Depeche Mode 1997-04-27 Spin Session, Westwood One Entertainment & Spin Magazine
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It starts by a woman saying: "Westwood One Entertainment and Spin Magazine proudly presents a Spin Session with Depeche Mode hosted by world famous video director and photographer and a long time Depeche Mode collaborator, Anton Corbijn " with NLMDA in the background.Here is the transcript to Depeche Mode's recent interview of the Spin Session with Anton Corbijn...
It features DM and hosted by Anton Corbijn so it will go: D=Dave, M=Martin, F=Fletch and A=Anton. Btw, because of the crappy reception I hope I can properly equate the voices with the right person hehehe.I'll also edit out the ummms, ahhhs and other utters.I'll be including when they were laughing because they break out into lots of lapses of laughs and gigles and it's good to hear they are having a good time!If anyone has heard this, I probably made some mistakes along here and there so please correct me if I'm wrong, and excuse the bad spelling it's late
D=Can we call you Ant? (everyone laughs)
A=This is Anton Corbijn and I'm trying to interiew Depeche Mode here, the new album out called Ultra and I'm trying to shine some light on a couple of things that have been annoying/avoiding(? not sure what he said) me the past ten years or so(everyone breaks out laughing).With us are Andy Fletcher...and David Gahan
F=(cuts off Anton)This is Andy(laughter)
D=Hi this is David and this is Martin Gore
M=(really faintly)Hello this is Martin
F=and you're supposed to mention the program aren't you?
A=and we're doing a Spin Session apparently..a Spin Session
F=we're supposed to interview you...
A=(interupts Fletch)no... no...
F=(interupts Anton)you're just a bit nervous
NLMDA comes on
A=the whole thing is of course, I'm a visual man so I feel like a bit of a visual number on the draw here but to maybe we should start with you describing what you are wearing so people get a bit of an idea what we all look like here.
D=how the hell are you Anton?
F=what are you wearing, the first thing
A=Well funny enough and I didn't do it on purpose but I'm wearing a T-shirt from details magazine...
F=Gasps really loud(laughter)
A=...with a black jacket and Levis jeans. And Andy, what are you wearing?
F=I'm wearing a grey sort of a wind-breaker jacket with a bluey grey trousers with a nice pair of black boots and a silvery shirt and glasses.
A=OK and David...
D=I'm wearing whatever my personal statement is today. That would be a black jacket and pinstripe trousers and very bright socks and a green shirt , yeah kinda almost matches the socks...
A=now..umm very chic(laughter)...now Martin
M=black jacket, black T-shirt, black jumper, and black watch tartan trousers.
F= and what about on your head?
M=I only wore it because it had the word 'black'(laughter)
F=what about on your head though???
M=and a black...
F=I think the only reason he's wearing a hat is because he's had a very dodgy haircut so (?)listeners can't see us(something I have no idea what he said, but then Dave cuts him off)
D=Not dodgier than normal!
F=apparently this one is
D=yeah really?
F=yeah uh-huh
D=it's a bit of a loaf of bread on his...
M=and we'll be doing a video tomorrow [*personal comment here* could this be the reason behind the hair in ING video???]it was done by the hairdresser by the local consierge at the hotel and it's the worst haircut I've had since I was about 9.
I Feel You comes on
A=you've once said that you've probably the song writer that used the word knees more than anybody else, but also the word black I guess lots. What holds it for you in that color?
M=I don't know if I've used the word black as many times as people would imagine but I suppose it has been used quite alot, but I actually notice once, I thought it was quite funny though that I've used the word knees in so many of the songs. I was always down on my knees...and down on my knees again
F=I've never noticed that
A=because both of a religious and a sexual thing, and that's the combination you find productive
M=exactly so. It's always ambiguous when I'm actually talking about religion or sex or love or all three of them intertwined, it's always very vague
D=He's a naughty naughty boy!(laughter)
F=funny how that goes..
Shake the Disease comes on
A=so we're still in the Spin Session here, this is Anton Corbijn with Depeche Mode. And what I am also very interested in is the fact that David went through this really difficult period and I know you don't write the lyrics but I was amazed that Martin's lyrics were so fitting or seems so fitting for Dave's state of mind and I was wondering, did you do that on purpose or was it just in the air or ...
M=I get asked all the time in interviews where whatever I'm writing is a soundtrack for Dave's life and obviously I'm not doing that. I can never try and understand what is going on in Dave's head and then try and make those, and make that into a song. It's an impossibility for me.
D=If you think and try to analyze too much you know that you'll find...it's just is what it is, and for whatever reason I think it's much bigger than it has to be sometimes.
BoaG comes on, commercial break, and then Master and Servant comes on.
A= I always think there are three phases or phases in Depeche Mode, there was the first phase with Vince and Vince left, then the phase where Alan Wilder came in, I wasn't sure what the thrid phase is. Is the thrid phase now or is the third phase when the guitar came more domonant
F= I think it's got to phase three now I think, it definately seems like a new phase now
D= whether it's the third or the fourth stage, you could argue that we've had four stages. I think the longest phase of course is with, when there was the four of us with Alan. It's very much a different band, I mean when it began in the beginning with Vince, who was writing all the songs, it was a completely different thin. I mean , more so than alot of other bands survive as long as we have. We've been together for 17 years, it's clearly two different bands and probably three different bands.
Freestate comes on and the Personal Jesus accoustic version
D=I like to think that what's happened is pretty natural
A=yeah there is a sort of evolution...
D=if Alan had decided not to leave, and all just stayed together and gone into this project all together, I really don't think I honestly don't think that we would have achieved what we have with this in the making of Ultra...
A=how
D= in that kind of atmosphere. The atmosphere really does dictate whether you can just be yourself and realize that strength and just do the best you can in your part
A= and obviously if it had been the three of you and because there is a different disciplines in each of you...
D= well we were forced to actually have to reach out and ask other people for help, other muscicians, other producers, Tim came along with a team. That was something we were forced into and I think pretty nerve rackingly at the beginning. But what's come out of it is something that I think sounds alot more creative.
Love Thieves comes on
D=I think too much is read into our individual elements of what Depeche Mode or any other band is about. It is a combination of diferent kind of like artistic statements to all come together and create an atmosphere
A=it has to do with the medium or how the music on radio or whatever, it becomes bigger than if you just write it in a book
D= I think we come from the umm.. Martin and myself and Fletch actually too, there is alot of spiritual stuff that you know, I'm not going to come out and directly kind of like particular types of religion or anything like that but we've all experienced it through families and losses and all that kind of stuff and the kind of life being a form of destiny that somebody's already set out for you and the challenges that, the challenge being that we all actually go with it.
Female voice over" In case you're wondering what's going on here, it's a Spin Session with Depeche Mode and phase four, the three man band. And next up we'll have some cd talk...."
This part I kinda missed, switching the tape sides during the commercial break and failed to fast foward a couple of seconds, but I got a friend to tape it also so she probably has this part. The first and second sentence, I'll transcribe from memeory....
A=hi you're back, I'm Anton Corbijn and you're not! (hysterical laughter from everyone)....I've always wanted to say that
Someone says: Dave just went to the bathroom so we can talk about him...
F=and what kind words do you want to say about him Anton?(laughing)
A= I think Dave, in my eyes is a great pop star and rock star and I think I don't have many bad words to say about him at all. He usually gets up on time, he's nice too.(laughter)
Female voice over "the man with nothing bad to say about Dave Gahan is Anton Corbijn, the man who is usually behing the camera for our favorite Depeche Mode video, but this time we put him behind a microphone to direct the Depeche mode Spin Session. "
ING comes on
D=I think people get carried away with the technology side of things which is very easy to now a days, you really lose sight of what it is you were trying to do in the first place and I think that, you know, call me old or whatever but I really remember getting, with your pocket money and going out and buying that album, I particularly remeber Diamond Dogs, and the whole package the whole sleeve and sitting and playing the album and really looking at...I don't often now take out a cd and pull out the package and start looking at it. I really don't know why that is ...
F=because you're blind, you can't read it
D= no...
F=(laughter) it's really hard to see
M=I know particularly Diamond Dogs because you were looking for his knob (lots of laughter)
D= yeah there(?where?) was his penis...(more laughter)
M= (I don't really understand, but it goes something like)first version Bowie had his knob(????)or laugh(???)(it was said rather faintly behind lots of laughter)
D=I gave (???) one and I had to make another one
F=it's not a work of art anymore
D=it's just not personal somehow
A=it's nothing that special anymore
D=I know, it's not that personal, maybe because I've been doing it as well, but I remeber feeling like I was the only person in the world that knew anything about David Bowie.
WIME comes on
A=I don't think that I'm foreign or really listen to the lyrics initially but I get a feel of the music or of the sound of the voice that we just talked about rather than what you sing of and that could be a hit or miss with visuals of the song but I think it's a safe way to go because you just enhance the feel of the song than the words.
D=So it's the best way to express yourself is, Martin expresses himself best I think with the songs that he writes and the atmosphere is sort of created around those songs. I find it really difficult to, like people ask Martin questions like what his songs are about, it's kind of ...I don't think you can directly answer that question, it's a feeling, it's an emotion , and I think Mart wears that feeling, emotion on his sleeve.
A=that's one thing I've always wondered, you know like when dave said the Pumpkins, the Smashing Pumpkins were always known as the Pumpkins...
D=Billy Pumpkin
A= so what are we, are we Depeche or the Mode
D= Dave Mode
A=I know, are we known universally? As DM?
M=there's two camps of thought
F= or three, DM, Dave, Depeche
D=Mart Mode
F=Mart Mode (lots of laughing)
Walking in My Shoes comes on
A=Depeche Mode is really a french name, and we have this program in Europe called Euro-trash where there is a french presenter trying to speak very french-english it was quite funny and I think Depeche Mode is quite ahead of its time. And because I know in the late 70's there was not much feeling for France, but how was it ever chosen? Was it just a word or were you aware of it?Did anybody speak french?
D=It was really just the word, I liked the way it looked and the way it sounded, and at the time the band was named Composition of Sound...I mean...hello.
F=What was really funny the other day was this band I know and they are doing quite well , and I said to him what's the name of the band and he just went Pregnant. And then I thought about it to myself and you just can't call yourself 'Pregnant', but when you actually start thinking about it, it starts to grow on you, you know...
D=that's funny, you *grow on you*...*pregnant*
F=what I'm trying to say is, at the end of the day, what we chose when dave picked up on that word,...
M=It's two words by the way, what are you talking about....a word?
WIME comes on (I forget which mix it was, but I think the Mode to Joy mix)
A=what's funny is this all had an affect on you, this lifestyle, Fletch had a breakdown, dave had his drug problems, mart thought he'd have a heart attack at any moment(laughter)
F=yeah, here's a tip for anyone listening going into the rock and roll business, that it has an effect on your brain
D=It made me feel healthy being around you also, it's hard I mean we've been doing this for 17 years ...
F= yeah and people used to think of us as a synth-pop band but I think we're as rock and roll as they come.
M=we've been out on this promotional trip and it's the first time we've been away together for a while and it's been a very sober experience generally. I mean it's not like it being was on the last tour which lasted 14 months, this time we've all been drinking like 14 bottles of mineral water at dinner and things like that.We've had to step back a gear a bit, turn back a gear.
D=It's interesting also because what I think our idea of being sober is different, there's been clean and sober when it's like I guess we all decided that not picking up drugs and alcohol is a good start, but it's an on going process, you have to work at it because I would sit and Mart's drinking a beer or a glass of wine or something and maybe to other people, like they wouldn't even notice it but to me it's like an obsession.
BTW/Route66 Megamix comes on
F=the last 17 years in the group has been uphill all the way I mean actually that sounds bad...it's been downhill!downhill all the way!
D=you know, it's been 17 years, but it moves so fast that it was nearly destroying us is what we've created because there wasn't a chance to sit back and look at what it was and appreciate it
A=it happens very often
D= I think it happens to alot of people, and you just kind of like engulf yourself with all this stuff and you have to have time in the day to actually sit and appreciate it, so what I think we're doing now is really healthy for us as people
F= and also if you look at the moment, we seemed to be getting alot of accolades from various sources and I think we have made our place in history or rock and roll music and I think it's a real achievement.
Female voice over "and I think we have to agree with Fletch on that one, and that sadly brings our Spin Session with Depeche Mode to an end"
A=it has to do with the medium or how the music on radio or whatever, it becomes bigger than if you just write it in a book
D= I think we come from the umm.. Martin and myself and Fletch actually too, there is alot of spiritual stuff that you know, I'm not going to come out and directly kind of like particular types of religion or anything like that but we've all experienced it through families and losses and all that kind of stuff and the kind of life being a form of destiny that somebody's already set out for you and the challenges that, the challenge being that we all actually go with it.
Female voice over" In case you're wondering what's going on here, it's a Spin Session with Depeche Mode and phase four, the three man band. And next up we'll have some cd talk...."
This part I kinda missed, switching the tape sides during the commercial break and failed to fast foward a couple of seconds, but I got a friend to tape it also so she probably has this part. The first and second sentence, I'll transcribe from memeory....
A=hi you're back, I'm Anton Corbijn and you're not! (hysterical laughter from everyone)....I've always wanted to say that
Someone says: Dave just went to the bathroom so we can talk about him...
F=and what kind words do you want to say about him Anton?(laughing)
A= I think Dave, in my eyes is a great pop star and rock star and I think I don't have many bad words to say about him at all. He usually gets up on time, he's nice too.(laughter)
Female voice over "the man with nothing bad to say about Dave Gahan is Anton Corbijn, the man who is usually behing the camera for our favorite Depeche Mode video, but this time we put him behind a microphone to direct the Depeche mode Spin Session. "
ING comes on
D=I think people get carried away with the technology side of things which is very easy to now a days, you really lose sight of what it is you were trying to do in the first place and I think that, you know, call me old or whatever but I really remember getting, with your pocket money and going out and buying that album, I particularly remeber Diamond Dogs, and the whole package the whole sleeve and sitting and playing the album and really looking at...I don't often now take out a cd and pull out the package and start looking at it. I really don't know why that is ...
F=because you're blind, you can't read it
D= no...
F=(laughter) it's really hard to see
M=I know particularly Diamond Dogs because you were looking for his knob (lots of laughter)
D= yeah there(?where?) was his penis...(more laughter)
M= (I don't really understand, but it goes something like)first version Bowie had his knob(????)or laugh(???)(it was said rather faintly behind lots of laughter)
D=I gave (???) one and I had to make another one
F=it's not a work of art anymore
D=it's just not personal somehow
A=it's nothing that special anymore
D=I know, it's not that personal, maybe because I've been doing it as well, but I remeber feeling like I was the only person in the world that knew anything about David Bowie.
WIME comes on
A=I don't think that I'm foreign or really listen to the lyrics initially but I get a feel of the music or of the sound of the voice that we just talked about rather than what you sing of and that could be a hit or miss with visuals of the song but I think it's a safe way to go because you just enhance the feel of the song than the words.
D=So it's the best way to express yourself is, Martin expresses himself best I think with the songs that he writes and the atmosphere is sort of created around those songs. I find it really difficult to, like people ask Martin questions like what his songs are about, it's kind of ...I don't think you can directly answer that question, it's a feeling, it's an emotion , and I think Mart wears that feeling, emotion on his sleeve.
A=that's one thing I've always wondered, you know like when dave said the Pumpkins, the Smashing Pumpkins were always known as the Pumpkins...
D=Billy Pumpkin
A= so what are we, are we Depeche or the Mode
D= Dave Mode
A=I know, are we known universally? As DM?
M=there's two camps of thought
F= or three, DM, Dave, Depeche
D=Mart Mode
F=Mart Mode (lots of laughing)
Walking in My Shoes comes on
A=Depeche Mode is really a french name, and we have this program in Europe called Euro-trash where there is a french presenter trying to speak very french-english it was quite funny and I think Depeche Mode is quite ahead of its time. And because I know in the late 70's there was not much feeling for France, but how was it ever chosen? Was it just a word or were you aware of it?Did anybody speak french?
D=It was really just the word, I liked the way it looked and the way it sounded, and at the time the band was named Composition of Sound...I mean...hello.
F=What was really funny the other day was this band I know and they are doing quite well , and I said to him what's the name of the band and he just went Pregnant. And then I thought about it to myself and you just can't call yourself 'Pregnant', but when you actually start thinking about it, it starts to grow on you, you know...
D=that's funny, you *grow on you*...*pregnant*
F=what I'm trying to say is, at the end of the day, what we chose when dave picked up on that word,...
M=It's two words by the way, what are you talking about....a word?
WIME comes on (I forget which mix it was, but I think the Mode to Joy mix)
A=what's funny is this all had an affect on you, this lifestyle, Fletch had a breakdown, dave had his drug problems, mart thought he'd have a heart attack at any moment(laughter)
F=yeah, here's a tip for anyone listening going into the rock and roll business, that it has an effect on your brain
D=It made me feel healthy being around you also, it's hard I mean we've been doing this for 17 years ...
F= yeah and people used to think of us as a synth-pop band but I think we're as rock and roll as they come.
M=we've been out on this promotional trip and it's the first time we've been away together for a while and it's been a very sober experience generally. I mean it's not like it being was on the last tour which lasted 14 months, this time we've all been drinking like 14 bottles of mineral water at dinner and things like that.We've had to step back a gear a bit, turn back a gear.
D=It's interesting also because what I think our idea of being sober is different, there's been clean and sober when it's like I guess we all decided that not picking up drugs and alcohol is a good start, but it's an on going process, you have to work at it because I would sit and Mart's drinking a beer or a glass of wine or something and maybe to other people, like they wouldn't even notice it but to me it's like an obsession.
BTW/Route66 Megamix comes on
F=the last 17 years in the group has been uphill all the way I mean actually that sounds bad...it's been downhill!downhill all the way!
D=you know, it's been 17 years, but it moves so fast that it was nearly destroying us is what we've created because there wasn't a chance to sit back and look at what it was and appreciate it
A=it happens very often
D= I think it happens to alot of people, and you just kind of like engulf yourself with all this stuff and you have to have time in the day to actually sit and appreciate it, so what I think we're doing now is really healthy for us as people
F= and also if you look at the moment, we seemed to be getting alot of accolades from various sources and I think we have made our place in history or rock and roll music and I think it's a real achievement.
Female voice over "and I think we have to agree with Fletch on that one, and that sadly brings our Spin Session with Depeche Mode to an end"