RayGun
Magazine Interview from 1993
Q: So you pretty much produced the album with
Flood. Did you get a production credit?
A: We just put it down as Depeche Mode, and Depeche Mode can
mean whatever it means to people. In the end, I don't think people are
that inter- ested. I suppose in the studio it's mainly myself and Flood
with Martin chipping in various ideas and Dave acting as encouragement
and positive vibes. That's really how it works, but you can't put that
in a credit.
Q: How much of the time do you yourself spend
with Flood?
A: All the time.
Q: So Dave just comes in and lays down his
vocal parts?
A: Yeah. Martin's there a lot of the time. Dave kind of sporadically
comes in the studio and the same with Fletch. Fletch's role is kind
of unusual as it's not directly music related. Nevertheless, it's an
important role. It's in different areas, but he's probably already told
you that.
Q: He says that he doesn't like to play music.
A: He's perfectly happy and we'rer happy about that. It works.
It's not the norm. In a way, it's quite interesting because it's the
way of a modern group. It's quite nice to have someone in the group
concentrate on the different aspects of what you do.
Q: When you tour, does he actually play?
A: Yeah. He plays keyboards. But he's be the first to admit that
he's not the greatest keyboard player or a great musician.
Q: Do you have additional musicians play with
you on tour?
A: We never have before, but on this next one we may bring in
a few extra musicians. Not because it's really necessary. For us it's
something new. We're trying to push ourselves in all kinds of areas
as we have on this record. We want to continue that philosophy on the
tour.
Q: So how integral was Daniel Miller to your
success?
A: In the early days, his faith in the group was extremely important.
The group would certainly burnt itself out if we had signed to a major
label. From day one they were so naive. I count myself there although
I didn't come in until a little later on. When the group first started
with Vince they were 7 or 18 and were really naive. They would have
been milked dry by a major label. There was a stage where they were
being approached by all the major labels. For one reason or anther,
they were astute enough to stay with Mute. Mute didn't offer them anything
more than 'We'll just make a single and if it works out okay, well carry
on.' It was a verbal agreement that only in the last few years turned
into something written down on paper. That's really just a reflection
of the trust between Daniel and ourselves. Over the years we've been
allowed to progress and make our own mistakes, if you like. We've been
allowed to develop at our own rate, which any other label would not
have permitted. So I think Mute or Daniel, who is Mute, has been very
instrumental in the ongoing success of the group. Now that we've reached
the stage where we're much older, we're much more experienced and we're
more understanding of the business, that relationship is perhaps not
so crucial but it's still very good. I'm sure at this stage we could
go off to a major label and make it work, but we have no desire to because
the relationship still works well and there's no reason to.
Q: You keep talking about a major label. Most
people in America perceive you to be on Sire/WB, which is about as major
as you can get.
A: Over here, we are on a major label, but from our perspective
Mute is where we started and England is still where we are based. All
the initial decisions still are very much involved with Daniel. Everything
starts from England. So even though in terms of sheer record sales England
may not seem like such a huge, important market, it still is very important
because it is our home and because our perspective is so geared from
an English point of view. So in America, listening to someone talk about
Mute Records might not mean so much. But in America you can't be on
an independent label.
Q: Do you have any interests outside of music?
A: I have interest in other kinds of music outside of Depeche
Mode. I like a lot of avantgarde type of music. I also like a lot of
guitar based music and blues. I'm not a big fan of country music.
Q: What do you think of the Seattle scene,
Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, etc?
A: I quite like Pearl Jam. Alice in Chains I don't know that
much.
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