1981-12-xx 2JJJ, Sydney, Australia

Notes

Pam Swain interviewed Dave Gahan and Andy Fletcher for the Australian radio channel 2JJJ (later on called Triple J). Presumably this interview would have taken place somewhere in the UK, and judging by the "we had our jobs until about six months ago" part, this would have been recorded around December 1981. The interview was uploaded, in interspersed segments, on Triple J's website for an hour long special in 2023. Those segments have been cut out and re-uploaded below, along with a transcript.

• Duration: 06:10 minutes

Audio

Transcript

Pam Swain: Depeché Mode is "fast forward" on a French tape recorder. It's actually pronounced "Depeche". It means to go forward quickly, hurrying fashion. Why did you choose that name and why did you decide to call it Depeché Mode?

Dave Gahan: We just like the way it sounded. Depeché sounded nice to us.

Pam Swain: Say it again, because we say "g'day".

Dave Gahan: Depeché.

Pam Swain: Yeah.

[...]

Dave Gahan: We formed about two years ago and we started rehearsing. And then we got a few gigs around Basildon. And from there, we made a demo. And we took that around record companie, which was turned down by a lot of record companies. We got a few gigs from that demo. And there we were seen by bigger record companies, such as Island, PhonoGram, CBS. And they came after us offering us huge amounts of money, and saying "We'll give you this, we'll give you that."

Pam Swain: Did you believe them or did you see them as wicked step mothers?

Dave Gahan: Yeah, we saw them as people with a lot of money to throw around, but we didn't really believe in what was going on. And so, Daniel came along and he offered us no money. He just offered us a single. He'd do his best to get it in the charts, and all this. And we believed in Daniel. So we went with Daniel, released 'Dreaming Of Me', which was out in February. We released New Life in June, which was our first big hit. And then 'Just Can't Get Enough' in September, and that was our biggest hit.

[...]

Pam Swain: Now, Andy, you play synthesizer. Now, what did you play originally? Because Depeche Mode did once play regular instruments. I mean, you started off in that traditional kind of rock and roll thing.

Andy Fletcher: Not really.

Pam Swain: Oh, didn't you ever do that?

Andy Fletcher: We did have a bass guitar and a rhythm guitar, but we never had a drummer.

Hey, why didn't you ever have a drummer?

Andy Fletcher: Didn't know one. Didn't know one.

Pam Swain: What about the story of having to rehearse? I really enjoyed that. The story of having to rehearse in your mum's house, somebody's mum's house, and she hated the noise, and it wasn't easy not to have any noise. Is that true?

Andy Fletcher: Yeah, we didn't have any [place] in Basildon and there's nowhere to rehearse really. We didn't have a car or a van, so we couldn't [travel]. [We] didn't have any amps. So we had to rehearse in a bedroom.

Pam Swain: Okay, so what did you use for your rhythm?

Andy Fletcher: We had various drum machines, you know, that go clippity clop, and plip, plip, plip, plip. They weren't very powerful, and it was never the strong point of the band. The thing was, even if we'd got a drummer, we didn't have any transport anyway. We hate drum sound checks and that, so there's no way we could ever drum. We didn't ever want any one anyway. It's just another person to pay.

Dave Gahan: It was just about all we could afford as we were, with the four of us. I mean, to take on another person would mean buying a van, and, you know, it's just so much hassle.

[...]

Pam Swain: When you changed from playing rhythm guitar and bass guitar to synthesisers. What was the thinking of that?

Andy Fletcher: It's easier to play really, it's more practical.

Pam Swain: It means easier to pack it up and put it away and trot off somewhere.

Dave Gahan: Also it's easier to play. It's not as hard, using your fingers. You don't have to use your fingers so much. You can just go like that. I mean, most of the things that we play are more or less like that anyway.

Pam Swain: I see, this is Speak And Spell, like that little computer Speak And Spell. Is that why you got 'Speak And Spell' for the title of the album?

Dave Gahan: Yeah it's simple, and seemed like a good name to put to the album. It is the album, really. Simple.

Pam Swain: Simple. The album is simple. Depeche Mode is simple.

[...]

Dave Gahan: It's good because it's just pop music and people are accepting it as pop music and they're not really going into the music and saying, "Oh, I'm going to see these because they're really into the bomb, and they're really into unemployment," or something like that. They're just accepting it as pop music and they're just enjoying it with us, which is really good.

Pam Swain: Are you concerned politically or not?

Dave Gahan: Not really. Obviously we might say, "Oh, I think conservatives are better than Labour," or something, but there's nothing that you'd go into and start writing songs about it. It's a personal thing. Nothing's going to change any political thing. If you write a song about something, people might buy that record, but they're not going to change, just because they listen to a record.

[...]

Pam Swain: so what accents have you got?

Dave Gahan: I don't know, really. Basildonian.

Pam Swain: Basildon is like a new town. High rise.

Dave Gahan: It's only been built about 20 years ago.

Andy Fletcher: It's not high rise, though. It's just a council of states.

Dave Gahan: General factories and all that.

Andy Fletcher: It's not really high flats. It's not many high flats and things. It's just modern estates. Concrete jungle.

Pam Swain: Good place to grow up?

Dave Gahan: Yes it's okay. It's alright. I've always loved the place. I've always liked Basildon. It's alright. It's just outside London. So if you want to go to London to enjoy yourself, it's only half an hour on the train.

Pam Swain: What sort of music is there in Basildon? Are there places to go to listen to music?

Dave Gahan: No.

Pam Swain: What music do you like, Depeché Mode?

Dave Gahan: All sorts of music, really. Ranging from David Bowie to DAF, Iggy Pop and all sorts of singles, general singles. There's no particular kind... Simple minds. Human League, Soft Cell. Listening to music obviously influences you in the way that you'd like to get up and do it yourself, like being on a record. But I don't think it influences you musically, listening to that and say, "Oh I really like the sound of that. I'd like to get that sound on my synthesizer."

[...]

Pam Swain: So does that mean you're rich pop stars now? Is that your dream?

Dave Gahan: No, we haven't had our royalties yet.

Andy Fletcher: We haven't had our royalties yet. Never had an advance, you see. We didn't take an advance because we were on a small label. So, we just lived off gigs, and we had our jobs until about six months ago.

Pam Swain: So what did you do as a regular job?

Andy Fletcher: I was an assurance clerk. I worked in the actuarial department.

Pam Swain: Uh-huh. And what about you, Dave?

Dave Gahan: I was at college, studying fashion design and retail display.