concentrated more on the European territories and even further afield, with some success.
France was one of the first countries to embrace the band, due, says Hewitt, to "their dark passion".
"We had a big hit in Korea with a song called The Crawl. One of the most depressing songs we've ever done. But it's one of the biggest karaoke numbers in Korea! We went
out there recently and played it live and the place went ballistic!"
It is through the Korean following that their music came to be heavily featured in the serial killer movie Tell Me Something, one of the first Korean films to make a
global splash.
"It's just a matter of getting out to these places and playing to the fans. The film thing goes hand-in-hand with that. It's a really good film."
This year saw the release of Meds, a stripped- back rock album earning much acclaim, which completes their contract with Virgin. So what now?
"Well, we join a list of big names... REM, Radiohead and Placebo - we are all unsigned bands," he laughs.
"But we have plenty of options. It's a very exciting place to be."
So there are no plans to quit?
"Everything's going well and we're getting on better than ever and we're stronger than ever. There's no stopping us at the moment."
Placebo play Nottingham Arena on Thursday. For tickets call 0870 121 0123.
Steve Hewitt, Nottingham Evening Post, 01 décembre 2006
Source : Nottingham Evening Post
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