Four Into One
[Drum Media, 22nd February 1994. Words: Craig Mathieson. Picture: Anton Corbijn.]
From the perverse angst of Blasphemous Rumours and Master And Servant through the repression and sexual unease of Never Let Me Down [Again] to the betrayal and personal recrimination of last year’s I Feel You and Condemnation, Depeche Mode – more than any other band – have instilled European ideals and non-conformity into pop music.
Somewhere along the way they became one of the hugest bands in America, leaving behind their provincial upbringing in the English county of Essex to fill stadiums like the Rose Bowl (capacity 60,000). [1] Their most recent album Songs Of Faith & Devotion debuted at number one in America and Britain, placing them above the pop milieu.
So when keyboardist Andy Fletcher grants an interview, where does he call from? A bondage club in Berlin? An underground techno club in LA? A luxury suite at the Hilton in Paris?
“Actually, I’m at my country cottage outside London. It’s a nice day here, blue sky, bit cold. Apart from this interview I’ll probably spend the day fishing.”
Guns N’ Roses have the drug problems and aggro frontman; U2 have the technological toys; Madonna is a media queen; Michael Jackson is a suspected child molester… All clear cut and one dimensional. But Depeche Mode are a different proposition, undergoing change internally while to the outside world trying to reflect a sleek, cohesive image under the eye of lensman / videomaker Anton Corbijn.
Vocalist Dave Gahan has undergone the most immediate change. When the band finished touring their 1990 album Violator he stayed in America, leaving his British wife and child for a girlfriend heavily involved in the LA alternative rock scene, leading to a life of long hair, tattoos and hard rock mic poses after being inspired by Jane’s Addiction’s final American show.
When the group reconvened in Europe in ’92 to record Songs… he thought he had a new angle to Depeche Mode’s previously synth-based sound.
“He’s more interested in that scene than us,” notes Fletcher diplomatically. “We’re not that keen on most of the LA grunge bands ourselves. It’s affected his performance and his look, and personally it’s affected him and he listens to a lot of that music and he obviously tries to influence us in that direction as well and to a certain extent he has.
“He’s very good at being a frontman, he’s done it for quite a few years. It’s very natural and he likes having power over the audience and the audience like it as well.”
But at the same time songwriter / keyboardist / guitarist Martin Gore – the man who took the Euro-synth sound to the world was becoming more interested in American roots music, specifically gospel and the blues.
“We analysed our previous albums and we felt that one criticism we have was that they sounded a bit too mechanical, so we wanted to loosen things up and make them a bit rawer sounding and I think we achieved that. We also didn’t want to make a Violator Mk II, which had been our most successful album to date, we wanted to make something different. Martin had gotten into a lot of gospel and blues music and that of course shows on the album quite a bit. But no, we never envisaged going in that direction and we’re pleased to have done that.”
Which leads to keyboard whiz Alan Wilder, who took it upon himself to give Mode a live edge by taking up the drums for studio and live work. (They’re also using two female gospel singers for a portion of the live show as well.)
According to Fletcher, “that’s what has made this tour more enjoyable than previous ones, we feel more like a band. Alan’s really enjoying playing the drums, it gives him a good workout every night and he’s worked hard on his technique and we’ve even added a few more tracks with him on drums and placed it at the start of the show instead of halfway through.”
And before you say Fletcher is the odd man out, think again. His musical change is one of negation. Since the group has never had a manager, he has increasingly undertaken the role over the years, to the extent he’s more involved with the marketing than recording, with live work consisting mainly of some simple keyboard support work.
“It’s something we’ve done from the beginning. We’ve learnt along the way and the mistakes we’ve made are small. I find it as enjoyable as going on stage. I get a buzz from performing and I get a buzz from all the marketing and organisation,” he astutely explains.
The result is a group whose individual ideals and the need to sublimate themselves into a whole is precariously balanced. Consider the issue of Gahan suggesting that Butch Vig (producer of Nirvana’s Nevermind and Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream) remix the third single from Songs, In Your Room. [2]
Vig brought his own guitarist to add a new track – at first crackling then bursting into sonic overdrive – to the emotive ballad, upping the drums and giving it an alt-rock treatment that’s surprisingly controlled amidst classic Gore melodrama like Your favourite mirror, your favourite slave…
“It’s an interesting mix, completely different to what we would have done, though we prefer our own original mix,” notes Fletcher, despite initial rumours that the mix at one stage was to be consigned to the vault never to be released.
For Fletcher, it’s a matter of their roots: “We still like to consider ourselves European sounding and away from that American grunge sound, we’re not jumping on that bandwagon in any way.”
Perhaps Fletcher’s business mind is swayed by the strong sales of the remix, which has already given them another top ten hit in Britain and a top 40 debut here. But then again his fiscal considerations go far beyond single sales. The band are at the level where they can complain about touring Europe because there are so many borders to cross and be checked at. And then there’s America.
“America happened a bit more by accident really. They came to like us more than we liked them. For quite a few years America, like Australia to be honest, didn’t have a market for us because we weren’t rocky enough. But then the Alternative Radio format came along and took us onboard. In Australia there’s still somewhat a lack of identity, we still suffer from our Just Can’t Get Enough (a tacky synth single from ’82, which until 1990 was their only Australian hit) past.” [3]
“We did a club tour in 1982 (in America) that was quite unsuccessful and didn’t go down well. So for a couple of years we didn’t go and then after Some Great Reward was released (1986) [4] we announced a tour and it just sold out completely and from then on it just snowballed up until last year when Songs… debuted at number one.”
So where to from here?
“I think things will slow down in the next few years. We’ve all started families and got complicated personal lives. A few years back the band was everything, and now it isn’t, there are other things more important, like kids, etc. There’ll be less Depeche Mode records in the future, to retain the quality of the music we’ll do less records, and less touring, but the quality will remain high.”
Depeche Mode play the Entertainment Centre on Sat 12 March with support from Caligula. Songs Of Faith & Devotion (repackaged with a bonus live album) and the Butch Vig remix of In Your Room are available now on Liberation Records. [5]
[Drum Media, 22nd February 1994. Words: Craig Mathieson. Picture: Anton Corbijn.]
From the perverse angst of Blasphemous Rumours and Master And Servant through the repression and sexual unease of Never Let Me Down [Again] to the betrayal and personal recrimination of last year’s I Feel You and Condemnation, Depeche Mode – more than any other band – have instilled European ideals and non-conformity into pop music.
Somewhere along the way they became one of the hugest bands in America, leaving behind their provincial upbringing in the English county of Essex to fill stadiums like the Rose Bowl (capacity 60,000). [1] Their most recent album Songs Of Faith & Devotion debuted at number one in America and Britain, placing them above the pop milieu.
So when keyboardist Andy Fletcher grants an interview, where does he call from? A bondage club in Berlin? An underground techno club in LA? A luxury suite at the Hilton in Paris?
“Actually, I’m at my country cottage outside London. It’s a nice day here, blue sky, bit cold. Apart from this interview I’ll probably spend the day fishing.”
Guns N’ Roses have the drug problems and aggro frontman; U2 have the technological toys; Madonna is a media queen; Michael Jackson is a suspected child molester… All clear cut and one dimensional. But Depeche Mode are a different proposition, undergoing change internally while to the outside world trying to reflect a sleek, cohesive image under the eye of lensman / videomaker Anton Corbijn.
Vocalist Dave Gahan has undergone the most immediate change. When the band finished touring their 1990 album Violator he stayed in America, leaving his British wife and child for a girlfriend heavily involved in the LA alternative rock scene, leading to a life of long hair, tattoos and hard rock mic poses after being inspired by Jane’s Addiction’s final American show.
When the group reconvened in Europe in ’92 to record Songs… he thought he had a new angle to Depeche Mode’s previously synth-based sound.
“He’s more interested in that scene than us,” notes Fletcher diplomatically. “We’re not that keen on most of the LA grunge bands ourselves. It’s affected his performance and his look, and personally it’s affected him and he listens to a lot of that music and he obviously tries to influence us in that direction as well and to a certain extent he has.
“He’s very good at being a frontman, he’s done it for quite a few years. It’s very natural and he likes having power over the audience and the audience like it as well.”
But at the same time songwriter / keyboardist / guitarist Martin Gore – the man who took the Euro-synth sound to the world was becoming more interested in American roots music, specifically gospel and the blues.
“We analysed our previous albums and we felt that one criticism we have was that they sounded a bit too mechanical, so we wanted to loosen things up and make them a bit rawer sounding and I think we achieved that. We also didn’t want to make a Violator Mk II, which had been our most successful album to date, we wanted to make something different. Martin had gotten into a lot of gospel and blues music and that of course shows on the album quite a bit. But no, we never envisaged going in that direction and we’re pleased to have done that.”
Which leads to keyboard whiz Alan Wilder, who took it upon himself to give Mode a live edge by taking up the drums for studio and live work. (They’re also using two female gospel singers for a portion of the live show as well.)
According to Fletcher, “that’s what has made this tour more enjoyable than previous ones, we feel more like a band. Alan’s really enjoying playing the drums, it gives him a good workout every night and he’s worked hard on his technique and we’ve even added a few more tracks with him on drums and placed it at the start of the show instead of halfway through.”
And before you say Fletcher is the odd man out, think again. His musical change is one of negation. Since the group has never had a manager, he has increasingly undertaken the role over the years, to the extent he’s more involved with the marketing than recording, with live work consisting mainly of some simple keyboard support work.
“It’s something we’ve done from the beginning. We’ve learnt along the way and the mistakes we’ve made are small. I find it as enjoyable as going on stage. I get a buzz from performing and I get a buzz from all the marketing and organisation,” he astutely explains.
The result is a group whose individual ideals and the need to sublimate themselves into a whole is precariously balanced. Consider the issue of Gahan suggesting that Butch Vig (producer of Nirvana’s Nevermind and Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream) remix the third single from Songs, In Your Room. [2]
Vig brought his own guitarist to add a new track – at first crackling then bursting into sonic overdrive – to the emotive ballad, upping the drums and giving it an alt-rock treatment that’s surprisingly controlled amidst classic Gore melodrama like Your favourite mirror, your favourite slave…
“It’s an interesting mix, completely different to what we would have done, though we prefer our own original mix,” notes Fletcher, despite initial rumours that the mix at one stage was to be consigned to the vault never to be released.
For Fletcher, it’s a matter of their roots: “We still like to consider ourselves European sounding and away from that American grunge sound, we’re not jumping on that bandwagon in any way.”
Perhaps Fletcher’s business mind is swayed by the strong sales of the remix, which has already given them another top ten hit in Britain and a top 40 debut here. But then again his fiscal considerations go far beyond single sales. The band are at the level where they can complain about touring Europe because there are so many borders to cross and be checked at. And then there’s America.
“America happened a bit more by accident really. They came to like us more than we liked them. For quite a few years America, like Australia to be honest, didn’t have a market for us because we weren’t rocky enough. But then the Alternative Radio format came along and took us onboard. In Australia there’s still somewhat a lack of identity, we still suffer from our Just Can’t Get Enough (a tacky synth single from ’82, which until 1990 was their only Australian hit) past.” [3]
“We did a club tour in 1982 (in America) that was quite unsuccessful and didn’t go down well. So for a couple of years we didn’t go and then after Some Great Reward was released (1986) [4] we announced a tour and it just sold out completely and from then on it just snowballed up until last year when Songs… debuted at number one.”
So where to from here?
“I think things will slow down in the next few years. We’ve all started families and got complicated personal lives. A few years back the band was everything, and now it isn’t, there are other things more important, like kids, etc. There’ll be less Depeche Mode records in the future, to retain the quality of the music we’ll do less records, and less touring, but the quality will remain high.”
Depeche Mode play the Entertainment Centre on Sat 12 March with support from Caligula. Songs Of Faith & Devotion (repackaged with a bonus live album) and the Butch Vig remix of In Your Room are available now on Liberation Records. [5]