Dave Gahan Mr Indestructible, 43 (The Ten Commandments...)
[Q, November 2005. Words: Dave Gahan / Johnny Davis. Picture: Uncredited.]
1 Don’t suffer for your art.
I’ve inflicted so much pain and suffering on myself over the years. I had a piercing called a guiche. That’s the part between your arsehole and your balls. You’re on all fours on a gurney. Your ass in the air, your meat and two veg hanging down. Your dignity is out the window. This girl did it, tattoos all over her face. I nearly passed out with the pain.
2 Get your own life.
We’ve named our following The Black Swarm. You literally see the same people in the front row every night. They must work for four years so they can save up enough to come to every show. It’s really scary when the same people who were showing up 20 years ago are married to one another with a kid they’ve dressed up to look like me. That’s a little psycho.
3 Kids will be kids.
Nothing’s changed. Forget ASBOs. Young people now are the same as when I grew up. A bunch of twats. I went to court a few times as a juvenile delinquent. That’s what they call you. [Comedy judge’s voice] “You are a juvenile delinquent, Gahan.” My mum used to say, “Something went very wrong with David.”
4 The first cut is the deepest.
The one girl I did end up falling for as a teenager, my best mate Mark ended up shagging. I was at this party and I couldn’t find my girlfriend anywhere. Everyone was looking at me. They knew. I pushed open the bedroom door and there’s Mark’s white arse bouncing up and down. That was my first reality check. It set me on this idea that I’m not good enough. I’ve been battling it ever since.
5 Old habits die hard.
Martin [Gore]’s been sporting nail varnish again. Getting a few raised eyebrows. Like, “Martin, you’re not going to start wearing skirts again, are you?” We looked pretty gay back there for a while.
6 Space is at a premium.
Never have sex on the Bullet Train. The bathrooms are tiny. It was pretty fast. Not just the train, the whole thing.
7 Know when to quit.
I used to be a window dresser on Oxford Street, John Lewis. We’d started playing the clubs and someone tapped on the window: [mouths words, as if through glass] “Are you in Depeche Mode?” I left that afternoon.
8 Don’t invest in bricks and mortar.
The money I’ve wasted on houses. I bought this place overlooking Hollywood: the house from hell. The sun used to blaze in, so we blacked out the windows. After an earthquake the rain used to come pouring in, so there were giant bins everywhere. Everyone was so fucked up that none of it got dealt with. It was disgusting. We had builders round constantly. They turned out to be pretty good sources for drugs. [1]
9 Accept yourself.
Rock stars take drugs to escape reality. And being a rock star is the perfect way to escape reality. You know, making music and performing is fun. But dressing up? Making videos? Photo shoots? It’s all bollocks.
10 We are not alone.
When my life stopped [After a 1996 overdose, Gahan’s heart stopped for two minutes] there were no white lights. I didn’t see St Peter and the Pearly Gates. It was just darkness. But there was something overwhelmingly much bigger than me. It scared the shit out of me. There’s a bigger picture. We’re all just playing our parts.
[Q, November 2005. Words: Dave Gahan / Johnny Davis. Picture: Uncredited.]
1 Don’t suffer for your art.
I’ve inflicted so much pain and suffering on myself over the years. I had a piercing called a guiche. That’s the part between your arsehole and your balls. You’re on all fours on a gurney. Your ass in the air, your meat and two veg hanging down. Your dignity is out the window. This girl did it, tattoos all over her face. I nearly passed out with the pain.
2 Get your own life.
We’ve named our following The Black Swarm. You literally see the same people in the front row every night. They must work for four years so they can save up enough to come to every show. It’s really scary when the same people who were showing up 20 years ago are married to one another with a kid they’ve dressed up to look like me. That’s a little psycho.
3 Kids will be kids.
Nothing’s changed. Forget ASBOs. Young people now are the same as when I grew up. A bunch of twats. I went to court a few times as a juvenile delinquent. That’s what they call you. [Comedy judge’s voice] “You are a juvenile delinquent, Gahan.” My mum used to say, “Something went very wrong with David.”
4 The first cut is the deepest.
The one girl I did end up falling for as a teenager, my best mate Mark ended up shagging. I was at this party and I couldn’t find my girlfriend anywhere. Everyone was looking at me. They knew. I pushed open the bedroom door and there’s Mark’s white arse bouncing up and down. That was my first reality check. It set me on this idea that I’m not good enough. I’ve been battling it ever since.
5 Old habits die hard.
Martin [Gore]’s been sporting nail varnish again. Getting a few raised eyebrows. Like, “Martin, you’re not going to start wearing skirts again, are you?” We looked pretty gay back there for a while.
6 Space is at a premium.
Never have sex on the Bullet Train. The bathrooms are tiny. It was pretty fast. Not just the train, the whole thing.
7 Know when to quit.
I used to be a window dresser on Oxford Street, John Lewis. We’d started playing the clubs and someone tapped on the window: [mouths words, as if through glass] “Are you in Depeche Mode?” I left that afternoon.
8 Don’t invest in bricks and mortar.
The money I’ve wasted on houses. I bought this place overlooking Hollywood: the house from hell. The sun used to blaze in, so we blacked out the windows. After an earthquake the rain used to come pouring in, so there were giant bins everywhere. Everyone was so fucked up that none of it got dealt with. It was disgusting. We had builders round constantly. They turned out to be pretty good sources for drugs. [1]
9 Accept yourself.
Rock stars take drugs to escape reality. And being a rock star is the perfect way to escape reality. You know, making music and performing is fun. But dressing up? Making videos? Photo shoots? It’s all bollocks.
10 We are not alone.
When my life stopped [After a 1996 overdose, Gahan’s heart stopped for two minutes] there were no white lights. I didn’t see St Peter and the Pearly Gates. It was just darkness. But there was something overwhelmingly much bigger than me. It scared the shit out of me. There’s a bigger picture. We’re all just playing our parts.
[1] - Go here for a couple of snaps of Dave at home in this era.
