• BIOGRAPHY - Preface

• Vince Clarke
• Andrew Fletcher
• Martin Lee Gore
• David Gahan
• Alan Wilder
• Foundation

• 1981
• 1982
• 1983
• 1984
• 1985
• 1986
• 1987
• 1988
• 1989

• 1990
• 1991
• 1992
• 1993
• 1994
• 1995
• 1996
• 1997
• 1998/99

• 2000/01/02
• 2003/04
• 2005/06
• 2007/08
• 2009/10

2000, 2001 and 2002

Overview: Released these years were -
2000: the Recoil-album Liquid as well as the single releases Strange Hours / New York Nights / Don't Look Back and Jezebel.
2001: the DM-single Dream On, the album Exciter, as well as the single releases I Feel Loved / Dirt and Free Love / Zenstation and another singles collection.
2002: The single Goodnight Lovers, the concert video One Night In Paris and a video collection.

---

On March 6 the Recoil-album Liquid was released. On April 3 the single Strange Hours / New York Nights / Don't Look Back and on August 21 the single Jezebel followed.
Similarly like its predecessors Liquid was rather unconventional and didn't meet with understanding and requited love everywhere and led to the speculation Alan might be a little depressive: "I can't really put my finger on why I gravitate towards that kind of music, but I just suppose that the dark side of human nature is much more interesting.[1] I don't think that I'm a gloomy type, I'm quite funny and not too serious. They are mistaken if people think due to the music I'm morbid or serious. People always talk about the darkness in the LP. I see it as dramatic rather than dark. I don't know why my music always sounds that way, I simply follow my instincts there and this is what comes out. Perhaps this is a side of me that only comes through in the music, I don't know, I can't give any reasons for."
The 14 minute version of Black Box "was the original version, albeit having been through many changes along the way. I always imagined that the opening sequence was an onlooker's reflection of events and when the electro section kicks in, the listener would find themselves actually on the 'plane at the beginning of its fatal journey. In the end, the 'journey' section (which is very long) didn't seem to fit with the rest of the LP and I preferred the idea of splitting the 'reflection' and the 'aftermath' into two parts while replacing the middle section with the rest of the LP, acting as a man's life memories."[2]
So this became the concept for the album, which was awarded as best album by the Charles Gros Academy.

And as usual there was hardly a Recoil interview without DM being mentioned. (I admit, though, that I picked out these statements mainly, of course, because this is a DM biography.)
Alan: "I still have a little contact, mainly to Dave. However, since he lives in New York, we don't see each other often. When I was in New York on promotion tour I met him. Dave is in fantastic shape and we had a good laugh about lots of things - old and new. He is obviously besotted with Stella Rose and seems very content all round. I don't have really much contact to Martin and Fletch. It's just a business affair. At least I'm proud and happy about my years with DM. They were good years. Of course, we had some problems but I have so many good memories in me that are important to many people and to me, and also for what I'm doing now."
Question of a fan: "Could you be thinking of having Dave sing on a Recoil-album?"
Alan: "I don't think it would feel right. I like Dave very much but I want to work with different people. Did you think about that he perhaps couldn't be interested in collaborating with Recoil?"[3]

Even at that time - only three years after Unsound Methods and the first "I am soooo happy" - some people noticed that Alan didn't LOOK happy at all, although he said again and again that he was and had no regrets of leaving DM.
Of course, private problems could have been arisen meanwhile. Maybe he got confronted with the phenomena of which so many couples suffer from who get to know each other in an extreme situation and then try to live a normal life. However, it is noticeable that he became a father a second time in 2001 and wanted to "enjoy family life", but then - according to his own words - spent about five years "on the sofa, drinking and watching sports".
The reason for it was - according to him - that he was frustrated about putting so much work in his albums but had to hear that "people say they want to listen to Recoil but haven't been able to find the records in the shops."
Maybe he also was starting to realise - he was very interactive at this time and answered many fan-questions (mainly to DM) - that he would never get rid of the ghost of DM whatever he would do.

On June 5th, 2000 DM went back into the studio to record Exciter. The sessions lasted until January 2001 and took place in London, New York and Santa Barbara, where Martin had moved to meanwhile.
After they had cooperated with Tim Simeon as producer at Ultra, they chose Mark Bell this time and also had a different team. When they were looking for a producer they had to notice that there weren't so many suitable producers for DM.
Martin: "Mark Bell can visualize sounds in his head. He goes to a keyboard, and he creates that sound. It's not even just about the keyboard sound - it's the whole vision of a song.[4] I really liked the atmosphere Mark created for Bjork. After having worked with him, we realized how essential he was to those records.[5]"
Nevertheless the production seemed to be a bit dragging first.
Martin: "I had six months where I basically did nothing. I just kept putting it off and putting it off: 'I'm not inspired. I don't feel like I've got the songs in me.' It became a real chore. So I decided, for the first time, to get a couple of friends in, just to kick-start me. Just having them there made me start writing. They would sit in the studio, waiting to work, so I'd say, 'Give me two hours and I'll come back with a song that we can start on.' That was really important for me. Had I not had them there, I think I would have just kept putting it off. Even though I had the rest of the band dying to work, and the record company desperate for us to start putting something out, that meant nothing until I had two people sitting in the studio, waiting to work."[6]

As well as at Ultra Dave again wrote some songs for Exciter and played the demos to Martin. Both time he failed.
Dave: "The only time really that I plucked up enough courage to do that was during the making of Ultra. I had that song, actually, which then was called The Ocean Song and I played it to Martin, it was a really rough demo, I mean it's basically me tapping my foot and singing the melody and singing some words. I played it to Martin and he really liked it. And then for whatever reason during the recording it was presented to me that the song didn't really fit in with the theme."[7]
The Ocean Song would later end up as a B-side of the Paper-Monster-single I Need You in 2003, titled Closer. That Martin didn't react on Dave's demos to Exciter would lead to Paper Monsters and some internal problems. Strangely enough Fletch would blame Dave for the non-reaction of Martin because he had played the demos to Martin when he was drunk and Dave hadn't asked him directly if the songs could be used for the album. This is probably one proof of the inability to communicate.

The first track they worked on was Dream On, the single that was released on April 23, 2001. It was programmatic for the album: A mixture of electronic beat with an acoustic blues guitar.
Martin: "I think we've always made weird pop, and I think it's a great example of that. I don't think it fits into a defined musical category, but we never have, so that's not a particular worry. I just like being able to make music that's different, and if it's successful as well, then that's good."[8]

Allegedly the atmosphere within the team had been excellent (what should be proved as not quite right a little later).
Fletch: "In the past we weren't getting on as a band or as people. These days, we are getting on better than ever. It's a bizarre situation for Depeche Mode to be happy.[9] We did have a chat together at the start of this album. And any problems that we had with each other we sorted out. We can say we had a really good time. I must say I didn't think a few years ago that I'd ever be able to say that. But don't worry, we still argue. We still have those tensions, but a band has to have tensions. Martin is one of my top three, top four friends. Dave I'd consider a brother. I don't have to be Dave's best friend to be in a band with him.[10]"
Martin: "I think for the recording of this album, the inter-band relations were particularly good. We were actually able to sit down in a room and discuss things and make decisions, which sounds like a very simple and basic process, but it's something that we at one point would have avoided doing. Often our manager would have had to come to each one individually and talk to us about things; there was all kinds of weird stuff going on like that. Now we're able to sit down and talk, which is important."
Fletch: "It's like a family thing, really. On this record there are four songs with the word 'love' in it. It seems like Exciter is a love album, in a way."
Martin: "That is the main theme for the record - all of my songs are about relationships."[11]
This is why Love should have been the working title of the album.

On May 14, 2001 the album Exciter was released, for which DM would receive the Q-Award for innovation.
On June 4 the Exciter-tour began. This time they started with the US-leg, played 41 gigs there, the last on August 19 in Anaheim.
In between, on July 20 the single I Feel Loved / Dirt was released. Dirt is a cover of the Stooges song. It was used on the soundtrack to the 2002 movie Resident Evil.
Dave (about I Feel Loved): "I make life hard for myself. I'm in a band, and that's a compromise, and I bring something to Depeche Mode that I think is important and I express myself through somebody else's songs, which has been normal for years for me. I feel so proud of my son, Jack, and when I go home [to New York] my stepson throws his arms around me and my little baby daughter gives me that look - that's what it's all about. It sounds soppy but I really feel loved. I'm working on myself; I'm still very distrusting and stuff but I get these massive moments when it's just like absolute bliss.[12] I miss Jennifer [my wife], and my baby daughter Stella. I really have a life now. I have a life separate from Depeche Mode. It's the first time I've had that in years and I'm determined not to fuck it up. I still make mistakes but I'm there for it. I'm not running away any more.[13]"
He seemed to be more relaxed and feel well again generally, although he wasn't really satisfied with Exciter but this would come out in later years.

About The Dead Of Night Martin explained: "We once lured into the privileged upstairs rookeries of London's poshest after-hours drinking establishments like Soho House, the Groucho Club, and Brown's. And it was a really sad scene. You had three levels - the regular bit downstairs, the slightly VIP but on the second floor, then upstairs the total VIP-VIP bit, which at Brown's was called the Red Room. And you got there, and everyone was taking so many drugs because it was commonly known that it was perfectly cool to take drugs there. So the Red Room for me was the 'Zombie Room', because everyone in there was always talking way too fast, saying nothing and just staring. And while you're there, all these people in the room are your best mates in the world. But the next day, if you bump into one of them on the street, you won't even know their name."[14]

Some journalists still dared to ask for Alan, which consequences his departure had, especially on the sound of the last two albums.
Fletch: "I do feel that Alan was a very important part of Depeche Mode and we do miss his input quite a lot."
Dave: "That's very humble and kind of you, I'm sure Alan would appreciate that comment a lot." (laughs)
Fletch: "To be honest, I think we got well-rounded by working with some interesting people that perhaps have got more involved because of Alan's departure. Alan would have tended to take more control in the studio; it meant we had to rely on other people coming in, and so far we've been lucky."[15]
As it was said before - this was one of those questions that were repeated constantly. The band tried to ward it off and finally one could get the feeling as if Alan had never been a part of DM. The same happened to the drugs-theme. At a certain point the band would claim that they couldn't remember anything of that time. On one hand this is understandable. It is tiring to be asked the same questions all over again. On the other hand they sometimes came across a bit impolitely.

Growing older they made a couple of self-knowledge.
Fletch: "In the old days, we'd come into L.A. for seven or eight days, and we'd immediately be checking out where every party is, every happening club. But last night was different. I woke up this morning and thought, God, I wish I hadn't had those extra two drinks! I can't do my best on a hangover."
(Funny here is that he's using almost the same words as Alan according to the question 'why are you so f*** boring in the studio?')
Martin: "I completely agree with Andy. In the past, we would've been out partying every single night that we were here. But last night was the first night this week that we actually ventured out of our hotel rooms, and only because of that one Grammy party. And I'm not saying that I didn't drink more than I should have, but I was aware of it. In the past, I would not have been aware of it. My main goal would've been to get as wild as possible and not care about the following day."[16]
Dave: "I put myself in a position to speak very openly about all the stuff that I was going through and it becomes the next person's story and some of it was sad. It came across as sensationalism and it was anything but sensational. What I was trying to get across was how pathetic my life had become and how I let that happen. At least that was an honest depiction of what was going on. I was talking about it way too much and I was really lost - it came across like I was the first and the only junkie in the world that had been through it - but I lived like that. I take great comfort today in knowing that I'm one of millions of people desperately sadly looking for someone in their lives to make them feel good about themselves. The way I felt was so new to me, being clean and stuff, that's all I wanted to talk about because I wanted everybody else to feel that and there was a different way."[17]
About his Tattoos: "I regret all of them. I think I had some weird sense of putting myself through a lot of pain and, from that, I thought I was becoming stronger."[18] (Nevertheless he's still showing them off whenever there's an opportunity. ;) This reminds me of a quotation of Ron Young (Little Ceasar): "Musicians are exhibitionists. What any other reason they should have to show off themselves in front of so many people? Tattoos are for people who like to show off themselves - these two things go hand in hand. It's the same with a great soul-singer who shows off lots of emotions. Tattoos show off parts of your soul on your skin."[19])

Besides David said: "From the start of Depeche Mode, Fletch and Martin were obviously real friends. They went to school together and I was the odd one out, and basically I've continued to be the odd one out throughout the whole life of Depeche Mode. We're very different personalities and I know Fletch and Martin hang out, but I don't think we'd ever hang out as a band. We do occasionally go to the pub and have a drink together, but that's it really. But that's alright, I'm OK with that now.[20] I have a feeling that Martin respects me as much as I respect him but he has an inability to actually acknowledge it. Martin's not the sort of person who turns around and pats you on the back and goes, That's fantastic. To be honest, I wouldn't know what to do with that anyway.[21]"

The European leg of the tour began on August 28th, 2001 in Tallinn. Until November 5 43 concerts followed.
On the same day, on November 5, the single Freelove / Zenstation was released. Before, on September 3, The Singles 81-98 had been released.
In 2002 Mute was sold for Ł 23 Mio to EMI. (Daniel Miller stayed managing director of the label, however.) And so DM finally ended up as an EMI-act, something they always had tried to avoid. Nevertheless they kept some of their independence.
At the same time Fletch founded his own label "Toast Hawaii". He mainly was busy to market the band Client.
On February 11 the single Goodnight Lovers was released. The single did not qualify for the UK Singles Chart because it had too many songs on it. Singles with more than one unique track need no more than three tracks, while this single had four. The B-sides were remixes of When the Body Speaks, The Dead of Night, and Goodnight Lovers.
On May 27 the concert video One Night In Paris was published and on November 25 The Videos 89-98+ was released finally.

---

References:
[1] Songs of Praise and Emotion, Blue Divide, Volume 2, Issue 1, 2000. Words: Uncredited
[2] recoil.co.uk
[3] recoil.co.uk
[4] Keyboard, May 2001, Words: Robert L. Doerschuk
[5] Q&A: Depeche Mode, Mean Street, May 2001. Words: George A. Paul
[6] Keyboard, May 2001, Words: Robert L. Doerschuk
[7] Dave Gahan: Paper Monsters Interview, EPK, Mute IPKSTUMM216
[8] The Story Of Depeche Mode, BBC Radio London Live94.9, May 7th 2001, Producer: Tony Wood
[9] Mode in Britain, Hot Tickets, 12th-18th October 2001. Words: Andrew Panos
[10] Just Can't Get Enough, Uncut, May 2001. Words: Stephen Dalton
[11] Virtually Alternative, April 2001, Words: Sat Bisla
[12] In the Mode for Love, Time Out, 4th April 2001. Words: Omer Ali
[13] Many Smack-Free Returns! Q, June 2001. Words: Dorian Lynskey
[14] Flaunt, May 2001, Words: Tom Lonham
[15] Virtually Alternative, April 2001, Words: Sat Bisla
[16] Flaunt, May 2001, Words: Tom Lonham
[17] In the Mode for Love, Time Out, 4th April 2001. Words: Omer Ali
[18] The Survivor, FHM, June 2001. Words: Caroline Rees
[19] Source can't be found anymore
[20] The Basildon Bond, The Times Magazine, 14th April 2001. Words: Paul Connolly
[21] Many Smack-Free Returns! Q, June 2001. Words: Dorian Lynskey

Biography: 2003 & 2004

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