Alan Wilder interview July 2001
Black Box: Are you still interested in the
music of Depeche Mode? Forinstance, do you know their latest albums ULTRA
and EXCITER? Do you deal with their music?
Alan: Of course, I have heard the albums (not all the remixes though) and
I
take an interest in what they are doing - who wouldn't be curious having
been a member of the group for so long?
Black Box: Even though you have left the
band already six years ago, there
are still many fierce discussions in the German DM forum about your
departure. It seems that about 80 % of all DM-fans think that you are
missing in the band and would love to see you back there again. How, do you
think, can that be possible after six years? Are you aware of the fact that
you are still so popular?
Alan: If this is the case, then it's very flattering to be thought of in
such a way by the fans, especially after 6 years. Depeche Mode, these days,
is essentially a Martin Gore solo project with Dave singing - it is bound
to
sound different and perhaps people just miss the translation onto record of
`band interaction'/'chemistry'/'tension' - call it what you will.
Black Box: Since 1997, most of the DM-singles
have been remixed by some
techno freaks and used for B-sides. What do you think about such remixes,
which are often very different from the original version? After all, you
also released a remix of SHUNT by `Panasonic'!?
Alan: To be honest, I hardly ever listen to remixes of music that I like (or
don't like) - no matter who has made them. If the artists themselves have
taken the trouble to remix their own music then my ears may prick up but,
in
general, I still feel remixes are undertaken for the wrong reasons - as
marketing tools - and that sours their effect for me.
Black Box: More than 2 months before its
official release the new Depeche
Mode album `Exciter' was completely available for download via Napster. But
regardless of that fact `Exciter' entered at number one in the charts of
most European countries. So would you more call Napster a very good
promotion tool or are you more an antagonist of Napster?
Alan: I think they are wrong in principle but a bit of bootlegging never
really did an artist much harm. I'm sure that those who downloaded also
bought the CD. I do think we need to have copyright and royalty regulations
regarding downloadable music. Any writer, composer, artist deserves a
royalty for their work - it's as simple as that.
Black Box: What have you musically done in
recent times?
Alan: Well, I'd like to have lots of positive news but the truth is, not
much. I have been pre-occupied with other things over the last year and
music has had to take a back seat. I have a few tracks underway but no real
direction at the moment.
Black Box: Can we hope for a release before
2003?
Alan: Unlikely - maybe IN 2003.
Black Box: For your recent album LIQUID,
you had asked your fans via
internet to send you tapes with speech samples which you used for your LP.
Do you plan similar things for your next LP?
Alan: I doubt it.
Black Box: Why did you publish the song `Jezebel'
in the instrumental
version on the Soundtrack `The Monkey Mask'?
Alan: It's what the film's producer/director wanted. I haven't seen the
film yet so I don't know how the track works. Same applies to `The Hole'.
Black Box: Reprise Records is famous for
having produced special dance
remixes of Depeche Mode songs. For example, they recently released a dance
version (Pink Noise Mix) of DREAM ON. Imagine, they would have tried to make
a Club Hit Mix Version of JEZEBEL. Would you have been angry about it?
Alan: The artist usually has approval of these mixes. Reprise can't release
them without that approval so, often artists just let the record company go
ahead and commision such mixes (at the company's expense) knowing that they
can just reject them unless they are pleasantly surprised by the result.
Black Box: Your website is as professional
as your music. How much time do
you personally spend on it?
Alan: Plenty - although Richard Berry is doing much more programming these
days. He has recently updated all the editorials into a new, more visible,
quick-loading format. Richard's been a great help and has lots of good,
creative ideas.
Black Box: Is there any chance of seeing
you in the future as a producer or
remixer again? It's already ten years ago that you worked with Nitzer Ebb.
Have there been any offers for you since that?
Alan: Lots of offers but nothing I've wanted to do. It would have to be
something special to get me into the studio producing another artist.
Paris Wilder
Black Box: What do you expect of the coming
Football World Cup?
Alan: A much improved England effort (if we get there of course). Things
arelooking up greatly since we employed Sven Goran Erikson as coach. With
a
bit more practice, we now have potentially the best England team for many
years - seriously! As for the Germans...... err.....
Black Box: Is your daughter Paris already
into boygroups? (just kidding!)
Alan: Actually she likes Blur, The Rolling Stones, Wheatus (`Teenage Dirtbag')
and Robbie
Williams.
Black Box: Is your music more successful
in Europe or in America?
Alan: Overall, Europe. I sell most records in Germany.
Shunt Forum
Q: Are you yourself prohibited from performing
DM tracks live? What if Dave stopped by your
chateau one day and said: "Al, I'd like to record a few tracks with you,
and while we're at it,
let's perform a few gigs at the local clubs......" It's not that ridiculous
a concept.
Al: Mmmm....I shouldn't think it's that feasible
either. For a start, Dave couldn't possibly just
swing by my house uninvited because I have a bloody great padlock round the
gates at the
entrance to my estate to keep the riff raff out. If he attempted to by-pass
the main drive way,
the security cameras would pick him up and either the man-traps or the doberman's
would get
him, or worse, my groundsman Ron would most likely shoot him (he doesn't like
people
trespassing - rock god or no rock god). Thirdly, judging by the `young people'
who hang
around the shopping precinct in my local town, a slimmed down version of the
Mode featuring
just me and Dave wouldn't really go down that well. It would have to be slimmed
down to
nothing and replaced by 4 members who looked and sounded exactly like The
Manic Street
Preachers before they'd take any notice. Finally, I think that the mental
strain of coming to the
realisation, midway through `Personal Jesus' , that both of us had once performed
the song in
front of 70,000 screaming fans in the Pasadena Rosebowl and were now standing
before a
gaggle of spotty teenagers in the Dog And Duck, would probably be too much
to bear. Then
again, it could be fun. We'll let you know if we have any plans and you can
hand some flyers
out for us.......