He might be the Nighties answer to Boy George but not many people know the real Brian Molko. Andrea McVeigh goes after some answers.
The perscription is simple. Take a large dose of petit androgynous sex god in the form of Brian Molko, inject a measure of glam retro mania- and get ready for the Placebo effect.
The group who put the Viagra back into rock's medicine cabinet are also the remedy needed to cure it's current limp state. Made up of American frontman Molko, Swedish guitarist Stefen Olsdal, and English drummer Steve Hewitt, Placebo are something of a musical United Nations.
So given the cultural make up, it is possible they could've ended up sounding like some bizarre hybrid of Abba, Bruce Springsteen, and the Beatles. Which, thankfully for the world poplar music and international relations, they do not. Instead they've got energy, enthusiasm and swagger of all the true rock icons from Elvis to Mick Jagger and a style of hteir own, as displayed on their most recent album, Without You I'm Nothing.
"The energy comes through because of who we are as people, we've very highly strung individuals," says Brian in his American twang. "So that is where our release comes from, it's what stops us from being maniacs."
The threesome- currently in the UK charts at 29 with Every You Every Me- play Belfast's Ulster Hall tonight and Dublin's SFX venue of Saturday.
On a previous visit, the band caused a stir by propping up the bar at a Belfast pub after a gig. So this time around, fans in both cities might just meet their idols face-to-face, or given Brian's size, nose to navel.
Dressing
"At that time we were hanging out with some friends in Belfast, " Brian says. "We used to hold parties for fans in the dressing room after gigs in the old days, but we tend not to do that so much anymore. It depends on what kind of mood we're in, and how well we think the gig has gone. If we don't want to speak to people that we know because we think it has gone badly, then we won't want to speak total strangers either. There's nothing worse than hearing how great it was when you think it's gone crap."
His mood may also be affected by how well Placebo do at the forthcoming Brit awards, to be held in London on Tuesday. The group are in the running for the Best Video trophy for the brilliant that accompanied last year's hit, Pure Morning. More like a mini art-house film then a mere pop video, the Placebo entry faces some stiff competition. It's up against the likes of Massive Attack's Teardrop and the inevitable Robbie Williams videos, Let Me Entertain You and Millenium.
"The thing about the Pure Morning video was that we were tired of doing preformance videos, where you pretend to play your instrument," Brian explains. "We wanted to do something more dramatic, and something which was more narrative based. With videos, you really have to do something special to force people to stay in their seats and not get up and make a cup of tea. We had the intial idea, which was me jumping off a building, which we then developped with the director to create something incredibly dramatic and suspenseful."
Brian's outlandish on-stage image is no novelty in the music business- it seems that every pop era has to have it's own androgynous figures.
And from David Bowie in the 70s to nearly everyone in the early 80s, applying a bit of lippy and eyeliner seems to by a rite of passge for many of pop's more adventurous males. But int he 90s we've been especially lucky. Molko, who is lusted after by both guys and girls who dig both his music and his make up in equal measures, isn't just a pretty face, he's pretty talented too.
Not only can he string more then two words together, he can do it with two whole sentences- paragraphs in fact, of thoughtful, quietly spoken reflections on life, art and rock 'n' roll.
But the comparisons with Glam rock gods of the 70s are still crying out to be made. Brian, an ex-drama college graduate, recently appeared on film in Velvet Goldmine, in which Ewan McGregor starred as an Iggy Pop/David Bowie-style glam rocker. For the moviem, Placebo, recorded a cover of the T Rex classic, 20th Century Boy- a massive hit for the band last year along with You Don't Care About Us. And even if Brian doesn't score a hit at the Brits, he won't be going home entirely disappointed. On the night he'll get to share the stage with the ultimate glamster- David Bowie. And together- in a confusing bit of pop post-modernism- they'll preform 20th Century Boy.
But it won't be the first time Brian has crossed paths with hte former Mr. Ziggy Stardust. Placebo played live at his 50th birthday in New York's Madison Square Garden in January 1997, the same month their single Nancy Boy went into the UK top five.
"Playing on the bill for David Bowie's 50th birthday party was definately a thrill,' Brian says. "The fisrt time I met him, I had to get really drunk on Jack Daniel's before I had the nerve to handle the whole thing. But since then it's actually amazing, we've become friends. There's a real mutual respect thing going on." But following in the glittery footsteps of Bowie, Bolan, and Iggy Pop was never a conscious desicion for the band, stresses Brian.
Glam
"We've never been particularly interested in a glam revival, and I don't think that we're particularly influenced by the music either. We're too young to remember it first hand and we're influenced much more by things like that late 70s and early 80s post punk and new wave. Velvet Goldmine and 20th Century Boy happened, but they didn't happen by design."
"And we only recorded 20th Century Boy because it was int he script, basically, it wasn't necessarily a big choice of ours. So this glam thing is quite deceptive really."
"Obviously there are similarities in the make up thing, but I think that when we started wearing make up we were more concerned with trying to express our inner selves than actually reviving any kind of Glamrock thing."
So it seems that any comparisons with that era are all down to a desire for self-expression.
"I also think there's a difference between being glamourous and a little bit show biz, which we really believe in," explains Brian. "It's more of an exploration of freedom, it's kind of what was inside us anyway, so it's deceptive but it's not calculated."
So for anyone who still doesn't agree that Placebo are one of the best rock bands of the decade, there are just for words of advice- keep taking the tablets.