Boys On Film
[Melody Maker, 15th April 1989. Words: Francesco Adinolfi. Pictures: Anton Corbijn.]
Martin Gore leans back into the soft leather upholstery of the Kensington Hilton hotel and attempts to convince me that Depeche Mode haven’t just committed commercial suicide with “101”, the title of both their live album and feature film. Why do a pop band need to make a film? What’s the point of making music movies in 1989, when even U2’s “Rattle And Hum” was a comparative failure?
“Well, I think with us it wasn’t really a serious analysis of our career,” he smiles. “And on the other side, this was the right time to do a film. We released a live video in 1984, called “Live In Hamburg”, but we felt that it wasn’t finished very well and that it could have been done a lot better. 1984 is a long time ago…
“I think “101” is quite interesting,” he adds, “although I’m still very skeptical as to whether it’s gonna work in the cinema. But it will definitely work as a video cassette for fans. Music films have a very limited appeal, especially in cinemas. When you take a film like “Rattle And Hum”, you see that it was given a big promotional push and nevertheless it flopped, because music films appeal only to music-conscious people, to those who are into that band.”
When was the film originally planned?
“We were planning it around March last year. And we met D. A. Pennebaker just before the American tour started, which was in April. He came on most of the dates in America. He finished filming the concerts in June and then he started to edit. He also recorded a lot of stuff backstage and at the hotels.”
Pennebaker is best known for his Sixties documentary of Bob Dylan, “Don’t Look Back”, but has usually steered clear of rock since then. Why did you choose him?
“In the beginning we considered using one of the most commonly used film-makers, someone who was contemporary, one around at the moment that most bands use, someone who could decently film our concerts. But then you end up with the standard film that every band gets these days!
“We decided we should do something a bit more interesting, a bit more intellectual and that’s when we had the idea of using D. A. Pennebaker. He hadn’t done anything really musical for quite a long time – he has always been involved in film-making, but in terms of the music industry that’s a new film for him.”
Money seems to be a basic theme to the film…
“Yeah, that does come across as being a major element but the show is the basic element,” says Gore. “The film is supposed to be an honest, candid look at a band on the road and what happens backstage. Every night the account is backstage talking to the promoters, hassling them about money and money is a big part of the music business, which is very capitalistic.”
When was the last time you did a charity gig?
“We are wary of doing big charity concerts because some of the people involved are concerned about the cause, but in a way they’re using the charities for their own ends. If you look at things like the Mandela Concert or even Live Aid you notice that a week after at least half the bands had a single released and it’s not just coincidence, it’s because they know that at the moment everybody is thinking, ‘Oh what a lovely group’. We were asked to do this Armenia Aid in Russia but we said no. I mean, for us it would have been perfect timing because it happened the week our album was released.” [1]
Sometimes a live album turns out to be an artistic pause due to lack of creativity. Are Depeche Mode just marking time, waiting for a new rush of inspiration?
“I don’t know if the double album marks the end of a period for us as a band, but it certainly marks the end of an era, the end of a decade. We started in 1980 and this album is coming out in 1989 and our next studio stuff won’t be out until 1990 when we will be moving into the next decade. Maybe we will have a new single out this year, but it’s not sure.
“The album is basically everything that we played live. Before we go on tour we always have a big argument among the band members cos everybody has his favourite songs and we have to sit down and thrash it out and we end up with a list that everybody is sort of happy with but never in full. We recorded the concert at the Pasadena Rose Bowl (Los Angeles), our 101st show of the world tour.”
Did you try to achieve an inherent common theme to the songs?
“I think so. There is definitely an inherent quality to the songs that links ‘em all together. But it depends on how far you wanna go. For the first album Vince Clarke wrote most of the material and I didn’t take songwriting very seriously those days, but with the second album Vince had just left the band and I suddenly had to come up with 10 songs. A lot of the tracks were written when I was very young. So I think that from ‘Construction Time Again’ there is some kind of link between the songs.
“Sometimes it’s very obvious, there are things like references cos I really like references to other songs. In ‘Shake The Disease’ there’s a reference to another song. You know it says, ‘Now I’ve got everything to do and I’ve said it before I know you have too.’ And in another song it said, ‘Now I’ve got things to do and you have too.’ I really like those kind of references.” [2]
You’ve been accused of becoming a mere pop band lately. Do you agree that your music has become far too accessible over the years?
“No, not at all. I think when we first started we were more commercial. Our first two albums were really pop and I don’t understand when people say to us now, ‘Why have you become so commercial?’, and a lot of people do. [3]
“After that initial phase, the samplers came along and we got into working to a certain formula. For example, I would write the songs and then we would do a lot of sampling and experiment with sounds, especially on ‘Construction Time Again’ where we used a lot of industrial sounds. We’ve always worked to the same sort of formula, it’s just that we’ve used different noises.”
Do you still have ambitions to change your style of song?
“I think it’s now time for us to change our musical approach. Over the last four albums we took our formula to perfection and now we wanna step back and analyse what we’ve done and try to change it. In some ways we like the more minimal things and I think we’ll move back to a more minimalistic approach.”
[Melody Maker, 15th April 1989. Words: Francesco Adinolfi. Pictures: Anton Corbijn.]
Martin Gore leans back into the soft leather upholstery of the Kensington Hilton hotel and attempts to convince me that Depeche Mode haven’t just committed commercial suicide with “101”, the title of both their live album and feature film. Why do a pop band need to make a film? What’s the point of making music movies in 1989, when even U2’s “Rattle And Hum” was a comparative failure?
“Well, I think with us it wasn’t really a serious analysis of our career,” he smiles. “And on the other side, this was the right time to do a film. We released a live video in 1984, called “Live In Hamburg”, but we felt that it wasn’t finished very well and that it could have been done a lot better. 1984 is a long time ago…
“I think “101” is quite interesting,” he adds, “although I’m still very skeptical as to whether it’s gonna work in the cinema. But it will definitely work as a video cassette for fans. Music films have a very limited appeal, especially in cinemas. When you take a film like “Rattle And Hum”, you see that it was given a big promotional push and nevertheless it flopped, because music films appeal only to music-conscious people, to those who are into that band.”
When was the film originally planned?
“We were planning it around March last year. And we met D. A. Pennebaker just before the American tour started, which was in April. He came on most of the dates in America. He finished filming the concerts in June and then he started to edit. He also recorded a lot of stuff backstage and at the hotels.”
Pennebaker is best known for his Sixties documentary of Bob Dylan, “Don’t Look Back”, but has usually steered clear of rock since then. Why did you choose him?
“In the beginning we considered using one of the most commonly used film-makers, someone who was contemporary, one around at the moment that most bands use, someone who could decently film our concerts. But then you end up with the standard film that every band gets these days!
“We decided we should do something a bit more interesting, a bit more intellectual and that’s when we had the idea of using D. A. Pennebaker. He hadn’t done anything really musical for quite a long time – he has always been involved in film-making, but in terms of the music industry that’s a new film for him.”
Money seems to be a basic theme to the film…
“Yeah, that does come across as being a major element but the show is the basic element,” says Gore. “The film is supposed to be an honest, candid look at a band on the road and what happens backstage. Every night the account is backstage talking to the promoters, hassling them about money and money is a big part of the music business, which is very capitalistic.”
When was the last time you did a charity gig?
“We are wary of doing big charity concerts because some of the people involved are concerned about the cause, but in a way they’re using the charities for their own ends. If you look at things like the Mandela Concert or even Live Aid you notice that a week after at least half the bands had a single released and it’s not just coincidence, it’s because they know that at the moment everybody is thinking, ‘Oh what a lovely group’. We were asked to do this Armenia Aid in Russia but we said no. I mean, for us it would have been perfect timing because it happened the week our album was released.” [1]
Sometimes a live album turns out to be an artistic pause due to lack of creativity. Are Depeche Mode just marking time, waiting for a new rush of inspiration?
“I don’t know if the double album marks the end of a period for us as a band, but it certainly marks the end of an era, the end of a decade. We started in 1980 and this album is coming out in 1989 and our next studio stuff won’t be out until 1990 when we will be moving into the next decade. Maybe we will have a new single out this year, but it’s not sure.
“The album is basically everything that we played live. Before we go on tour we always have a big argument among the band members cos everybody has his favourite songs and we have to sit down and thrash it out and we end up with a list that everybody is sort of happy with but never in full. We recorded the concert at the Pasadena Rose Bowl (Los Angeles), our 101st show of the world tour.”
Did you try to achieve an inherent common theme to the songs?
“I think so. There is definitely an inherent quality to the songs that links ‘em all together. But it depends on how far you wanna go. For the first album Vince Clarke wrote most of the material and I didn’t take songwriting very seriously those days, but with the second album Vince had just left the band and I suddenly had to come up with 10 songs. A lot of the tracks were written when I was very young. So I think that from ‘Construction Time Again’ there is some kind of link between the songs.
“Sometimes it’s very obvious, there are things like references cos I really like references to other songs. In ‘Shake The Disease’ there’s a reference to another song. You know it says, ‘Now I’ve got everything to do and I’ve said it before I know you have too.’ And in another song it said, ‘Now I’ve got things to do and you have too.’ I really like those kind of references.” [2]
You’ve been accused of becoming a mere pop band lately. Do you agree that your music has become far too accessible over the years?
“No, not at all. I think when we first started we were more commercial. Our first two albums were really pop and I don’t understand when people say to us now, ‘Why have you become so commercial?’, and a lot of people do. [3]
“After that initial phase, the samplers came along and we got into working to a certain formula. For example, I would write the songs and then we would do a lot of sampling and experiment with sounds, especially on ‘Construction Time Again’ where we used a lot of industrial sounds. We’ve always worked to the same sort of formula, it’s just that we’ve used different noises.”
Do you still have ambitions to change your style of song?
“I think it’s now time for us to change our musical approach. Over the last four albums we took our formula to perfection and now we wanna step back and analyse what we’ve done and try to change it. In some ways we like the more minimal things and I think we’ll move back to a more minimalistic approach.”
