“I WOULD not have bet on the chances of me making an electronic instrumental album,” Martin Gore laughs.
I’m chatting to the Depeche Mode songwriter from his home in Santa Barbara, California, about MG, his first original solo album of stunning electronic instrumental tracks.
Writing for MG started during the songwriting sessions for Depeche Mode’s 13th album Delta Machine.
Gore explains: “Funnily enough, over the years we’ve recorded and put out a lot of instrumentals as a band.
“It’s only really this time round with Dave (Gahan, the band’s lead singer) writing as well, we had so many songs between us that there was too much material.
“So that’s why I got stuck with these instrumentals. It was good to make a full album as I’d never put them out as a piece of art, just in little snippets here and there.”
Another surprise for Gore is that MG is set to be a high new entry in Sunday’s chart.
“I wasn’t setting out to make an album that was going to set the charts alight,” he says.
“After all, it’s an atmospheric instrumental album.
Martin's latest offering
“It’s not like it’s a dance album or anything. If it does reasonably well it would be unexpected.”
Gore says the 16 futuristic tracks all have a sci-fi theme and that the music “is very filmic”. Composing a movie soundtrack would be something he would consider, if the right film came along.
“A good sci-fi film would be top of my list.
“But it would have to come along at the right time because while the band still exists and we are still putting material out and touring, we have quite a lot of commitment.
“Even though we only put an album out every four years or so, there is still a writing, a recording and then touring process and so we don’t get that much time off.
“So it would really have to be the right director with the right film coming along at the right time.”
The impressive collection changes moods from track to track and Gore says it was very important that each one had “its own, different atmosphere.”
He says: “I wanted to make it very different to the VCMG project (the 2012 album Gore made with original Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke).
“I didn’t want it to be a techno album though I bet that’s what some fans were expecting.
“I wanted to make it quite different so that’s why there are extremes such as Exalt, which really has no structure and is quite manic. And Elk, which is a nice little piece of peace and quiet.”
Unlike the world tours Gore embarks on with Depeche Mode, he says there’ll be no live shows for MG.
“I’ve been joking about doing something at a planetarium,” he laughs. “But no, I really don’t see this as being a live album.
“I couldn’t imagine anything more boring!”
So with no solo tour plans, what lies ahead for Gore now this project is over? “I am back to writing songs again now,” he says.
“I only started writing again recently and I suppose the ultimate goal would be to pen some songs for the band.
“We don’t have any concrete plans at the moment. Nothing is set in stone and we don’t have any schedules.
“If we were to work in the same pattern that we have over the last, God knows how many years, I suppose our plan would be to go into the studio sometime next year and release an album some point in 2017.
“That is just my guesswork at the moment without speaking to the others.”
And how often does he speak to his band mates when they are on a break? “We do talk, but not all the time,” Gore admits.
“I probably speak to Dave two or three times a year, not very much and Andy (Fletcher) a little bit more.
“But we are off doing different things and we all live in different parts of the world.
“When all of us do get together to work we are living on top of each other, usually for two years.
“So by the end, we have a break from each other.”
And does he ever think it could be the last album from them as a band?
“Yes but I’ve thought that since Black Celebration (the band’s fifth album released in 1986). It’s just the way that I think.
“I don’t take things for granted. Who knows what the future holds?”
But he adds: “At the same time, I’d like it not to be our last album. I think we have more in us.
“And solo-wise? I keep getting asked about a Counterfeit 3 (a second album of cover songs following his 2003 Counterfeit² album and his Counterfeit EP released in 1989).
“So that might come out in the next break or that might come out in 2030 when I am God knows how old.
“I just want to keep surprising people as then that keeps me on my toes.”
Az eredeti cikk az alábbi helyeken olvasható:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/6436164/Depeche-Mode-Martin-Gore-on-new-album-MG.html
