MAKING the most of what we have is a simple message that lies behind the latest EP, Life’s What You Make It, from colourful rock band Placebo, who are heading for Swindon as part of their European tour.

The track resonates with the current political uncertainty and fears for the future being played out on the world stage.

The band wanted a short film to accompany the EP, based on the theme of e-waste.

Filmmaker Sasha Rainbow came up with a story about people living with an apocalyptic back drop of first world waste, and a location of a real life electronic waste dump in the former wetlands of Accra in Ghana.

Singer Brian Molko said: “I told her that she had balls of steel for actually daring to go film on location in Ghana and that, no, we would not be coming, since we were timid little souls.

“We do hope, however, that it will make the viewer think about the repercussions of just throwing away tech that doesn’t work anymore. There are several new and ingenious ways to recycle tech these days.”

The flamboyant rock band are celebrating 20 years since their brief encounter on a railway platform saw the launch of a musical phenomenon.

Founder members Brian and Stefan Olsdal are marking their special anniversary with a European tour, including a gig in Swindon’s Oasis Leisure Centre on Tuesday, October 17, from 7pm.

Placebo are no strangers to getting important or controversial messages across through their music and when they first began Brian unashamedly stalked out on stage in a dress and make up, talking openly about sex, sexuality and drugs.

In 2008 they took part in the MTV Exit event which was a campaign against human trafficking, and Stefan narrated a documentary called Alt Russia which was of their 2014 tour, but also a commentary against the issues in that country on homophobia.

The musicians both attended the American International School of Luxembourg but did not actually meet until 1994 when they were both back in the UK. Stefan was making his way home from guitar lessons when Brian spotted him standing on Kensington Railway Station.

As a fellow guitar man he invited Stefan to a local gig where he was playing, and that’s where the magic happened and Placebo was born.

They took the name from its literal meaning translated from Latin which is: I shall please. In 1996 their first self-titled album was released and reached number five in the UK charts. It included the song Nancy Boy, that drew the notice of David Bowie, who went on to be a huge influence on Placebo.

The band were invited to play at Bowie’s 50th birthday celebration in New York Madison Gardens alongside Robert Smith of The Cure and Lou Reed.

Placebo recorded T Rex’s 20th Century Boy for the film Velvet Goldmine and took small parts in the movie. Bowie joined them on stage during their American tour to perform the song with them and they sang it, again with him, at the Brit Awards in 1999.

Their single, Without You I’m Nothing, was re-recorded and released as a duet with Davie Bowie, at the star’s request.

For the anniversary the band have released their compilation album, A Place For Us To Dream, and an EP with the new single, Jesus’ Son, and have now embarked on their tour which began in Denmark.

“This tour is very much for the fans and a chance for us to revisit a lot of our early material.

“So, if you want to see us play songs like Pure Morning and Nancy Boy which we haven’t played in almost 10 years and may not play again, then you had better come along,” said Brian.

Tickets to see Placebo in Swindon are £41.25 or for an extra £6.99 tickets plus A Place for Us to Dream 2CD (1 per order) available from http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/Oasis-Leisure-Centre-Swindon-tickets-Swindon/venue/254574