Depeche Mode escape from Basildon bondage to pioneer Electronic Pop
DISPEL FROM your minds the untenable notion that Futurists
are either bored Mummy's boys tinkering with expensive gadgets or desperately
earnest avant-garde merchants trying to preach the gospel according to Kafka:
the current resurgence, or (in fact) emergence of electronic-based bands is
at a truly grass-roots level -- an increasing number of fresh-faced young
men (and women) are taking to synthesizers and drum machines for their amusement
rather than cheap guitars to create cut-price, instant tunes.As the
great Gary Numan himself said: "You can use just one finger and still
produce the most amazing sounds!" Such a sage. After all, the capital
outlay of one or maybe two synths plus a rhythm box compares rather favourably
with paying four or five dodgy musicians when you can get away with less with
reliable hardware. You know it makes sense for a good start in music life!
Some new futurist boys favour walls of noise, some boys favour experimentalism.
Some boys like electronic pop and others electro-disco.
The very young, tender and fresh-as-a-mountain-stream Depeche Mode favour
our third category.
Natives of Basildon, Vince Clarke (synth), Martin Gore (another synth), Andy
Fletcher (yet another (bass-synth) and David Gahan (vocals and electronic
percussion) used to play guitars but gradually shed them in favour of more
modern toys.
Six months ago they ventured into Croc's Glamour Club Rayleigh to find themselves
resident on the Electronic Saturday Night, followed by brief showings at the
mightiest of oi-some venues, the Bridgehouse.
`Twas in that dark, unromantic setting that their fairy-tale rise commenced;
synth-svengali Daniel (The Normal) Miller spotted les Modes, took an instant
and profound liking to their brand of melodic electro-pop and decided to whisk
them away to do a single on Mute Records, the result of which is `Dreaming
Of Me/Ice Machine', which will be out on February 20. Just the right time,
methinks, to attack our touch-sensitive ears with their brand of sweet, simple,
precise rhythm and lightweight synthetic pop,
which, with the luck of the gods, will launch a full-frontal campaign hookline
when they hear one. But before this solo effort comes their contribution to
the long-awaited Stevo-inspired compilation of `futurist' bands, `Some Bizarre
Album', out at the end of this month, plus appearances on the accompanying
tour of `Bizarre Evenings'. Busy, buzzing boys.
DEPECHE MODE are so fragile and new that this was their first press-ganging,
which resulted in a bit of an impasse. Those words which were imparted were
Without wishing to sound condescending--out of the mouths of babes comes
forth truth. But it' s great: four young men making simple, commercial music
about which they have absolutely no pretensions. Refreshing as a glass of
Andrews. Perched nervously round a creperie table, they responded blushingly
and politely to my thrusting questions. I ventured, foolishly, that a fair
description of their music would involve comparing them to Orch Man, but with
lashings more melody. David, the trendiest, best coifed Mode, denied any such
connection: "We've got a melodic, electronic sound. We wouldn't like
to be categorized with them or associated with them at all." This may
have something to do with the fact that OMD started life as a nauseously trendy
Liverpool band along with such luminaries as the Bunnymen and only reached
their hit potential later on. DP reckon to be fairly confident of their instant
commercial viability and would be extremely happy to see themselves in the
charts and on TOTP tomorrow. "Yes, please!" they chirped in chorus.
Because of this shameless advocation ofhit singles, they also refuted any
association with the Sounds-spawned Futurist scene. David: "I don't like
that scene at all. All the bands involved with it are in one bunch together
and they'll never escape from it. Soft Cell are about the only ones with a
good chance. I don't like to bitch, but Naked Lunch have been going for years...
We write pop music, electric pop, so we couldn't get
tagged by appearing on that album. Once people hear the single, they'll change
their minds!"
And that, punters, is hopefully what you'll think too. It's the right place,
months ago, but pioneers like the Spands have made it easier for on-coming
bands. Popular electronic music so far hasn't used synthesizers too intelligently
(thanks to Numan) or lightheartedly;DP don't depress, they uplift--something
you up there North of Watford will be able to sample at
the start of next month. Watch out for their four gigs at the most style-conscious
clubs in Leeds, Preston, Liverpool and Manchester. But don't think that just
because you don't sport a fine quiff and startling Technicolor threads that
you'll feel like a cat amongst pigeons at a DP show; they attract Blitz-like
characters but don't wish to be cliquish and welcome all peace-loving gig-goers.
THE MODES generally concur that they have just as good an opportunity to achieve
their aims on Mute Records as they do signing to any large conglomerate record
label you care to mention. Vince: "We've got a better chance on Mute.
Daniel's been good to us and we like the way he operates. We listened to a
few other companies, seeing what they had to offer but we decided to stick
with him. He had a big success with the Silicon Teens, and we've got that
same sort of lightweight
feeling to us. Daniel's got a good nose for things like that. He's an underestimated
man." `Filming and screening/I picture thescene/Filming and dreaming/Dreaming
of me' (Dreaming of me). A flirtation with romanticism, of seeing yourself
up there on the screen. It may happen for DP sooner than they think; the time
for diversification is ripe after the Numan plateau and with the likes of
Visage and Ultravox surging into the Top 30. It's early days for Depeche now,
but they may come across criticism for using drum machines instead of a real
live drummer. David disagreed: "I don't think it'll happen now. The tapes
we've got now sound like real drums anyway. I know Orchestral Manoeuvres were
put down for using a drum machine on stage but the worst thing they ever did
was to get a drummer. It was really bad after that. We don't need one anyway--it's
just another person to pay!"
Seems like eminent business sense to me. The live version of Depeche Mode
should prove interesting, due to the total reverse of normal stage practices:
one vocalist plus three others all playing keyboard synthesizers.
The band may remain static, but they believe in entertainment and encouragement
of dancing. The gyrating stops at pop, though, as DP are certainly not thinking
of branching into funk (the next big thing!). Vince claims they simply don't
understand it!
APART FROM the great Stevo tour, Depeche Mode are forging their way into more
fashion- conscious realms when they take to the stage of the Rainbow on February
14th for Steve Strange and Rusty Egan's People's Palace St. Valentine's Ball
(phew!), along with their favourite new burlesque dance troupe Shock and the
hitherto untrendy Metro. For a future that's bound to be exciting, stylish,
fun and constantly changing, Depeche Mode have their place in the scheme of
things; the charts may well prove to be their oyster. Ain't it a shame for
a band who are no strangers to the charms of the tape recorder, to clam up
when facing one in a different scenario... Maybe once they see the world outside
Basildon they'll give away their trade secrets.
Until then Depeche Mode are content to remain something of an enigma.