Placebo's Brian Molko chats about MTV EXIT

On 7 December 2008 Placebo will headline the first-ever rock concert at Angkor Wat in Cambodia, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed 12th Century temple. The concert is being produced by the MTV EXIT Campaign to raise awareness and increase prevention of human trafficking.
We caught up with singer Brian Molko to find out how he has carved such an incredible reputation for himself, why he decided to get involved in the campaign and most importantly; how he got into writing music in the first place.

When did you start writing music?

I've been writing songs professionally since I was in my early 20s and I'm now in my mid-30s. The way in which I approach song writing now is probably a lot less self indulgent and navel gazing than when I was younger.
Your field of vision grows as you grow older and when you become aware of the fact that you are not the centre of the universe and aware that every action you have has an effect on your fellow man, you become sensitive to subjects that are outside your immediate life but you also become aware how they affect you so the things I like to write about are becoming a little broader.

How has this personal development affected the music you make?

When you make a record every two years you change as a person and your outlook on life in general changes, that's always reflected in the music. The new album is probably not as dark as our last record -- which dealt with questions of addiction. This one is more about redemption and stepping out of the darkness: it’s more optimistic.

Is this broader view of the world and how it affects you creatively one of the reasons behind joining the MTV EXIT campaign?

For sure, these things are all connected. Human trafficking is one of those issues where we actually all have an impact, yet we might not realise that we do. When you learn that there are kids being forced to work as slaves in sweatshops to produce clothing or shoes or whatever, then in a way we are the perpetrators of this since we are the demand that buys those products.
When we first heard about human trafficking and that slavery is still going on in our world, that young women are being forced to be prostitutes or that people are being abused and exploited to produce the goods we buy, this resonated deeply.
The deep evil that is present in some human beings – how people could do that to each other. It is shocking. We wanted to take a stand against it: being able to do that by using our music is an amazing privilege.

How has becoming a father changed your view of the world we live in?

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It's made me more fearful to be honest. You realise how vulnerable little human beings can be when they are your own you really want to protect them. When you have somebody in your life that you care about more than yourself it's a massive shift in perspective in the way that you view the world.
You become aware of concerns, which are far less selfish. It does make you want to become involved in the planet that we live on and the society that we live in because you feel somewhat responsible for the world. It's the world that you are passing on to your children that they have to live in.

What made you decide to join the show at Angkor Wat?

The issue of human trafficking, coupled with the location of the concert itself, made us very excited and very honoured to be asked to participate in this extremely worthy cause. I have been to Angkor Wat before as a tourist and it's just one of the most breathtaking and unique places I have ever spent time in.
It's also a very spiritual and quite calming place and so to be able to perform in front of it is just amazing. It's going to be a very beautiful experience. This will be the only gig we do this year and it’ll also be the first gig with our new drummer. So this is going to be a one-off special appearance before our new album is released next year.

What type of show do you plan to bring to Angkor Wat?

What we are trying to do as a band is concoct something very special and unique: a one-off show. A performance we haven't done in the past that we may not repeat in the future. We are in rehearsals now to deconstruct our songs and tear them to pieces and put them back together in new and novel and unusual ways.

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