Their singles shift truckloads and yet Placebo don't give a toss about the charts but the quality of music.

Pissing on commercial strictures - that was the last year's reason for Placebo's overloading 'Special K's' release as a single with more than 20 minutes of music, so rendering it ineligible for the singles chart. When their third album 'Black Market Music' came out last autumn, singer/guitarist Brian Molko said it was meant to be "Something sordid and seedy and kept under the counter, something you shouldn't have."

There hasn't been a star of Molko's ilk in a while, the kind that initially managed to offend/excite both sexes with his androgynous/drugged-up/hip-dick tactics and has reconfigured his strategy for the third album.

"When you start out," Molko reasons, "you're desperate to get attention every which way and I was doing just that. Fuelled by some substances, I was talking to everybody and saying too much. There were grains of truth but more exaggeration fed by my pathological desire for attention and a need to be extreme for its own sake. It was easy to manipulate the press but they eventually manipulate you and there can never be a winner."

I wanna be your dog

Playing the gender-bending game helped power a number of hits, one of which, 'Without You I'm Nothing', re-worked with idol David Bowie, landed them in epic territory. Placebo played at Bowie's 50th birthday gig in New York and joined forces again at the Brit Awards 1999 to perform T -Rex's '20th Century Boy', the song they contributed to the 'Velvet Goldmine' film in which the members also had cameo roles. At once Molko found himself socialising with Bowie, Michael Stipe (of REM), Bono (of U2) and even that camp-rock psychopath Marilyn Manson.

"No, I don't feel their equal," a moment of modesty escapes Molko's armoured image. "We are in awe of these people. They're my major influences... Michael was always such a huge influence because he is such a soulful singer and talking with people like him opens up a whole new world of thinking, approach to work and view of the industry..."

"We were very lucky to do five dates on the U2's 'Pop Mart' tour and it was unbelievable. They are just so normal, there was none of any superstar bullshit. They might appear standoffish because they are
careful when meeting people. When you are in such a position you really don't know what people want from you; are they mad, mean, wanna hurt you? You really have to be careful..."

"And, I know that when we performed at Bowie's party he introduced us to Lou Reed and Sonic Youth and I was in such a state of fandom that I could only talk gibberish."

Pulse of the street

Turning away from partying and his reputation as a bloke-about-town, Molko has embraced the 'everyday' life that's so precious, apparently.

"I've had my fill of high living," Molko says. "I've finished with falling over in clubs. I've become much less of a party animal and do not socialise as much as before. You find other forms of entertainment and, considering how much we travel, being at home has become so precious. And, it is better for my soul because I can't be bothered by other people at every given instance."

"Still, I feel very much connected with our fans," he continues, "although I'm in a privileged position. We've done a lot of research into our fan club and we've found that we appeal to teenagers trying to deal with personal freedom. Which is encouraging because too many people say that today's youth is too addicted to computers, Internet and so on... There are a lot of teenagers who need music to try to resolve their emotional problems."

Issue, all the damn issues.