Depeche Mode The Kids From Frame (Record Mirror, 1982)
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THE KIDS FROM FRAME
Depeche Mode are hungry. Dave, Al and Andy are making snap decisions over the relative merits of a Mr. MacDonald or a Mr. Kentucky, reflective songwriter Martin Gore is deep in conversation with Mute supremo Daniel Miller, and your cub reporter is pensively awaiting a verbal battering.
Having made a less than favourable review of Dep Mode’s ‘Broken Frame’ LP, I’d been informed that the boys might not take too kindly to my presence. Preparing for a shoot out of ‘OK Corral’ proportions, I found myself confronted by four boys who merely want to state their case, smooth over a few misconceptions and generally put the world right about Depeche Mode.
Hold on a minute, please! It’s been three weeks since I reviewed that record, and after repeated plays it’s gradually dawned on me that Dep Mode have released a GROWER. What I’d first taken as their usual light, if pleasant pop, now reveals itself as a more layered, ambient and slightly harder Depeche Mode.
‘Broken Frame’ is an album of doubts, grey areas and grasping uncertainties. ‘Broken Frame’ is the Mode losing their innocence and confronting their world with a questioning, yet optimistic mind. Where once life and love was clear cut – black and white – there is now room for greater expression, deeper and more lasting emotion. Dep Mode are no longer a flirtation, their built to last.
Compare their last two singles; the bright if shallow ‘Meaning Of Love’ – the eerie wistful desperation of ‘Leave In Silence’. Are you beginning to follow me? [1]
I confront Mode on their tour bus to Brighton and naturally it’s the current LP that excites most debate. Andy is the first to have his say.
“I think the album’s more mature in both words and music. We took a lot of time and care over each song, whereas the first LP was recorded very quickly.”
Dave Gahan takes up the theme: “You can’t do the same things over and over again. Martin doesn’t write like Vince, Vince writes very simply. Martin doesn’t. We chose Martin’s songwriting ‘cos we like it, everything we do boils down to that. [2] We had to move on, we couldn’t be safe and make another LP like ‘Speak And Spell’.”
OK, but this changing, more mature Mode; is it simply the result of you all getting older, growing up? Or is it a calculated attempt to throw off your teenybop image?
“Obviously we’re getting older,” says Andy. “When we first went on TOTP Dave had only just turned 18. [3] We were very young and didn’t really know what was going on.
“We’ve always wanted to be taken seriously. We didn’t sit down and plan our direction and say: ‘Oh right, we’re grown up now, we better do something grown up.’ It just happened.
“We read everywhere that we’re a short term, bubblegum group. But we’ve lasted. At the moment the LP is silver and on the way to going gold, we’ve had six hit singles.”
The Mode don’t yearn to be taken seriously, they’re simply tied of being thought of as empty headed pretty boys. Mode may be nice, but they’re not soft. Surprisingly our conversation hits on the ethics and spirit of punk rock. Nobody pushes Depeche around.
“A lot of the values are going back to ’74,” says Dave. “It’s just like punk never happened. Everything’s overproduced, everyone wants to be big stars. It’s all back to big hype and promotion.”
Independent Mode manage themselves: “It’s very hard for us, we’ve achieved a lot on our own.
“Some record companies offered us really huge advances, but there are so many pitfalls with signing to majors. At the moment we haven’t even got a contract with Mute, it’s simply a verbal agreement.”
The Mode boys relax in their comfy coach, the writer wipes his brow… he’s enjoying this. I enquire about the LP track ‘Monument’. Is it about the squashing of hope, the illusion of achievement?
“We don’t know, Martin won’t tell us,” they say.
The unassuming Mr Gore is brought from the back of the coach and put in the firing line. “That’s a very direct question, I don’t think it’s up to me to say what songs are about,” he offers.
Quiet Martin hides behind his glasses, smiles mischievously and lets the other Dep boys do his talking. ‘Broken Frame’ has revealed Martin Gore as a songwriter of sly angles and light humour. His songs lack the immediate punch of a Vince Clarke, but they contain a depth and warmth.
Depeche have no plans to record any new material until after Christmas simply because their time will be spent touring. Any problems so far?
“It was a bit hairy in Ireland, our coach driver got beaten up. We did three gigs, two of ‘em were great, but at one of them the crowd were a bit backward. I think they thought they were watching a punk band or something. I can’t stand it when people start spitting, it really spoils everything.”
The band urge Dave to tell me of his stage heroics at the previous evening’s Leicester gig.
“Last night there were three blokes who’d obviously been down the pub, bought a ticket and come in just to aggravate me. I always get it first ‘cos I’m at the front. So, I just stopped the music and said to ‘em: ‘Why do you bother going to gigs – get out we don’t need you.’ They were really embarrassed, they couldn’t move. The rest of the crowd loved it. It was a victory for us.”
Dave and the rest of the band also have to face the perils of over eager autograph hunters.
“We used to stay behind after a show and sign 200-300 autographs, but now it’s getting a bit out of hand.
“A lot of kids will just run in and jump all over you. Either tat, or they’ve got 10 bits of paper they want you to sign. Dave was brought to the ground last night, the roadies had to pull him out.”
Depeche, however, are encouraged by the changing mix of their audience: “The last two gigs have been really great, the audience has been very mixed; a lot of blokes, some older people. We’ve been labelled as strictly a young girls’ band. We’re not saying young people shouldn’t come to our gigs – it’s just healthier when you’ve got a mixed audience.”
Depeche don’t get much free time. What do they do on their days off?
Andy: “I had a day off in Paris and slept all day.”
Dave: “I’d really like to go fishing, but I haven’t been this season.”
Depeche are away from Basildon for long periods, but their tour bus is a home from home: “Our girlfriends come on tour with us. Otherwise we’d never see them.”
Who are Dep Mode’s current faves?
“Simple Minds. I think they’re really good, I’m really pleased they’ve been successful,” says Dave.
What’s the significance of the peasant girl on the LP sleeve?
“It represents the change of seasons. On the single cover, the woman is sowing the fields. ‘Leave In Silence’ is like the sowing of the seeds – the LP is the finished thing.”
Depeche Mode at Brighton Dome are a mixture of the instantly thrilling and the tentatively grasping. Dep Mode are growing, improving, searching for answers. I stand accused. The world of Depeche Mode is not as simple as it first seems. Watch them flower.
