Depeche Mode 1981 - Speak & spell - A short film - + russian, English subtitles

Welcome to the media and all the fans this afternoon. We've come straight from mixing the album. The vibe has been great. We're confident that this album will be one of our best. lt is therefore with great enthusiasm that we feel we are now in a position to proudly announce the next Depeche Mode world tour. Thank you very much. We wanted to be The Cure or something like that. Or Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark or The Human League. From Basildon. Vince was obviously the driving force behind the band. lt was him and Andy who first formed Composition of Sound, as we were called. l think they got me in because l was one of the only people that had a synthesizer in Basildon. We realised early on we needed a front man, someone who could leap about, to make us look interesting. Dave was a friend of a friend, and we did an audition with him. We used to rehearse at a local school, and he came to a rehearsal. Vince was sort of the lead singer before that, but he wasn't really comfortable, so we thought we'd grab him. Dave looked better than us. He had about a thousand more contacts. We had no contacts. And he sang very well. We thought, ''Yeah, he'll do''. When we began we had guitars, a bass guitar and a general guitar, and a drum machine. But we gradually changed over to all synths. Why did you quit the guitar and the bass? lt just seemed like a natural thing. Martin had a synthesizer. Andy and Vince bought one. lt just seemed the right thing to do. lt was convenience. We gradually changed over because it enabled us to go anywhere with these small monophonic keyboards under our arm and plug into a PA system and play a gig, not that we had any gigs at the time. They were quite cheap. You didn't have to have a good amp. We weren't any good at playing guitars anyway. We didn't say, ''Let's go electronic''. lt was more convenience. But we played those instruments in a very traditional format. There was a bass line, a lead line and a rhythm line. The two places that l do recall are Crocks in Rayleigh, because that was the first residency, l suppose. They played a few Saturday nights when it opened. They had all the local crowd, Dave's fashion friends from college. lt quickly gave the band kudos in that area. We became the band of the scene down there, and in doing so had our own following of 50 people or something that would travel up to London. So we created a little buzz without having to try too hard because it was just our mates. We went to Rough Trade. Rough Trade was our last resort. lt was the last place we were gonna go to if we were that desperate. But we were that arrogant or naive that we thought that, well, they had Cabaret Voltaire, and we were making this music that was accessible, electronic, accessible pop music. Me and Dave went to all the record companies. You could into A&R departments and they'd play your tape. You didn't make appointments. We went to lsland, RCA, all the major record companies. We had this quarter-inch tape that we insisted that the record label would play. Half the time they'd be like, ''Have you got a cassette?'' We'd be like, ''We're not gonna leave unless you play our quarter-inch''. Most of the time the record companies would be like, ''See you later''. But Scott actually played it. He put it on a reel-to-reel. He was tapping his foot. Me and Vince were thinking, ''We're signed''. lt was coming to the end, and he was like, ''lt's not really what we do at Rough Trade''. ''But this guy that just came in...'' Daniel had just blown in the door and was ranting about distribution or not being able to find Fad's records in some store and shouting at people. He said, ''Daniel, what do you think of this?'' Daniel said, ''No, l'm not interested''. Then he disappeared. Then we supported Fad Gadget at Canning Town. He came along. Fad Gadget was signed to Mute. He came backstage. We knew he was there. l think he was mixing Fad's sound. lt was a big crowd. lt was full up. Afterwards, Daniel came up to me, thinking l was, at the time, writing the songs. l said, ''No, that's the guy in the corner''. He talked with Vince for a while, but l gave him the cold shoulder. l think l told him to *** off, actually, at the time. But he came back again and again. He said, ''Do you wanna make a single with Mute Records?'' We were big fans of Mute at the time, so that was a big night for us anyway. And then to get to meet Daniel and be offered a single deal on the spot was pretty amazing. Behind me is a public house called the Bridgehouse. lt's been turned into a hotel now. l did a gig there once, supported by a band called Depeche Mode. They headed out the door with Daniel Miller. There was him and another guy called Stevo, who was making the Some Bizarre record. He was offering us a deal as well. He said, ''lf you sign, l'll get you a support slot with Ultravox''. That sounded glamorous, so we were torn. They wanted us to sign some heinous ten-album deal. We were not interested in that. We just wanted to make a single. lt was probably round about 1 980. l was working with Daniel who had just set up Mute Records. We put out the first record by a band called the Silicon Teens. We'd got to the point where we were going to radio, and nobody knew the Silicon Teens didn't exist. We went to a radio interview at Capital Radio. Daniel Miller was pretending to be a friend of the band or the band's tour manager. The girl interviewing him said, ''You're not who you say you are''. ''You're Daniel Miller. l went to school with you''. As we left Capital, Dan said, ''We ought to find a real band, a proper band''. We knew Mute Records. We'd heard Fad Gadget and he was really cool. We'd heard the The Normal single. And the Silicon Teens. We just thought it was a cooler label. l remember Dave saying to me, ''We've decided to go with Daniel Miller''. l asked him why. He said, ''Because we just trust him''. For some bizarre reason, we were working-class kids in Basildon, we didn't have much money, and went for the bloke offering us no money. Because we trusted him and we liked the music on his label. lt turned out to be one of the best decisions we ever made. Daniel gave them the perfect home, as he's done for all of his artists. lt's ideal, because they didn't sign to a major, two or three albums. You just have to look back at the bands that were their contemporaries who are no longer with us. lt became a challenge. Everybody had told them, ''Mute's a nice little label, but you'll never have international success with them''. l thought, ''*** that. l wanna see if l can prove everybody wrong''. ''Why shouldn't they be able to?'' The other record companies are quite old-fashioned and very pop-orientated, and we were working in a different way. When Daniel said, ''lt's a 50-50 deal'', it didn't matter if we signed or not. lt didn't mean anything to us. The important thing was we were making a single in a real recording studio. lf he'd said 99-1 and given us a contract, we'd have signed it. He said, ''l'll pay to make a single and do the best l can''. ''What do you want out of it?'' We said, ''We wanna be in the charts, on the radio''. He said, ''l'll do my best''. So we went for it. l was looking for a studio to finish the Silicon Teens' record, some of which l'd done at home in a very basic way. l was really nervous about going into a studio. l had no studio experience and felt l was working outside the system and people wouldn't be sympathetic to what l was trying to do because they were used to recording normal bands. l phoned up Blackwing and Eric answered. He sounded very enthusiastic and open to the way l wanted to work. We put Dreaming Of Me out, struggled to get it on the radio. Then Roger Ames, an A&R man at Phonogram in those days, approached the band and wanted to sign them. Dan was sitting quietly in the corner. l was saying, ''Guys, stay with Daniel. He's gonna look after you''. lt was quite incredible. Vince Clarke, who was still in Depeche then, said, ''lf we do Top of the Pops, can we do that in the afternoon, so l can get back on the cheap day return to Basildon?'' When the single got in the charts, top 1 00, we were amazed. Like when we first heard it on the radio. We couldn't believe it. lt was just incredible. The record didn't fly in the chart. lt wasn't a huge success. But l think, in retrospect, as a first record, it was setting the ground, building the right foundations for the future. The truth is if your first record is a very big hit, the chances are you don't have a long career. Everybody felt that was a good start. l never got anywhere near the charts with my singles before. To actually reach 57 was a real achievement. That's when we felt that if we actually did concentrate on the band, maybe give up our day jobs, that we could possibly actually make it. They were very young, very naive and very shy. Dave used to hide behind the microphone stand back in those days. We would record like a traditional band. We'd set up the Moog Prodigy or Yamaha in the live room, and plug it in and play the part. So we laid down each part like we would live. l wanted to capture as best l could the atmosphere and vibe l got from the songs from when l saw them live. Did some little experimental things on some of the tracks more than others, just to have a good electronic pop sound that was theirs, not a copy of something else. l'd made my own records in my bedroom and worked in a studio finishing off the Silicon Teens' album. l'd worked with Fad Gadget and a couple of other people. But the only reason l was a producer for them was l just knew a bit more about the studio than they did, l think, and also a bit more about programming synthesizers. He was more savvy with synthesizers and especially old analogue stuff. He brought in his ARP 2600, and ARP sequencer. That was the all-important piece of equipment that he brought. lt meant that you could program something in and it would be in time. So that was really revolutionary for us. Half of the mixing you do as you go along. With only eight tracks, you're limited. You could have had the drums all on one track and then a bass and pad synth on another, backing vocals and a synth on another track. When there were limitations in the studio, l think it was quite good. There were no automated mixers, so all of us, the band, Daniel and Eric, would all be at the desk turning things off and on. We would all have cues to get the final mixes down and it was really exciting. Then we'd all pile into Eric's car to listen to the mix on his car stereo, because we felt that was a good test. Speak & Spell came from Daniel, the title. lt was just from that little toy speaking machine. There were discussions about whether we'd get in trouble, but it was fine. lt was at the time then where album covers just happened. They weren't marketing exercises. l did album covers in my own home above the radiators or in my bedroom. l don't know what it's about. When we first saw it, we asked him. He probably gave some metaphoric answer, the best you can get out of Brian. lt was a pretty stunning cover. lt became a talking point. What was this bird in the plastic case? l remember setting it up on my own. l didn't have any help. l don't know why l got a stuffed swan covered in plastic. l've no idea. Do you have any idea? l remember seeing it and just being amazed at how much someone could charge for doing an album cover. lt was a thousand pounds or something. lt was outrageous. Everybody was up in arms about it, really. l think they still are. l think they still hate the sight of it. l think it's grown quite famously big for being an awful cover. Goodness knows what was going on at the time. The general music industry was surprised because of the success of the band and being totally electronic. People were about to enter the guitar wars. lt was the death of the guitar. Depeche were a band that were supposedly heralding the death of the guitar. For some reason, we seemed to be perceived in the wrong way. People didn't take us as seriously as Heaven 1 7 or The Human League, which was very depressing, because l cared the most about Depeche. There was so much pressure to be credible, in one respect, and also be a chart act. lnitially, they were very nervous, and continued to be for quite a while, of the press and what the press would do to them. New Life did change everything. lt was a huge record. lt went on the radio, after a struggle. The boys then broke the mould. We got Top of the Pops. lt all started to happen. For the process of New Life, the band were loving every second of it. lt was exciting, they were having a hit record and we had an album to come on the back of that. lt was all developing in the right direction. l was on Top of the Pops when l was still at work. l was treated as a hero when l walked in the next day. This was in the days when Top of the Pops was really popular. l think l was doing my month's notice. l remember not sleeping the night before, which seems ridiculous now. We were really young, and it was a programme you grew up with. There was a bit of fear because New Life was at number 1 1 . Martin said to Daniel Miller, ''Do we really have to give up our day jobs?'' Daniel had to say, ''l think you're safe now''. l called my office. l said, ''l just have a hunch about this''. ''lf l get on the Concorde and come over, can you guys pick me up and take me to Basildon?'' l said, ''lt's right off the A1 '', which, of course, it wasn't. But they knew where it was, fortunately. At least l had the town right. And l saw them. We were really shocked that someone from New York would come all the way to Basildon to see us. At that point, there were similar bands around, but l don't know how you could watch them for an hour without falling asleep. Depeche Mode were the first of those bands that were so *** great live that it was just amazing. They were a band who were prepared to work hard. l didn't want to waste their time with useless shows, but at the same time l felt that to have a lot of shows in the calendar was always good. People were coming with a strange expectation. They were gonna see probably their first show where there hadn't been a band playing conventional instruments on stage. So people had a strange expectation about what they were gonna see. We were certainly a bit surprised. We hadn't done a show with a band that didn't have a drummer. ln some ways it was quite a simplistic setup. But also it was harder. Because you haven't got the visuals of a drummer and people behind keyboards are restricted, so much was on Dave's shoulders that he used to have to really work the crowd. lt was obviously the music but also the live side. lt picked up the reputation of being such a good night, because he had the famous saying, ''And you up there''. When they used to play Hammersmith Odeon, he used to include the balcony. lt was amazing. l don't know if it was the fact that they were a band together in uniformity, but he was never one of those guys who would talk to the audience. lt would be, ''Come on'', ''Get going'', but it was never the long chats, which has carried on all the way through. He's never been a vocal person on stage. He doesn't crack one-liners. Not like us. He never listened to us. By October, they're doing a very serious national tour. Newcastle, Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool, Sheffield, Bristol, Basildon, dear Basildon, Raquel's, Brighton, Poole, Leicester and two nights at the Lyceum. Talking of memories, those two nights at the Lyceum were awesome. l remember pulling the promoter and the hall manager into the venue, pointing at the rear balcony and saying, ''Can you see how much that balcony is moving?'' lt was bouncing up and down cos the kids were bouncing up and down. Huge success. l don't think we were thinking past the next gig, actually. The only time it started wearing on me was when l did the last tour with them. Thank you. Do you think the band will look the same in another two years? Come back in two years and see. l don't think we'll change but you never know. We might change in a week's time. Who knows?