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2000-03-01 Polskie Radio Program III, Warsaw, Poland: Difference between revisions

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==Notes==
==Notes==
[[Alan Wilder]] was interviewed over the phone by radio host Paweł Kostrzewa. A transcript of the interview is to be found on [http://missing_piece.republika.pl/wywiady/program3.htm missing_piece.republika.pl] as well as a mp3 file of Alan's ID greeting for the radio station. We are still looking for an MP3 file of the interview itself.
[[Alan Wilder]] participated in a call-in interview with Polish radio host {{EL|https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawe%C5%82_Kostrzewa Paweł Kostrzewa}}. A transcript of the interview and a related .MP3 copy of Wilder's radio greeting was originally hosted on a Polish {{EL|http://missing_piece.republika.pl/wywiady/program3.htm fan site}}. Please feel free to [mailto:admin@depechemode-live.com contact us] if you have a recording of the full interview.


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===Audio transcript===
===Audio transcript===
{{Int|
(''To the listeners'') '''Paweł Kostrzewa''': I invite you to listen to my conversation with Alan Wilder, the leader of one-man band [[Recoil]]. Alan does all of the [production] work himself and later invites various musicians, usually vocalists, to complete the rest [of the production]. Alan Wilder was a member of [[Depeche Mode]] for years, and has recorded [several] solo albums [since leaving Depeche Mode in 1995]. The latest solo album [''[[Liquid]]''] is extremely interesting - we have been listening to it for weeks. Today is [our] long-awaited interview. The first question we asked was about the album title ''Liquid'', because it is a word with many meanings.


{{Translation notice|Polish}}
'''Alan Wilder''': That is what I like the most, that [the word] "liquid" is so open to interpretation. The title comes from the track "[[Last Call for Liquid Courage]]" — here, "liquid" refers to alcohol, more precisely to its impact on human behaviour. But "liquid" can also relate to "adrenaline" or "blood" - all of these meanings appear in different places on the album. You can also interpret it in direct reference to the music, its "liquidity". It is truly a word of many meanings.


Paweł Kostrzewa: (do słuchaczy) Zapraszam Państwa do wysłuchania mojej rozmowy z Alanem Wilderem, szefem jednoosobowego zespołu RECOIL. Alan wszystko od początku robi sam, a potem zaprasza różnych muzyków, zwykle wokalistów, którzy uzupełniają resztę. Alan Wilder przez lata był muzykiem zespołu Depeche Mode, a od jakiegoś czasu nagrywa swoje solowe płyty. Ta najnowsza (LIQUID - przyp. MP) wydaje się niezwykle interesująca - słuchamy jej od wielu tygodni, a dziś ta oczekiwana rozmowa.
'''Kostrzewa''': When I was listening to this album for the first time — and my first impression hasn't changed to this day — I got the impression that it's a concept album. After all, the album starts and ends with a two-part track called "[[Black Box (Pt. 1)|Black Box]]".


Pierwsze pytanie, jakie padło, dotyczyło tytułu 'LIQUID', bo to słowo wieloznaczne.
'''Wilder''': At first, "Black Box" wasn't intended as the brace for the entire album. It was only at the end of its production, after I had gathered all the lyrics written by the various contributors, that I had to find something that would connect them in some way. And then I thought about a plane crash, about someone who is onboard a plane that is about to crash in a few moments. I once witnessed a similar event — a big military aircraft was nosediving right over my head. Two pilots passed away [in that crash]. The most moving thought for me was that, for a moment, this man knew that he would die. I wondered what he was thinking at that moment — was he recalling his entire life? I thought it would be a good idea to depict all of the stories [the songs tell] as [if they were] his memories. This idea bonded the whole album together.


Alan Wilder: Właśnie najbardziej podoba mi się to, że LIQUID (ciecz, płyn, ciekły - przyp. MP) ma wiele znaczeń. Tytuł ten pochodzi od utworu 'Last Call For Liquid Courage' - tutaj LIQUID odnosi się do alkoholu, a dokładniej do jego wpływu na ludzkie zachowanie. Ale LIQUID może oznaczać również adrenalinę czy krew - te wszystkie znaczenia pojawiają się w różnych miejscach na płycie. Można interpretować to także w bezpośrednim odniesieniu do muzyki, do jej płynności. To naprawdę wieloznaczne słowo.
___


Paweł Kostrzewa: Wtedy kiedy słuchałem pierwszy raz tego albumu - a to wrażenie nie zmieniło się do dziś - miałem wrażenie, że to koncept-album. W końcu płytę zaczyna i kończy utwór zatytułowany 'Black Box' w dwóch częściach...


Alan Wilder: Początkowo 'Black Box' nie powstawał jako klamra całej płyty. Dopiero pod koniec pracy nad nią, kiedy zebrałem wszystkie teksty napisane przez różnych ludzi, musiałem znaleźć coś, co by je w jakiś sposób łączyło. I wtedy pomyślałem o katastrofie lotniczej, o kimś, kto jest na pokładzie samolotu, który ma się za parę chwil rozbić. Kiedyś widziałem podobne zdarzenie - wielki, wojskowy samolot pikował tuż nad moją głową. Wtedy zginęli dwaj piloci. Najważniejsze dla mnie było to, że ten człowiek wie, że za chwilę umrze. Ciekawiło mnie, co w tym momencie myśli - czy wspomina całe swe dotychczasowe życie? Pomyślałem, że to dobry pomysł, by wykorzystać te wszystkie historie, jak jego wspomnienia. Ten pomysł spoił cały album.
(''To the listeners'') '''Kostrzewa''': I [continued to ask questions] on this topic, the connections between particular tracks, and about the entire work as a concept album.


Paweł Kostrzewa: (do słuchaczy) I jeszcze drążyłem temat i pytałem dalej o związki pomiędzy poszczególnymi utworami i o płycie jako koncept-albumie.
'''Wilder''': It's difficult for me to tell [what connections there may be between the songs] until the album is finished. When I write, I do it unconsciously, I follow my intuition. [It is] only after a certain atmosphere has formed that I [am able to] decide on the theme that seems the most appropriate, and [based on that direction], I then look for the direction [in which other songs] should go. Then, I rework the songs [to fit that direction], adjusting the voices to the music. And that is my role in Recoil. I don't tell [the contributors] what to write about, but they must allow me to adjust their voices to the music, to [create a sense of] continuity between the songs.


Alan Wilder: Trudno jest mi cokolwiek powiedzieć, dopóki płyta nie jest skończona. Kiedy piszę, robię to nieświadomie, podążam za głosem intuicji. Dopiero kiedy wytwarza się jakiś klimat, wymyślam temat, który wydaje mi się najbardziej odpowiedni i szukam kierunku, w jakim mają podążać dalsze prace nad nią. Wtedy zaczynam ponownie pracować nad wszystkimi utworami dopasowując głosy do brzmień instrumentów. I na tym polega moja rola w RECOIL. Nie mówię ludziom, o czym mają pisać, ale oni muszą pozwolić mi na dopasowanie ich głosów do muzyki. By nadać ciągłość wszystkim utworom.
'''Kostrzewa''': How were the [album] preparations conducted — was [the album produced in the usual way in that] that you wrote the music first and then you chose the lyrics and vocalists?


Paweł Kostrzewa: A jak przebiegały te przygotowania - czy było tak jak zwykle, że najpierw ty napisałem muzykę, a potem dobierałeś teksty i wokalistów?
'''Wilder''': Yes, that is how I usually work. The music is the foundation that tells me what kind of voice I need to create [an appropriate] atmosphere. Of course it can change over time, even quite heavily, but it must have a certain tension and atmosphere. It's during this process that I begin to adjust the voices to fit the music as best I can. Then, using modern technology, I start shaping it and often modify it [all the way through to] the final mix. It reminds me of working at a film editing table, where you can see the actors' parts and you have all the scenes you've shot in front of you. You can see how to perfectly fit [each scene] together. It's quite a similar process for me.


Alan Wilder: Tak, tak zazwyczaj pracuję. Muzyka jest bazą, dzięki której wiem, jakiego rodzaju głosu potrzebuję, by wytworzyć pewien klimat. Oczywiście może na ulec potem nawet całkiem poważnym zmianom, ale musi mieć pewnego rodzaju napięcie i atmosferę. Dopiero na tym poziomie zaczynam dopasowywać głosy i staram się dopasować je do muzyki jak najlepiej. Wtedy przy pomocy nowoczesnej technologii zaczynam nadawać jej kształt i często zmieniam ją aż do ostatniego zmiksowania. Przypomina mi to pracę na stole montażowym - dopiero gdy oglądasz wszystkie role aktorów i masz przed sobą wszystkie sceny, jakie nakręciłeś, możesz przekonać się, czy idealnie do siebie pasują. Jest to dla mnie całkiem podobny proces.
___


Paweł Kostrzewa: (do słuchaczy) Kilka utworów z tego albumu zrobiło na mnie kolosalne wrażenie i postanowiłem popytać Alana, jak powstawały i czy te utwory mają jakąś historię. Zaczęło się od utworu pod numerem drugim - 'Want'.


Alan Wilder: To był utwór, na który bardzo długi nie miałem pomysłu, jedna z ostatnich rzeczy, jakie zrobiliśmy. Nicole Blackman zaczęła pracę z nami raczej późno, więc wszystkie utwory, w których występuje, powstały na samym końcu. Nie jestem osobą kompetentną, aby mówić o jej tekście, ale kiedy go przeczytałem, wydał mi się czymś w rodzaju wspomnienia o jakimś dawnym związku, który najprawdopodobniej się rozpadł. I wtedy natychmiast przyszedł mi do głowy ten człowiek z katastrofy lotniczej, który przypomina sobie o kimś, z kimś się kiedyś rozstał.
(''To the listeners'') '''Kostrzewa''': Several tracks from this album made a colossal impression on me and I decided to ask Alan how they were made and what the story behind them is. [I began with] track number two - {{S|Want}}.


Paweł Kostrzewa: (do słuchaczy) Pomyślałem sobie, że trzeba go (Alana - przyp. MP) pochwalić, bo jest za co chwalić - brzmienie płyty jest naprawdę nowoczesne, progresywne i chciałbym, aby o tym opowiedział odrobinę. Powiedziałem mu, że to są takie brzemienia, które przypominają mi Traya Gana czy Roberta Frippa - i co on na to?
'''Wilder''': ["Want"] was a track I didn't have an idea for for a long time, [it was] one of the last songs we completed. Nicole Blackman started working with us quite late, so all the tracks she appears on were made at the very end. I'm not qualified to interpret her lyrics, but when I read them they seemed to [touch on] memories of an old relationship that probably fell apart. And that's when this man from the plane crash came to my mind, [as if he were] recalling somebody he once split up with.


Alan Wilder: Wiem, co masz na myśli. To właśnie to, co staram się osiągnąć używając nowoczesnej technologii. Pozwala ona na łączenie takich brzmień jak gospel i elektroniki czy muzyki klasycznej i rockowej. Dla mnie najważniejsze są emocje, które często trudno wykreować za pomocą elektroniki. Dlatego staram się łączyć różne wpływy, by wszystko to, co kocham w muzyce, znalazło się w tym, co robię. A skoro lubię bardzo różne rzeczy - w jednej chwili słucham muzyki klasycznej, a w drugiej techno - to wszystko składa się na brzmienie RECOIL.
(''To the listeners'') '''Kostrzewa''': [...] The sound of the album is very modern and progressive. I would like [Alan] to tell us a little bit about it. I told him that there are some sounds that remind me of Trey Gunn or Robert Fripp. Here is what he had to say.


Paweł Kostrzewa: A skąd na twojej płycie wzięła się Diamanda Galas?
'''Wilder''': I know what you mean. This is what I try to achieve using modern technology. It allows you to mix genres such as gospel and electronic or classical and rock music. For me, emotion is the most important [factor], which is often hard to create using electronics. This is why I try to mix different influences, so that everything I love in music [can be] found in what I do. As I like very different things — I may listen to classical music one minute, the next [I may listen] to techno — [these influences are what inform] the Recoil sound.


Alan Wilder: Diamanda Galas nagrywa dla firmy MUTE . Kilka razy ją spotkałem, ale nigdy nie miałem okazji jej poznać. Ale kiedy powstał utwór 'Strange Hours' - utwór o zdecydowanie bluesowym "feeling'u", pomyślałem o niej, bo pamiętając jej wcześniejsze dokonania wiedziałem, że często śpiewała piosenki nawiązujące do gospel czy bluesa. Po prostu zadzwoniłem do niej i zapytałem, czy jest zainteresowana współpracą z nami. Robiłem tak w przypadku wszystkich, którzy pojawili się na tej płycie - wysyłałem im płyty z nagraną muzyką i prosiłem by powiedzieli, jak im się to podoba.
'''Kostrzewa''': How did Diamanda Galas [come to be] on your album?


Paweł Kostrzewa: A dziewczyna z Hiszpanii -twoja sympatyczka z Katalonii?
'''Wilder''': Diamanda Galas [is a fellow act on] [[Mute Records|Mute]]. I've come across her a few times, but I've never had a chance to meet her. When working on {{S|Strange Hours}} — a song with a strong bluesy feeling, I thought about her. Remembering her earlier work, I knew that she often sang on songs [with similar] blues and gospel [vibes]. I called and asked her if she's interested in working with us — I did so with everybody who appeared on this album. I was sending the songs to them on CD and asked for their thoughts on the music.


Alan Wilder: Wpadłem na pomysł znalezienia kogoś, kto mówiłby w obcym języku. Zdecydowałem się więc na eksperyment - zamieściłem ogłoszenie naszej stronie internetowej. Spośród wszystkich ludzi, którzy przysłali mi kasety z nagraniem ich głosów mówiących w obcym języku, najbardziej spodobała mi się Rosa. Spodobała mi się barwa jej głosu i język kataloński. Pomyślałem, że połączenie tych dwóch jest naprawdę ciekawe, więc zaprosiliśmy ją do naszego studia w Anglii i nagraliśmy cały utwór.
'''Kostrzewa''': And the girl from Spain — your fan from Catalonia?


Paweł Kostrzewa: (do słuchaczy) Mój ukochany od pierwszego przesłuchania utwór 'Jezebel'... Powiedziałem, że przypomina mi trochę Franka Zappę, a Alan na to:
'''Wilder''': I came up with the idea of finding someone who could speak in a foreign language, so I decided to experiment by putting a notice on our website. Of all the people who sent me cassettes with recordings of their voices speaking in a foreign language, I liked Rosa the most. What I liked was her [vocal] timbre and the Catalan language. I thought that [this unique combination of vocal timbre and foreign language] was especially interesting, so we invited her to our studio in England and recorded the whole track.


Alan Wilder: Zdziwiło mnie to, bo ktoś już wcześniej pytał o Franka Zappę. Ale chyba wiem, dlaczego. To jedyny przypadek, kiedy złamaliśmy zasady, którymi kierowaliśmy się podczas nagrywania. Tym razem wokale powstały pierwsze. Kiedy kupiłem w komisie pewną składankę z muzyką gospel i kiedy posłuchałem jej w samochodzie, najbardziej spodobał mi się właśnie ten utwór. Słysząc te fantastyczne głosy, ten wewnętrzny niesamowity rytm, który przypominał mi jakąś bardzo wczesną odmianę rapu, natychmiast pomyślałem o nagraniu tego utworu na nasz album. W pierwotnej wersji tekst jest raczej pogodny, więc postanowiłem zmienić tę historię na bardziej mroczną. Ale najważniejsze jest to, że ta piosenka powstała inaczej niż inne utwory i przez to wyróżnia się na płycie. Dla mnie jest to utwór, który nie pasuje do całości. Wydaje mi się, że jest najbardziej komercyjną rzeczą, jaką zrobiliśmy. Nawet przez chwilę miał to być pierwszy singiel, ale zmieniliśmy zdanie, bo nie jest to reprezentacyjny utwór dla naszej płyty.
___


Paweł Kostrzewa: Pociągają cię afrykańskie rytmy, heh?


Alan Wilder: Tak. Staraliśmy się stworzyć coś w klimacie voodoo. 'Strange Hours' - ten utwór powinien przywołać atmosferę Nowego Orleanu, to podskórne, mroczne odczucie lęku, które odczuwam zawsze, gdy tam jadę. Chciałem uchwycić atmosferę tego miejsca, dlatego wykorzystałem rytmy voodoo. Każdy rodzaj muzyki jest dla mnie interesujący, także muzyka etniczna. Wszystko zależy od tego co to jest i kto ją wykonuje. Słucham tego jak innych rzeczy.
(''To the listeners'') '''Kostrzewa''': From the first listening, "[[Jezebel (Recoil song)|Jezebel]]" is my favorite track. I told him that it kind of reminds me of Frank Zappa. He said:


Paweł Kostrzewa: RECOIL jest studyjnym projektem, nigdy nie koncertowałeś. Czy również tak będzie i tym razem?
'''Wilder''': [That doesn't surprise] me, because somebody has already [made the comparison to] Frank Zappa. I think I know why. This was the only case where we broke the rules we were following during the recording [of the album]. This time, the vocals came first. I bought a gospel music mixtape in a record store, and when I listened to it in my car, I liked this particular track the most. Hearing these fantastic voices, this amazing internal rhythm that reminded me of some very early kind of rap, I immediately thought about recording this track for our album. In the original version, the lyrics are rather cheerful, so I decided to change the story for a darker tone. But the most noteworthy [aspect] is that the song was made differently than the other tracks, and so it stands out [from the other songs on the album]. It's an out-of-place track for me. It seems that it's the most commercial thing we've done. For a while it was even supposed to be a single, but we changed our mind, as it's not representative [of the rest of the] album.


Alan Wilder: Niestety tak. Nie planujemy na razie koncertów głównie dlatego, że wręcz niemożliwym byłoby zebranie wszystkich muzyków i wokalistów, którzy pojawili się na płycie. RECOIL w wersji koncertowej wymagałby zmiany formuły. Jeśli chodzi o mnie, w tej chwili wolałbym wejść do studia i nagrać kolejna płytę, ścieżkę dźwiękową do jakiegoś filmu czy coś w tym rodzaju.
'''Kostrzewa''': African rhythms speak to you, don't they?


Paweł Kostrzewa: (do słuchaczy) Uprzedzano mnie, żebym broń Boże w rozmowie z Alanem Wilderem nie mówić ani słowa o Depeche Mode, ale jednak zaryzykowałem. Troszkę go podpuściłem i powiedziałem 'skoro nagrywasz taką muzykę, to co ty przez te wszystkie lata robiłeś w Depeche Mode'?
'''Wilder''': Yes. We tried to create something of a voodoo-like atmosphere. "Strange Hours" is the track that evokes the atmosphere of New Orleans, this dark internal fear I feel whenever I go there. I wanted to capture the atmosphere of this place, which is why I used voodoo rhythms. This style of music is interesting to me, especially ethnic music. It all depends on what it is and who performs it.


Alan Wilder: Proces pracy nad piosenkami Depeche Mode znacznie różnił się od tego, jak robimy to w RECOIL. Punktem wyjścia była zawsze gotowa piosenka, mocno osadzona w ramach muzyki pop. Faza aranżacji wyglądała już raczej podobnie - obrabiane głosów i instrumentów za pomocą technologii używając komputerów, miksując to z naturalnymi bądź preparowanymi dźwiękami. I to była moja rola w Depeche Mode. W tym czasie zrozumiałem, że pisanie piosenek nie jest moją mocną stroną i że powinienem zajmować się dźwiękiem i aranżacjami - to właśnie teraz robię. Nie staram się pisać tekstów, bo wiem, że nie jestem w tym dobry.
'''Kostrzewa''': Recoil is a studio project, you've never toured. Will this trend continue with this album?


Paweł Kostrzewa: I jeszcze słowo do sympatyków RECOIL, Alana Wildera i Depeche Mode w Polsce.
'''Wilder''': Unfortunately yes. We don't have plans for concerts right now, mainly because it would simply be impossible to gather all the musicians and vocalists who appeared on the album. Recoil in a live context would require a structural change. As for myself, for now I would rather go into the studio and record another album or a film soundtrack, or something along those lines.  


Alan Wilder: (troszkę się zadumał, po czym zaczął mówić) Dostaję całkiem dużo listów i e-maili od polskich fanów i wydaje mi się, że bardzo emocjonalnie podchodzą do Depeche Mode i do RECOIL. Zawsze pytają 'dlaczego częściej nie przyjeżdżacie do Polski, dlaczego nie gracie koncertów, dlaczego był tylko jeden...' Naprawdę nie wiem, co im odpowiedzieć. Stało się tak chyba bardziej z powodów technicznych niż jakichkolwiek innych. Dzięki naszej nieoficjalnej stronie internetowej (Missing Piece? ;) - przyp. MP) wiem, że mamy sympatyków z Polski i że Polacy bardzo poważnie i bardzo emocjonalnie traktują muzykę. Mam po prostu nadzieję, że podoba im się to, co robimy, i że są w stanie dotrzeć do naszej muzyki. Otrzymuję wiele skarg, że nie można kupić naszej płyty, i to jest dla mnie czymś bardzo irytującym.
(''To the listeners'') '''Kostrzewa''': I was warned that under no circumstances should I say a word about Depeche Mode in my interview with Alan Wilder, yet I took the risk. I tricked him a little bit and asked: [as] you make such [complex] music, what where you doing all those years in Depeche Mode?
 
'''Wilder''': The process of working on Depeche Mode songs was very different from how we do it in Recoil. The starting point was always an existing song [demo], strongly focused on pop music. The arrangement stage looked quite similar, though — processing voices and instruments with technology using computers, mixing it with natural or prepared sounds. And that used to be my role in Depeche Mode. At that time I realised that writing songs isn't my thing and that I should [instead] take care of the sound and arrangements — this is what I do right now. I don't attempt to write lyrics, I know I'm not good at it.
 
'''Kostrzewa''': And a word to the fans of Recoil, Alan Wilder, and Depeche Mode in Poland.
 
'''Wilder''': I receive many letters and e-mails from Polish fans and it seems to me that they are very enthusiastic about Depeche Mode and about Recoil. They always ask me "Why don't you come to Poland more often, why don't you play concerts here, why there was only one?" I really don't know what to tell them. I suppose it's more a result of technical issues rather than anything else. Thanks to our unofficial website, I know that we have fans from Poland and that Polish fans take our music very seriously and very emotionally. I just hope that they like what we do and that they're able to find our music. I've received many complaints that [some fans have difficulty finding and purchasing] our music, and that is very irritating to me.}}
 
== Notes ==
* Translation courtesy of Suzie Grant.


[[Category:Interviews]]
[[Category:Interviews]]
[[Category:Interviews featuring Alan Wilder]]
[[Category:Interviews featuring Alan Wilder]]
[[Category:Interview articles with missing audio]]

Latest revision as of 16:51, 19 May 2020

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Notes

Alan Wilder participated in a call-in interview with Polish radio host Paweł Kostrzewa. A transcript of the interview and a related .MP3 copy of Wilder's radio greeting was originally hosted on a Polish fan site. Please feel free to contact us if you have a recording of the full interview.

  • Duration: 00:04

Audio

Audio transcript

(To the listeners) Paweł Kostrzewa: I invite you to listen to my conversation with Alan Wilder, the leader of one-man band Recoil. Alan does all of the [production] work himself and later invites various musicians, usually vocalists, to complete the rest [of the production]. Alan Wilder was a member of Depeche Mode for years, and has recorded [several] solo albums [since leaving Depeche Mode in 1995]. The latest solo album [Liquid] is extremely interesting - we have been listening to it for weeks. Today is [our] long-awaited interview. The first question we asked was about the album title Liquid, because it is a word with many meanings.

Alan Wilder: That is what I like the most, that [the word] "liquid" is so open to interpretation. The title comes from the track "Last Call for Liquid Courage" — here, "liquid" refers to alcohol, more precisely to its impact on human behaviour. But "liquid" can also relate to "adrenaline" or "blood" - all of these meanings appear in different places on the album. You can also interpret it in direct reference to the music, its "liquidity". It is truly a word of many meanings.

Kostrzewa: When I was listening to this album for the first time — and my first impression hasn't changed to this day — I got the impression that it's a concept album. After all, the album starts and ends with a two-part track called "Black Box".

Wilder: At first, "Black Box" wasn't intended as the brace for the entire album. It was only at the end of its production, after I had gathered all the lyrics written by the various contributors, that I had to find something that would connect them in some way. And then I thought about a plane crash, about someone who is onboard a plane that is about to crash in a few moments. I once witnessed a similar event — a big military aircraft was nosediving right over my head. Two pilots passed away [in that crash]. The most moving thought for me was that, for a moment, this man knew that he would die. I wondered what he was thinking at that moment — was he recalling his entire life? I thought it would be a good idea to depict all of the stories [the songs tell] as [if they were] his memories. This idea bonded the whole album together.

___


(To the listeners) Kostrzewa: I [continued to ask questions] on this topic, the connections between particular tracks, and about the entire work as a concept album.

Wilder: It's difficult for me to tell [what connections there may be between the songs] until the album is finished. When I write, I do it unconsciously, I follow my intuition. [It is] only after a certain atmosphere has formed that I [am able to] decide on the theme that seems the most appropriate, and [based on that direction], I then look for the direction [in which other songs] should go. Then, I rework the songs [to fit that direction], adjusting the voices to the music. And that is my role in Recoil. I don't tell [the contributors] what to write about, but they must allow me to adjust their voices to the music, to [create a sense of] continuity between the songs.

Kostrzewa: How were the [album] preparations conducted — was [the album produced in the usual way in that] that you wrote the music first and then you chose the lyrics and vocalists?

Wilder: Yes, that is how I usually work. The music is the foundation that tells me what kind of voice I need to create [an appropriate] atmosphere. Of course it can change over time, even quite heavily, but it must have a certain tension and atmosphere. It's during this process that I begin to adjust the voices to fit the music as best I can. Then, using modern technology, I start shaping it and often modify it [all the way through to] the final mix. It reminds me of working at a film editing table, where you can see the actors' parts and you have all the scenes you've shot in front of you. You can see how to perfectly fit [each scene] together. It's quite a similar process for me.

___


(To the listeners) Kostrzewa: Several tracks from this album made a colossal impression on me and I decided to ask Alan how they were made and what the story behind them is. [I began with] track number two - "Want".

Wilder: ["Want"] was a track I didn't have an idea for for a long time, [it was] one of the last songs we completed. Nicole Blackman started working with us quite late, so all the tracks she appears on were made at the very end. I'm not qualified to interpret her lyrics, but when I read them they seemed to [touch on] memories of an old relationship that probably fell apart. And that's when this man from the plane crash came to my mind, [as if he were] recalling somebody he once split up with.

(To the listeners) Kostrzewa: [...] The sound of the album is very modern and progressive. I would like [Alan] to tell us a little bit about it. I told him that there are some sounds that remind me of Trey Gunn or Robert Fripp. Here is what he had to say.

Wilder: I know what you mean. This is what I try to achieve using modern technology. It allows you to mix genres such as gospel and electronic or classical and rock music. For me, emotion is the most important [factor], which is often hard to create using electronics. This is why I try to mix different influences, so that everything I love in music [can be] found in what I do. As I like very different things — I may listen to classical music one minute, the next [I may listen] to techno — [these influences are what inform] the Recoil sound.

Kostrzewa: How did Diamanda Galas [come to be] on your album?

Wilder: Diamanda Galas [is a fellow act on] Mute. I've come across her a few times, but I've never had a chance to meet her. When working on "Strange Hours" — a song with a strong bluesy feeling, I thought about her. Remembering her earlier work, I knew that she often sang on songs [with similar] blues and gospel [vibes]. I called and asked her if she's interested in working with us — I did so with everybody who appeared on this album. I was sending the songs to them on CD and asked for their thoughts on the music.

Kostrzewa: And the girl from Spain — your fan from Catalonia?

Wilder: I came up with the idea of finding someone who could speak in a foreign language, so I decided to experiment by putting a notice on our website. Of all the people who sent me cassettes with recordings of their voices speaking in a foreign language, I liked Rosa the most. What I liked was her [vocal] timbre and the Catalan language. I thought that [this unique combination of vocal timbre and foreign language] was especially interesting, so we invited her to our studio in England and recorded the whole track.

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(To the listeners) Kostrzewa: From the first listening, "Jezebel" is my favorite track. I told him that it kind of reminds me of Frank Zappa. He said:

Wilder: [That doesn't surprise] me, because somebody has already [made the comparison to] Frank Zappa. I think I know why. This was the only case where we broke the rules we were following during the recording [of the album]. This time, the vocals came first. I bought a gospel music mixtape in a record store, and when I listened to it in my car, I liked this particular track the most. Hearing these fantastic voices, this amazing internal rhythm that reminded me of some very early kind of rap, I immediately thought about recording this track for our album. In the original version, the lyrics are rather cheerful, so I decided to change the story for a darker tone. But the most noteworthy [aspect] is that the song was made differently than the other tracks, and so it stands out [from the other songs on the album]. It's an out-of-place track for me. It seems that it's the most commercial thing we've done. For a while it was even supposed to be a single, but we changed our mind, as it's not representative [of the rest of the] album.

Kostrzewa: African rhythms speak to you, don't they?

Wilder: Yes. We tried to create something of a voodoo-like atmosphere. "Strange Hours" is the track that evokes the atmosphere of New Orleans, this dark internal fear I feel whenever I go there. I wanted to capture the atmosphere of this place, which is why I used voodoo rhythms. This style of music is interesting to me, especially ethnic music. It all depends on what it is and who performs it.

Kostrzewa: Recoil is a studio project, you've never toured. Will this trend continue with this album?

Wilder: Unfortunately yes. We don't have plans for concerts right now, mainly because it would simply be impossible to gather all the musicians and vocalists who appeared on the album. Recoil in a live context would require a structural change. As for myself, for now I would rather go into the studio and record another album or a film soundtrack, or something along those lines.

(To the listeners) Kostrzewa: I was warned that under no circumstances should I say a word about Depeche Mode in my interview with Alan Wilder, yet I took the risk. I tricked him a little bit and asked: [as] you make such [complex] music, what where you doing all those years in Depeche Mode?

Wilder: The process of working on Depeche Mode songs was very different from how we do it in Recoil. The starting point was always an existing song [demo], strongly focused on pop music. The arrangement stage looked quite similar, though — processing voices and instruments with technology using computers, mixing it with natural or prepared sounds. And that used to be my role in Depeche Mode. At that time I realised that writing songs isn't my thing and that I should [instead] take care of the sound and arrangements — this is what I do right now. I don't attempt to write lyrics, I know I'm not good at it.

Kostrzewa: And a word to the fans of Recoil, Alan Wilder, and Depeche Mode in Poland.

Wilder: I receive many letters and e-mails from Polish fans and it seems to me that they are very enthusiastic about Depeche Mode and about Recoil. They always ask me "Why don't you come to Poland more often, why don't you play concerts here, why there was only one?" I really don't know what to tell them. I suppose it's more a result of technical issues rather than anything else. Thanks to our unofficial website, I know that we have fans from Poland and that Polish fans take our music very seriously and very emotionally. I just hope that they like what we do and that they're able to find our music. I've received many complaints that [some fans have difficulty finding and purchasing] our music, and that is very irritating to me.

Notes

  • Translation courtesy of Suzie Grant.
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