Instantly Almost Famous

Hundreds of Placebo fans submitted video of themselves lip-synching to the band's cover of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill." The band made a video consisting of fan-made clips. Local singer/songwriter Roberta Hofer's work was included among that of approximately a dozen videographers.

"It seemed pretty unlikely to actually make it into their video," she says. "I submitted quite a few versions. I wasn't sure what the directors were looking for. Did they want us outside or inside, happy or sad? I tried out different locations.... I filmed cellar versions, river versions, and an inside version, too."

On the day the finished video debuted online, Hofer didn't know whether any of her clips had been chosen.

"I think it took until after midnight before the video was finally put on their MySpace page.... I was calling friends, telling my family, watching it again and again.... Right after it was online, a friend of mine who lives in South America texted me. She was, like, 'Gosh, it sounds weird, but I could swear it's you in there.' It was funny to get that reaction, just minutes after it was online, from thousands of miles away."

Hofer is recording an album under the working title Bathroom Demos. The video of "Running Up That Hill" -- uploaded to YouTube and featuring a still of Hofer on the screencap -- has been played over 482,000 times.