Sometimes there is tomorrow.
Stefan Olsdal talks about 30 years of Placeboof the director's cut of their first album and why they are still here, after all, is already an achievement in itself.
30 years is a long time for anything. For a band born from outsiderismthe androgyny and contained rage of two young people who didn't fit in anywhere, is almost a miracle. Placebo —Stefan Olsdal and Brian Molko— have been building one of the most consistently dark and emotionally honest catalogs in alternative rock since 1996. Songs that found their people in the most unexpected moments: in teenagers' rooms, on nights that lasted too long, in all the places where someone needed to feel less alone.
For the anniversary of their first album, they didn't want to do the obvious. Nothing of remasters routine, no soulless reissues. Instead, they rescued the original tapes, digitized them, and returned to the studio with three decades of experience behind them to make what they always felt that album deserved: their director's cut. Stephen spoke with Indie Rocks! about that process, about the friends who are no longer here, about Mexico and about whether Placebo I might be celebrating 60 years someday.
Indie Rocks!: Hello, Stefan. Thank you very much for your time. I am Maria from Indie Rocks! And, first of all, congratulations on 30 years of Placebo. It's incredible.
Placebo: Yes, thanks. We didn't think we would go this far. So yeah, we're happy to be here.
GO!: Did they really not plan to go that far? What was it like at the beginning, did you just say “let's try it and see what happens”?
Q: I think we were both passionate about music. And music was what we felt was our calling in life. But there are so many bands that are no longer with us, or musicians that are no longer with us. So just being here is already an achievement. And I think we are very grateful to be here and also to be able to celebrate the first album after 30 years.
I was listening to it the other day, and one might wonder: how has it aged? Like wine or like milk? And it aged like wine. It sounds perfectly contemporary, which is quite strange. What do you think?
GO!: I want to know more about what they did with it for the anniversary.
Q: We wanted to do something special. We didn't want to just re-release or remaster it, as usually happens. So we went into the studio and pulled out the original master tapes, put them on the mixing board.
And we kept everything that's there from the first album: all the performances, the energy, the passion. But what we wanted to do was drag that album into the 21st century with what technology and the studio have to offer today. And we already have 30 years of experience.
It's like making the album as if we were making it today.
GO!: Incredible. Did you recover the original tapes and work directly on them?
Q: Yes. Obviously everything is digital now. The album was recorded on digital tape and a few years ago we transferred everything to digital format because, as we all know, tape is a physical format that deteriorates over the years. So for security reasons we converted it to digital.
We work from a computer, but it's still the same take, the same music that we recorded 30 years ago. It was very important for us to be faithful to the album. We just wanted to use the studio as an instrument.
In a way you can compare it to when a filmmaker makes a director's cut. He does the version that he always felt was there, but never had the chance to do. And we felt that after 30 years, with this anniversary, it was the right time.
GO!: Of course, but many fans feel that the original versions are perfect. They are yours. They have adopted them over the years. And now they are going to change them. Do you think people are going to find that weird?
Q: We are not taking anything away from you. The first pitch is always going to be there. Those who prefer it, will have it. This is just our version, our 30th anniversary version. You can choose which one you prefer.
For us, we always felt like we wanted to go back and revisit this album. So for us, this is the way we feel it should sound.
GO!: Why did they always feel that way? The album has been very solid this whole time.
Q: Because when we made the first album we were a very young and inexperienced band in many ways. We hadn't been in professional recording studios much. And over the years we have really started to use the studio as another instrument, as another tool. So we just wanted to bring that to the first album.
GO!: They have a tour planned and we hope Mexico is included. Are you going to play the original versions or the recreated ones?
Q: We're going to tour with the first two albums, actually. We feel we can build a better setlist, for us and for the public, if we make the first two albums. It gives us more songs to choose from. And it will also be more interesting for everyone.
We haven't started rehearsals yet. So we'll see. Songs tend to have a life of their own. Some may change a little depending on how we feel now, 30 years later. Some will probably be exactly the same and others will change depending on what feels right.
The songs are still the same, but we have changed a little as people. And sometimes your relationship with your previous work may make you want to interpret it in a slightly different way.
GO!: Stefan, we all know you as the bassist, but you are much more than that. You are part of everything, right?
Q: Yes, I guess. Now it's me and Brian. We have had other members over the years.
The interesting thing about the first album is that it's very much a trio, just three musicians who got together and wrote and performed these songs. Each instrument had to be a little more ornamental, fill more space, because with only three instruments there is more room for melodies. The bass became more melodic. The guitar played melodies and rhythm at the same time.
I think that's a very interesting aspect of the first album. And yes, I'm a bassist, but I also play a lot of guitar. The roles were also not completely defined between Brian me too. Over the years we like to play with loops and keyboards. Sometimes he plays bass and sometimes I play guitar. That has always been the freedom we have given ourselves.
GO!: I feel like over the years they have become even closer. 30 years after 1996, they are more Placebo than ever.
Q: I think we're just very grateful to still be here and still want to be in a band together. There have been difficult times and we have lost many friends, people associated with the band.
And the simple fact that we're still here after 30 years and we still want to make music together… I think we're more aware of that now. Because when you're in your twenties, you think life will never end and you live like there's no tomorrow. But then you realize that sometimes there is no tomorrow. Sometimes. So that's what you have here and now.
Being aware of that, and everything we have achieved together, makes us feel that there is still a lot to come with Placebo. Which is very exciting.
GO!: As they say: tomorrow never comes. Do you think Placebo is going to be celebrating 60 years?
Q: It's funny because we were just talking about that today. You look at bands like The Cure either Depeche Mode that are still going strong and relevant after all these years. Why not? It's something we aspire to. They are bands that we admire. If they can do it, why can't we?
GO!: They can do it and we want them to do it. Final questions. I think the first time they came to Mexico was in May 2001. Do you remember that?
Q: I think you're right. Yes. And I think this applies to many bands, I know many musicians who love to go play in Mexico. We have an equally special relationship with the fans there. It has always been an amazing welcome from day one. What they have given us really gives us a lot, because the more you receive from an audience, the more you want to give. And we have always felt that in Mexico.
GO!: There was a time when they came almost every year.
Q: Yes, if it were a little closer we would come more often. But it's important for us to play in places where we know there will be an audience, and where we feel like we have a relationship. And that is definitely the case with Mexico.
GO!: Can we say that Mexico will be included in the 30th anniversary tour?
Q: Looking historically at what we do with each album… we haven't planned anything beyond the European tour yet. But yeah, I don't see why not. It's something we obviously want to do.
The world is also constantly changing. There are countries where we would love to go to play, but we can't anymore. We realize very clearly that the world never stays the same. So I don't want to promise something we can't deliver. But historically speaking, Mexico has been very close to us and is a place where we play very frequently.
GO!: Thank you very much for your time. I will cling to the hope that history repeats itself in a good way and that they return, perhaps to a Sports Palacein a great 30th anniversary concert in Mexico.
Q: Thank you. Thank you so much. Pleased to meet you.
