June 2009

Radio Scotland, Rockness performance

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Typescript by electronichaze


Jim Gellatly of Radio Scotland's 'The Music Bed' speaks to the band ahead of their Rock Ness performance.


DJ: Welcome back to Placebo, and Brian, Stefan, Steve, how are you?


B: Fine thankyou, how are you?


DJ: Youre gonna be playing the Rockness Festival on the banks of Loch Ness, I would mention the furthest north Placebo have ever played before would be Aberdeen? (Loch Ness is further north)


B: Well yeah, I guess so, and uh...I've been to Inverness before, cos I had a cousin who lived out there for a while. But I've never actually been to the Loch, so I'm really looking forward to it.


DJ: That's glorious you saying "loch", thats your scots roots coming out!


B: Absolutely, yeah, my mum's from Dundee. I'm proud of that part of my lineage. 


DJ: So you will know to expect midgies (mosquitoes) when you're by the loch...


B: Oh yeah, *giggles*, yeah, absolutely.


DJ: Tell the other guys.


B: I'm used to them, you know? Oh look, the only gig we did in 2008 was in Cambodia, you know, so we know, you know, that well. 


DJ: Tell us about that experience because that was pretty special.


B: It was pretty special, I mean we went out there to support a charity that we're involved with which is called MTV Exit, whose sole purpose is to raise awareness and hopefully eventually stop human trafficking. But that coupled with the fact that we were invited to play in front of a 12th century Buddhist temple, which is actually a UNESCO world heritage protected site, called Angkor Wat, which I'd visited as a tourist 4 years previous...um, it was kind of irresistable really, and it turned out to be our new drummer Steve's first concert with Placebo, and I mean, how charmed is that, you know? It was a joyful occasion for me when I said "you know, your first gig's gonna be in Cambodia, now point to it on a map please." *giggles* 


Steve: Yeah, I couldn't find it.


DJ: In terms of tremendous locations and settings for gigs, they don't really get better than Lochside and the islands of Scotland...do you know anything about that particular area, being from California? Or do you think we all wear kilts and...


Steve: Well the good thing about this band is that I've been surrounded by Scots, so I've got a better knowledge than most people, but I've never actually been to these places, so it's gonna be alot of new experiences that I'm really looking forward to, um, I do know about Nessie insurance, or something...


B: Oh, yeah, Monster Insurance.


Steve: Monster insurance. Monster Advisor.


B: My guitar technician has this joke that he plays on Americans when he's on tour, and whenever anybody mentions Loch ness, he goes into this diatribe about living next to Loch Ness, within a sort of 30 mile encatchment of Loch Ness, and uh, being forced legally to take out Monster Insurance. And most people actually buy it.


DJ: That's funny, cos of course its TRUE!


All: *laugh*


DJ: Steve, you're the new boy!


Steve: Yes I am.


DJ: But you've known the guys for a wee while.


Steve: *talks about the tour they did together, you've heard it all before*


DJ: Brian and Stefan, was this important that you got another Steve in, so you didn't have to change the name on the equipment or whatever?


B: *laughs* Um, well we decided we weren't gonna hold his name against him, and we'd judge him instead on his musical ability.


DJ: You did take a bit of a break with Placebo, did you come back with the line-up and everything, more refreshed?


B: Well we certainly had a little break, it's 3 years since we released an album, but 2 of those years were spent touring, and 6 months making the new album, but certainly coming back with new blood in the band, young blood, and feeling optimistic about the future, we just really feel invigorated, refreshed and ready to take on the world once more. We call it Placebo MK 3. 


DJ/B: *bla bla bla new beginnings, optimism, meds was dark, etc.*


DJ: We're gonna hear the new single from Placebo, "For What It's Worth", tell us a little bit about the song before we hear it. 


B: Well its a song that I started writing on a tourbus, between New York and Boston, its a song borne out of boredom, and the need to do something creative, and its a song that, well I hope, is enfused with a kind of lust for life. It's lustful and it's celebratory.