Kurier 2012Translation by Luzie
Molko: Studying Buddhism in identity crisisAfter the cancellation of the Frequency Festival due to illness Placebo returns with a new EP called "B3". In March there will be a "new" Placebo sound.
Singer Brian Molko had already problems during the tour for the to date last Placebo album "Battle For The Sun" in 2009. He then spoke of burnout symptoms and periods of inner emptiness.
Thus it's no surprise that his lyrics are according to this experience on the newly released comeback EP "B3": "Time Is Money" is a piano number that trudges sadly and seeks meaning in the monotonous everyday life. In "The extra" Molko describes himself as "an extra in my own life." Although all of these songs were written at that time, he hasn't overcome the existencial crisis so far.
"I'm dissatisfied with what I am", he explains in the interview with KURIER. "That's why the song "B3" is about the freedom to pursue that what is essential. But to identify this is difficult because you change. I'm a different person than the one from the foundation of the band. And meanwhile I'm bored when I look into the mirror and do the make-up."
Therefore Molko hit the road after the tour to "Battle For The Sun". In Thailand, Cambodia and Laos he wanted to clear his mind and study Buddhism. "As an atheist I don't like the rituals that they have developed in different areas because this is religion. But I like the basic philosophy: not praying to a god, but trying to gain certain skills by meditation."
But that seems to have intensified the question whether the existence as a musician still fits for him. "I meditate but the business is in the way. Because it can take you only this and that far. And after we have reached a certain level of success, I wonder: Is that all? There must be something more somewhere. "
But dissolving the band never came into consideration. On the contrary, in order to revive it Molko tries to find a new sound during the recordings for the seventh Placebo album: "I'm also bored by the identity of our band. But what shall we do? Disband and continue with the same people under a different name? No, we will try, as always, to incorporate everything we listen to at the moment into the sound. But that's now very different from what we heard 20 years ago."
Like what does that new Placebo music sound then? "That you'll hear in March 2013."