Q+A VAULT / DEPECHE MODE
I have read that when DM were in Berlin recording ‘Some Great Reward’, you used to go to “a pair of good gay clubs like Corelles and The Jungle” (you said this, remember?). Was the interest in these clubs strictly musical? How was the ambience and would you go back there?
No, I’m not gay but I’ve no problem with going to gay bars or clubs. We probably went to the ones you mention because they had the best vibe and music.
Was ‘People Are People’ 12″ version filmed in Russia? It shows Moscow but I’ve heard that you never filmed any videos there. I’m confused now.
It was filmed on HMS Belfast, a Navy ship that is moored in London. The additional images were just stock footage – we never went to Russia.
I really enjoy listening to the song ‘Somebody’ and would (with a passion) love to learn how to play it on the piano. Any chance that I might get a music sheet or something?
I don’t think the sheet music to ‘Somebody’ exists or if it does, it would have been transcribed (through listening to the record) by a spotty geek who took a classical music degree and ended up working in the sheet music department of Boosey & Hawkes. Done for publishing purposes, these versions are notoriously inaccurate and often what I actually played probably wouldn’t bear any resemblance to them. My performance also differed slightly from show to show.
I’m somewhat persistent so please allow me to pester you a little more with a clarification of my previous question, which I have harboured since my first listening of ‘Some Great Reward’ back in the mid-80s. The sound I mentioned is the one heard in the intro of ‘Something To Do’ and in parts of ‘Blasphemous Rumours’ – a growling sound like a mechanised “arrr arrr”. I need to know for sanity’s sake!
The reason I didn’t answer the first time is that I can’t really remember exactly – you are asking me about a sound made about 14 years ago! It sounds like it was a piece of speech put through a modular synth (possibly some other effects) and distorted. I would think it was then sampled and reproduced from either the Emulator or Synclavier.
How did you make the sound in ‘Blasphemous Rumours’ and on parts of the first Recoil album that sounds like growling? Was it a sample of Dave having one of his bad mornings? Why do you seem to favour that sound so?
I really don’t know which sound you mean – sorry. Now stop worrying about such trifling matters and get back on court and finish your match 😉
Any truth behind the section in Dave Thompson’s book that says (around the time of ‘Master And Servant’) that DM sampled a Frankie Goes To Hollywood drum loop? If so, what track was it used on?
Surprisingly, no truth whatsoever.
I read the August editorial and I found it very interesting. During the entire ‘SOFAD’ project, you were the one person that kept on working while the others were on holiday. Was this the case with the earlier albums and projects too and didn’t the others ever want to help out?
It was actually during the making of ‘Some Great Reward’ that I finished the record while they went on holiday, not ‘SOFAD’. During SOFAD, Fletch went home for personal reasons and during the ‘Devotional’ tour, I did a lot of work in the studio when people were on holiday or during periods of down-time between different legs.
What’s your opinion of the U.S. compilation ‘People Are People’ ?
It was done out of necessity, without any real continuity. Other than that, I don’t really have any thoughts on it.
Is there any truth to the rumour in Dave Thompson’s book “Some Great Reward” that Martin recorded the song “Somebody” in the noddy?
Yes, it’s absolutely true.
In the past you answered that Martin recorded the song ‘Somebody’ in the noddy. Please could you explain to me what the word ‘noddy’ means? (I am Czech and I can’t find out).
‘In the noddy’ means: sans attire, as god designed him, starkers, in the buff, in the raw, wearing your birthday suit, minus your kit, nude, naked, undressed.
If you think ‘But Not Tonight’ and ‘It’s Called A Heart’ were too pop, what do you think of ‘If You Want’ and ‘Fools’?
I think they’re too poppy as well. I don’t like any of my old songs.
What do you think about the Adrian Sherwood mixes of ‘People Are People’ and ‘Master And Servant’?
I find Adrian’s stuff a bit hit or miss. There tends to be some inspired moments but also some disasters – all within the same mix. I remember when he came to Hansa studios in Berlin to do the above mixes and due to his ‘mind altered state’ required a large box of fuses because he’d blow the speakers every 5 minutes.
What is your favourite song from ‘Some Great Reward’?
‘Blasphemous Rumours’ and ‘Something To Do’
How did you actually produce that metal-like sound in ‘Blasphemous Rumours’?
It was a hammer on a concrete floor if I recall correctly.
Is that you in the bridegroom gear on the cover of ‘Some Great Reward’?
No.
