Martin Gore Quotes

1. Music is really all about experimentation and lots of trial and error. It's just mind-numbingly boring until you hit on something that works well.  



2. I do a cover of a Velvet Underground song, and they were one of the most important bands, for me.

3. I like their darkness but I also like the pop-side of the Velvet Underground.

4. Once I'd chosen the songs, it seemed like it would just be a question then of recording them. But it's a case of trying to re-invent the songs; taking them in different directions.






5. I've always been a massive Elvis fan.

6. I don't know if people expect us to be gloomy bastards but we have a lot of fun in the studio. We're actually starting to feel quietly optimistic about this record. I think, after 33 years, we should stop worrying.

7. I tend to like songs that are very emotional, that strike a chord with me emotionally.




8. If I had spent seven or eight months of last year in a studio working stupid studio hours, I wouldn't have seen my family for that whole period.

9. There are definite reference points to older Depeche Mode records.

10. "People are People" still gets played to death on '80s stations. It was our first big break in America. It's not exactly my favorite song.


11. I studied German at school. I lived in Berlin for two years and had a German girlfriend for five years, so I don't find speaking German particularly difficult. Singing was slightly more difficult.

12. When people meet me I think they're surprised to find out I'm not always angst-ridden.

13. I sit down and create atmospheres, start playing guitar or piano and just sing whatever comes out of my mouth.


14. When I write love songs, people think they're really soppy - but I see love as a consolation for the boredom of life.

15. I find songwriting a really personal process, so I don't know if I would actually like to sit in a room with somebody else and write songs.




16. I lead two totally separate lives. There are times when I have to slip into rock star mode.

17. When I write a song, I always start on acoustic guitar, because that's a good test of a song, when it's really open and bare. You can often mislead yourself if you start with computers and samples and programming because you can disguise a bad song.

18. I didn't expect us to be around after 25 years.

19. If you repeat yourself, then I think you're in danger of losing that fan base, because if you are not interesting yourselves, you're not interesting your audience.  
 

20. I even have nephews who make music, my daughter makes music. I don't know what advice to give them these days. It's really a tough industry to break into.

21. We started very young, and thank God, because I'd probably be digging ditches in Basildon right now. We dug our way out of that town.

22. Record covers helped me discover a lot of music that I wasn't aware of.

23. I had a lot of things to feel guilty about. I was a horrible alcoholic for years. I knew at quite a young age that I had an issue with drinking.

24. I loathe the idea of going onstage in a T-shirt and jeans.

25. It creates a conflict of interest - what songs would I use for me, and what would I use for the band.







26. I don't know if it's cool to say this anymore, but I grew up listening to Gary Glitter. A majority of his songs were in that shuffle-blues beat, and I think that's probably why I tend to write like that.

27. Well, it's accepted, isn't it? More than accepted, it's encouraged for rock stars to be out of control. It's funny for people if they see their idols completely drunk, singing in hotel bars. It's fun. And, up to a point, it is, and then you cross a line and it's not so much fun any more. When you're waking up to two double vodkas for breakfast it's gone beyond the point of fun.


28. I've not worn a dress since about 1985. It always amazes me how there is still a fascination for it in England. The rest of the world doesn't seem to care. I'm not sure whether they don't remember or whether they've just moved on from it. I was brought up in the glam era.

29. The majority of the time I'm at home with my family, I play football three times a week.


30. I don't write poems and put them to music. Just let things flow.

31. I started getting back into buying old analog gear while we were recording. Lots of old drum machines and synths. It wasn't a conscious thing. I didn't consider myself a collector, but boxes of vintage gear would turn up virtually every day.

32. I've got a really small studio set up at home. It's not like a big, old fashioned recording studio, it's just like a home set-up.



33. There are Depeche Mode parties around the world where people listen to our music all night long. The more remixes we can give them, the more interesting those nights have got to be.

34. I like the idea of doing cover versions. I think it's always interesting when people from bands because it shows people some of their influences.

35. For years, I was stuck behind a keyboard rig. When I started playing guitar onstage, it was a bit of a release - not to be stuck in one spot the whole night. It's really enjoyable having the freedom to move around. You just have to remember to end up somewhere near a microphone.





36. I will be the focal point for however long I decide to play. Half of me likes that idea and half of me doesn't, but once the adrenaline kicks in, I'll probably really enjoy it.

37. I didn't write songs for a very long time.


38. I find it odd to seeing a DJ playing to huge audiences. I know that people have been doing it for a while, but the fact that it's been embraced so much in America now and it's become like this new big thing, I find it slightly odd.

39. I'm not particularly prolific.

40. Kids today don't know that much about vinyl.

41. Anything that I write comes from the soul.

42. I don't think I've ever tried to be anything other than a weirdo. That's the sad thing today. Most people who get involved in music are so normal. It's supposed to be full of weirdos.

43. God knows why - no pun intended - but every time I write a song, I feel a need to touch on religion.

44. I feel like I'm making myself a lot more vulnerable when I'm writing songs. Doing cover versions is almost like being able to hide behind things.

45. I always hate explaining away songs, because for me they mean something, and for other people, they'll mean something absolutely different.


46. There haven't been many credible electronic covers records.

47. Our music over the years has been very cinematic. It's surprising we never really got into film soundtracks.

48. It was so exciting to go to the record shop and buy a piece of vinyl and hold it, read the liner notes, look at the pictures. Even the smell of the vinyl.

49. We're pessimists. We're always unsure. We've been saying since "Black Celebration" that we can't guarantee there'll be another record. When it comes to communication we're still not the best. We're still slightly dysfunctional but maybe that's what makes us tick.


50. I wasn't ever a massive David Essex fan, but I liked a few of his tracks, and "Stardust" was one of them. "Stardust" does sum up the loneliness of being a rock star. It's a great job, but a very strange job, it's very weird.


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