MODE AHEAD
[Muzik, July 2001. Words: Ralph Moore. Pictures: Anton Corbijn.]
They've come along way, these babies from Basildon. 20 years, 36 hit singles and several highly publicised on-tour traumas since a gawky young Depeche Mode first trod the boards. Dave Gahan, Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher have made it through the wilderness, having just released a new album, the soul-tinged 'Exciter'. Tanned, toned and touting half-empty packs of Marlboro Lights, it's hard to believe that The Mode are pushing 40. Not that their fans care. Recent single 'Dream On' crashed into the Top 10 and 'Exciter' will doubtless have done the same by the time you read this.
But what are these affable Essex pop stars doing in Muzik anyway? Well, Martin Gore's lyrics have consistently struck a chord with the disenchanted and disillusioned, but their music has also inspired everyone from Derrick May to Richard Dorfmeister. And unlike their Eighties peers (Erasure anyone? No? Thought not.) Depeche Mode have continued to shift sizeable quantities of records with every release.
It's all in the songs, you see. From 'See You' and Strangelove' to 'Personal Jesus' and 'Home', these tunes have come to mean as much as three minutes can in this day and age. Of course, it helps that they're a proper band with breakdowns and drug problems and everything. It helps that Dave Gahan looks and acts like a proper rock star. Hell, it even helps that none of them have lost their hair. But most of all, it helps that they're still here, still smiling and still battling those off-screen demons.
What were your first-ever clubbing experiences?
Andy: We were about 18 and we'd just started the band. Friends of ours started a club in Southend called Crocs - a lot of bands played their first gigs there - so every Saturday we'd go along and play in front of 300 people, 280 of whom we knew. When you're 18, you play Space Invaders all night, go off for a dance and then come back for another game of Space Invaders!
Dave: I'd go to the Goldmine on Canvey Island and listen to DJs like Chris Hill who'd play The Crusaders, Bob James and Funkadelic. That would've been around 1976. They were good times. We used to go to Soul Weekenders to places like Yarmouth with a whole bunch of friends. Other than that, it was alternative clubs in London at the end of the Seventies. Clubs in Soho were playing obscure things like Fad Gadget, Cabaret Voltaire and Kraftwerk.
Martin: I didn't go out much before I was 17 or 18, to be honest. When I was 18, it was the beginning of the new romantic / futurist scene but I was generally quite a shy teenager. I spent most of my time playing music in my room!
Andy: The first house club I went to was Trip at the Astoria, and the E thing had hit big for the first time. It was such an incredible experience to see lots of really straight men holding hands! Having said that, we did get thrown out of a pub in Basildon once. I don't think we were looking particularly weird, just that we were wearing leather jackets. They were playing 'Just Can't Get Enough' at the time, which was a bit odd!
Martin: (giggling) He said to Andy, "out the pub, mate, and take Joe 90 with you!" He called me Joe 90 and I didn't even wear glasses! Basildon itself was very violent. In those days, if you went to Raquel's or Sweeney's, there was a good chance you'd get into a fight - especially if you looked slightly odd.
Is there still rage at the heart of Depeche Mode?
Martin: We've had our share of rage. And to be honest, I don't think we could put up with it in our lives at the moment. I don't think we could make another album under those conditions, it would be time to give up if we did. What would be the point of putting ourselves through hell for a two-year project if we weren't enjoying it at this stage?
Dave: It's better in the studio when you're not fighting so much.
What do you make of today's music?
Martin: If you look back through the history of pop music, it's always been bad, really. I think we sometimes fool ourselves that there were these golden eras when everything in the charts was fantastic. But I don't think that's ever been the case. If you look back to when we were kids, we had Marc Bolan and David Bowie...but we also had The Brotherhood Of Man. What's been getting me down is that alternative music has become corporate now. When we started and the whole alternative scene sprang up, it meant something was alternative to the mainstream. Now everybody sounds the same and it's become the mainstream. So how is that alternative?
So what drives you now?
Andy: That's a tough question. Would we still carry on if the fans weren't there any more? You'd love to say that it's the music that keeps you together but I'm sure enthusiasm would soon wane if we had to play in little pubs!
Martin: After you've reached a certain level it's really hard to go back and still feel motivated. It's like after travelling first class, it's difficult to go back to club class or economy. It's one of the facts of life. We're very lucky to have such a strong fan base. In the old days, it used to be a joke that we had to check the 50p rack just to make sure our singles hadn't been put there!
Is it fair to say that 'Violator' was an Ecstasy album?
Martin: Not particularly. [Pauses] To be honest, I don't like talking about drugs too much. It's something that doesn't sit comfortably with me in interviews. We did go to raves in those days. I discovered them in '88, just before I started writing 'Violator'...to evade the question!
Andy: I think the answer is yes, maybe!
Dave: We certainly indulged in that area for a while, especially in America, which is where it all kind of started. We had some fun on that tour. But it burns out pretty quick and you realise after a while how shallow it is and how pathetic it is that you can't communicate with people unless you're on some sort of substance. There was a moment there when I thought it was very exciting. During the 'Violator' tour we'd go out every night to clubs where they'd play Detroit techno. And it was pretty exciting for a minute there. But I haven't heard anything new since. I find that music a bit one-dimensional. I watched Human Traffic last night and I think that sums it all up: it's about getting off your head for the weekend and escaping.
[Muzik, July 2001. Words: Ralph Moore. Pictures: Anton Corbijn.]
They've come along way, these babies from Basildon. 20 years, 36 hit singles and several highly publicised on-tour traumas since a gawky young Depeche Mode first trod the boards. Dave Gahan, Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher have made it through the wilderness, having just released a new album, the soul-tinged 'Exciter'. Tanned, toned and touting half-empty packs of Marlboro Lights, it's hard to believe that The Mode are pushing 40. Not that their fans care. Recent single 'Dream On' crashed into the Top 10 and 'Exciter' will doubtless have done the same by the time you read this.
But what are these affable Essex pop stars doing in Muzik anyway? Well, Martin Gore's lyrics have consistently struck a chord with the disenchanted and disillusioned, but their music has also inspired everyone from Derrick May to Richard Dorfmeister. And unlike their Eighties peers (Erasure anyone? No? Thought not.) Depeche Mode have continued to shift sizeable quantities of records with every release.
It's all in the songs, you see. From 'See You' and Strangelove' to 'Personal Jesus' and 'Home', these tunes have come to mean as much as three minutes can in this day and age. Of course, it helps that they're a proper band with breakdowns and drug problems and everything. It helps that Dave Gahan looks and acts like a proper rock star. Hell, it even helps that none of them have lost their hair. But most of all, it helps that they're still here, still smiling and still battling those off-screen demons.
What were your first-ever clubbing experiences?
Andy: We were about 18 and we'd just started the band. Friends of ours started a club in Southend called Crocs - a lot of bands played their first gigs there - so every Saturday we'd go along and play in front of 300 people, 280 of whom we knew. When you're 18, you play Space Invaders all night, go off for a dance and then come back for another game of Space Invaders!
Dave: I'd go to the Goldmine on Canvey Island and listen to DJs like Chris Hill who'd play The Crusaders, Bob James and Funkadelic. That would've been around 1976. They were good times. We used to go to Soul Weekenders to places like Yarmouth with a whole bunch of friends. Other than that, it was alternative clubs in London at the end of the Seventies. Clubs in Soho were playing obscure things like Fad Gadget, Cabaret Voltaire and Kraftwerk.
Martin: I didn't go out much before I was 17 or 18, to be honest. When I was 18, it was the beginning of the new romantic / futurist scene but I was generally quite a shy teenager. I spent most of my time playing music in my room!
Andy: The first house club I went to was Trip at the Astoria, and the E thing had hit big for the first time. It was such an incredible experience to see lots of really straight men holding hands! Having said that, we did get thrown out of a pub in Basildon once. I don't think we were looking particularly weird, just that we were wearing leather jackets. They were playing 'Just Can't Get Enough' at the time, which was a bit odd!
Martin: (giggling) He said to Andy, "out the pub, mate, and take Joe 90 with you!" He called me Joe 90 and I didn't even wear glasses! Basildon itself was very violent. In those days, if you went to Raquel's or Sweeney's, there was a good chance you'd get into a fight - especially if you looked slightly odd.
Is there still rage at the heart of Depeche Mode?
Martin: We've had our share of rage. And to be honest, I don't think we could put up with it in our lives at the moment. I don't think we could make another album under those conditions, it would be time to give up if we did. What would be the point of putting ourselves through hell for a two-year project if we weren't enjoying it at this stage?
Dave: It's better in the studio when you're not fighting so much.
What do you make of today's music?
Martin: If you look back through the history of pop music, it's always been bad, really. I think we sometimes fool ourselves that there were these golden eras when everything in the charts was fantastic. But I don't think that's ever been the case. If you look back to when we were kids, we had Marc Bolan and David Bowie...but we also had The Brotherhood Of Man. What's been getting me down is that alternative music has become corporate now. When we started and the whole alternative scene sprang up, it meant something was alternative to the mainstream. Now everybody sounds the same and it's become the mainstream. So how is that alternative?
So what drives you now?
Andy: That's a tough question. Would we still carry on if the fans weren't there any more? You'd love to say that it's the music that keeps you together but I'm sure enthusiasm would soon wane if we had to play in little pubs!
Martin: After you've reached a certain level it's really hard to go back and still feel motivated. It's like after travelling first class, it's difficult to go back to club class or economy. It's one of the facts of life. We're very lucky to have such a strong fan base. In the old days, it used to be a joke that we had to check the 50p rack just to make sure our singles hadn't been put there!
Is it fair to say that 'Violator' was an Ecstasy album?
Martin: Not particularly. [Pauses] To be honest, I don't like talking about drugs too much. It's something that doesn't sit comfortably with me in interviews. We did go to raves in those days. I discovered them in '88, just before I started writing 'Violator'...to evade the question!
Andy: I think the answer is yes, maybe!
Dave: We certainly indulged in that area for a while, especially in America, which is where it all kind of started. We had some fun on that tour. But it burns out pretty quick and you realise after a while how shallow it is and how pathetic it is that you can't communicate with people unless you're on some sort of substance. There was a moment there when I thought it was very exciting. During the 'Violator' tour we'd go out every night to clubs where they'd play Detroit techno. And it was pretty exciting for a minute there. But I haven't heard anything new since. I find that music a bit one-dimensional. I watched Human Traffic last night and I think that sums it all up: it's about getting off your head for the weekend and escaping.