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| Brian Molko | |
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 Brian Molko performing at the European Parliament in Brussels in 2010. |
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| Background information | |
| Born | 10 December 1972 Brussels, Belgium |
| Origin | Luxembourg |
| Genres | Alternative rock |
| Occupations | Musician, singer, songwriter, actor |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, piano, harmonica, saxophone, drums |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Labels | EMI, Virgin, Hut, Caroline, PIAS (current) |
| Associated acts | Placebo |
| Website | www.placeboworld.co.uk/ |
| Notable instruments | |
| Fender Jaguar Gibson SG Fender Telecaster Thinline Gretsch Duo Jet Fender Cyclone |
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Brian Molko (born 10 December 1972 in Brussels, Belgium) is a songwriter, lead vocalist, and guitarist of the band Placebo. He is known in particular for his nasal, high-pitched vocals, androgynous appearance, and unique, Sonic Youth-influenced guitar style and tuning.
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He was born to an American father of French-Italian heritage[1] and a Scottish mother. Molko's family moved frequently during his childhood including to Scotland, Liberia, Lebanon, and Luxembourg.[2][unreliable source?] Brian Molko has referred to a period spent in his mother's home town of Dundee, Scotland, as "where I grew up".[3]
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 music. Molko initially attended the European School of Luxembourg but had to leave due to excessive bullying;[4] he later attended the American International School of Luxembourg (AISL)[5] and went on to study drama at Goldsmiths College in London.[6]
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Molko and Stefan Olsdal had both attended AISL (though they were never friends);[7][unreliable source?] 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.[7]
Along with Hewitt and Olsdal, he had a role in the 1998 film Velvet Goldmine,[8] for which Placebo performed the 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.
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".[9] However, he later admitted to experimenting with heroin as well.[10] 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.[11][12][13]
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.[14]
He has performed, as a guest vocalist and with other artists on Placebo's records, on tracks by:
He also wrote the English lyrics to "Pink Water 3", a song by Indochine from the album Alice & June, released in 2005.[citation needed] Molko is friends with David Bowie, with whom he sang on Placebo's "Without You I'm Nothing"[15] and the "20th Century Boy" cover live.
Molko uses a variety of guitars. In the Sleeping With Ghosts era, he used Gibson SGs ("The Bitter End", "Every You Every Me", "Plasticine", "Black-Eyed", "Without You I'm Nothing", "Special K", "Bulletproof Cupid", "Soulmates", "Special Needs", "This Picture"), Fender Jaguars ("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.[citation needed]
Through the Meds tour, he used Gretsch Duo Jets ("Infra-Red", "Because I Want You", "Song to Say Goodbye", "One of a Kind", "The Bitter End", "Running Up that Hill", "Special K"), Gibson SGs ("Special Needs", "Every You Every Me", "Black-Eyed", "Without You I'm Nothing"), a Fender Jaguar ("Drag", "Nancy Boy", "I Know"), a Fender Thinline Telecaster ("Twenty Years", "Taste in Men"), and a Gibson Chet Atkins SST ("Meds"). Once again his amplifier was a Fender Twin Reverb.
In the Battle for the Sun tour, he still used Gretsch Duo Jets ("Devil In The Details", "Come Undone", "Follow The Cops Back Home"), a Gibson SG ("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", "Speak In Tongues", "Julien", "Meds"), a Fender Telecaster Thinline ("Kitty Litter"), and a Fender Telecaster Deluxe ("Battle for the Sun").[citation needed] His pedalboard consisted of a 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 amps.[16]
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