Brian Molko

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Biography

Brian Molko (born 10 December 1972 in Brussels , Belgium ) is a songwriter , lead vocalist , and guitar ist of the band Placebo (band)|Placebo . He is known in particular for his nasal, high-pitched vocals, androgynous appearance, and unique, Sonic Youth -influenced guitar style and tuning.

Early life

He was born to an American father of France|French - Italy|Italian heritage and a Scotland|Scottish mother. Molko's family moved frequently during his childhood including to Scotland , Liberia , Lebanon , and Luxembourg . Brian Molko has referred to a period spent in his mother's home town of Dundee , Scotland, as "where I grew up".

While Molko was brought up in a strict household that disapproved of artistic expression (his father wanted him to become a banker), he rebelled by affecting an androgynous image, wearing nail polish , lipstick , and eyeliner , and listening to punk rock|punk music .
Molko initially attended the European School of Luxembourg but had to leave due to excessive bullying; he later attended the International School of Luxembourg|American International School of Luxembourg (AISL) and went on to study drama at Goldsmiths College in London .

Career

Molko and Stefan Olsdal had both attended American International School of Luxembourg|AISL (though they were never friends); when Molko moved to London, he ran into Olsdal at South Kensington tube station and invited him to one of his gigs in a club, which he played with Steve Hewitt .

Along with Hewitt and Olsdal, he had a role in the 1998 film Velvet Goldmine , for which Placebo performed the T.Rex (band)|T. Rex song " 20th Century Boy ". He played Malcolms, a singer of the fictional glam rock band, The Flaming Creatures, who resembled the early Alice Cooper band.

Drugs

Molko has been open about his use of recreational drugs; in a 1997 interview with New York Doll , he admitted at one point that heroin was "probably the only drug on this planet I haven't tried". However, he later admitted to experimenting with heroin as well. The band holds that the drug references within their music reflect the nature of current times, and the removal of such references would deteriorate the meaningfulness of their work.

Personal life

In October 2005, Molko's then-partner Helena Berg gave birth to his first child, Cody. As of June 2009, (as stated in an interview) he and Helena are no longer together.

Molko is openly bisexual.

Collaborations

He has performed, as a guest vocalist and with other artists on Placebo's records, on tracks by:

The Cure – "If Only Tonight We Could Sleep"

Justin Warfield – "Spite & Malice"

Losers – "Summertime Rolls"

Asia Argento – "Je T'aime, Moi Non Plus"

Alison Mosshart from The Kills – "Meds"

Michael Stipe of R.E.M. – "Broken Promise"

Faultline (musician)|Faultline & Françoise Hardy – "Requiem for a Jerk"

Timo Maas – "Pictures", "Like Siamese", "First Day", "College 84"

Kristeen Young – "No Other God"

Dream City Film Club – "Some", "Billy Chic"

Jane Birkin – "Smile"

AC Acoustics – "Crush"

Alpinestars (band)|Alpinestars – "Carbon Kid"

Trash Palace – "The Metric System"

Hotel Persona – "Modern Kids"

Indochine – "Pink Water 3"

He also wrote the English lyrics to "Pink Water 3", a song by Indochine (band)|Indochine from the album Alice & June , released in 2005. Molko is friends with David Bowie , with whom he sang on Placebo's " Without You I'm Nothing (Placebo song)|Without You I'm Nothing " and the "20th Century Boy" cover live.

Equipment

Molko uses a variety of guitars. In the Sleeping With Ghosts era, he used Gibson SG s (" The Bitter End (song)|The Bitter End ", " Every You Every Me ", "Plasticine", " Black-Eyed ", " Without You I'm Nothing (Placebo song)|Without You I'm Nothing ", " Special K (song)|Special K ", "Bulletproof Cupid", "Soulmates", " Special Needs (song)|Special Needs ", " This Picture (song)|This Picture "), Fender Jaguar s ("Allergic", " Nancy Boy ", "Bionic", "Centrefolds"), a Fender Thinline Telecaster (" Taste in Men "), a Fender Jazzmaster (" Pure Morning "), and a Fender Bass VI (" Slave to the Wage "). For amplification he used a Fender Twin Reverb .
Through the Meds (album)|Meds tour, he used Gretsch Duo Jet s (" Infra-Red (song)|Infra-Red ", " Because I Want You ", " Song to Say Goodbye ", "One of a Kind", " The Bitter End (song)|The Bitter End ", " Running Up that Hill ", " Special K (song)|Special K "), Gibson SGs (" Special Needs (song)|Special Needs ", " Every You Every Me ", " Black-Eyed ", " Without You I'm Nothing (song)|Without You I'm Nothing "), a Fender Jaguar ("Drag", " Nancy Boy ", "I Know"), a Fender Thinline Telecaster (" Twenty Years (song)|Twenty Years ", " Taste in Men "), and a Gibson Chet Atkins SST (" Meds (song)|Meds "). Once again his amplifier was a Fender Twin Reverb.

In the Battle for the Sun (album)|Battle for the Sun tour, he still used Gretsch Duo Jet s ("Devil In The Details", "Come Undone", "Follow The Cops Back Home"), a Gibson SG (" Bright Lights (Placebo song)|Bright Lights "), Fender Jaguars (" Ashtray Heart ", " The Never-Ending Why ", "Happy You're Gone", "Breathe Underwater", "Bionic"), a Gibson Les Paul (" For What It's Worth (Placebo song)|For What It's Worth ", "Speak In Tongues", "Julien", " Meds (song)|Meds "), a Fender Telecaster Thinline ("Kitty Litter"), and a Fender Telecaster Deluxe (" Battle for the Sun (song)|Battle for the Sun "). His pedalboard consisted of a Boss Corporation|Boss TU-2 chromatic tuner, Electro Harmonix Holy Grail reverb, MXR Phase 90 phaser, two Electro Harmonix Hot Tubes distortion units, Boss DD-3 delay, MXR Distortion + booster, MG Monovibe chorus/vibrato, Electro Harmonix #1 Echo delay and a Radial Loopbone effect chain switcher.

In 2010, he signed an endorsement contract to use Orange Music Electronic Company|Orange amps.

Filmography

Velvet Goldmine (1998) – Malcolm of The Flaming Creatures

'' Sue's Last Ride (2001) – executive producer

Appearances

Never Mind the Buzzcocks

*Episode #2.06 (1997)

*Episode #8.01 (2001)

*Episode #9.06 (2001)

Rockwave Festival (Greece, Athens) (July 13, 1999)

Glastonbury Festival (1997)

BRIT Awards (1999)

'' Late Night with Conan O'Brien

*Episode dated March 27, 1999

Rage (TV program)|rage

*Placebo Guest Programme rage (1999)

Terremoto Festival (Hamburg) (2000)

Paskvil

* Rockwave Festival (Greece, Athens) (July 3, 2001)

Episode #5.11 (2001)

Kerrang!|The Kerrang& #33; Awards (2002)

Rive droite - rive gauche

*Episode dated March 21, 2003

V Graham Norton

*Episode #4.21 (2003)

Tout le monde en parle

*Episode dated May 3, 2003

*Episode dated February 14, 2004

Double je

*Episode dated June 26, 2003

Soulmates Never Die (Live in Paris 2003)|Placebo: Soulmates Never Die - Live in Paris 2003

Le grand journal de Canal+

Rockwave Festival (Greece, Athens) (June 22, 2004)

*Episode dated September 13, 2004

*Episode dated October 13, 2004

Placebo: Androgyny (2005)

Live 8 (2005)

Terra Vibe Festival (Greece, Athens) (September 5, 2006)

4Music (2006)

Rock am Ring (2006)

Rock im Park (2006)

Isle of Wight Festival (2006)

Greenfield Festival (2006)

The Friday Night Project (2006)

Soccer A.M. (2006)

Nova Rock Festival (June 15, 2006)

Roskilde Festival (Denmark, Roskilde) (July 2, 2006)

Open'er Festival (July 6, 2006)

T in the Park (July 8, 2006)

Oxegen (July 9, 2006)

Vieilles Charrues Festival (July 21, 2006)

Festival Internacional de Benicàssim (July 23, 2006)

Rock-A-Field (July 25, 2006)

Reading and Leeds Festivals|Leeds Festival (August 25, 2006)

Rock'n Coke (September 3, 2006)

Moni Lazariston Festival (Greece, Thessaloniki) (June 13, 2007)

Lyccabetus (Greece, Athens) (June 14, 2007)

Siesta Festival (May 29, 2009)

Rock Am Ring (2009)

Rock Im Park (2009)

Rockwave Festival (Greece, Athens) (June 27, 2009)

Open'er Festival (July 5, 2009)

Rock for People (July 8, 2009)

Sziget (August 15, 2009)

Reading Festival (August 28, 2009)

Leeds Festival (August 30, 2009)

Soundwave Festival (20, 21, 26, 27 February and 1 March 2010)

Exit Festival (July 9, 2010)

Sonisphere Festival (July 31, 2010)

Pukkelpop|Pukkelpop Festival (August 19, 2010)

Two Days A Week Festival (September 4, 2010)

Earth Theatre w/ Aviv Geffen (Greece, Thessaloniki) (September 10, 2010)

Rockwave Festival (Greece, Athens) (September 11, 2010)

Huxleys Neue Welt (Germany, Berlin) (August 9, 2011)

Mercedes-Benz (Germany, Stuttgart) (August 11, 2011)

Copyright Citations

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