Depeche Mode Depeche Guevara (Sounds, 1981)
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DEPECHE GUEVARA
Five months ago the prospect of doing an interview shut inside an airless, sterile studio would have made Depeche Mode run all the way home to Basildon. But then five months, as Wowington Woy would say, is a long time in the wacky world of wock and woll. One look at Vince Clarke sitting confidently behind the mixing desk and shorts-sporting Martin Gore’s welcoming smile and I knew things would be hunky dory.
Dan “The Man” Miller quickly ordered Martin back in front of the mike to contribute his part to the now characteristic Mode quasi-barbershop harmonics on a new track which might be the new single, or possibly the start of the (gasp) album.
“I just can’t get enough, I just can’t get enough,” sung Mart.
But he had, and stopped for a cuppa and a chat.
Les Moders, as I’ve hinted, are now 100% more confident, talkative, witty and brighter than all other known brands of washing powder. (Shurely shome mishtake?) Vince set his synth onto random programming to break the icky atmosphere and we commenced. How appropriate! With one record set straight – ie Depeche Mode aren’t shy, incommunicative, fragile young things at all, here’s the official mode of pronunciation: Depech-ay, if you please. “It’s probably grammatically wrong,” said Vince. “But we like it that way.” [1]
Okay. Depecheeee Mode are laying down lotsa new tracks, having come to a halt after mucho gigging around London following the surprise success of “Dreaming Of Me” and even bigger surprise of “New Life”. Up until now Andy and Martin have had day jobs so the touring principle is only now an ongoing viability. Offers of the calibre of Classix and Toyah had been pouring in, but Vince reckoned it wasn’t the best thing for them to do at the time. Martin considered that the Classix tour may have tied them irrevocably to the futuromanticism tag which they’ve steadfastly been trying (unsuccessfully) to avoid.
But of the bands who secured deals following the “Some Bizzare” LP, Depeche have fared the best: their simple, uncomplicated synthi-pop tunes are terribly hard to dislike, after all.
“We had a sad day on Tuesday, though,” said David Gahan, crest suddenly fallen, “we expected “New Life” to go up a bit more. I think we all thought it wasn’t gonna do much at first, but inside… You can’t tell.”
Funny, ’cos “New Life” is definitely even more instant than the debut… Vince: “It’s really up isn’t it.”
David: “We learned a lot from “Dreaming”, came in here and just did a better job on the next one.”
And that riveting little synth riff is still locked in my head, reminding me of God-knows-what. Just an old r&b riff, said Vince. No, it’s a good job they do have insistent hooks – David reckoned people have beaucoup de trouble remembering the name:
“I bet they get to the shop and forget the name. They go on, hum the tune and say oh, can’t remember the name, I’ll have that Duran Duran one instead!”
Andy Fletcher suggested Dep Mod as an abbreviation in fine Orch Man tradition. An imaginary lightbulb above Vince’s head suddenly fired him with a cracking good idea.
“When your photographer comes,” he smirked, “can we have a picture taken in the back of Dan’s Renault? Just like Spandau Ballet? Only there’ll be five of us in the back, and we’ll all be squashed up like this…” (David imitates dead sardine)
OK, wrench those tongues out of yer cheeks, boys. Mutemobile, indeed? It is true that they did well in the US Disco charts and have great appeal for Europe too… deals are currently being set up with several different majors to get Mode released in France, Germany et al. Many doubted the ability of Mute and Miller to break the Modes, but for an indie they’ve broken the required barriers.
David: “We would much rather have had points than big advances, and we’ve got that with Daniel – he’s proved he can get us what we want, there’s nothing he can’t do – that we haven’t found out yet!”
Andy: “Indies are at their height, they never used to get in the charts before.”
David: “And radio stations are more likely to play indies.”
Vince: “They have to pay less royalties!”
David: “Radio One have been very good to us – 3 plays a day on this one. They said they’d stick with it, give it lots of airplay.”
So from the insecure, nervous and unsure start, things have actually turned out as they’d hoped?
Vince: “It has really. You learn things very quickly. With Mute we know everything that’s going on, we’re in contact with distributors, pluggers and promotion people every day.”
Andy: “What we don’t know is what a major is like. We’re quite happy with our set up, but we don’t know if the distribution could be better.”
Aah, but Rough Trade gets you into those little shops that the hordes of independent buyers frequent, you lucky boys.
Andy then proceeded to go off at a tangent (this is not unusual), musing about how the band’s audiences had changed, become much younger. No-one else agreed.
David: “We get a varied audience, you can’t say that at all!”
Vince: “In clubs an’ that, the audience is already there, they haven’t come to see us.”
David: “Don’t be silly! You can’t say everywhere we play has a fixed audience!”
Andy: “You’re getting worse than Martin now… Martin hasn’t said one thing yet!”
Martin woke up. “I’m saving it up, it’s all going to come out in a minute, I’m just waiting for the right question.”
We launched into a discussion about clubs, people not dressing up as much as they used to and the sight of Midge Ure sending lace-clad young girls into the water and into a frenzy at Crystal Pal last week.
This caused much amusement.
Andy: “That’s what Martin does!”
Martin: “You’re asking for it, Fletch…”
To avert a full-scale war, I mentioned my liking for the “Rio” mix of “Shout!”, B-Side of their first ever 12”. They love the rhythm, but the song? David loves it, Vince hates it, Martin says so-so. Humph. It’s the first dancefloor oriented thing they’ve done tho’, eh?
Andy: “Apart from the things we did when we were Light Of The World…” Silence… laughter!
They all paused to watch Daniel frowning in the control room, doubtless searching for that stray note out of tune. A conspiracy brewed. “What was that thing we wanted in Jaws about Daniel?” they whispered. “Nooooo – don’t put it in, he’d know it was us… if you say it, Andy, you’re the one – we all tried to stop you!” [2]
Andy turned to me with a probing question. “Who told you about the folk group and church hall thing?” (Referring to a gossip item about their acoustic past). “We practised in a church hall, that’s all.” [3]
And they’re recording in a deconsecrated church now! [4]
David: “Yeah, we just love churches.”
Martin: “You wait till you hear our new single – it’s a gospel song.”
David: “It’s called “Have You Got The Sunshine Smile”.”
Andy sung the words, gesticulating his finger at his smiling lips in Sunday School teacher style.
David: “On the picture bag, there’s Andy’s face, and when you press his nose, a finger comes out and there’s Martin inside showing the actions. Martin doing the Mode!”
And they chorused: “Have you got the sunshine HA-HA-HA HEE HEE.” I think this is what we in the trade call a joke…
On entering studiospace, I’d noticed Darryl, Fan Club President and original Silicon Teen, scribbling away replies to D Mode fan mail. Are they getting lots?
David: “Not really. We were just trying to impress you! We were s’posed to have this Postman come in just after you with a great big sack!”
Andy: “Yeah, binfuls of used biros, hard skin on our fingers where we’ve been writing so much!”
Well, I saw at least ten letters.
David: “A lot of them are really young. This 13 year old boy wrote us a story using words from the singles and sent us some badge designs.”
Vince: “We’re pop! Ultra pop!”
Andy: “People write to us from up North but they haven’t seen us. We want to branch out from London, but first we must rehearse new material, we’ve been doing the same set for 4 months. The live show should be better, more danceable.”
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Daniel looked quizzical again. The boys told him to stop listening in.
Andy: “He’s a great man. Look – the ultimate picture of Daniel Miller, father of electronic music…”
Vince: “Grandfather, more like.”
Daniel the scolding father retorted, “I can hear you.”
A man from ITV arrived to discus Dep Mod’s appearance on a 20th Century Box prog on the Essex music scene, past and present. Depeche are to be filmed live at Croc’s in Rayleigh, and filmed au naturel around Basildon, all to be shown sometime in August.
“You can film my usual Saturday morning routine,” joked David. “Have a sauna, go to a brothel, then a commando course… Nah, it’ll be Andy waking up at 5am, having ’is toast and going down the newsagents for his paper round. Boys next door!” He concluded, sensibly: “It doesn’t matter if we’re sitting on the loo – a minute on tele is better than a thousand radio plays.”
Andy came over all pensive again, wondering why so many of their interviews spent more time talking about Daniel than the band.
“There’s nothing really that people can say about us is there? All other bands go on about political things, we don’t talk about our views.”
Dave: “We don’t have political views, I don’t think.”
Andy: “There’s always an extrovert member of a band with strong views.” [5]
Vince: “We don’t stand for anything united do we?”
Andy: “We haven’t got a person who’s domineering.”
David: “That’s good!”
Andy: “On the other hand, that’s why our interviews are very empty, ’cause usually the loudmouth of a band goes on about what the Labour party are doing or something.”
Martin: “Sexism always comes up too, especially with HM bands.”
David: “They always talk about sex.”
Vince: “It’s all that macho stuff.”
Macho. Dep Mod certainly aren’t Macho. Now they were in a more reflective mood, I asked what their immediate hopes for the future were.
Chorus: “Ultimate success!”
David: “We’re happy as it is, we’d just like some money.”
Vince: “We want to change our sound, get some new stuff together, get a good live show.”
Vince: “We don’t want to get like Kraftwerk, we don’t want to use tapes any more. We’ve got a rhythm unit with a TV screen that plays Space Invaders as well!” [6]
Andy: “We want to give the show more of an aura.”
David: “Down the Bridgehouse?!”
Now there’s a thought… anything else?
David: “Yes, Andy would love to have a cult following, be underground. We have gigs in here when Vince is getting down on the mixer, and Andy sings! Things get on top of you in the studio – you have to do something to let it all go, so we come in here and scream and shout.”
The lads played me a tape of impromptu raw electro-punk with Crass-style vocals by Andy, featuring a cover version of “Simple Simon Says”, “You’re Gonna Lose That Girl” and a sensitive rendition of a popular school hymn. There’s that religious influence again… But they need this relief valve from the precise orderliness required to produce their brand of neatly-packed pop songs – operating, generating new life for our pop kids.
A lot of people know the name Depeche Mode now. Now you know who they are, what they are. Like their boss, they’re all heart – boys next door who turn into Ultra Popsters at the flick of a switch. Mode: strictly not avant-garde.
Andy: “He’s a great man. Look – the ultimate picture of Daniel Miller, father of electronic music…”
Vince: “Grandfather, more like.”
Daniel the scolding father retorted, “I can hear you.”
A man from ITV arrived to discus Dep Mod’s appearance on a 20th Century Box prog on the Essex music scene, past and present. Depeche are to be filmed live at Croc’s in Rayleigh, and filmed au naturel around Basildon, all to be shown sometime in August.
“You can film my usual Saturday morning routine,” joked David. “Have a sauna, go to a brothel, then a commando course… Nah, it’ll be Andy waking up at 5am, having ’is toast and going down the newsagents for his paper round. Boys next door!” He concluded, sensibly: “It doesn’t matter if we’re sitting on the loo – a minute on tele is better than a thousand radio plays.”
Andy came over all pensive again, wondering why so many of their interviews spent more time talking about Daniel than the band.
“There’s nothing really that people can say about us is there? All other bands go on about political things, we don’t talk about our views.”
Dave: “We don’t have political views, I don’t think.”
Andy: “There’s always an extrovert member of a band with strong views.” [5]
Vince: “We don’t stand for anything united do we?”
Andy: “We haven’t got a person who’s domineering.”
David: “That’s good!”
Andy: “On the other hand, that’s why our interviews are very empty, ’cause usually the loudmouth of a band goes on about what the Labour party are doing or something.”
Martin: “Sexism always comes up too, especially with HM bands.”
David: “They always talk about sex.”
Vince: “It’s all that macho stuff.”
Macho. Dep Mod certainly aren’t Macho. Now they were in a more reflective mood, I asked what their immediate hopes for the future were.
Chorus: “Ultimate success!”
David: “We’re happy as it is, we’d just like some money.”
Vince: “We want to change our sound, get some new stuff together, get a good live show.”
Vince: “We don’t want to get like Kraftwerk, we don’t want to use tapes any more. We’ve got a rhythm unit with a TV screen that plays Space Invaders as well!” [6]
Andy: “We want to give the show more of an aura.”
David: “Down the Bridgehouse?!”
Now there’s a thought… anything else?
David: “Yes, Andy would love to have a cult following, be underground. We have gigs in here when Vince is getting down on the mixer, and Andy sings! Things get on top of you in the studio – you have to do something to let it all go, so we come in here and scream and shout.”
The lads played me a tape of impromptu raw electro-punk with Crass-style vocals by Andy, featuring a cover version of “Simple Simon Says”, “You’re Gonna Lose That Girl” and a sensitive rendition of a popular school hymn. There’s that religious influence again… But they need this relief valve from the precise orderliness required to produce their brand of neatly-packed pop songs – operating, generating new life for our pop kids.
A lot of people know the name Depeche Mode now. Now you know who they are, what they are. Like their boss, they’re all heart – boys next door who turn into Ultra Popsters at the flick of a switch. Mode: strictly not avant-garde.
DEPECHE GUEVARA
FIVE MONTHS ago the prospect of doing an interview shut inside an airless, sterile studio would have made Depeche Mode run all the way home to Basildon. But then five months, as Wowington Woy would say, is a long time in the wacky world of wock and woll. One look at Vince Clarke sitting confidently behind the mixing desk and shorts-sporting Martin Gore's welcoming smile and I knew things would be hunky dory.
Dan 'The Man' Miller quickly ordered Martin back in front of the mike to contribute his part to the now characteristic Mode quasi-barbershop harmonies on a new track which might be the new single, or possibly the start of the (gasp) album.
"I just can't get enough, I just can't get enough," sung Mart.
But he had, and stopped for a cuppa and a chat.
Les Modes, as I've hinted, are now 100% more confident, talkative, witty and brighter than all other known brands of washing powder. (Shurely shome mishtake ?) Vince set his synth onto random programming to break the icky atmosphere and we commenced. How appropriate! With one record set straight--ie Depeche Mode aren't shy, incommunicative, fragile young things at all, here's the official mode of pronunciation: Depech-ay, if you please. "It's probably grammatically wrong," said Vince, "but we like it that way."
Okay. Depecheeee Mode are laying down lotsa new tracks, having come to a halt after mucho gigging around London following the surprise success of 'Dreaming Of Me' and even bigger surprise of 'New Life'. Up until now Andy and Martin have had day jobs so the touring principle is only now an ongoing viability. Offers of the calibre of Classix and Toyah had been pouring in, but Vince reckoned it wasn't the best thing for them to do at the time. Martin considered that the Classix tour may have tied them irrevocably to the futuramicism tag which they've steadfastly been trying iunsuccessfully to avoid.
But of the bands who secured deals following the 'Some Bizzare' LP, Depeche have fared the best; their simple, uncomplicated synthi-pop tunes are terribly hard to dislike, after all.
"We had a sad day on Tuesday, though" said David Gahan, crest suddenly fallen "we expected 'New Life' to go up a bit more. I think we all thought it wasn't gonna do much at first, but inside ... You can't tell. "
Funny, 'cause 'New Life' is definitely even more instant than their debut... Vince "It's really up isn't it."
David: We learned a lot from 'Dreaming, came in here and just did a better job on the next one."
And that rivetting little synth riff is still locked in my head, reminding me of God-knows-what. Just an old r&b riff, said Vince. No, it's a good job they do have insistent hooks-- David reckoned people have beaucoup de trouble remembering the name.
"I bet they get to the shop and forget the name, They go in, hum the tune and say oh, can't remember the name, I'll have that Duran Duran one instead!"
ANDY FLETCHER suggested Dep. Mod as an abbreviation in fine Orch Man tradition. An imaginary lightbulb above Vince's head suddenly fired him with a cracking good idea.
"When your photographer comes, " he smirked, "can we have a picture taken in the back of Dan's Renault? Just like Spandau Ballet? Only there'll be five of us in the back, and we'll all be squashed up like this..." (David imitates dead sardine)
OK, wrench those tongues out of yer cheeks, boys. Mutemobile, indeed! It is true that they did well in the US Disco charts have great appeal for Europe too ... deals are currently being set up with several different majors to get Mode released in France, Germany et al. Many doubted the ability of Mute and Miller to break the Modes, but for an indie they've broken the required barriers.
David: "We would much rather have had points than big advances, and we've got that with Daniel--he's proved he can get us what we want, there's nothing he can't do-- that we haven't found out yet!"
Andy: "Indies are at their height, they never used to get into the charts before." David: "And radio stations are more likely to play indies."
Vince: "They have to pay less royalties!" David: "Radio One have been very good to us --3 plays a day on this one. They said they'd stick with it, give it lots of airplay"
So from the insecure, nervous and unsure start, things have actually turned out as they'd hoped? Vince: "It has really. You learn things very quickly. With Mute we know everything that's going on, we're in contact with distributors, pluggers and promotion people every day."
Andy. "What we don't know is what a major is like. We're quite happy with our set up, but we don't know if the distribution could be better." Aah, but Rough Trade gets you into those little shops that the hordes of independent record buyers frequent, you lucky boys.
Andy then proceeded to go off at a tangent (this is not unusual), musing about how the band's audiences had changed, become much younger No-one else agreed.
David. "We get a varied audience, you can't say that at all!" Vince: "In clubs an' that, the audience is already there, they haven't come to see us."
David: "Don't be silly! You can't say everywhere we play has a fixed audience!"
Andy: "You're getting worse than Martin now... Martin hasn't said one thing yet!" Martin woke up. "I'm saving it up, it's all going to come out in a minute, I'm just waiting for the right question."
Attachments
WE LAUNCHED into a discussion about clubs, people not dressing up as much as they used to and the sight of Midge Ure sending lace-clad young girls into the water and into a frenzy at Crystal Pal last week.
This caused much amusement, Andy: "That's what Martin does!"
Martin: "You're asking for it, Fletch..." To avert a full-scale war, I mentioned my liking for the 'Rio' mix of 'Shout!: B-Side of their first ever 12". They love the rhythm, but the song? David loves it, Vince hates it, Martin says so-so. Humph. It's the first dancefloor oriented thing they've done tho', eh?
Andy: "Apart from the things we did when we were Light Of The World..." Silence...Iaughter!
They all paused to watch Daniel frowning in the control room, doubtless searching for that stray note out of tune. A conspiracy brewed "What was that thing we wanted in Jaws about Daniel?" they whispered. "Nooooo don't put it in, he'd know it was us... if you say it, Andy, you're the one--we all tried to stop you!"
Andy turned to me with a probing question. "Who told you about the folk group and church hall thing?" (Referring to a gossip item about their acoustic past). "We practised in a church hall, that's all."
And they're recording in a deconsecrated church now! David: "Yeah, we just love churches." Martin: "You wait till you hear our new single--it's a gospel song." David: "It's called 'Have You Got The Sunshine Smile.'
Andy sung the words, gesticulating his finger at his smiling lips in Sunday School teacher style. David: "On the picture bag, there's Andy's face, and when you press his nose, a finger comes out and there's Martin inside showing the actions, Martin doing the Mode!" And they chorused: "Have you got the sunshine HA-HA HA HEE HEE. " I think this was what we in the trade call a joke...
On entering studiospace, I'd noticed Darryl, Fan Club President and original Silicon Teen, scribbling away replies to D Mode fan mail. Are they getting lots? David: "Not really. We were just trying to impress you! We were s'posed to have this Postman come in just after you with a great big sack!" Andy. "Yeah, binfuls of used biros, hard skin on our fingers where we've been writing so much!"
Well, I saw at least ten letters. David: "A lot of them are really young. This 13 year old boy wrote us a story using words from the singles and sent us some badge designs.
Vince. "We're pop! Ultra pop!" Andy: "People write to us from up North but they haven't seen us. We want to branch out from London, but first we must rehearse new material, we've been doing the same set for 4 months. The live show should be better, more danceable."
DANIEL LOOKED quizzical again. The boys told him to stop listening in.
Andy: "He's a great man, though. Great man. Look-- the ultimate picture of Daniel Miller, father of electronic music..." Vince: "Grandfather, more like." Daniel the scolding father retorted. "I can hear you."
A man from ITV arrived to discuss Dep Mod's appearance on a 20th Century Box prog on the Essex music scene, past and present. Depeche are to be filmed live at Croc's in Rayleigh, and filmed au naturel around Basildon, all to be shown sometime in August.
"You can film my usual Saturday morning routine, "joked David, "Have a sauna, go to a brothel, then a commando course... Nah, it'll be Andy waking up at 6am, having 'is toast and going down the newsagents for his paper round. Boys next door!" He concluded, sensibly: "It doesn't matter if we're sitting on the loo --a minute on tele is better than a thousand radio plays."
Andy came over all pensive again wondering why so many of their interviews spent more time talking about Daniel than the band. "There's nothing really that people can say about us is there? All other bands go on about political things, we don't talk about our views. "
Dave: "We don't have political views, I don't think." Andy: "There's always an extrovert member of a band with strong views." Vince: "We don't stand for anything united do we?"Andy. "We haven't got that person who's domineering." David: "That's good!"
Andy: "On the other hand, that's why our interviews are very empty, 'cause usually the loudmouth of a band goes on about what the Labour party are doing something." Martin: "Sexism always come up too, specially with HM bands."
David: "They always talk about sex." Vince: "It's all that macho stuff."
Macho. Dep Mod certainly aren't Macho. Now they were in a more reflective mood, I asked what their immediate hopes for the future were. Chorus: "Ultimate success!" David: "We're happy as it is, we'd just like some money."
Vince: "We want to change our sound, get some new stuff together, get a good live show." Vince: "We don't want to get like Kraftwerk, we don't want to use tapes live any more. We've got a rhythm unit with a TV screen that plays Space Invaders as well!" Andy: "We want to give the show more of an aura."
David: "Down the Bridgehouse.?!" Now there's a thought... anything else?
David: "Yes, Andy would love to have a cult following, be underground. We have gigs here when Vince is getting down on the mixer, and Andy sings! Things get on top of you in the studio -- you have to do something to let it all go, so we come in here and scream and shout."
The lads played me a tape of impromptu raw electro-punk with Crass-style vocals by Andy, featuring a cover version of 'Simple Simon Says', 'You're Gonna Lose That Girl' and a sensitive rendition of a popular school hymn. There's that religious influence again ... But they need this relief valve from the precise orderliness required to produce their brand of neatly-packed pop songs--operating, generating new life for our pop kids.
A lot of people know the name Depeche Mode now. Now you know who they are, what they are. Like their boss, they're all heart-- boys next door who turn into Ultra Popsters at the flick of a switch. Mode: strictly not avant qarde.
This caused much amusement, Andy: "That's what Martin does!"
Martin: "You're asking for it, Fletch..." To avert a full-scale war, I mentioned my liking for the 'Rio' mix of 'Shout!: B-Side of their first ever 12". They love the rhythm, but the song? David loves it, Vince hates it, Martin says so-so. Humph. It's the first dancefloor oriented thing they've done tho', eh?
Andy: "Apart from the things we did when we were Light Of The World..." Silence...Iaughter!
They all paused to watch Daniel frowning in the control room, doubtless searching for that stray note out of tune. A conspiracy brewed "What was that thing we wanted in Jaws about Daniel?" they whispered. "Nooooo don't put it in, he'd know it was us... if you say it, Andy, you're the one--we all tried to stop you!"
Andy turned to me with a probing question. "Who told you about the folk group and church hall thing?" (Referring to a gossip item about their acoustic past). "We practised in a church hall, that's all."
And they're recording in a deconsecrated church now! David: "Yeah, we just love churches." Martin: "You wait till you hear our new single--it's a gospel song." David: "It's called 'Have You Got The Sunshine Smile.'
Andy sung the words, gesticulating his finger at his smiling lips in Sunday School teacher style. David: "On the picture bag, there's Andy's face, and when you press his nose, a finger comes out and there's Martin inside showing the actions, Martin doing the Mode!" And they chorused: "Have you got the sunshine HA-HA HA HEE HEE. " I think this was what we in the trade call a joke...
On entering studiospace, I'd noticed Darryl, Fan Club President and original Silicon Teen, scribbling away replies to D Mode fan mail. Are they getting lots? David: "Not really. We were just trying to impress you! We were s'posed to have this Postman come in just after you with a great big sack!" Andy. "Yeah, binfuls of used biros, hard skin on our fingers where we've been writing so much!"
Well, I saw at least ten letters. David: "A lot of them are really young. This 13 year old boy wrote us a story using words from the singles and sent us some badge designs.
Vince. "We're pop! Ultra pop!" Andy: "People write to us from up North but they haven't seen us. We want to branch out from London, but first we must rehearse new material, we've been doing the same set for 4 months. The live show should be better, more danceable."
DANIEL LOOKED quizzical again. The boys told him to stop listening in.
Andy: "He's a great man, though. Great man. Look-- the ultimate picture of Daniel Miller, father of electronic music..." Vince: "Grandfather, more like." Daniel the scolding father retorted. "I can hear you."
A man from ITV arrived to discuss Dep Mod's appearance on a 20th Century Box prog on the Essex music scene, past and present. Depeche are to be filmed live at Croc's in Rayleigh, and filmed au naturel around Basildon, all to be shown sometime in August.
"You can film my usual Saturday morning routine, "joked David, "Have a sauna, go to a brothel, then a commando course... Nah, it'll be Andy waking up at 6am, having 'is toast and going down the newsagents for his paper round. Boys next door!" He concluded, sensibly: "It doesn't matter if we're sitting on the loo --a minute on tele is better than a thousand radio plays."
Andy came over all pensive again wondering why so many of their interviews spent more time talking about Daniel than the band. "There's nothing really that people can say about us is there? All other bands go on about political things, we don't talk about our views. "
Dave: "We don't have political views, I don't think." Andy: "There's always an extrovert member of a band with strong views." Vince: "We don't stand for anything united do we?"Andy. "We haven't got that person who's domineering." David: "That's good!"
Andy: "On the other hand, that's why our interviews are very empty, 'cause usually the loudmouth of a band goes on about what the Labour party are doing something." Martin: "Sexism always come up too, specially with HM bands."
David: "They always talk about sex." Vince: "It's all that macho stuff."
Macho. Dep Mod certainly aren't Macho. Now they were in a more reflective mood, I asked what their immediate hopes for the future were. Chorus: "Ultimate success!" David: "We're happy as it is, we'd just like some money."
Vince: "We want to change our sound, get some new stuff together, get a good live show." Vince: "We don't want to get like Kraftwerk, we don't want to use tapes live any more. We've got a rhythm unit with a TV screen that plays Space Invaders as well!" Andy: "We want to give the show more of an aura."
David: "Down the Bridgehouse.?!" Now there's a thought... anything else?
David: "Yes, Andy would love to have a cult following, be underground. We have gigs here when Vince is getting down on the mixer, and Andy sings! Things get on top of you in the studio -- you have to do something to let it all go, so we come in here and scream and shout."
The lads played me a tape of impromptu raw electro-punk with Crass-style vocals by Andy, featuring a cover version of 'Simple Simon Says', 'You're Gonna Lose That Girl' and a sensitive rendition of a popular school hymn. There's that religious influence again ... But they need this relief valve from the precise orderliness required to produce their brand of neatly-packed pop songs--operating, generating new life for our pop kids.
A lot of people know the name Depeche Mode now. Now you know who they are, what they are. Like their boss, they're all heart-- boys next door who turn into Ultra Popsters at the flick of a switch. Mode: strictly not avant qarde.