Some encounters stay with you. When I briefly met Robert Görl backstage at the Elevate Festival in Graz in 2019, it was just a fleeting moment – yet a special one. It was one of the last opportunities to experience him live together with Gabi Delgado-López as Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft.

A year earlier, Robert had sent me a signed drumstick – used on stage at Berlin’s Waldbühne, where DAF performed as support for Depeche Mode. A beautiful, almost symbolic connection – not least because Martin Gore has long been one of DAF’s greatest admirers.

Today, Robert Görl begins a new chapter. Together with producer and DJ icon Sylvie Marks, he launches a project under the name GÖRL – one that does not copy the past, but transforms it: uncompromising, reduced, yet full of emotion.

Their debut album Dark Silver Moon Light will be released on May 29, 2026 via Grönland Records.

GÖRL interview

Reflection & New Beginning

SL: Robert, when you look back on that time today – especially the last concerts with Gabi – what has stayed with you the most? And what has changed for you personally and artistically since the posthumously released album Nur Noch Einer?

Robert: The last concerts with Gabi were a very beautiful time. We celebrated our DAF hits together with the audience – and our 40-year musical career. Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft was our life’s work, incomparable to anything else.

Since Gabi’s death, I’ve been working with Sylvie Marks. She also helped me produce the album NUR NOCH EINER. From that point on, a new energy came into play – also because Sylvie, as a woman, brought something new into it. I think Gabi would have liked that, because in a certain way it is also provocative. The band with Gabi was very male-dominated.

GÖRL – How it all began

SL: Robert, how did the name GÖRL come about, and what led to the decision not to continue under the name DAF?

Robert: The name GÖRL emerged after the farewell album Nur noch einer – and there was a reason for that. We originally wanted to continue under the name DAF.

But then Gabi Delgado’s widow told us that she is now also DAF. Although she is not a musician and had never been to a DAF concert, she wanted – through legal means – to have a say in our new work and to profit from it, even though she had nothing to do with it.

That was a no-go for us, and it was time for a new band name so we could continue working independently and freely.

Finding each other

SL: Sylvie & Robert, how did you two find each other (again)? Was this project conceived as an equal collaboration from the beginning, or did it develop organically?

GÖRL: We first met in 2019 on the subway in Berlin. A friendship developed quite quickly from that. Sylvie then organized a studio for DAF with the artist HAL9000 – that’s where they wanted to record their new album.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen because Gabi passed away in March 2020.

After that, we sat down together and produced the farewell song Ich denk an dich from Robert’s sequences and his drumming. During that process, we realized that we work very well together – it immediately clicked, both musically and personally.

Our collaboration still brings us a lot of joy today. Equality is something we take for granted.

Creative dynamics

SL: Who brings in which impulses? And how would you describe your shared language – more intuitive, conceptual, or experimental?

GÖRL: We are intuitive, conceptual and experimental – and honestly, much more than that. There are no fixed roles between us. Impulses come from both sides: sometimes it’s a rhythm, sometimes a sound, sometimes just a feeling.

Our lyrics emerge from our reality – from what we encounter in our lives, or from images that we translate into music.

Our shared language is open and flexible. We like the unconventional, the edgy, the nonconformist. We’re not interested in fulfilling expectations, but in opening spaces where something unique can emerge.

“Irgendwann ist jetzt” – Time & urgency

SL: In the song you sing: “Now is someday, and someday is now… please stay with me.” Is this more of a personal moment between two people – or does it also carry a universal idea about time, transience and postponing life?

GÖRL: “Now is someday, and someday is now” means that we often believe we still have time. That we postpone things – feelings, decisions, closeness.

And at some point, we realize that this very moment is exactly what we meant.

The phrase “please stay with me” gains a different weight. It’s not just about one person, but also about holding on to the present. About understanding that time is not infinite – and that life happens right now.

“So wie du bist” – Intimacy & vulnerability

SL: “I want to see everything, just the way you are.” The song feels both direct and fragile at the same time. How important was this balance between physical closeness and emotional openness to you?

GÖRL: This balance is very important to us. Closeness is not only physical for us, but always emotional as well.

“To see you as you are” means truly seeing someone – without masks, without protection.

The song is very strong and intense, one of our favorite tracks. It powerfully expresses that you should be who you are – without adapting or holding back.

The directness in the song is almost physical, but there is also vulnerability within it. Showing yourself as you are requires courage. And that’s exactly where the song exists.

“Falscher Ton” – Attitude

SL: “The wrong note is the right note.” Is this something like an artistic manifesto for you? And how much does this idea still connect to the early concepts of DAF?

Sylvie: The “wrong note” is for us the moment where something breaks open – where it becomes interesting, where it comes alive.

We deliberately work with friction, with things that may not be “correct” in the classical sense. But that’s exactly where truth and expression lie for us.

Through Robert’s electronic signature, this also connects to DAF. Our attitude remains the same: going against conventions, leaving things raw, not smoothing them out.

“Don’t Stay At Home” – Reduction

SL: The song feels almost like a mantra: “Come with me, don’t stay alone at home.”
Was this reduction intentional – as an invitation, an escape, or both?

GÖRL: For us, it’s an invitation, but also an impulse from the moment. It can be an escape, yes – but also a movement forward, out of stagnation, out of your head.

We like this clarity. Sometimes you don’t need big explanations – just one sentence that sets something in motion.

Title track – longing & projection

SL: “I want to go to her… is it possible for me to reach her?” Is this figure real, symbolic – or exactly that: something you can never fully reach?

GÖRL: This figure is intentionally left open. It is neither purely real nor purely symbolic – rather something in between.

It works strongly with longing. The desire for closeness, for connection – but also for something that might remain out of reach.

It never resolves completely. It can be a person, a feeling, a memory – or something unattainable. Maybe that’s exactly why it is so powerful.

“Der Fluss” – Nature & movement

SL: “You are the river… nothing can stop you.” Robert, your connection to nature is well known – Sylvie, does that apply to you as well? And is this song more a metaphor for freedom or for one’s life path?

Robert: Yes, absolutely. Nature is something that always accompanies me. I perceive it very directly – as rhythm, as energy, as movement. It always gives me strength.

“The river” is for us an image of constant movement. Nothing stands still, nothing can truly be held onto – everything is in flux.

Water is one of the most important elements on Earth, and we ourselves consist largely of it. It cannot be stopped.

“You are the river… nothing can stop you” describes exactly that state: a force that keeps moving forward, even when facing resistance. For us, it’s a symbol of life.

“Wir brechen aus” – Breaking cycles

SL: “Trapped in a cycle… and breaking out.” Is this a theme that has always accompanied you – or does it gain new meaning in today’s world?

GÖRL: It’s about feeling trapped in patterns, expectations or social structures – and at the same time having the urge to break out.

Today, this feeling becomes even sharper. Everything is faster, tighter, more visible. That makes the desire for freedom and independence even stronger.

“Bänder im Haar” – Small images

SL: The song feels like a snapshot. What fascinates you about these small, fleeting images – and why can they say so much?

GÖRL: These small images often carry great power because they don’t explain – they suggest.

They are like snapshots that open something instead of defining it.

“Bänder im Haar” works exactly like that – it creates space for interpretation.

“Spiel mit mir” – Reduction & instinct

SL: “Play with me… fight with me… sleep with me.” The song is raw, direct and almost childlike in structure. Was this a playful approach – or a deliberate reduction?

GÖRL: There is something cheeky and punk-like in its attitude. It’s not about explaining anything – it simply exists as energy, as an offer, as friction. Completely unfiltered.

“Es ist nie zu spät” – Ending or beginning?

SL: “Take my hand… it’s never too late.” Is this a reconciliatory ending – or perhaps a new beginning?

GÖRL: It’s both. It’s about trust – about breaking out of loneliness, about not staying alone.

About reaching out to each other – in harmony, balance and peace.

For us, it creates something very concrete: the possibility to start anew, to become stronger together.

Sound aesthetics & references

SL: Some moments atmospherically recall artists like David Bowie. Are such references intentional – or do they arise intuitively?

Sylvie: It has been noted before that Robert Görl’s voice sometimes has a certain closeness to David Bowie.

At the same time, it is clearly his own voice – with its own unique character.

If it occasionally reminds people of Bowie, we take it as a compliment.

GÖRL vs. DAF

SL: Robert, how does GÖRL differ from your work with DAF – emotionally and artistically? And what do you carry forward from that time, including Gabi’s legacy?

Robert: GÖRL is a new space for me – emotionally and artistically. It’s less about looking back, more about what is happening now.

Of course, there are connections to DAF: the energy, the directness, the reduction. But GÖRL is more open, perhaps more personal in a different way.

It allows for development, new influences, and for what happens between us.

What I carry forward is an attitude: to be uncompromising, to get to the point, and not to conform.

And of course, the memory of Gabi remains.

Looking ahead

SL: Is GÖRL intended as a long-term project? And will we be able to experience these songs live?

GÖRL: Yes, GÖRL is definitely a long-term project. It’s not a one-time moment, but something that can grow and evolve.

And yes, these songs are meant for the stage. They live through energy, directness and the special tension of the live moment.

We can absolutely imagine bringing this music to the stage – perhaps even in a different form than expected.

With GÖRL, Robert Görl and Sylvie Marks open a new chapter – one that carries the essence of past decades without standing still. It is music that appears minimal, yet speaks volumes. And perhaps, in the end, it is exactly that “wrong note” that turns out to be the only right one.

© JJanurik

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(By Janos Janurik) Following recent misleading reports suggesting the end of Erasure, it has been officially clarified that Vince Clarke and Andy Bell continue to work together on new material. The duo is currently in the studio and already discussing possible touring scenarios for the upcoming release. While concrete details are still under wraps, one thing is certain: Erasure are far from finished. In the meantime, the spotlight shifts to Vince Clarke himself – with a comprehensive remix collection highlighting a different side of his work.

About ‘Remix/Remodel – The Vince Clarke Remixes’

If there is one name synonymous with the history of synth-pop, it is Vince Clarke. As a founding member of Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and Erasure, he has shaped generations of electronic music fans.

With “Remix/Remodel – The Vince Clarke Remixes”, he now turns the focus to a facet of his career that often remains in the background: his work as a remixer.

This double CD collection brings together 26 remixes Clarke has created over the years for a wide range of artists – all personally selected for this official release. Rather than a simple retrospective, the compilation offers a deeper look into his production style beyond his own projects.

The album will be released on June 26, 2026 via Cherry Red Records.

Among the highlights:

• many of these remixes are available on physical format for the first time 
• the cover features Clarke’s cat Smudge, photographed by the artist himself 
• liner notes are provided by music writer Richard Evans 

The collection spans an impressive range of collaborators, including Depeche Mode, OMD, Johnny Marr, Saint Etienne, Soft Cell, and Happy Mondays.

A particularly notable inclusion is the previously unreleased “Isolation (Vince Clarke Remix)” by Abazaba feat. Gogol Bordello, a reinterpretation of the classic by Joy Division.

Of course, with a catalogue as extensive as Clarke’s, fans may find themselves wishing for additional selections – such as remixes for Nitzer Ebb or Polly Scattergood. Still, the final tracklist presents a compelling and well-balanced overview of his remix work.

‘Remix/Remodel – The Vince Clarke Remixes’ tracklist:

Disc One

1. Happy Mondays – W.F.L. (Vince Clarke Remix)
2. Chad Valley – Up & Down (Vince Clarke Remix)
3. The Saturdays – Issues (Vince Clarke Club Mix)
4. Blossoms – To Do List (After The Breakup) feat. Findlay (Vince Clarke Remix)
5. Johnny Marr – Spirit Power And Soul (Vince Clarke Remix)
6. James Yorkston – A Moment Longer feat. Nina Persson (Vince Clarke Remix)
7. YOVA – Rain (Vince Clarke Remix)
8. Soft Cell – Bedsitter (Erasure Remix)
9. A Place To Bury Strangers – In Your Heart (Vince Clarke Remix)
10. Bleachers – I Wanna Get Better (Vince Clarke Remix)
11. Andy Bell – Dance For Mercy (Vince Clarke Remix)
12. Hifi Sean & David McAlmont – Real Thoughts In Real Time (Vince Clarke Remix)
13. Dido – End of Night – (Vince Clarke Remix)

Disc Two

1. Depeche Mode – Behind The Wheel (Vince Clarke Remix)
2. Fujiya & Miyagi – Fear Of Missing Out (Vince Clarke Remix)
3. Franz Ferdinand – No You Girls (Vince Clarke Remix)
4. Abazaba feat. Gogol Bordello – Isolation (Vince Clarke Remix)
5. Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Almost (Vince Clarke Remix)
6. James Yorkston – Shallow (Vince Clarke Remix)
7. Saint Etienne – Blue Kite (Vince Clarke Remix)
8. Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development – A Shared Sense Of Purpose (Vince Clarke Remix)
9. Future Islands – Doves (Vince Clarke Remix)
10. Reed & Caroline – Electrons (Vince Clarke Remix)
11. Dubfire & Miss Kittin – Ride (Vince Clarke Remix)
12. Alka – Faito (Vince Clarke Remix)
13. VCMG – Aftermaths (Vince Clarke Remix)

With “Remix/Remodel – The Vince Clarke Remixes”, attention turns once again to a sometimes overlooked yet essential aspect of Vince Clarke’s work: his role as a remixer. The collection demonstrates just how timeless and adaptable his sound remains across different artists and eras – and why his influence on electronic pop music continues to resonate today.

“Remix/Remodel – The Vince Clarke Remixes” will be released on June 26, 2026 as a special 2-CD set via Cherry Red Records and is available for pre-order now at Lexer Music. Additional retailers, including Cherry Red, will follow in the coming days.

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(Interview by Janos Janurik) After seven years, The Twilight Sad return with their most personal album to date – shaped by loss, resilience, and a deep creative bond with Robert Smith.

After a seven-year absence, The Twilight Sad return with It’s The Long Goodbye – an album born out of personal loss, mental health struggles, and the quiet strength it takes to carry on when life becomes overwhelming.

At its core lies a deeply human story. Frontman James Graham processes the illness and passing of his mother, while guitarist and producer Andy MacFarlane crafts a sonic landscape that moves between fragile intimacy and towering emotional intensity. The result is arguably the The Twilight Sad’s most direct and vulnerable work to date – less metaphor, more truth.

The new The Twilight Sad album was written over several years, with ideas exchanged during lockdown and gradually taking shape. A key figure in this process was Robert Smith of The Cure, who contributed not only musically but also creatively from an early stage – offering feedback, encouragement, and ultimately performing on multiple tracks.

It’s The Long Goodbye is also about endurance, connection, and the strange duality of darkness and light that defines both life and music.

We spoke with The Twilight Sadabout influences, grief, collaboration, and the realities of being an independent artist in 2026.

Interview with The Twilight Sad

Q: Listening to the new The Twilight Sad album, I was struck by how strongly it captures the atmosphere of classic dark alternative and post-punk music. At times it reminded me of the spirit of bands such as Joy Division, The Mission, The Sisters of Mercy, and from a later generation groups like Editors or Cold Cave. When you first started making music, which artists had the biggest influence on you?

Andy MacFarlane: When we first started we were mixing a lot of stuff together, like Sonic Youth, The Cure, Wire, The Flaming Lips, Mogwai, Arab Strap, Pavement, Daniel Johnston, Factory Records etc. We weren’t deliberately trying to sound like a particular band or genre, it was more like we were trying to be the thread that joined all our influences together.

Q: To me, Waiting For The Phone Call feels like one of the strongest songs on the album. If I were a radio DJ, it would definitely be in heavy rotation. It is also your first single in six years, and it features Robert Smith from The Cure. If you don’t mind revisiting the story: how did this collaboration come about, especially considering that he ended up contributing to several songs on the album?

Andy MacFarlane: Robert was involved at the early stages of writing the album, we’d send him demos and he’d give us feedback and suggestions. We had a night in a London Studio, with Robert and Mike Hedges, going through the demos. Robert was playing my acoustic guitar, and said he wanted to play guitar on the album, so I kept reminding/annoying him every week until we recorded the album.

Q: The Twilight Sad has previously toured with The Cure, and you will also be performing with them again this year. What was your reaction to their recent Grammy recognition? Do you think darker alternative music like the kind you create receives enough attention in today’s music landscape, or could moments like this help bring more focus to the genre?

James Graham: We’ve never been part of the music world when it comes to Awards or Award Ceremony’s. It’s just not something that’s entered our worlds or is something that we strive for. The biggest award in music is the people who you create a community with and come to the gigs/connect with your music. The Cure’s last album was a masterpiece and so inspirational for anyone like me. I don’t know what awards it received but it deserves all of the awards. When you receive a message or email from someone that says “this album helped me through something or made me see I’m not alone” that is the biggest award in the music industry. Real music will always reach the right people if it wins awards or not.

Q: The press material mentions that the album was deeply influenced by the illness and passing of your mother. In some ways this echoes the personal losses that Robert Smith has also processed through his music. Have you ever spoken with him about dealing with grief through songwriting, or does your relationship mostly stay within the musical sphere?

James Graham: We’ve spoken about all things life & death and everything about our music/how his music has inspired us to do what we do. When we would hang out after the gigs we’d just speak about the gig that night, the crowd, bands we loved, bands we didn’t love. It was just like being backstage with numerous bands over the years, but obviously completely different and completely amazing to be with someone we both love and respect. He’s our friend and then you talk about the important things in life with true friends and he is very much an amazing friend.

Q: One thing that really struck me in an interview was the idea that this new The Twilight Sad album came partly from the need to appear strong in situations where you don’t actually feel strong. While listening to Back To Fourteen, I was reminded of how, as teenagers, darker and melancholic themes in music can feel strangely romantic – but later in life, when personal loss becomes real, those same themes take on a very different meaning. Has your own relationship with darker music changed over the years in a similar way?

James Graham: I still tend to gravitate toward the darker side of art, music, film but since being very ill with my mental health, I have started to lean into things that make me happy. My children are giving me a second childhood in a way, discovering things through their eyes is a beautiful thing. I love dark arty kind of movies but I also love big stupid blockbuster movies. I love escapism, being able to get out of your own head and disappear into different worlds and adventures is something I truly love. I also love good pop music, I think writing a good pop song is probably one of the hardest things to do in music it’s something I haven’t done or attempted yet. I think it’s more of a balance now, I’ve let the dark in for so many years that I think it’s time to let some of the light in.

Q: One of the darkest and most melancholic moments on the album for me is Dead Flowers. Do you see it in any way as a tribute to the masters of melancholic alternative music, perhaps even artists like The Cure?

Andy MacFarlane: There’s definitely a lot of similarities with The Cure on this song, I’ve got their back catalogue imprinted in my brain through all the gigs we’ve played together, so it comes out in our music sometimes. It was all based around the drum pattern, I wanted to give it a lot of space, and once I had the bass line it came together very quickly, the guitar/synth melodies were improvised in a couple of takes when I was demoing it.

Q: If I had to choose another potential single from the album, Inhospitable/Hospital would definitely be one of my picks. Do you have personal favourite tracks from the album yourselves?

James Graham: Get Away From It All is the first song I remember writing for the album. It encapsulates everything that I was feeling at the time of writing it and musically I love what Andy created.

Q: The Twilight Sad will be touring across the UK and Europe this spring, followed by several shows as special guests of The Cure during the summer. Among the upcoming concerts, the three shows at Berlin’s Wuhlheide seem particularly exciting. Are there specific cities or venues on this tour that you are especially looking forward to?

James Graham: I’m really looking forward to all our German dates. Germany has really embraced what we do since our first album. Berlin is a city with such a rich musical history, I can’t wait for our own gig and the 3 nights with The Cure in the summer. There isn’t a gig that I’m not looking forward to, though, I can’t wait to be in a room with like minded emotional people. Our hometown gigs at The Glasgow Barrowlands will be incredibly special. The Barrowlands is the best venue in the world and my mother’s grandfather helped lay the famous wooden dance floor many many years ago so I have some family history inside that building.

Q: The album title It’s The Long Goodbye carries a very strong emotional weight. What does that phrase mean to you personally?

James Graham: Anyone who has experienced dementia in someone they love or any of the other horrific degenerative diseases out there they will know that you say goodbye to the person you love so many times before they leave, hence The Long Goodbye.

Q: This is the first The Twilight Sad album in seven years. What has changed the most for you as musicians during that time?

James Graham: It’s harder to tour, everything is going up in price and the artists are the ones that suffer because the price of things go up but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the artists fees are going up as well, I’m pretty sure across all types of music it’s the same story. Streaming, a great thing for consumers but again artists suffer, people seem to be ok spending £5 on a coffee that lasts for minutes but not £8-10 on an album that will be with you for the rest of your life. Vinyl sales are up because of big pop stars, which is amazing, but that success and momentum isn’t as true in the independent market which desperately needs a boost. I think we’re losing a lot of talented people to other professions because there’s no clear way of making a career out of being an artist. Artists need to be nurtured and given time to develop. Just look at us..6 albums in 20 years and it’s still a daily battle to keep this alive.

Editor’s note: With ‘It’s The Long Goodbye’, The Twilight Sad have created more than just another album, it handles survival, friendship, and emotional honesty. It’s also a reminder that even in the darkest moments, music can still offer connection – and, sometimes, a way forward.

The Twilight Sad – Headline shows

The live lineup shown in 2026 includes Simone Butler on bass and Cat Myers on drums.

• 12.04. IT-Mailand, Legend Club
• 14.04. CH-Zürich, Bogen F15.04. München, Ampere16.04. Berlin, Gretchen, Gretchen18.04. DK-Kopenhagen, Loppen
• 19.04. NO-Oslo, Parkteateret
• 20.04. SE-Stockholm, Slaktkyrkan
• 22.04. Hamburg, Grünspan23.04. NL-Utrecht, Tivolivredenburg Pandora Hall
• 25.04. Köln, Gebäude 926.04. BE-Brüssel, Rotonde – Botanique
• 27.04. FR–Paris, Le Trabendo
• 29.04. UK-Bristol, Electric Bristol
• 30.04. UK-London, Roundhouse
• 02.05. UK-Manchester, New Century Hall
• 03.05. UK-Newcastle upon Tyne, Boiler Shop
• 05.05. UK-Glasgow, Barrowlands
• 06.05. UK-Glasgow, Barrowlands
• 09.05. IE-Dublin, Button Factory
• 24.07. UK-Deer Shed Festival

On tour with The Cure:14.06. IT-Florenz, Visarno Arena

• 24.06. UK-Cardiff, Blackweir Fields
• 26.06. IE-Dublin, Marley Park
• 28.06. NI-Belfast, Belsonic
• 08.07. SK-Pohoda festival
• 10.07. Berlin, Wuhlheide11.07. Berlin, Wuhlheide12.07. Berlin, Wuhlheide

About The Twilight Sad

The Twilight Sad are a Scottish post-punk and indie rock band from Kilsyth, Lanarkshire, formed in 2003. The group was founded by James Graham and Andy MacFarlane and is now centered on that duo, with Graham on vocals and lyrics and MacFarlane on guitar, instrumentation, and songwriting.

They first released the EP “The Twilight Sad” in 2006, then followed with the studio albums “Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters” (2007), “Forget the Night Ahead” (2009), “No One Can Ever Know” (2012), “Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave” (2014), and “It Won/t Be Like This All the Time” (2019). The band released music through Fat Cat Records until 2018, then moved to Rock Action Records.

In 2025, The Twilight Sad became a duo, and in 2026 they returned with their sixth studio album, “It’s the Long Goodbye”, released on March 27 through Rock Action Records.

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(By our correspondent Janos Janurik) On 24 April, Mortality Tables, the record label specialising in fine electronic music, is set to delight Alka fans with a fantastic collection of remixes.

“Gravity” is a collection of remixes derived from the tracks of “The Magnitude Weighs Heavy”, the 2025 album by the Philadelphia-based producer Alka.

This compilation unveils fresh dimensions and routes within the original pieces and includes remixes from Alka’s collaborators Vince Clarke, Scanner, Veryan, Pascal Gabriel (Stubbleman), Gareth Jones and Simon Fisher Turner, among others.

Additionally, Gravity includes remixes of ‘Scrapple’ from his 2020 album for Vince Clarke’s VeryRecords, titled “Regarding the Auguries”. The collection is rounded out by a 2018 live rendition of “Over the Hills and Vales” plus “We Are Free Forms” and a remix of “Truncate”, both of which were first featured on the VeryRecords album “The Colour of Terrible Crystal” (2017).

Gravity will be available on 24 April in a limited-edition CD with 13 tracks and an unlimited, expanded digital version that includes an extra remix from Scanner, the complete Simon Fisher Turner remix of “Antiquity Broke”, and a rare track titled “Multiple”.

Alka ‘Gravity’ Tracklist

1. Twilight (Perdurabo Remix)
2. Unravel (Starkey & Alka Remix)
3. Enchanté (Stubbleman Remix)
4. Truncate (Alka Tokyo Remix)
5. Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka (Gareth Jones Remix)
6. Soliloquy (Vince Clarke Remix)
7. Folding Skies (Textbeak Folded Grind Remix)
8. Unravel (Scanner Remix)
9. Antiquity Broke (Simon Fisher Turner Antique Fire Remix Edit)
10. Scrapple (Alka Myanmar Remix)
11. What Becomes (Mick Chillage Remix)
12. Enchanté (Veryan Remix)
13. Over Hills and Vales + We Are Free Forms (Live)
14. Soliloquy (Scanner Remix) – Digital Edition Only
15. Multiple – Digital Edition Only
16. Antiquity Broke (Simon Fisher Turner Antique Fire Remix) – Digital Edition Only

The album, which will be available on CD and as a digital download, can be ordered from the Mortality Tables website from 24 April onwards.

About Alka

Philadelphia-based electronic producer Alka is the project of Bryan Michael. He started the project in 2000 as an outlet for his own electronic compositions after earlier work in bands around Philadelphia. What began as a solo project later developed into a broader unit with Todd Steponick and visual artist-vocalist Erika Tele, who became part of the project’s live and studio activity.

Alka’s career started with a release on Roger O’Donnell’s 99X/10 Records in 2005, followed by the EP “A Theory of Naught” in 2006. The next full-length releases were “Principles of Suffocation” in 2007, “A Dog Lost in the Woods” in 2009, and “Compounded” in 2011.

Vince Clarke’s VeryRecords later issued “The Colour of Terrible Crystal” on October 13, 2017, and “Regarding The Auguries” on October 9, 2020. Alka’s latest full-length is “The Magnitude Weighs Heavy”, released on September 25, 2025 through Mortality Tables in digital and limited CD formats.

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(By Janos Janurik) The Mortality Tables label launches what promises to be a particularly active year with the release of two closely related yet formally independent projects by Gareth Jones. One is Jones’ second solo album, “ElectroGenetic 2 – Nos Da“, due for release on 21 January 2026; the other is “53_StOlaves : Response“, issued as part of The Impermanence Project.

While the two releases are separate entities, they share a common emotional and conceptual source: the experience of losing one’s father, acts of remembrance, and impermanence – understood here not as disappearance, but as transformation.

Gareth Jones – ‘ElectroGenetic 2 – Nos Da’: A record of farewell and resonance

Nos Da is both a personal document and an artistic gesture. Gareth Jones reaches back to his childhood, to his father, and to his father’s record collection – a collection that was never merely a source of musical inspiration, but rather a gateway to emotion, texture and imagined spaces. Those records were worlds unto themselves.

The album’s title originates from a childhood mishearing. Each night, Jones’ father would say “Nos da” – Welsh for “good night” – which the child heard as “no star.” Even so, the phrase carried feelings of safety, care and release. The album becomes an echo of that gesture: a delayed farewell, and a word of thanks.

The pieces on Nos Da were not created in a single studio. Four compositions were developed in a countryside hotel in England using Eurorack modules (Maths, Mimeophon, Wogglebug, QPAS), where the machines acted not merely as tools but as creative partners, sources of controlled unpredictability. Six further pieces emerged on a hotel terrace in Greece overlooking the Aegean Sea, using a compact modular setup. A year later, Jones returned to the same place and created the final two tracks entirely on an iPad, without cables or patching – embracing immediacy and flow.

erSprach – opening the album

The label has now revealed the album’s first preview track, ‘erSprach’, which clearly signals the record’s direction. According to Jones, the original improvisation was written and recorded in Greece in July 2021, using a deliberately minimal setup. Daily improvisations were captured directly to an iPad through a simple stereo interface.

The final form of the piece emerged through a long process of reduction: sonic sculpting, constant removal, stripping away excess layers. Beyond the modular textures, only a few additional elements remain: string fragments from Brahms and a delicate clarinet passage in the central section – nothing more.

As the album closes with a long, deeply personal monologue spoken by Jones’ father, it felt particularly appropriate to open the record with ‘erSprach’ – a quiet prelude to everything that follows.

Parting – a posthumous dialogue

The album’s closing track, ‘Parting’, carries particular emotional weight. After his father’s death, Jones discovered a vinyl recording made years before he was born: a spoken message addressed to his mother before a long journey. In it, his father speaks of love, distance and strength in separation. Within Nos Da, this recording becomes a quiet, posthumous conversation between father and son.

Gareth Jones – ’53_StOlaves : Response’: A response to impermanence

The second Mortality Tables release, 53_StOlaves : Response, is Gareth Jones’ reply to ‘St. Olave’s : Catharsis’, a field recording released on 25 June 2025, marking one year since the death of the label founder’s father. Jones’ response appears as part of The Impermanence Project, released on what would have been the father’s 84th birthday.

53_StOlaves : Response is an almost otherworldly work: the soul separating from the body, drifting into space – or toward the afterlife, depending on belief. Meditative and slowing, it creates space for processing the loss of fathers – a process that, as the author of these lines knows firsthand, can stretch across decades.

Jones reflects on the piece as follows: “I’m in Greece on vacation. And writing, of course. I was moved to create a response to ‘St. Olave’s’ in the spirit of impermanence understood as transformation.”

The track is accompanied by a photograph taken by Jones himself, further reinforcing its personal, contemplative character.

A life shaped by sound

For many, Gareth Jones is best known for his legendary production work. He played a key role during Depeche Mode’s Berlin era, collaborated extensively with Erasure, and has shaped the sound of countless influential artists. Throughout his career, he has operated at the intersection of analogue and digital techniques; his current work carries this experience into a more inward-looking, intimate territory.

ElectroGenetic 2 – Nos Da will be released as a handmade, numbered limited CD, a standard limited CD, and in digital formats. There are no traditional pre-orders – don’t forget to pre-save the album on Spotify, so it appears automatically in your library on release day.

Tracklist:

1. erSprach
2. maths
3. qPas
4. suchIsLove
5. mPhon
6. kath
7. wBug
8. pyotr
9. erofili
10. ludwig
11. ikaria
12. parting

© Janos Janurik

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(By János Janurik) It has been almost three years since Depeche Mode released their latest album, Memento Mori-a record dedicated both to a painful loss, the sudden passing of Andy Fletcher, and to the fragile transience of life. Since then, Depeche Mode – and its fanbase – have lived under the spell of the letter M. And with good reason: the now-duo has delivered what may well be their strongest album of the past twenty years, placing it confidently on the table – right next to the skull.

Despite its mournful, philosophical title, the album and the accompanying tour never turned into a travelling requiem. While Fletcher’s memory was honoured, Memento Mori became the proof that, diminished but unbroken, Depeche Mode is alive and very much celebrating life. Death may cast its shadow – like the giant M looming over the stage – but the fire still burns, to quote a beloved line from “Insight.”

Now we receive all of this in image and sound. The former comes courtesy of the 46-year-old Mexican director Fernando Frias, whose film I’m No Longer Here was once pushed toward the Oscars by supporters like Guillermo del Toro. The latter is shaped by Marta Salogni, who also mixed the Memento Mori album.

The title Memento Mori practically predestined the idea that if a concert film were to be made, it should be filmed in a place where honouring the dead and celebrating mortality has ancient roots. And where Depeche Mode, too, is revered. Skull-shaped sugar candies, bread decorated with bones, José Guadalupe Posada’s skeletal figures, and the literary tradition of the calavera – all express a smiling confrontation with the inevitable, the celebration of the passage between life and death. Mexico hears something familiar in this tone – something Europeans might not immediately associate with synth-driven gloom.

Yet Depeche Mode concerts have always been communal rituals, capable of lifting even their darkest songs. When thousands sing their sorrows together with Dave and Martin, the experience is incomparable – nothing like listening alone at home, wrestling with melancholy. Once the vibe catches you, it never lets go.

Mexico has welcomed Depeche Mode with open arms since their first visit in December 1993, when they played two sold-out shows at the Sports Palace. After a brief hiatus, they returned regularly from the Touring The Angel era onwards, becoming fixtures at the Foro Sol stadium. Such devotion deserved to be immortalised. The theme was lying on the ground – all they had to do was pick it up. Where else would a Memento Mori concert film be made, if not in a country where skull motifs have been part of the culture for three millennia?

M for Mode; M for Mexico City; M for movie; M for “music till we die.”

This is what M, the film, is about: Mexico, Mode, Memento Mori, and the stage shaped around all of them.

Many agree that Depeche Mode’s legendary concert films – The World We Live In…, 101, Devotional – never truly found worthy successors. Anton Corbijn’s One Night in Paris came close, but the rest always lacked that elusive something. Fernando Frias seems ready to join this canon, at least when it comes to capturing the visual essence of three sold-out Mexican nights.

The camera work is striking: intimate close-ups showing every wrinkle and silver hair – reminders that time leaves its mark even on icons – and artistic montages and collages. What the film shows of Mexico, its death-culture, and the fan obsession is intriguing but could have gone deeper. We see fans – some looking as though they might be heading to a Marilyn Manson or death-metal show – but we rarely hear what binds them to this very European sound.

The fans in 101 – sometimes annoying, but authentically American – represented a generation rebelling by making a pilgrimage to an electronic band in the heartland of country music. A similar deep-dive into Mexican devotion could have been even more fascinating. Instead, we hear only that the word once spread via VHS tapes – something every Eastern European fan nods at knowingly, united by a shared cultural déjà vu across continents.

The passion of Latin and South American fans, however, would have easily warranted a deeper dive – especially since several other synth- and dark-pop icons have experienced the same devotion, from Erasure to the Pet Shop Boys to The Cure.

And it would have been great to hear Mr. Martin L. and Mr. Gahan speak about this leg of the tour: how they see their Mexican fanbase, what this intensity means to them – ideally accompanied by a few backstage or on-the-road moments. Instead – aside from a stylised closing scene in which the “M” becomes one with Madrid’s train station – we only get their on-stage presence.

Still, none of this diminishes the film’s impact. The goosebump moments are all there: the touching tribute to Andy Fletcher during “World In My Eyes”; Dave Gahan spinning and posing like an energy bomb, as if even his Pilates instructor would applaud; and Martin Gore cheekily tapping out the main motif of “Everything Counts” with one finger, fully aware that this simple melody has been electrifying audiences for forty years. “Speak To Me” still hits straight to the heart, “Wrong” clenches the fists with its helpless rage, and during “Stripped” we watch a forest of mobile phones with a blasé stare as Dave sings: “Let me hear you make decisions / Without your television…” – and the crowd, naturally, misses the point. Not so during the “Never Let Me Down Again” arm-wave – but that’s been a sacred ritual for more than thirty-five years.

The camera doesn’t overlook Christian Eigner and Peter Gordeno either: the director subtly emphasises that they too are crucial parts of this musical machine – even if the core of Depeche Mode remains Dave and Martin.

Depeche Mode’s ‘M’ is about remembering mortality

All in all, Depeche Mode’s “M” turned out well. And now that the new track “In the end,” previously heard only during the end credits, has officially arrived as a teaser for the upcoming Depeche Mode M / Memento Mori Mexico City release on December 5, fans like me are anticipating the chance to relive the ritual – in sound and vision – and to experience the Mexican concert in full.

Remembering mortality, yet trusting that Depeche Mode is still driven by the same impulse: music till we die.

And the good news is: with the wide range of audio and video formats on the horizon, everyone will find the edition that suits them best. Pre-orders are already open across the usual online music retailers.

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(By János Janurik) In September 1985, Erasure asked: “Who Needs Love Like That?” The answer – at least in terms of audience interest – seemed to be: not many. Despite Vince Clarke’s remarkable track record with three hugely successful projects (Depeche Mode, Yazoo and The Assembly), the first single from his new venture peaked only at number 55 on the UK charts and fared little better elsewhere.

His newly discovered “songbird,” the fantastically talented but then very shy and reserved Andy Bell – who at that time had released only one almost unnoticed single, Air of Mystery, with Pierre Cope – took full responsibility for the duo’s modest early showing. Of course, this can only be seen as a setback when measured against the early, chart-topping hits of Depeche Mode and Yazoo.

Forty years on, it has been proven time and again that Vince Clarke made the right choice in selecting Andy Bell as his musical partner. The two have always been grateful to their fans – many of whom have supported them almost from the very beginning, buying their records and attending their concerts faithfully.

‘A 40th Anniversary Evening with Erasure’

To celebrate this milestone, they took time to reminisce and sing songs with their fans. With the help of Richard Evans- leader of their fan club, editor of their website and newsletter, and a seasoned veteran of the music industry – a series of celebratory events was organised across the United Kingdom, taking in Edinburgh, London, Manchester and Bristol. Tickets were limited and sold out quickly, and there was huge interest in the fan sessions that took place between 17 and 21 September.

Unfortunately, due to official commitments, I was unable to attend the London event, which perhaps received the most attention. Nevertheless, I stayed in close contact with the organiser, the band, other fans and members of the press.

Now, a week after the events, here is a summary of the key moments and a link to a high-quality YouTube video – so that others can join in the celebration too. Because celebrating is always a joy, especially when great music and true friendship come together. Those qualities have arguably played the most important role in Erasure’s four-decade career.

Fan gatherings have been part of Erasure’s history before, but this one was perhaps the most prestigious and closely followed. The reason was, of course, the 40th anniversary – and a mixture of devoted love and gentle concern from the fans. In 2022, for reasons beyond their control, Erasure were forced to interrupt their tour promoting The Neon, one of their biggest successes of recent years. Then, at the end of 2023, Vince released a sombre solo album to process a personal tragedy. In early summer 2025, Andy followed with a colourful pop record co-written with Dave Audé.

With only rumours of another collaboration circulating, fans were eager to know when their favourites would next release new material together.

While that new material is still to come, Andy and Vince proved that their on-stage chemistry remains as strong as ever. They treated their fans to a carefully chosen set of songs, including a number of genuine rarities. Andy – taking a brief break from his solo tour – was in superb voice, while Vince provided an expertly crafted musical foundation for these few days of shared memories.

The setlist featured the unmissable mega-hits (“Oh L’Amour,” “Love to Hate You,” “A Little Respect”) alongside gems such as “Rock Me Gently” and one of this writer’s personal favourites, “How Many Times?”. Vince alternated between his array of gadgets and his guitar, and even mimed singing along beneath his non-existent moustache. He clearly wanted the two-part concert to feel relaxed and celebratory. There was even a playful question-and-answer game to see who knew more about the other, which had the audience laughing heartily. This mini talk-show was hosted with great professionalism by Richard Evans (EIS), aided by a projector above the stage.

Andy was joined on stage by vocalists Val and Emma, who have performed with him almost continuously since 1988.

One of Erasure’s great anthems, “Always,” was sung by Andy for his friend and co-writer Vince, lifting the lines “Always, I wanna be with you / And make believe with you” to a deeply moving level.

Friendships like theirs are truly rare in today’s commercialised pop business. To this day, Andy emphasises how grateful he is to Vince for selecting him from so many applicants and giving a gay “Smalltown Boy” the chance to break free and realise his musical dreams.

But these evenings were not only about looking back – they were also about the future. The good news for fans is that Erasure have already begun writing new songs. Early writing sessions have taken place both at Vince’s home in San Diego and at Andy’s in Mallorca, and these could well take shape as a new album sometime next year.

In the meantime, there is another collaborative treat: Vince Clarke’s remix of “Dance For Mercy,” a track from Andy Bell’s solo album.

Andy Bell will resume his highly successful Ten Crowns tour on 3 October, accompanied by support act Savannah Pope. The tour will travel across the United States until 13 December, before concluding with a double concert in Los Angeles.

We can only hope it won’t be long before Andy is back on stage with Vince, Val and Emma – and that we’ll hear brand-new Erasure songs from his golden voice.

We will, of course, keep readers informed as soon as there is any fresh news from the Erasure camp.

Setlist for the 40th Anniversary Erasure Events (2025)

1. A Little Respect
2. Ship of Fools
3. Oh L’Amour
4. In My Arms
5. Breath of Life
6. Stop!
7. Victim of Love
8. Rock Me Gently
9. Love to Hate You
10. Always
11. Blue Savannah
12. How Many Times?

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(Interview by János Janurik) It’s been nearly five years since the amazing artist behind the intriguing name Alka – discovered by the fantastic Vince Clarke and given the opportunity to release his music – last came out with a new album. I’ll always remember when, during a spontaneous meeting in the summer of 2017, Vince told me about his future release plans and mentioned a “crazy guy, a librarian from Philadelphia,” whose album would soon appear on the VeryRecords label.

Alka ended up releasing two remarkable albums, and then there was silence for several years. About a month ago, though, I heard the most wonderful news about him from Mat Smith, head of Mortality Tables, who – like Vince – has been helping non-mainstream electronic music find its audience for a long time. Mat told me that Mortality Tables had taken Alka under its wing and would be releasing the next installment of the artist’s trilogy, which he described as “deep and searching electronics” that “reflect back the parlous state of the world.” That immediately caught my attention, and I got in touch with Bryan Michael (aka Alka).

Here’s our exchange, inspired by the amazing album The Magnitude Weighs Heavy, available in digital and CD formats from 25 September onwards .

Alka interview: “Utilise the Chaos”

SL: Jhonn Balance, who was responsible for Coil’s dark, experimental electronic sound collages, sums up the album’s basic premise in a line that appears in one of the songs: “utilise the chaos.” Coil and the British avant-garde – noise, industrial and experimental music – shaped the likes of Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV, who in turn influenced Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson. But how did all this filter into Alka’s music? Why did you choose the words of Jhonn Balance, who died in tragic circumstances, as your guiding principle?

Alka: I was reared on a diet that consisted of a lot of college radio, mainly Drexel’s WKDU 91.7, which would later become my alma mater where I studied library science and where I first discovered Coil’s music.
I guess I’ve always been attracted to artists and bands that were unafraid of experimenting and those that defied troublesome genre prisons.

Coil was such a band – experimental club music in one moment, beautiful droning ambience with spoken-word poetry in another. I loved their early adoption of cutting-edge technology such as their use of Fairlight and E-mu samplers in their first couple releases and beyond.

On Thee Individual Visions of Jhonn, the use of Balance’s voice pulled from an old interview was just something that happened while working on a mixdown of a track many moons ago. I shared it with Sleazy, who was alive at the time, and he gave me his blessing to use it. Unfortunately it sat unused until this album was taking shape.

Balance’s words serve as a theme of embracing times of struggle as an alchemical process of attaining change and finding a way through.

SL: Although your music may seem chaotic at first – especially to those unaccustomed to Alka’s sound – it is only so to the extent that the world around us is chaotic. Yet there is also an underlying sense of searching for inner peace. Am I right?

Alka: I think that’s true. A former collaborator of mine always said I brought a light that cuts through regarding music production. My studio has been named Angels Den for as long as I can remember and there’s definitely angelic presences within all music. An Attempt to Conjure Quiet is not merely a track name in this regard.

SL: As the release date approaches, you’ve also unveiled a teaser clip. You worked with UXRA – producer, singer and video artist – and your collaborator Erika Tsuchiya on it. Why did you choose the track “Folding Skies,” which is roughly halfway through the album, as the preview? UXRA, known for her powerful glitch-effect video art presented in performances and Twitch shows, also produced, edited and directed the music video for Textbeak and Searmanas’s “Gravity Well,” for which you created a remix. Did she join your creative team through that collaboration?

Alka: I think there’s something immediate about that track – it’s a pop song in disguise. Of course my take on pop happens to include haunting meandering chords and Novachord samples. The video is sort of half visualizer/half video – Uxra, who I connected with through DJ Textbeak, got us started using some video footage Erika had sent her and then I put it through the ringer of rhythmic effects and psychedelic washes.

SL: Your new album is, on one hand, IDM electronica and, on the other, a collection of artronica (or perhaps occultronica), steeped in esoteric references. It explores the elements – from the joy of fruitful artistic collaboration to the end of all things. Mat Smith aptly described the new material as displaying the full range of human emotions in response to the realities foreshadowed in the trilogy’s earlier albums and focusing on endings. How do you see all this?

Alka: We had already been working with Vince Clarke on this release when VeryRecords went on hiatus. Meanwhile other inter- and intra-personal conflicts and challenges presented themselves within the Alka ’unit’ and the project was delayed indefinitely. Working with Vince’s mate Mat and his absolutely amazing Mortality Tables was a logical step that helped see the album to cathartic fruition. The album is very much an almost subconscious response to everything happening on both a micro and macro level.

SL: As a long-time Depeche Mode fan, “Unravel” is one of my favourite songs. In fact, it could easily be the intro to one of their concerts. What do you think of their music?

Alka: I’m glad you picked up on that. The core of that song was made on an E-mu Emulator II sampler from 1984, the same keyboards Depeche Mode used in the studio with Gareth Jones and on tour. Needless to say Depeche Mode has had a huge impact on my life and musical production – absolutely brilliant chaps.
I still have my World Violation tour ticket stub from the Spectrum in Philly.

SL: “Enchante” continues the slightly ethereal theme, which then gives way to the metallic “Creeps.” This is followed by the dignified and dreamlike “An Attempt to Conjure Quiet,” somewhat reminiscent of Vangelis, and which could easily be one of those meditative YouTube videos designed to calm the mind. For me, these are all highlights of the album. What are yours?

Alka: Thank you for saying. If I had to choose a personal highlight it would be Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka. This trilogy of a track within a trilogy of albums represents the Trismegistus of Alka at the time. The track represents a perfect collaboration of three separate entities joined as one in equal parts. It plumbs the depth of madness before soaring to great cosmic heights.

SL: “Pillar” once again showcases Kraftwerk-style angular, minimalist electronic music, made mystical by Erika Tsuchiya’s Japanese spoken interludes, somewhat similar to “Dentaku.” Another track with a similar structure, albeit in a slightly more accessible package, is “Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka,” which transports us virtually to the Orion Nebula. I think we are both members of a generation for whom synthesiser-generated music, a longing for outer space, and the idea of Japan as the ultimate technological wonder were intertwined. Was this the inspiration for these tracks?

Alka: I grew up in a unique time in America – looking back my childhood was immersed in Japanese pop culture: mecha anime, video games, handheld games, toys, tokusatsu TV and later Japanese synths. It all had a tremendous influence on me, but I’m never one to wear my influences on my sleeve so to speak. When I began collaborating with Erika, her natural expression via her cultural connection was simply an organic weaving into the music.

SL: “Whatever Will Become” reminded me of the theme tune for Stranger Things. Are you a fan of that series? Speaking of movie soundtracks, are there any that you particularly like?

Alka: A happy accident I suppose… I just REALLY love arps. If I could, my music would be 100% arpeggiator haha. Stranger Things was fun although not even sure I made it past the first series haha. Not a big movie soundtrack aficionado but I have to say after all these years, Watership Down’s soundtrack still emotionally affects me.

SL: The closing track on the album is a classic synth-pop song that could have been written by Vince Clarke.
Although it is not being released by him but by Mortality Tables, have you shown him the new material?
If so, what did he think?

Alka: Vince was involved in the early formation of the album acting as a producer of sorts. He felt the material was some of my strongest to date. When his label went on hiatus I had to rethink everything and had the occasional thought of packing it all in. With the support of Mortality Tables I was able to restructure the album and it all gradually fell into place. The Magnitude Weighs Heavy is about endings and serves as a natural finale to the trilogy of albums started under Vince’s purview.

Sticking with this theme, let’s return to the original idea – Jhonn Balance’s quote. Accept chaos, because within it lies the variability of existence. Our lives are like grains of shifting sand; we must accept that things often have to end before they can get better.

Alka’s new album The Magnitude Weighs Heavy is available from Mortality Tables from 25 September on.

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

Joel Gibb, the visionary behind The Hidden Cameras, returns with his seventh studio album “BRONTO” – a record that blends meta-dance-pop, melancholy, and humor in equal measure. Ahead of his European tour, he sat down with our colleague János Janurik to talk about self-love, Depeche Mode, Berlin, and the timeless power of reinvention.

“Brontosaurus Law” – the latest single by Joel Gibb aka The Hidden Cameras, released ahead of the new album “BRONTO” – deals with the unstoppable force of time, the seeming inevitability of life, and our struggle to find meaning within it. Gibb leaves heartbreak behind and dedicates himself to self-love. Yet, true to form, he wraps this tender message in his signature humor – opening the track with a roaring dinosaur scream, alluding to the iconic lizard’s phallic neck. This playful contradiction – sincere yet self-aware – makes The Hidden Cameras’ return so captivating.

Q: Beltane, in Celtic tradition, is the festival of fertility and love, where the maypole stands as a phallic symbol, representing the rebirth of life and passion. Phallic symbols have appeared throughout history as a universal phenomenon – revered in some cultures, rejected in others. The Romans worshipped Priapus, whose cult linked the phallus to protection against evil. Medieval church fathers, however, struggled with this legacy, a struggle that continues to this day. For you, does this symbolism stand as provocation – or as a symbol of love?

Joel Gibb: I don’t know enough about what you are discussing to have an intelligent response. Phallic symbols are in the eye of the beholder. What might not be intended as a phallus can be interpreted that way.

With “BRONTO” – meaning “thunder” in Greek – The Hidden Cameras deliver an album that redefines the boundaries of pop. Joel Gibb has created an unconventional meta-dance-pop record dedicated to his adopted home, Berlin – working with electronic heavyweights such as Pet Shop Boys, Vince Clarke, and many more. Pulsating basslines, soulful piano chords, and melancholic string arrangements (performed and arranged by longtime collaborator Owen Pallett) shape How Do You Love? – where Joel perfectly captures that bittersweet space between euphoria and pain, the very soul of disco.

The Pet Shop Boys transformed How Do You Love? into an emotional disco banger, complete with bombastic strings and jubilant house pianos. The second single, Undertow, also received its own remix EP. Vince Clarke wrapped the track in shimmering 80s synth-pop textures in true Yazoo style – turning it into an irresistibly catchy anthem guaranteed to lift the mood.

Q: Pet Shop Boys and Erasure – alongside Soft Cell and Bronski Beat – have, directly and indirectly, done a lot to open up acceptance of gay people, not only among the LGBTQ+ community but also far beyond. In the 1980s, despite Thatcher-era homophobia, there was in some ways more openness than today – when certain politicians attempt to profit from exclusion through hateful campaigns. Who gave you courage back then? Who were your musical role models in the gay-pop scene? Do you have a personal favorite in the discographies of Vince Clarke/Erasure or Pet Shop Boys?

Joel Gibb: I was a child in the 80s and liked both Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys. “Just Can’t Get Enough” and “What Have I Done to Deserve This”!

With his seventh studio album “BRONTO”, Joel follows in the footsteps of pioneers like Lou Reed and David Bowie, delivering a record inspired by his adopted home of Berlin, though recorded in Munich – the Bavarian disco and nightlife capital. The Canadian-born Gibb has lived in Berlin for over a decade – something that has inevitably shaped his sound. After folk and country explorations, Gibb teamed up with Munich producer Nicolas Sierig (Joasihno) to create “BRONTO”: an unconventional electronic meta-dance-pop album for the night’s clusters.

Clubs have always been central to resistance and community in queer history. “BRONTO” explores these colorful aspects in its own unique way, paying tribute to pioneers – while rightfully placing itself among them.

Q: Munich, in terms of queer music, immediately brings to mind Freddie Mercury. As his biopic also pointed out, the Queen frontman often visited the city’s gay clubs, and it was in Munich that he began working on his first solo album. As Mercury once said: “I had a lot of ideas bursting to get out, and I wanted to explore musical areas I couldn’t really pursue within Queen.” Did something similar happen with you, when you set sail into electro-disco waters with this new record?

Joel Gibb: I regularly think of Freddie when I am in Munich, especially when walking around Gärtnerplatz. I think it was important to record “BRONTO” in another city. Munich has always been a place I feel comfortable and at home. There are also warm electronic associations (Moroder) which I was loosely inspired by.

On “BRONTO”, Joel Gibb tries on different musical costumes. The semi-instrumental Full Cycle and Wie wild recall small-scale film epics reminiscent of Ennio Morricone and Vangelis.

Q: When I first listened to Wie wild, I immediately thought of one of my favorite instrumental synth albums, Vangelis’ China. Am I right in my instincts, or did the inspiration come from elsewhere? Do you have a favorite film score you can listen to outside the cinema, again and again?

Joel Gibb: Wie wild is a unique song, half film soundtrack instrumental and half emotive ballad banger. I wanted some music on either side of the album to break up the dance textures and add some different drama to the whole. Although I greatly admire Vangelis and Morricone, I must admit I do not listen regularly to film soundtracks. If I had to choose though, the Blade Runner soundtrack is iconic and something I do go back to.

The dubby downtempo synth track I Want You plays with one of pop’s most common expressions – with a wink from Depeche Mode. It’s easy to imagine Martin Gore singing this track, so vividly does it echo his voice – capturing desire, urgency, and aching need. For me, this is the peak of the album.

Q: What’s your take on this? How do you relate to Depeche Mode’s music? As a signee to Mute Song, how do you view the label’s first commercially successful band? Do you share a kind of bond with Daniel Miller as well?

Joel Gibb: Depeche Mode hold a special spot in my musical DNA. I was seven when I heard “People Are People” and since then I was always a fan. I have been with Mute Song for 20 years now so it feels quite like being part of a family.

Finally, the epic Don’t Tell Me That You Love Me closes the album perfectly – its echoing string arrangement by Owen Pallett lingering in our ears as we walk home. This is the track on “BRONTO” that most closely resembles The Hidden Cameras’ deeply emotional folk-pop – and in fact, it’s a tribute to the past: Gibb originally wrote it in 2007, and the vocals stem from that era. “BRONTO” thus becomes a time capsule spanning decades, in which Gibb enters into dialogue with his younger self and recalls the roots of The Hidden Cameras two decades later.

Q: Looking back, how do you evaluate your musical journey so far? What are you most proud of? Which Joel Gibb is the “true” one – the folk-pop songwriter, or the electro-disco troubadour (sometimes flirting with Jake Shears’ style) singing dancefloor-fillers? Do you already know what direction your next album will take?

Joel Gibb: I don’t think there is any true version of myself. I always want to do something different. Perhaps it’s a fault not to stick to one genre of music, but I always admire artists who reinvent themselves or try something new; at least evolve in some way. I don’t like talking about things before they are finished but yes I have already been recording new material and it will be something unexpected.

For those who want to catch Joel Gibb live, here are the first tour dates – with more to follow:

• 11.09. Berlin, Rough Trade Store

• 15.09. London, Rough Trade East Instore

• 03.11. Prague, Café v lese

• 15.11. Warsaw, Niebo (special guest: Efterklang)

• 06.11. Vienna, Chelsea

• 19.11. Berlin, Berghain Kantine

• 09.12. Madrid, El Sol

• 10.12. Barcelona, Upload

• 12.12. Lisbon, Musicbox

Q: On this new tour, will you focus entirely on the songs and style of “BRONTO”, or will there be room for folk-pop as well? Is there a particular venue you’re especially looking forward to?

Joel Gibb: The way I have normally structured my show this year, I often open with “Don’t Tell Me That You Love Me” and then do a whole set of old material with my guitar, then I do a whole electronic set in the middle which also includes “Carpe Jugular”. I finish the set often with a guest singer or musician. I am most looking forward to playing Poland for the first time, also because it will be with friends Efterklang.

Two decades after his first songs, Joel Gibb is still writing a dialogue with his younger self – only now the soundtrack is louder, brighter, and unapologetically alive.

About The Hidden Cameras / Joel Gibb

The Hidden Cameras began in Toronto, Canada, in 2001 when Joel W. Gibb (born 28 January 1977, Kincardine, Ontario) issued “Ecce Homo” on his imprint EvilEvil, then built a rotating ensemble to perform the material. Early collaborators included musicians from Toronto’s indie community; but the lineup has continued to change around Gibb, who writes and produces the recordings.

By 2003 the project signed with Rough Trade for “The Smell of Our Own” and “Mississauga Goddam,” while Arts & Crafts handled U.S. releases for “Awoo” (2006) and “Origin:Orphan” (2009). Gibb later issued “Age” (2014) via EvilEvil and “Home On Native Land” (2016) via Outside Music after relocating to Berlin, where he is also active as a visual artist and video director.

Hidden Cameras shows have featured choirs, strings and go-go dancers, occasionally staged in churches and other unconventional spaces.

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(Interview by Janos Janurik) As one half of Erasure, Andy Bell helped define the sound of British synth-pop for generations. Nearly four decades after joining forces with Vince Clarke in 1985, Bell remains as vibrant and active as ever — now stepping further into the spotlight with his second solo album, “Ten Crowns“, released on May 2, 2025. The album entered the UK charts at number 14 and coincided with the start of a UK solo tour, reaffirming Bell’s singular voice in electronic music.

In this exclusive interview with Side-Line, conducted by Janos Janurik, Andy Bell reflects on the creative journey behind “Ten Crowns”, his ongoing solo tour, and his inspirations — from collaborating with Debbie Harry to staying grounded through decades of industry change. As Erasure approaches its 40th anniversary, Bell also hints at what might lie ahead for the iconic duo.

Andy Bell’s musical journey and inspirations

Read on as Andy Bell shares candid thoughts on self-confidence, artistic evolution, and the hope for a better world — just ahead of his Ten Crowns shows in Germany.

SL: With almost four decades of experience in the pop industry, how excited were you before the first gig? How did the audience react at the tour opener? Now that the first leg of the tour has come to an end: Which concert was the most memorable for you during the UK tour – and why?

One cannot help but have a flurry of nerves before the first show — it’s totally natural. But we had rehearsed in Nashville and had a warm-up gig on a ship, which was very successful. Plus, it is a pleasure to have Andy Whittle on board (safe hands). My Stephen had arranged the whole thing and created a label for Ten Crowns — and boy, was it a lot of work! I had no idea. The best show for me was in London and the tiny theatre in Wales, which used to be a hospital for wounded soldiers.

SL: For those who haven’t checked the setlist yet: What does the setlist look like — without giving away any spoilers, of course? Will there be any changes as the tour progresses?

Six brand new songs, a fantastic cover version and lots of updated Erasure songs. The show will not change unless we add one or take one away.

SL: The title Ten Crowns feels like a modern fairytale — the poor boy who wins the kingdom in the end.
Would you say the album reflects your personal journey? How have you managed to stay so positive and uplifting throughout your career?

I don’t know. We seriously couldn’t think of an album title, and it just so happened that I was having ten crowns fitted into my mouth in Miami. Last time I had this done was before the ABBA-esque EP — so I felt that it had acquired some kind of magic! As far as my self-confidence being boosted — this is true, but I really don’t know why. Maybe it’s to do with age and finally feeling strong enough to stand on my own two feet!

SL: The new songs are fantastic — almost every track feels like a potential hit, not just the club-oriented ones.What do you think made this album so special? Was it the perfect constellation of people, timing, and creativity?

I think it was all of these things together. Dave and I had been working a long time to make it right. I think after The Neon, I felt a shift in my confidence — and I’m finally receiving the kudos I deserve.

SL: One of your big dreams came true with the duet featuring Debbie Harry.How did this collaboration come about? Was she familiar with Erasure’s Blondie covers?Does your song, apart from the title, have anything to do with her soundtrack song “Liar, Liar”?

I knew Debbie was rather partial to the words “Liar” and “Heart”. She came through with flying colours for the performance, which I’m thrilled about! The red tape though — that’s a whole other thing!

SL: There’s also a wonderful duet with Sarah Potenza on “Lies So Deep”.You’ve worked with great voices like K.D. Lang, Claudia Brücken, and Cyndi Lauper.Are there any other artists still on your dream collaboration list?

Well, I would have to say Annie Lennox, Barbra Streisand and Kylie.

SL: The Ten Crowns album showcases your decades-long passion for disco, while also representing your less danceable side.Tracks like “Dawn of Heaven’s Gate” appeal to fans who enjoy the darker, more introspective side of synth-pop.Does this song reflect a longing for a better world — beyond political clichés?

Always, always, always we pray for a better world. But as long as we keep slaughtering each other and the planet — it’s not gonna happen!

SL: For me, “For Today” captures the spirit of early ’80s synth-pop — pure, energetic, and made for the dancefloor. You’ve said before that you’re not sure what to do with club music anymore, even though you love dancing. Are there any artists whose music still gets you dancing at home?

The best artists for me in that respect are Rihanna, Robyn and Róisín Murphy — they’re my faves.

SL: The album closer “Thank You” feels like a soulful, almost a cappella moment. How do you keep your voice so strong and emotional after all these years? Vince Clarke certainly made a good choice back in 1985!

To be honest, I don’t really know. You have to be committed and bring your life experience into the voice.

SL: Working with Dave Audé seems to have been very productive. How was working with Dave different from working with Vince?

Dave is a very nice chap, same as Vince — but I suppose the writing side didn’t seem so serious, because there was no deadline!

SL: Speaking of Vince: Has he given you any feedback on Ten Crowns? Does he have a favourite track? Could there even be an Erasure remix of one of your songs?

There may be a remix — he liked it very much and thought the vocals were great.

SL: Looking ahead, next year will mark the 40th anniversary of Erasure’s debut album Wonderland.
Apart from the special fan club nights in September 2025, which sold out in record time — what else could make the celebrations more complete for fans? Are there any plans for new material or a tour in the near future?

No plans yet!

SL: Back in 1994, you promoted I Say I Say I Say by saying: “You can listen to it on a walkman, in your car, everywhere.” Who would you recommend Ten Crowns to, and for what occasions in 2025?

Any group of friends who all come back to their house after a night at the pub — please have a dance!

SL: Next stops: Germany!

Andy Bell continues his Ten Crowns tour in Germany between June 12 and June 19, performing in six cities, including Frankfurt, Berlin and Hamburg.

Tickets & info: https://www.andybell.com/live/

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(Interview by Janos Janurik for Side-Line) Magne Furuholmen, the keyboardist, songwriter and former fun-maker of a-ha, has released his new solo album quietly and without much fanfare. On November 1, his birthday, the first song “Living With Ourselves” was released, which also serves as the title track for the new album. The album’s premiere took place at the end of August when Magne presented several new songs at the renowned art festival Fjord Cadenza. At that time, the album still lacked a title.

After the final a-ha tour in 2022, Magne – a true renaissance man and a phenomenon in the art world, known not only for his compositions but also for his active work as a painter – began working on new songs. He also revisited tracks that had not been included on the “True North” album. These songs were untitled and had no specific purpose. Even Magne wasn’t sure whether they would become material for a-ha, an Apparatjik project, or possibly a film soundtrack. (Apparatjik is a multinational band formed in 2008 by members of Coldplay, a-ha, Mew, and Martin Terefe.)

Ultimately, the songs felt more like a solo endeavor. During the winter of 2022 and the spring of 2023, Magne produced 10 deeply personal tracks. I had the opportunity to ask him about these songs and other aspects of his creative journey.

JJ: Hello Magne, I hope you are well! Thanks for taking the time to talk to me and our readers. It’s true that on your last solo album “White Xmas Lies” you sang about Christmas—or what became of it—in a somewhat disappointing way. However, your current work reminds me of a kind of Advent calendar, where you make a song available on online music platforms every week from the beginning of November. Was that the original idea, to give away a musical experience for Christmas, or is there something else behind it?

Magne Furuholmen: The ‘White Xmas Lies’ album was an ironic take on Xmas as having gone super-commercial, whereas this one was not intended to be a Xmas record. It was just a collection of songs that in the end made up a solo-record. For different reasons the material laid in waiting for almost a year before release, which is very unusual for me. I just wanted to release these songs with low shoulders to those who might be interested and not push for attention from those who are not, and I felt it might be interesting to just drop one song at a time to get away from the usual way of a heavily promoted release date for a new album.

JJ: The title of the first song you have released from your new album is “Living With Ourselves”. I think in today’s world that’s probably one of the hardest things to do—to be in harmony with yourself. How well have you done that? How well have you found your place in the world?

Magne Furuholmen: Well, judging by escalating conflicts and tension in the world it seems even harder to live with/get along with each other actually! But still, harmony and peace – and also celebrating differences among us as making the tapestry of the world richer instead of as a threat to our own worldview must start with honest and critical self-examination. Personally, I am much more at peace with my own shortcomings and strengths today than i was as a young man. I feel like I have been super fortunate in life, even with some bad/wrong choices made, and reconciled with things done to me that have seemed unjust or unfair along the way. Most things that happen in a life – good and bad – can be a source for learning and ultimately acceptance.

JJ: “Look How Far We Haven’t Come” and “World So Strange” are two of the tracks on your new LP. When I read those titles, I couldn’t help but think about the current situation in the world. On the last Magne F album, there was a protest song called “This Is Now America”, which has lost none of its topicality. It’s as if the world around us has turned even more upside down. Are you still protesting in your own way, or are you tired of falling on deaf ears?

Magne Furuholmen: Everything I write is a reflection of my experiences – of people and situations that touch me, irks me, gives me hope or takes it away…etc. I am hardly a protest singer, but with so many people having given me the opportunity to make music I do feel an obligation to raise my voice about these things and write as honest and unfiltered as I can – perhaps now more than ever before.

JJ: “Giving In To Christmas” is a song where the listeners have to pay attention to the message of the song. I think we both agree that this festival is becoming more and more empty, that it has lost its original message. And yet we try to hold on to old Christmas memories. Is this song something like a direct continuation of the idea of the album “White Xmas Lies”?

Magne Furuholmen: I happened to have written a new xmas song ‘Giving In To Christmas’ during, which was a kind of an apology for being such a grinch back with the WXL album… Haha. As well as a recognition that even imperfect rituals can have value during difficult times.

JJ: One of my favorite songs on the album is “God Is In The Details”. It’s melancholic and sobering, but uplifting and hopeful at the same time—like the clouds in the sky that are sung about. I think it could be a big a-ha hit. I know you have “White Horses” planned for the “True North” album, but this song also has the quintessence of the a-ha hits that are so dear to the fans. Can you imagine this song with Morten’s voice as an a-ha song?

Magne Furuholmen: Yes, I also thought it might be a song for a-ha to be honest. The lyrics were even kind of inspired by Morten – things Morten had said in conversations over the years, so I imagined it would be be perfect for him. We did actually record Mortens vocals on the demo, but as it turned out, he wanted some of the key things in the lyrics changed in order to perform it, and I really did not want to change them.

JJ: There’s also a beautiful duet in the set – next to ‘Look How Far We Haven’t Come’ – which could have been on the last a-ha album. How long have you known the guest vocalist Tini Flaat? Can you tell us something about the making of ‘Time Is On Your Side’?

Magne Furuholmen: I have known Tini since i made my (one-time appearance as a mentor on the 1st season of the tv show ‘The Voice’, and I then co produced her really beautiful debut album titled ‘Undo My Heart’ with my mate Martin Terefe 10 years ago. For ‘Time Is On Your Side’ I first recorded all the vocals myself, then Morten also recorded a version (which, as mentioned, I did not include in my allotted songs for the ‘True North’ album – even though according to Morten, this was one of his favourite of mine at the time. Revisiting it during this project, Tini was in my studio doing some background vocals and I just wanted to try our two contrasting two voices for the song and felt it worked.

JJ: You released a stirring instrumental on 20 December (‘Teo’s Theme’). Perhaps with the intention of bringing the important Christmas message to our souls? To focus not on the lyrics, which are so important, but on the inner voice?

Magne Furuholmen: This piece was written after the birth of my first grandchild. I imagined it to become film-music for something at some point later, but when I was putting the album together I felt it belonged on there – if for nothing else, for the fact it was written during this period.

JJ: It’s impossible to talk about your new album without mentioning the beautifully crafted vinyl release that accompanies it. Once again, you’ve made sure that fans get a record that’s not only pleasing to the ear, but also to the eye. The 200 fans who have this limited edition are really lucky. Which art form inspires the other? When your soul craves self-expression, is it the musician or the painter who bursts out first?

Magne Furuholmen: Thanks. I have done – and enjoyed doing – this crossover-thing with music and art on all my solo albums. Glad to see there are still people out there who appreciate it! Regarding inspiration, it is always a balancing act, and I never quite know which medium is in the driver’s seat. In the end though, all my creative output seems to bleed over into each other – words, music, visuals. For me there are no boundaries between them any more.

JJ: We already know that ‘Living With Ourselves’ will be released on CD in Japan on the 22nd of January, with a bonus track, a demo of ‘I’m In’ (‘True North’), sung by you. Will there be more physical releases of your new material?

Magne Furuholmen: There was originally no plan for any other physical release than the ltd edition vinyl. The CD release in Japan was an in-call from Sony Japan which came totally unexpected, but there are no plans for any further physical releases, no.

JJ: You mentioned earlier that you’re looking forward to important anniversaries. It’s been 40 years since ‘Take On Me’ was released, and your first solo album (‘Past Perfect Future Tense’) turned 20 this year. In the year 2025 year a book about you will be published in Norwegian, based on interviews with you. Written by journalist Ørjan Nilsson, who has already published biographies of Paul (2017) and Morten (2019). This will complete his trilogy. When can fans celebrate with you and your bandmates next? Are you planning live performances, either solo or as part of a-ha?

Magne Furuholmen: In general I seem to have gotten more appreciative of anniversaries with age (I used to sneer at them), and I would personally have loved to celebrate the passing of all this incredible time with a-ha together with our long-standing fans around the world, but this is of course not only up to me. As a solo artist, making the records is by far the most important thing to me, but I have toyed with doing some solo performances. We’ll see. And hey – there is a tiny little live -recording I did for TV just now before Xmas which comes out now in January at some point I think, but I am not sure if it is available outside Norway…

Tracklist:

1. Look how far we haven’t come
2. One 4 all and all 4 none
3. Living with ourselves
4. God is in the details
5. Teo’s theme [instrumental]
6. Time is on your side
7. White horses
8. World so strange
9. You won (and then some)
10. Giving in to christmas
11. Hold the line [TOTO cover]

Thanks to Magne Furuholmen for the interview, Harald Wiik for his help and Nina Djareff for the photos!

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(Interview by Janos Janurik) Ever since I got into online music journalism, I’ve always been interested in the background characters around my favourite musicians’ releases that add something important to the product we, the fans end up with.

With this in mind, over the years I have interviewed personalities such as Anton Corbijn (photographer of Depeche Mode and many other music greats), Gareth Jones and Mark Saunders (producers and mixmasters of Depeche Mode and Erasure amongst others).

About eight years ago I had the honour of helping to promote Vince Clarke’s then newly founded mini-record label (VeryRecords) and his releases. In addition to the artists whose albums have been released there in recent years, I also got in contact with Mat Smith, who, like me, is a freelancer – readers of Electronic Sound and Clash know him well – and works as a publicist for VeryRecords as well as being commissioned by Erasure and Mute for a number of press pieces. He also wrote the sleevenotes in the booklet of the new “Cowboy” Deluxe-Edition.

In addition to his journalistic work, he also has his own project “Mortality Tables”, which has just released a new mini-album on cassette and as a digital download. Last November, at the premiere of Vince Clarke’s solo album in London, I had the pleasure of meeting Mat in person and we had a lively chat about our shared passion for music. Knowing how important this project is to him, I approached him and asked him a few questions about it. 

But then life, or rather death, intervened. I didn’t mean this as a cheap shot, but it was indeed a sad event that forced me to make changes to the interview I had with my friend and colleague almost three weeks ago. Now that the aforementioned label is going on holiday, and before I do the same, I would like to bring this exciting musical venture (“The Engineer”) to your attention – and this interview with the man behind it.

SL: Tell us briefly about how you became interested in music. Have you had any musical training, have you learnt to play any instruments? Do you remember the first record you bought?

I grew up in a house where music seemed to always be playing, either on the radio or on my parent’s stereo. My mother listened to a lot of ABBA. Nothing about that was exceptional, particularly. When I used to go to friends’ houses, they always seemed to have the TV switched on, which felt strange to me. My family chose music, and I’ve surrounded myself with it ever since. 

I tried to play the recorder, which was the instrument that most of us learned as kids. My parents gave me a blue one for Christmas one year. I couldn’t play a single note. I briefly learned the basics of notation at school but very quickly forgot all of it. In early high school music classes I was more interested in recording real-life sounds into the Casio keyboard and using those to make compositions. Not long after that, I started making sample-based electronic music on my Amiga 500.

The first album I owned was Nik Kershaw’s ‘Human Racing’. I was given for my birthday the year it was released, along with a Sanyo portable cassette player. I played that album constantly. I wore out the cassette player after two weeks but I still have the ‘Human Racing’ tape and it still sounds incredible to me. 

SL: When did you discover electronic music? And who was the first electronic artist who introduced you to the world of electronic music?

My father is responsible for switching me on to electronic music. There were three pivotal events, and they all relate to times I was with my father.

The first was one evening when my mother was at her restaurant job, and my father was looking after me. I was playing with Lego in the lounge and Gary Numan was performing ‘Cars’ on TV. That performance completely captivated me.

The next was driving around in my father’s car while he did his second job as a debt collector. A friend at work had recorded two tracks from OMD’s ‘Architecture & Morality’ album onto a cassette for him. The songs were ‘Joan Of Arc’ and ‘Maid Of Orleans’, and we’d listen to them over and over.

The third was Soft Cell’s ‘Non-Stop Erotic Videotape’, which he brought home from work one day. That was pretty mind-blowing for a five-year old, and I can only imagine he didn’t realise what it was. It was definitely not suitable for a kid of my age, but, looking back, I don’t remember the imagery – I only recall the music. 

So I owe my father a huge debt for how he shaped my music tastes at a very early age. He was also the one who brought home a cassette copy of ‘The Innocents’ by Erasure and gave it to me. He had no idea quite what he started that day. 

SL: When did you start writing journalistic texts for Mute Records and its artists? What was your first article for Mute and about which artist, which release?

I began a blog called Documentary Evidence in 2003, which was focused on my personal Mute Records collection. I’d just write about the releases from a mostly non-musical perspective, explaining how they made me feel. I still write reviews like that today for Electronic Sound. I also got really interested in telling the stories of specific releases or artists, and that led me to interview people who released music through Mute, or were somehow connected to the label. I have a natural curiosity and inquisitiveness, and that seems to mean people like talking to me and opening up. 

From there I started writing for Clash, and then Electronic Sound and some other places. In 2017 I got asked to chair a panel discussion with Anton Corbijn, Daniel Miller, Paul A. Taylor and Steve Claydon (Add N To (X)) at Rough Trade East in London, about the visual identity of Mute. The first written Mute commission I got was to write a press biography for Chris Carter’s ‘Chemistry Lessons Vol. 1’. I couldn’t believe they asked me to do that, and I couldn’t believe I was being paid to write for the label I loved so much. The team at Mute liked what I did and I’ve been given a few more things to do since then, as well as with the team at BMG who look after the Erasure reissue programme, and Erasure themselves. 

SL: Did Vince Clarke’s VeryRecords label and the associated promotion give you any impetus for your own project, which you called “Mortality Tables”?

Indirectly, yes, but perhaps not in the way you might expect.

My task with VeryRecords was to assemble the press releases. It was the first time I’d worked behind the scenes of a release, where I’d often get involved before the album was even mastered, or before the artwork had even been considered. So I’d be talking to the artists – Reed & Caroline, Alka and Brook – at a very early stage, generally when Vince felt that the album was finished enough for me to listen and for me to start engaging the artists.

It took a while for me to realise this, but the process of working with the artists to write a press release became a collaboration – between all of us, and between my words and their music. I wasn’t just a writer but part of the collective effort to put this music out into the world. I did the same with Nick Hook’s Calm + Collect label, working on releases by Gareth Jones, Spiritual Friendship and others.

In 2019, when I began forming Mortality Tables, I envisaged it as a creative community of collaborators. You can definitely draw a line between that and the ideas that began to form as I worked with VeryRecords and its artists. I also took a lot of inspiration from Vince, who didn’t feel that he needed to only focus on the music that people would expect him to release. That sense of freedom, which Daniel Miller also brought to Mute, directly fed into what Mortality Tables has become. I wanted something where I could work with people making sound art as well as people making images. It had to have artistic breadth. 

I wanted Mortality Tables to be like a gallery, with a portfolio of artists in vastly different disciplines. That’s why Neil Coe deigned the first sleeve image to look like the description of an artwork on the wall of a gallery.

SL: The name of the project refers to the work of actuaries who measure the statistical probability of life insurance payouts. You do something like this in your everyday working life, don’t you?

That’s right. I work with insurance companies all around the world, and have done for over twenty years. I find lots of parallels between the worlds of insurance and electronic music, and the kinds of people I engage with in both of my jobs.

The story goes that I was meeting a friend in a café in Bloomsbury in London one morning. He runs a record label, which is another big inspiration for Mortality Tables. He wishes to remain anonymous, but he is actively involved, in the sense that he must approve anything we decide to do. I call him the Creative Consultant.

So I was meeting him and he had an LP of one of his releases to give me. He asked me if I had a bag to put it in, and I reached into rucksack and retrieved a tote bag. It was from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and had been given to me by an actuary a few years before. The Creative Consultant saw the bag with its logo and Latin inscription (‘e peritia ratio’ – ‘reason from experience’) and asked what it meant. I replied, “It’s all mortality tables and shit like that.” The name stuck.

We created our first Mortality Tables Product that morning. It’s called FORKTALK and is a conversation between two friends. We do not publish the details of our conversations. Its entry in the Mortality Tables Catalogue is MTP0.

SL: Dave Clarkson, who is mostly active in electronic and experimental music and Wonderful Beasts, a sound art/electronic music duo consisting of the anonymous Xqui and Carl Knott (boycalledcrow, Spacelab) were your first artists, right? How did you get in touch with them?

The release that moved Mortality Tables from something conceptual to something ‘real’ was ‘Two Meditations For Freya’ by Goodparley (whose name has now changed to Please Close Your Eyes). That was in 2022. It signalled what I wanted Mortality Tables to be: I would come up with ideas and hand them to someone to ‘respond’ to.

That concept has stayed consistent through the first two years of Mortality Tables. I’ll come up with an idea and pick someone to get involved. At the last count, there are at least fifty people who are collaborators. And it isn’t just sound projects – Mortality Tables encompasses sound, art, and words. And insurance. 

However, all rules in creativity are there to be broken, and I broke my own rules in 2023 with the release of Dave Clarkson’s ‘Ghosts Of Christmas Past (Music From Vintage Toys)’. I had nothing to do with the concept of that album, so I guess that’s a bit like Mortality Tables acting like a traditional record label, which is a description I never want to use. The same is true of Andrew Brenza and Alka’s ‘pod’ and boycalledcrow’s ‘Kullu’. However, all these releases only existed because of an earlier collaboration, and that’s how I got myself comfortable with releasing these projects. You’ll see a few more of those types of projects from Mortality Tables over the next few years. 

In answer to your question about how I find artist, it’s actually really straightforward. Anyone involved with Mortality Tables is someone whose music I’ve written about. As for how I choose an artist for a particular project, that’s mostly a case of matching a collaborator to an idea that feels aligned to what they would usually do. However, some of the most enjoyable projects are where the artist is working a long way outside of what they might normally do.

SL: After artists like Andrew Spackman, Rupert Lally, Simon Fisher Turner and Veryan, two years ago you released a strange and experimental piece called “On Mortality, Immortality & Charles Ives”. The piece is a spoken word piece in which you read out the Mortality Tables’ manifesto: “In life, our one true certainty is death.” This narration, recorded by Gareth Jones, was then sent to Vince Clarke who recorded a musical response to the text, which forms the soundtrack to the release. How did you come up with this, somewhat absurd, idea?

I had bought a copy of a book by Alex Danchev called ‘100 Artists’ Manifestos – From The Futurists To The Stuckists’ at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in 2021. I read each of the manifestos from groups like the Surrealists, Dadaists and Situationists as if they were short stories, and it became a really profound experience. On the back of ‘Two Meditations For Freya’, people had started to ask me what Mortality Tables was all about, so it seemed completely natural (and not absurd at all) to write a manifesto.

Mostly it was designed to help me understand why I was doing this, and then I decided to explain it to everyone else. That’s when I asked Gareth to record my narration. At the same time I approached Vince and an anonymous sound artist called venoztks to create sound pieces to accompany it.

The listener can judge whether it successfully explains what this is all about, or not. It does explain why the composer and actuary Charles Ives is so critical to the evolution of Mortality Tables. In fact, the second Mortality Tables Product to be made available was a postcard containing an illustration of Ives in front of a mortality table from 1874, the year of Ives’s birth. That piece was a collaboration with Savage Pencil who had illustrated a lot of the Blast First sleeves.

SL: Released on June 16th, the 40-copy limited edition cassette “The Engineer” is a charity project for Alzheimer’s disease featuring Vince Clarke, Penelope Trappes, Chris Illingworth, Barney Ashton-Bullock, Lara Jones, Simon Fisher Turner, Hattie Cooke, Gareth Jones, Veryan and others. The title character is your father, isn’t he? Is that why you chose Father’s Day as the release date? Tell us a bit about this project!

The title character, the engineer, is based on my father. This project dates back ten years, probably longer, a long time before Mortality Tables was an idea.

I wrote a short story that tried to deal with my feelings about my father as he approached retirement. He lived for work, had no hobbies or friends, and I envisaged him struggling to cope with the concept of stopping work. I was angry when I wrote it, but I was also scared for him. It’s fiction, but it’s rooted in his reality. His actual retirement was very different to what happens in the story. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2018, and that’s why we’ll donate all profits from ‘The Engineer’ to the Alzheimer’s Society. Sadly he passed away shortly after ‘The Engineer’ was released. 

When I published the story on my blog, an electronic musician called Laica (Dave Fleet) offered to create some music inspired by the story. He composed a beautiful piece but the project never got completed. A few years later, I came up with a different idea, which involved someone narrating the story with a piece of music behind it. That version also never got off the ground at all, but I liked the idea of asking someone to narrate the story. That’s when I asked Barney Ashton-Bullock if he would do it. He has a brilliant speaking voice, and it was perfect for this story.

It was Gareth Jones who suggested the idea of having different artists respond to different sections of narration. He said it was a bit like the Surrealist game ‘Exquisite Corpse’. I think of Gareth as my spiritual guru. He has a way of unlocking ideas, and freeing you from obstacles that are only there because you’ve put them there. ‘The Engineer’ wouldn’t exist in this form if it wasn’t for Gareth. 

From there, it was a case of picking the collaborators and asking them to respond to a specific 30-second section of narration. No one heard the full story, and no one asked to hear the whole thing. The order the artists agreed to say yes determined which section they got. The only rule I gave them was that their sound response needed to last exactly thirty seconds. 

There are two editions of ‘The Engineer’. One is a digital file that combines the narration and sound responses. The other is a cassette that splits the narration and responses apart. That means the only place you can hear Vince Clarke’s sound response without Barney’s narration is on the cassette, which has now sold out. 

SL: Barney Ashton-Bullock (the creator of Andy Bell’s “Torsten” projects), Vince Clarke, as well as Reed Hays, Alka and Gareth Jones will be familiar to most of our readers, but who are the other contributors? 

Again, everyone involved is someone I’ve written about. When I came up with my collaborator list for this, it was important to me to achieve some sort of diversity. So a lot of the artists here are electronic, but you have artists covering everything from pop to sound art. That was deliberate.

I also wanted diversity of textures. That’s why I included Charlotte Keeffe, Chris Illingworth from GoGo Penguin and Luce Mawdsley. When you put all 29 sound responses together as a single piece, it sounds like a right fucking mess. As the responses were coming in over a 30-month period, I realised that the sprawling, messy quality was a lot like my father’s Alzheimer’s – ideas form, are quickly forgotten before they develop, and are then replaced by something else. That wasn’t planned, at all, but now I can see it was a subconscious idea that must have been there from the moment that Gareth suggested involving lots of artists. 

SL: What plans and ideas are currently circulating in your head? Will it be something journalistic or another Mortality Tables release?

I’m always writing, and I’ve got a few big things underway right now, including something for a label I’ve done a few pieces for before.

In terms of Mortality Tables, now that ‘The Engineer’ has been released, all activities will he paused until later in the summer. We’ve released a huge number of Products in just over two years and I need a break. We’ll return later in the summer with Season 03 of LIFEFILES, which is an ongoing project where artists respond to my really basic field recordings.

We’ll also release a single from Please Close Your Eyes, an album from Andrew Spackman and the full version of Andrew Brenza and Alka’s ‘pod’ collaboration. I’ve been working on one of several projects inspired by Charles Ives, ‘Central Park: A Picture-In-Sounds’, which will be issued as a ‘score’ in October, along with some additional performances of the piece. We’ll begin work on another large-scale collaboration called ‘The Impermanence Project’.

Other things will happen. Other things will not.

More information on Mortality Tables releases.

Use code janos for a 10% discount off anything in the Mortality Tables Catalogue. 

I would like to end this article with a personal message from Mat Smith, who asks the readers and the music listeners to support, if they can, the Alzheimer’s Society, which has received the proceeds of the tape release mentioned in the interview. If you feel able to, please donate to alzheimers.org.uk directly.

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(Interview by János Janurik) Vince Clarke just released his first solo album “Songs Of Silence” in late autumn 2023. The fact that he has now recorded his first solo album after more than forty years in the pop business was long overdue. Our editor Janos Janurik contacted Vince Clarke and his partner in crime, Reed Hays, regarding this solo debut that opens up new listening perspectives into Vince Clarke’s previously unknown parallel universe, and a special concert in London.

Although the ingenious composer and sound wizard had several side projects alongside his main band Erasure – just think of the countless remixes, the collaborations with Martyn Ware, Paul Hartnoll and Martin Gore, and his label boss activities at Very Records, or the almost unknown album of instrumental compositions called “Deeptronica” – this is still the first time that he has released an LP under his own name. And on the parent label Mute Records. A feast for fans of electronic music!

Even the first appetiser was a shock for some fans: Vince ventured to the dark side, his solo track “The Lamentations of Jeremiah” sounding darker and sadder than ever before. The accompanying music video, shot in black and white, only reinforced the gloomy mood of the first pre-release track. This was anything but the dynamic electro-pop that Vince Clarke is known for.

The second pre-release single “White Rabbit” is already more similar to the typical musical style of the Erasure mastermind. Intelligent pop at its best, where hypnotising, shimmering electronic beats keep up the tempo with electric guitar sounds and thundering drums at the end. The visual backdrop this time is an animated film, with educational content about how we are “modern humans”. After the break since “The Neon” sound cosmos, fans of Vince Clarke’s music are eagerly awaiting their musical hero’s first solo LP.

„The joy for me has been the process of making the music… Everything else is a bonus.”

SL. When I heard and saw the track “The Lamentations of Jeremiah” for the first time, I was deeply touched by the experience. Although you mentioned to me in an earlier interview (around the time of the release of “2Square”) that you “still like to write “nobody understands me” songs”, you’ve waited so long to show this side of yourself. If there’s no pressure from the label, these songs might stay in the drawer. Is that really true? Did Daniel Miller persuade you to release these compositions as your first solo album on Mute?

Vince: The tracks I recorded during lockdown were never meant as an album. I was spending time in the studio just experimenting with sound and mood. I sent some of these ‘experiments’ to Daniel Miller, owner of Mute records and he suggested that perhaps this collection of soundscapes could be released as an album. Up to that point I was purely making the music for myself.

SL. As for the album title (“Songs Of Silence”), it wasn’t too hard to work out that it was some kind of homage to the legendary film score by Simon & Garfunkel. They were a big inspiration for you to compose music yourself, weren’t they? And what inspirations did you take this time? Or did everything follow your inner voice?

Vince: Yes, the title is a tiny homage to “The Sounds of Silence” and I’m a huge fan of Paul Simon. At the same time “Songs Of Silence” describe exactly what the album is about.

SL. The music of Vince Clarke lives without bombastic sound or glittery synth pop effects too, that was my first thought after listening to this album. What equipment did you use in your home studio this time?

Vince: For all the tracks I just used my Eurorack Modules. It was an opportunity to learn about the technology and really focus on the precise sounds I needed without being distracted by all the other sound sources in my studio.

SL. The opening track (“Cathedral”) already takes the listener out of the real world and frees them from the matrix. The whole thing has something religious and spiritual about it, in which the wholeness of the world is connected with one’s own existence. Such a process is necessary for mental health and for dealing with negative feelings. Was it the same for you?

Vince: I’m not religious but the word Cathedral suggested to me something huge and wondrous. I found the process of recording all these tracks to be cathartic and helpful to cope with the stresses I was experiencing at the time.

SL. One of my favourites is the track “Red Planet”. Relaxing ambient music with ethereal voices. I think a lot of fans – especially Depeche Mode fans – will say it’s their favourite track. Do you have your own favourite track from the album?

Vince: “Cathedral” is my favourite track and I’m also very fond of “Passage” which is all about a difficult/impossible journey.

SL. Not only “The Lamentations of Jeremiah”, but also “Scarper” has an acoustic touch – flamenco-like guitar. Once again a highlight of the album for me. Did you use samples here or did someone play the guitar live?

Vince: Reed Hays played cello on “The Lamentations of Jeremiah” and the guitar parts were played by my friend Steve Walsh.

SL. “Blackleg” is inspired by the traditional folk song “Blackleg Miner”. Your label mate, Frank Tovey, who died too soon, dedicated an entire album to workers’ songs in 1989 (“Tyranny And The Hired Hand”). Music and resistance was the main theme of this album. And what about you? What did you find inspiring about this folk song?

Vince: The song has a real raw edge to it. The lyrics are quite violent and paint a stark picture of the misery of the mining community during and after the Industrial Revolution. It was interesting to mix a very synthetic soundscape with something so organic.

SL. “Last Transmission” could also be related to the Erasure song “Turns The Love To Anger”, especially with the instrumental intro of its live version. It’s like a radio signal into space, with the hope that it will find a recipient with empathy. Do you still believe in the good in these difficult times?

Vince: No. I find it difficult to feel optimistic.

SL. You have always been known to be rather reluctant to appear in video clips. But for the first promo video, you had to stand alone in front of the camera. Where and how did the filming of “The Lamentations of Jeremiah” take place?

Vince: I wanted the video to convey a certain gravitas that reflected the sadness of “The Lamentations of Jeremiah”. It was shot in Brooklyn New York in a day.

SL. An animated video was made for “White Rabbit” – another favourite track of mine. You recently uploaded funny cartoons (“Günter Finn” and “Bacon And Eggs”) to the internet yourself. How did you find the cartoonist Daniele Arcuri for the second clip?

Vince: I saw his show reel on Fiverr and was instantly attracted to his irreverent and bonkers style of animation.

SL. At the special album release event in London the support band was the duo of Gareth Jones and Daniel Miller (called Sunroof), who play electro-improvisation music. Both of them have played a big role in your career. Was it natural for you to invite them to support you?

Vince: I was delighted that they agreed to do the show with us. I think the combination made for a really interesting evening.

SL. A month has passed since that concert in London. Your first solo album has received very good reviews, it’s also at the top of the album charts. Looking back on the whole process, what are your feelings now? Did you expect such positive feedback?

Vince: To be honest, I didn’t expect any feedback. The joy for me has been the process of making the music… Everything else is a bonus.

Reed Hays, the synthesiser specialist and master of the Buchla synthesiser, and long-time friend of Vince Clarke, also joins the conversation.

SL. Reed, you and Caroline were the first to sign a label contract with Vince’s Very Records. So far you’ve released two albums on his label and you then supported Erasure on their 2018 tour. Now you’ve played cello as a guest musician for Vince’s solo album. How did this invitation come about?

Reed: During the Reed & Caroline years Vince had me put together a couple instrumental tracks to promote Veryrecords on Soundcloud. One was called “Buchla and Cello” and the other was called “Cello and No Buchla”, so he was already familiar with my playing. While working on “Songs of Silence” he asked in his usual polite English manner, “Would you mind terribly if I sent you something, and maybe consider if it needs some sort of cello on it?” I purposely overplayed the part, thinking he would edit most of it out, but to my surprise he kept the whole thing!

SL. Were you there – as an expert advisor – for the entire creative period, or did you only hear the final result?

Reed: He played me some of the tracks while he was working on them, but I’m afraid I had no “expert advice” to give, because they already sounded amazing. I remember thinking only Vince Clarke could call something a “drone piece” but you’d still walk away from it with a catchy part in your head!

SL. Do you have your own favourite tracks from Vince’s solo album? If so, what are they and why?

Reed: Vince’s friend Steve does some great acoustic guitar work on “Scarper”. There’s a little blippy part on “Cathedral” that sounds Buchla-inspired, so of course it makes me smile every time I hear it. I love the sequencer in “White Rabbit” and of course his treatment of the “Blackleg Miner” song is wonderfully haunting.         

SL. On release day you shared the stage with Vince in London. What was your role at that concert?

Reed: In a very un-Vince reversal, nothing was rigidly synchronized. We were playing drones and triggering elements from the album by hand. The timing was totally based on the feel of the evening and the impressions of the visuals. And, of course, I had my cello with me. J

SL. For a while you had a joint radio show on a New York alternative radio station called “The Synthesizer Show”, which was very popular among fans of synthesiser music. Do you miss these radio shows? Do you talk to each other privately about what’s new in the genre?

Reed: It’s funny to think that for close to a decade “The Synthesizer Show” was an important anchor for both of us. It was a great way to break up the grinding tour schedule with Erasure, and during Covid it was the only activity either one of us had apart from family lockdown life. I’m sure we haven’t seen the end of “The Synthesizer Show” yet, but right now we have a couple ambient concerts to deal with!

SL. Do you currently have something in progress? Will there be another Reed & Caroline album?

Reed: I’ve been spending a lot of time with the Buchla 100, the earliest Buchla instrument. It’s also the rawest and most visceral of Mr. Buchla’s creations. I like to think of Reed & Caroline as a magical pre-Covid time capsule, but in a couple years her girls and my son will be out of high school, so never say never!

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(Photos by Brian Griffin, Interview by Janos Janurik for Side-Line) Brian Griffin was responsible for the visual perception of Depeche Mode for a while in the early eighties. He made record covers so interesting, you wanted to own them before you even heard the music. He also photographed one of the most famous record covers from pop history for our favourite group. He waited with his finger on the shutter release – then the perfect moment had come. The final result was then voted the best photo of the 1980s by LIFE magazine. Several years later, the music of “Only When I Lose Myself” was accompanied by his mystical video clip. And now his unforgettable artwork is being collected for Depeche Mode and these pictures, which are actually beautiful impressions of a wonderful journey through time, deserve to be immortalised in an album forever.

Brian Griffin book on Depeche Mode

The photo book is called “MODE” and made by one of the most important British photographers of his generation, who is also a poet and performance artist, Brian Griffin. I was very honoured when he responded positively to my contact request. In 2009, I had the opportunity to interview Anton Corbijn on the occasion of his exhibition opening in Budapest and now I was privileged to have the interview below with Mr Griffin, whose work I have admired since my teenage years. I asked him about his years with Depeche Mode and about this elaborate photographic book project. Enjoy the read!

SL: For more than 35 years, Anton Corbijn’s name has been closely associated with Depeche Mode as the band’s artistic director. From image photos to video production to stage design, he has done everything for the visuals and for the strong band branding. He took over this role in 1986, in the “Black Celebration” era, when you were last responsible for the cover design. Did you meet him back then, did you exchange ideas?

BG: I have never met Anton. Maybe after more than 35 years of Anton, Depeche Mode needs a change to freshen up. What ideas could I exchange with Anton…?

SL: Your work with Depeche Mode began in 1981 when you created the album cover for their debut album. How long had you been in the pop biz? Which famous artists have you worked with?

BG: I had been in the Pop business for only 2 years. It was only a small part of my photographic output when I shot “Speak And Spell”. In fact it remained that way throughout the 80’s. I worked with Iggy Pop, Queen, OMD, Echo & The Bunnymen, Kate Bush. Elvis Costello, John Foxx, Billy Idol, Devo, Ultravox and the list goes on and on. I think something like 200 to 300 record covers.

SL: Ultravox – a musical role model for Vince, Martin & Co – released their masterpiece “Vienna” even before your collaboration with the newly established Depeche Mode, who were signed by Daniel Miller to his recently created Mute label. The record sleeve for “Vienna” was also your work and it shows – at least for me – a bit of similarities to Depeche Mode’s “Speak And Spell” album cover. With Ultravox you used wrapping paper for the cover photo and with Depeche Mode a plastic foil. The difference is that with “Vienna” you wrapped the band Ultravox itself with wrapping paper and with “Speak And Spell” a swan was wrapped in a plastic bag. Did you want to visualise the “cool” synthesizer sound – described by some critics as “plastic pop” – of these two bands?

BG: I really loved the sound of the synthesiser from when I first heard Krautrock, and still do. However with “Speak And Spell” and “Vienna” I was not influenced in any way that can be connected with my use of wrapping paper or plasticated foil.I just did what I felt would be a good idea at the time.

SL: The album cover with the swan is perhaps not your most famous and most recognised work. But the subsequent album cover of “A Broken Frame”, which you photographed for Depeche Mode in 1982, has already stood the test of time. Almost everyone knows the story behind this breathtaking photo of the woman in the wheat field with the sickle in her hand, but maybe there are still “little stories about this big subject” that you have rarely told… So what would be your personal story in connection with this record cover?

BG: “A Broken Frame” is probably one of the most famous photographs on earth. I am so proud that I had the talent to produce that photograph. The secret being is there is something or someone watching over me. I have always felt that.

SL: The next time you were commissioned to do a Depeche Mode album cover, you had to go to Switzerland, to the Alps. The once again socialist realism photo was shot on top of the famous Matterhorn. By the way, my favourite photo of you would be the cover photo for the single “Love In Itself” from that era. It was 40 years ago. Looking back, how strong do you find this artistic period?

BG: I never listened to Depeche Mode’s music prior to photographing the covers for them. This period was certainly one of my most creative, especially with my ability in employing artificial light.

SL: The next chapter of Depeche Mode’s adventure in the world of “Industrial Pop” was the “Some Great Reward” album, to which they also owe their world fame. A young married couple in the middle of an industrial estate, perfectly fitting the album motto “The world we live in and life in general”. Romantic-dark, like Martin Gore’s lyrics. Most of the songs were about love, but not in the style of traditional pop music. They were self-experienced love and life stories of Martin Gore, in which thousands of fans could define themselves. Depeche Mode has been using this magical recipe for pop songs ever since, with great success. If you could just name one favorite song of Depeche Mode, which song would it be?

BG: “Somebody”

SL; Another milestone in the band’s history was the “Black Celebration” album. The main songwriter, Martin Gore, has repeatedly emphasized that he counts the most important and significant period of the band from the release of this record. Most fans also count this “black and gloomy” album among their personal favourites. You came up with your last cover design idea for Depeche Mode for this record. If I’m not mistaken, the final cover art wasn’t exactly the same as your concept art. Please tell us a bit about this cover story!

BG: All is revealed in my new book MODE.

SL: And now a few words about your band portraits of Depeche Mode. Were the boys – from a photographer’s point of view – treatable? Anton Corbijn once said that Alan Wilder showed the most interest in his work as a photographer/director at that time, the others almost didn’t care what he wanted to get out of a clip or a photo. And how did the band behave in front of your camera?

BG: Their attitude towards me was very similar to what Anton experienced. I preferred that attitude believe it or not, and found it most inspiring.

SL: You also shot a clip for Depeche Mode, the music video for “Only When I Lose Myself”. At that time the band was experimenting with other directors, because they had only worked with Anton Corbijn for more than 10 years and wanted to change the routine a bit. How did you get into the picture? Did you get a free hand in the production? What memories do you have of the shooting?

BG: It was wonderful in every way. I gave up photography for film making from 1991 to 2003. “Only when I lose Myself” is one of the best tracks by DM, it is also one of my best films by far. Daniel Miller freaked out when he saw the rough edit, as he had left me to let the creative juices flow. He made us cut the film drastically, but its strengths still shine through!

SL: Speaking of Anton, he has already released two photo albums (“Strangers”, “Depeche Mode by Anton Corbijn”) about Depeche Mode, the latter shortly before Andy Fletcher’s death. Why did you wait so long with your photo album (“MODE”)? You were part of the band growing up and also contributed to their image.

BG: My friend Vaughn George inspired and encouraged it to happen.

SL: This beautifully designed photo book of yours is the result of a huge fundraiser from the fans. I don’t think you could ask for more recognition as an artist. Please tell us about this project!

BG: This book “MODE” has been made with very little financial reward, and financed by the generosity of the fans. They have not been exploited, but have been rewarded with a beautiful book.

SL: According to your info mail, the photo album “MODE” will eventually be available in stores. Where can the book be ordered by those who did not participate in the fundraising?

BG: This book is self published and distributed by me and will not be available to be purchased in bookshops. For people who did not pledge to the Kickstarter of “MODE”, you can buy the book by visiting the the shop section of my website.

SL: Depeche Mode are currently on tour with their latest album, “Memento Mori”, which – albeit unintentionally – is heavily affected by Fletch’s death. When did you last meet the band – with or without Fletch? How will you keep them in your memory?

BG: I met Martin at the Olympic Stadium gig in London before lockdown. I will remember Depeche Mode as the band that inspired me to produce some of my finest album cover photographs.

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(Photo by Travis Shinn, interview by our correspondent János Janurik) You might think that appearing as a warm-up act in front of a cult band that is popular all over the world is one of the best things in life, and that you have a bit of a stake in the success of the concert evening. But in reality, Depeche Mode‘s support acts don’t always have it easy, although the band has actually always had a good hand for its support acts. Some of them managed to endear themselves to Depeche Mode fans and even won fans for their own music projects. Others, however, had a hard time getting away from possibly being pelted with bottles on stage by the exuberant and impatient fans.

This spring, at the tour opener of the current “Memento Mori World Tour” in North America, the stage belonged to the females. At the first 9 concerts in the USA and Canada, Welsh musician and producer Kelly Lee Owens performed for American audiences as the support act for Depeche Mode on their first concert tour without Andy Fletcher. On the last night of the first leg of the world tour, fans were able to see singer Dave Gahan’s daughter live for the first time at the legendary Madison Square Garden. The proud dad watched Stella-Rose’s performance secretly in the company of his bandmate, Martin Gore.

Fans in Europe are still considered fanatics, which means that Depeche Mode’s supporting bands have to pull their socks up if they want to get the desired appreciation, i.e. a friendly applause, up on stage.

💡 TIP: And for those that want to go a step further, every concert not only allows them to experience the magic of music but also creates unique memories to cherish. If you are also a fan of their music, you can design Custom Keychains Canada with band elements, which can be the best carrier to connect memories and daily life. You can incorporate performance theme elements or images of your favorite musicians into your keychain. Especially with the convenient express customization service, you can keep your love alive without waiting.

The concert series opens in Amsterdam with a performance by Cold Cave, a dark wave project led by Wesley Eisold, who has already been a guest in Germany. This time he and his companions will play only one Germany concert in Leipzig, the remaining shows will take place in the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and Slovakia. Our editor, Janos Janurik will see him live in Bratislava and contacted him to give an interview for us.

SL: You have just completed live performances in Whitby (TOMORROW’S GHOSTS FESTIVAL) and in London (O2 Academy Islington). How did these concerts go?

CC: That’s right. London was the last show we played and both in the UK were lovely for us. Great connection.

SL: The great artists of the Dark Wave movement, which have also inspired you, also came mainly from England, just think of bands like Joy Division, The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cult or The Sisters of Mercy, who have founded their own music genres. Was this noticeable in the reaction of the British audience? What kind of feedback did you get on those two nights?

CC: That’s a part of our appeal but another part of it is the lyrical and sentimental aspects of this. Sometimes it feels like genre is irrelevant. I’m a child of the 80’s so that’s what I love… which all works in LA too.

SL: Depeche Mode, whose dark songs from the 80s, such as “Blasphemous Rumours” or the whole “Black Celebration” LP also found favour in the dark wave environment, have had to struggle for years with the problem that they have not achieved the recognition they deserve in their own country. People in the UK still don’t seem to forgive them for not being the charming synth-pop boy band they once were at the beginning of their career. In America, on the other hand, where rock music – such as Bruce Springsteen’s live performances – still moves the biggest crowds, Depeche Mode have enjoyed cult status practically since their legendary Rose Bowl – “101” – concert. How do you see it as a musician? You come from the USA, but your music has more of a European character. Are there big differences in terms of the fanbase on the two sides of the Atlantic?

CC: If music is meant to transcend then it usually does. I find the people at our shows similar around the world. It’s really very international to me. DM’s reign around most of the world makes sense to me. They’re the best at what they do. I can’t complain. I put out my own music. No management or label help. Not much press. Don’t follow the rules. And still going.

SL: Wesley, you’re from Los Angeles. Many people first think of the endless coastline and surfing when they think of this city. Of course, there’s also Jim Morrison, who had a big influence on dark wave artists with the psychedelic rock band, The Doors. How did you discover this style of music? Who are your big favourites? How did you get involved in the LA music scene?

CC: I’m from nowhere. I grew up moving every year and have only been in LA for a decade which is five times longer than I lived anywhere else. That said The Doors were a first love of mine even though I was on the opposite side of the country. When you grow up trying to patch an endless void you just find this music or it finds you. I’m not involved in the LA scene. I don’t think that way. I grew up in punk & hardcore and stopped being concerned with scenes in my early twenties. I like my own scene. It’s an island I built for me and anyone who wants to come visit.

SL: Speaking of Jim Morrison, you’re also into poetry. How do you decide whether the lines you put together in your head become a poem or a song lyric?

CC: Good question. It’s really just where my interest is at when it appears. Sometimes they get used for both.

SL: A mutual friend of ours who also lives in Los Angeles is an active participant and supporter of the dark culture scene there, along with his wife. How did you meet Douglas McCarthy? Have you worked together on any projects?

CC: Amy, my partner, knows Douglas from Detroit. We then toured together ten years ago around the county for a month. I don’t think we’ve made music together but I care about him deeply and he’s always been there for us.

SL: Douglas has opened for Depeche Mode several times with his bands Nitzer Ebb and Black Line, as well as solo, and is also close friends with the band members. Has he recommended you as a possible support band for Depeche Mode’s current tour?

CC: I don’t think so.

SL: A musical collaborator of yours, Bryan Black aka Black Asteroid has also done remixes for Depeche Mode and with another project called Motor he has even released a joint single with Martin Gore called “Man Made Machine”. Please tell us a bit about your joint project!

CC: I met him in Paris 2013 at a Rick Owens runway show. We hit it off and I ended up singing on a few of his tracks. Even did it live a few times. Love his work.

SL: Are you a fan of Depeche Mode yourself? If so, when did you hear them for the first time? Do you have a favourite song or album by them? Have you seen them live? When and where?

CC: Of course! Hard to pick but maybe “It’s No Good”. Amy has seen them I think almost twenty times starting in mid 80’s.

SL: You are going to perform with Cold Cave on five nights (actually six, because in Amsterdam there is also a second show) before Depeche Mode as a support act at big outdoor / stadium concerts. You are also going to do a Germany gig in Leipzig at the legendary Festwiese. When was the last time you were on tour in Germany? What memories do you have of those concerts?

CC: It’s been a few years since a tour. I went to high school in Stuttgart and always love being there. One of the greatest countries. Definitely looking forward to Leipzig. We were there last in 2019 and the year before that with the Jesus and Mary Chain.

SL: I’m going to see your live performance in Bratislava. My 13-year-old daughter is also going to be there, she is also a big fan of synth pop and really likes her dad’s favourite bands. You also have an 8-year-old son. Has he already shown an interest in music? What does he think of your musical works?

CC: He lives and breathes it so far. Often joining us live for a song too. We are both lucky they are down for our music! He’s a great focus group for of a song is good or not.

SL: Your partner, Amy Lee, plays synthesizer alongside you. Which musicians are going to accompany you at the concerts with Depeche Mode?

CC: Amy Lee, Ryan McMahon and Anthony Anzaldo.

SL: Which song or album of Cold Cave would you recommend to those who don’t know your work yet? By the way, are you working on anything new right now?

CC: Always working! Hard to choose. My music really follows my immediate mood so would depend upon that. Maybe “Glory”.

SL: Thanks for the answers and hopefully you will gain many new fans for Cold Cave thanks to the shows together with Depeche Mode!

CC: Thank you! It’s a dream to support Depeche.

Cold Cave “Memento Mori” shows with Depeche Mode:

• Amsterdam (16./18.5.)
• Antwerpen (20.5.)
• Stockholm (23.5.)
• Leipzig (26.5.)
• Bratislava (28.5.)

Cold Cave Discography

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(Photos by Attosa Tavallai, text by our correspondent Janos Janurik) Before embarking on an extensive world tour, Dave, Martin, and Co of Depeche Mode held a secret concert in Los Angeles. A select group of fans had the opportunity to see their idols perform live in a well-hidden rehearsal room in the “City of Angels” before the regular tour began.

The band performed at SIR Studios in Los Angeles on March 16th, but tickets were not available for purchase. Fans had the chance to win free tickets in a radio quiz hosted by KROQ. Before the highly anticipated tour commenced on March 23rd in Sacramento, participants had the opportunity to see and hear the band in an intimate concert setting. Attosa Tavallai, a familiar face to Depeche Mode fans, especially in the U.S., was among those selected and agreed to answer a few questions from our correspondent Janos Janurik before the tour officially began on March 23rd – one day before the album release.

SL: Attosa, we’ve known each other since the COVID-19 pandemic when you had some interesting Zoom conversations with friends and fans from around the world. Sometimes famous musicians, such as Bon Harris of Nitzer Ebb, were guests on these online conversations. Please tell a few words about yourself for those who don’t know you yet. Since when have you been a fan of Depeche Mode? Where and when was your first concert experience?

A: Ah, those Zoom conversations were brilliant, and I still do them to this day. Bon Harris of Nitzer Ebb is one of my favorite people on earth, and it was so lovely to have him spend an afternoon with us, singing, laughing, answering fan questions. I am a musician, and I play synths and theremin for an electronic-rock band called Former Human Beings. Depeche Mode and Nitzer Ebb are why I got into music when I was younger. I have been a fan of Depeche Mode since I was eight or nine years old, listening to their hits on the radio. However, it wasn’t until my cousin Neema gave me a cassette tape of 101 that I truly and deeply fell in love with Depeche Mode. My first concert was World Violation in 1990 as a 12-year-old. It was my first concert ever. Nitzer Ebb opened the show, and it blew me away. I still remember the sounds and the feelings to this day.

SL: Have you ever won anything related to Depeche Mode? Have you met the band in person?

A: I have previously won tickets to their Exotic tour. I sent a fax to my local radio station using the Depeche Mode Devotional font on my computer, begging them to give me two tickets to their concert because I was a kid with no money! They were so impressed with the font that they sent me to the show with plus-one access! I was pretty young and had just broken up with my boyfriend, so I had to take my mom. It was weird but fun! It became the beginning of a great relationship with her.

SL: Please, tell us a bit about the current quiz! What kind of questions did you have to answer? Was it hard for a long-time fan?

A: The contest was put on by KROQ, and we had to name 10 Depeche Mode songs in under 10 seconds. I timed it; it was 7 seconds. I found it very easy, even though the other callers had so much trouble with it. I dialed the radio station 39 times, sweating, but the line was constantly busy. I finally got on, carefully named the songs, and won the prize. The songs were: Personal Jesus, Precious, Strangelove, Just Can’t Get Enough, People Are People, Everything Counts, Never Let Me Down Again, Blasphemous Rumours, Enjoy the Silence, and Policy of Truth. You can hear the clip of me winning the contest at https://www.youtube.com/attosa

SL: When and how did you receive the winning notification?

A: The radio station told me right on the phone after the game, and then Sony and KROQ both contacted me with congratulatory letters. They were both very kind to me, knowing how very excited I was. I had mentioned on the radio that I had been to 38 Depeche Mode concerts, so they were excited they were providing me show number 39!

SL: Then the whole story sped up, I guess. Please, tell us about what happened last Thursday at SIR Studios! We already know the setlist, but more details are most welcome! We already know the live version of “Ghosts Again” thanks to TV shows. What can you tell us about the other classics that you could hear live at this rehearsal concert?

A: I can tell you that we walked in during the middle of their rehearsal, so we could hear some of the other songs, old and new, through the walls. They didn’t let us have anything brand new on stage, but we got to hear some of the classic songs a bit slowed down. It was nice to hear John the Revelator. You can tell Dave really loves performing this song, especially since he added it to all the Soulsavers sets this last tour. The boys were joking with each other a lot during the set, and Dave was very playful with me, which made me very happy. I wish someone could have recorded it, but phones were taken away before we walked in. Dave and Martin’s vocals were so fresh and perfect. It was fascinating that we could hear their voices from their mouths instead of from speakers. The room was very small, only about 40 of us in there. You could even hear Martin’s nails on his guitar. They were about 8 feet away from us.

SL: Did you have a chance to meet the band members in person? How was the whole atmosphere one week before the tour start?

A: I met up with Martin and Peter; we had such a lovely chat. Dave seemed locked away from beginning to end. I heard some fans tried to bug the band for autographs when they were trying to go to dinner and it didn’t go over well. It’s no surprise fans will try to do that. Everyone is incredibly excited about the tour. However, this show’s audience was basically 6 of us fans and 40 music industry people. The vibe was very different. Six of us screaming in the front row, and 40 people quite silent. It was interesting.

SL: There is a rumor circulating about the expected setlist for the upcoming tour. Can you comment on that, or are they really trying to keep everything a secret? Do you have any idea what the stage set will look like?

A: It’s hard for me to trust the circulated setlist because many of the songs they performed for us are not on it. It was difficult to hear the rest of the set behind the closed door, so I can’t comment on what the other half sounded like. When we left to eat after they ushered us out, they were eating and then resuming their rehearsal. Only the walls know what’s on that setlist. I think it’s nice not to know, and I really hope they bring back some of the true classics like they said they would. The stage will probably have Dave in the front, dancing around, Martin on his usual left with synths and guitars, Peter on the other side with synths and bass guitars, and Christian with the huge drum set in the middle. I know there’s a catwalk for this tour, so Dave will have fun dancing for more of the crowd.

SL: When and where are you going to see the band live on the upcoming tour?

A: Sacramento, San Jose, Las Vegas, London, and Los Angeles… so far. Always happy to add more!

SL: Taking photos or recording by any other means was, of course, strictly forbidden. Nevertheless, you shared with us a few photos you took after or before the gig. What are the stories behind these photos?

A: I got to talk to Martin and Peter before the show. I asked them if they remembered me because Martin invited me to his after-party 20 years ago. I told them I was the “Phillpott So Hott girl” (you can Google it), and they laughed hard, saying they definitely remembered me. It made me so happy that they knew who I was. We talked for a bit, then took photos together. I think Martin looks happier than he usually does in fan photos because I made him laugh a lot. They seemed refreshed and happy, and they definitely seem ready for the tour!

SL: Thanks for the storytelling. What would be your message for Depeche Mode fans in Europe?

A: Enjoy the shows no matter what you hear on the setlist. These guys have been a gift to us for over 40 years, and they are incredibly hard-working. Give them the loud appreciation they deserve; get up, dance, and thank them as loudly as you can. We never know when it will be our last show.

Join Attosa’s Facebook group “Depeche Mode Collective” to connect with other fans you may know.

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(By Janos Janurik) Temperatures are dropping, days are getting shorter and from now on the umbrella is a permanent accessory when you leave the house. Nevertheless, you can also love autumn. One reason for this can be a good book that you can pick up and read in front of the fireplace without a feeling guilty.

For us, lovers of electric music, the book by Richard Evans, published on 17^th November, would be the perfect read.

Setting out to chart a unique chapter in the history of popular music, “Listening To The Music The Machines Make” tells the story of a single generation of post-punk musicians, mavericks, visionaries and opportunists tinkering with primitive synthesisers in bedrooms, bedsits and basements around Britain, who assembled a potent cocktail of ideas and influences, took them apart, mixed them up, and reassembled them in entirely new ways to create a genuine golden age of British pop, and along the way creating some of the most enduring, iconic and influential records in pop history.

Drawing from years of extensive research, as well as from conversations with many of the movement’s key movers and shakers, “Listening To The Music The Machines Make” sets out to examine the multitude of influences that led to the synthpop revolution that spanned 1978 to 1983; tell the definitive story of a true golden age of British pop through the careers, releases and stories of the movement’s pioneers, mavericks and superstars; and explores the era’s lasting musical impact and enduring influence, including it’s role in the development of hip-hop, house, techno and beyond.

Richard Evans has worked in the music industry for over thirty years in a variety of roles, including positions at London Records, Factory Records and MTV Europe. In 1998 he set up marketing consultancy The Fan Base and has been connecting musical artists with their audiences ever since. He is the founder of the This Is Not Retro website and record label and has worked for Andy Bell, Vince Clarke and Erasure since 2009. Richard is based in Dorset where he lives in perpetual fear of being asked what his favourite record is.

I have known Richard for several years as a result of being an Erasure fan for many years. I emailed him a few questions about his upcoming book and you can read his answers here. Of course, I also asked him about his favourite record.

SL: Richard, you have been the leader of the international Erasure fan club (EIS) and the webmaster of Erasure’s homepage for several years. I think your name has become known to the general public through this activity. Did you make it to the top of your career?

It’s quite complicated to talk about my career as at any given time I’m usually working on a few different projects simultaneously and it’s always very likely that they are all shooting off in different directions. But you’re right that Richard from the EIS is much better known than the Richard Evans who wrote the book! I also think that having worked with Erasure for as many years as I have definitely represents a career peak.

SL: With a background like that, one would have thought that you would write a book about Vince and Andy, about Erasure. Have you ever thought about anything like that?

Vince and Andy get offers to write books every year, on their own or as part of Erasure, but at this point in time neither of them feel the time is right to tell their stories. However when the time is right I very much hope that I will be involved in some way.

SL: You must have a lot of funny or exciting stories about your collaboration with Erasure. Could you tell us a short story that you particularly like to think back to?

I think the best stories are the ones that I can’t tell…

SL: Have you always been a big fan of electro music? Where did your interest in this music genre come from?

I kind of have and I haven’t. My book covers the period 1978-1983 which coincides with the time I was starting to discover music for myself and I always  consider my musical tastes extremely varied. Looking back however and I can see that the music that I was drawn to often had a very noticeable electronic element even when it wasn’t electronic music as such, so although I would enjoy, for example, rock music, the actual songs I was listening to would be things like ‘Owner Of A Lonely Heart’ by Yes, or tracks from ZZ Top’s ‘Eliminator’ album. It turns out that those electronic elements run through a huge amount of my favourite music but I hadn’t really noticed it before. But I did always love ‘pure’ electronic music too. I can remember being blown away the first time I heard things like Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’ and Kraftwerk’s ‘The Model’ for example.

SL: On 6^th November there will be a special event in London to launch your book “Listening To The Music The Machines Make” where you will interview Andy Bell and Martyn Ware (The Human League, BEF, Heaven 17) about their lives in electronic music. We already know about your connection with Andy, but what about Martyn? Have you known him for a while too?

I first met Martyn through a website I used to run called This Is Not Retro and I interviewed him a few times for that website, but I got to know him better through Vince Clarke who has a side-project with Martyn called Illustrious. Illustrious released a boxset called ‘House Of Illustrious’ under the name The Clarke & Ware Experiment a few years go and I was involved on the periphery of that release and got to know Martyn a little better through doing that. Then Martyn was working on his book, ‘Electronically Yours Vol. 1’, at the same time I was working on mine and I was able to introduce him to some helpful publishing people and also to share some of my research with him. We’ve only met in real life a couple of times so I’m looking forward to doing that at my launch in London and then again when we’re doing a joint event at the Louder Than Words Festival in Manchester the following week.

SL: Both Martyn Ware and Vince Clarke have special podcasts and radio programmes where they talk about synthesizer music, play such tracks and talk to famous artists. Do you listen to these programmes regularly?

I always listen to The Synthesizer Show, Vince’s radio show with Reed Hays, for pleasure of course because it can be very entertaining, but also so I can talk about it in the Erasure newsletter. I try to keep up with Martyn’s podcast Electronically Yours but he does so many of them that I’m always a few episodes behind!

SL: The foreword in your book was written by Vince Clarke who has been a living legend in the music industry over the last 40 years. How did he like your book? Has he already read it?

I sent Vince the manuscript so he would have an idea about what was in my book and I know that he has dipped into it, but I don’t know if he’s actually read it all… the book is 528 pages long so it takes a lot of reading and Vince is a busy man with a lot on his plate. I was delighted that he agreed to do the foreword though, as you say he is a legend and I’m extremely lucky to be able to call him a friend.

SL: Could you please name artists you met during your research or with whom you had conversations on the topic? By the way, who is your biggest hero from the electro music scene?

When I first started work on the book I did intend to talk to as many people from that time as possible, but I actually changed direction quite early on in the process simply because a lot of those people don’t actually remember the details very well after all these years. Instead I went to the original music and popular culture media from 1978 to 1983 and collected as many interviews, reviews, features and news pieces as I could – literally thousands of them – from magazines and papers from the NME, Sounds and Melody Maker to Smash Hits, The Face and ZigZag and constructed the narrative of the book from those original materials. Where I was fortunate was in having access to a number of those people who were available to answer questions, join the dots and provide extra clarification when I needed it. Vince Clarke and Andy Bell of course but also people like Martyn Ware, Neil Arthur, Rusty Egan and Daniel Miller.

I don’t know that I have a biggest hero as such, but in the summer Karl Bartos from Kraftwerk published a book, ‘The Sound of the Machine’, with Omnibus Press, the same publishers who are putting out my book ‘Listening to the Music the Machines Make’, and I was able to go to one of Karl’s events and was introduced to him afterwards which was a huge thrill. He was absolutely lovely and very funny.

SL: You jokingly said about yourself that you live in constant fear that people will ask you about your favourite record. Is that really such a difficult question to answer? Could you name at least three records that have had a big impact on your life?

It really is a difficult question to answer. There are so many great records and my favourite one day might not be favourite the next day depending on what I’m listening to, how I’m feeling and what sort of a mood I’m in. So here are three electronic records which I absolutely love and which I never get tired of listening to: The League Unlimited Orchestra’s ‘Love & Dancing’, Propaganda’s ‘A Secret Wish’ and Depeche Mode’s ‘Ultra’… but it really is an impossible question. If you were to ask me again in half an hour I would probably choose three completely different records!

SL: In the last two years, the music industry has also been hit hard by the pandemic. Many tours had to be cancelled or postponed. Which band did you see live for the last time from the electro music scene? Are there still concerts on your personal wish list?

A few weeks ago I saw Front 242’s concert in London which I think I was supposed to see in 2020 and which had been rescheduled four or maybe five times before it finally happened. It was a great show though. And I’m off to see Blancmange next week which I’m looking forward to as I really like their new album. As for a concerts wish list, I never saw the Eurythmics so I think they would be top of the list for me.

SL: We, electro music fans, are already very excited about your upcoming book. And what are you reading right now when you have a little “me time”?

I’m currently reading Martyn Ware’s ‘Electronically Yours Vol. 1’ as I will be interviewing him about the book at my event in a few weeks time. It’s very good, he has done some extraordinary things and has been involved in some amazing projects, so I’m very much enjoying it.

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(By our local correspondent János Janurik) “Hey, Janos, there you go…” It’s cool to be in email contact with Vince Clarke, founder of bands like Depeche Mode, Yazoo and Erasure. He may not be a wordsmith, but good-humouredly, the living synthpop legend had answered my questions before he went on a well-deserved vacation. At the end of October he is going on a tour through the UK and Europe with his long-time bandmate, Andy Bell. As a small appetizer for the upcoming concerts, Erasure’s latest album “The Neon Remixed,” will be released at the end of July, featuring remixes of their 2020 work “The Neon,” as well as a brand new track “Secrets.”

Certain electropop tracks are often more successful in remixed version and sometimes sound better than the original. This genre of music simply suits remixes well. The same goes for Erasure. Although I’m not a big fan of remixes from the last two decades, this time I was very pleased with what I heard. The remix of “The Neon” includes partly complete new productions, partly extended maxi versions in the classic sense and of course there are enough tracks to dance along to. “The Neon” is also remixed and in this revised version it is a pure electropop perfection! “The Neon Remixed” features reinterpretations from artists like Kim Ann Foxman, Hifi Sean, Octo Octa, Paul Humphreys (OMD), Andy Bell & Gareth Jones, Brixxtone, Theo Kottis, and others. My first question to Vince Clarke was of course about this upcoming remix compilation.

SL: One year after the release of your last album „The Neon” its remix version will be released at the end of July. Whose idea was this remix compilation? Did you want to take a new turn with „The Neon” songs to take them in a new direction or was that the idea of the record company?

VC: The remix album was the idea of Mute Records. They wanted to extend the ‘life’ of the album, hopefully right up to the start of the „Neon” Tour.

SL: Old friends and colleagues of you, like Paul Humphreys or Gareth Jones, as well as a lot of new DJs and remixers can be found among the participating artists. Who selected and requested them for these remixes?

VC: Neil Blanket from Mute came up with the list of remixers. (Neil Blanket is the Head of Marketing at Mute – author’s note)

SL: The „Violate Flame” album also had a similar remix version, but my favorite one is still „The Two Ring Circus”. I would be glad to hear live that stunning remix version of „Leave Me To Bleed” by Vince and Eric Radcliffe one day in my life. Are there any such remixes from your back catalogue, which you think are even better than the original?

VC: I’m very fond of Orbitals remix of „Ship Of Fools”.

SL: As mentioned before „The Neon” album is already one year old. How did it affect you the last time you heard it? Do you still have the same favorite songs on the album? By the way, what are your current favorites?

VC: I tend not to listen to an album once it’s been released unless of course, I’m preparing tracks for our up and coming tour.

SL: This year there is another anniversary in the history of Erasure: Your debut album „Wonderland” was released 35 years ago. Many of the fans think that your current album has a lot in common with your first album. Have you noticed any similarities in the sound or in terms of the production work?

VC: I think there are similarities. Both albums are upbeat and positive looking and the sounds and arrangements are less cluttered.. (I think?)

SL: This October you are going on tour according to your plans. Have you put the new setlist together yet? Which are the songs that already have a fix place on the setlist?

VC: We’ll obviously be doing songs from ’The Neon’, a few old favorites and a couple of lesser known tracks from our back catalogue.

SL: There’s a rumor that Andy wants to sing the Eurythmics classic „Love Is A Stranger”. Are you planning to perform this cover version on the upcoming tour?

VC: ‘W & S’… (Wait and see.) 🙂

SL: In these Corona times it is difficult to make preparations for a tour. When can you meet each other to rehearse live?

VC: We start rehearsals in London, two weeks before the first show in Scotland.

SL: At your London concert you are going to have Blancmange as the opening act. I have always liked their music and a lot of fans know about the contact with Depeche Mode (Blancmange were the opening act on Depeche Mode’s 1981 and 1982 tours) and with Vince. Vince, you remixed „Living On The Ceiling” a few years ago and your fans are also eagerly awaiting the joint work with Neil Arthur. Where is this project lying right now?

VC: We’re hoping to finally mix our ‘collaboration’ at the end of July although it rather depends on UK and US travel restrictions.

SL: Vince, you’re also a label manager and host of an online radio show about the world of synths. Are there any news from the home of VeryRecords?

VC: There’s not a lot going on at the moment… perhaps a new release in 2022?

SL: And let’s not forget that your son son Oscar has just released his debut work. Vince, please, tell us a few words about this record and about your possible involvement on it.

VC: I contributed very little. My son did pretty much everything including getting it on Spotify etc.

SL: Back to the subject of touring. You are giving six concerts in Germany during the forthcoming tour in October. The German fans have always been very loyal to you. Do you have a story in your mind about Erasure and Germany that you still remember?

VC: Our very first show in Hamburg comes to mind. We played a venue called the Markthalle which was probably about half full. We were not well known in Germany at the time but I remember the audience was amazing… So warm and enthusiastic.

The fans are still waiting with great enthusiasm to finally see their idols live on stage again. Hopefully the Corona situation will get better and then we can enjoy Vince and Andy on a concert! Here you can see the tour dates once again. See you there!

“The Neon Remixed”

CD TRACKLIST (CD 1)

1 Secrets
2 Hey Now (Think I Got A Feeling) (Hifi Sean Remix)
3 Nerves of Steel (Andy Bell & Gareth Jones’ Sapphire and Steel Mix)
4 Fallen Angel (Saint Remix)
5 No Point in Tripping (John “J-C” Carr & Bill Coleman 808 BEACH Extended Remix)
6 Shot A Satellite (GRN Extended Remix)
7 Tower of Love (BSB’s Stella Polaris Remix)
8 Diamond Lies (Armageddon Turk Extended Remix)
9 New Horizons (Matt Pop Extended Remix)
10 Careful What I Try to Do (Brixxtone Extended Remix)
11 Kid You’re Not Alone (Theo Kottis Remix)

CD TRACKLIST (CD 2)

1 Secrets (Kim Ann Foxman’s Heaven Mix)
2 No Point in Tripping (Can Love Be Synth Remix)
3 Hey Now (Think I Got A Feeling) (Hifi Sean Dub)
4 Careful What I Try to Do (Brixxtone Synthwave Dub)
5 Nerves Of Steel (Gareth Jones’ ElectroGenetic Terabyte of Love Mix)
6 Kid You’re Not Alone (Paul Humphreys Remix)
7 Secrets (Octo Octa’s Psychedelic Visions Disco Dub)

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(Text by Janos Janurik / Photo by Erika Tele) Vince Clarke has not only worked diligently on the current Erasure album “The Neon”, but he has also taken care of the artists of his own label, VeryRecords. After Brook’s debut album from 2019, he is going to release the second LP by Alka („Regarding The Auguries”) on 9^th October. The mysterious young musician named Bryan Michael, who is behind the pseudonym Alka, was briefly interviewed by our co-editor, Janos Janurik on the occasion of his upcoming album release.

SL: Three years after your first release on Vince Clarke’s Very Records label, you`re dropping a new album this October. If we include your previous releases too, this is already the fourth Alka album since 2007. When was the first time you started making music? Who were the musical heroes in your youth? For example, I saw some old photos of you wearing Nitzer Ebb T-shirts. Or was it just a coincidence?

BM: Very observant. I started with music production as soon as I got my first CASIO SK-1 and later SK-5 and loaded them up with Art Of Noise samples. I have always been a fan of diverse music in general but growing up there was something about the electronic sound that intrigued me and I was definitely drawn to obscure acts (for the states at least) such those on Nettwerk, Wax Trax!, Play it Again Sam, and Mute.

SL: After his musical cooperation with Paul Hartnoll and the release of Reed & Caroline’s debut album, Vince Clarke took you under his wing. I remember well when he told me in the late summer of 2017 with a smile in his eyes that the next Very Records release will come from a gifted librarian. How did you get in touch with him? Were you a fan of his works? What was he like as a mentor?

BM: I was just telling him how, when his Lucky Bastard sample CD was released, it was like a gateway to an off-limit universe of analogue synth heaven for me. His work was profoundly rooted in my love of electronic music. It wasn’t merely that he was an amazing tunesmith and producer but I really valued his love and appreciation for synthesisers great and small. Working with Vince has been an absolutely amazing experience and completely inspiring. 

SL: I think your new work will make the heart of all electro fans beat faster. It captivates the listener from the very first minute and unites many different styles of electronic music: ambient, industrial, synth-pop and so on. Who else was involved in the experimentation, who else was working on the production?

BM: For a bit now I’ve been rethinking Alka as a solo project and more of a collaborative unit. I had been working closely with fellow electronic music artist Todd Steponick but it wasn’t until we found Erika Tele, who we initially signed on for live video performance, that things really clicked. When she started contributing vocals and other elements we were excited about this progression in sound. We like to avoid beat-based genre prisons and favour diversity in our sound. 

SL: The first single, “Faito” (“Fight!” in English) is perhaps the craziest song from your new album and the Japanese voice samples make it even more mysterious. The minimalist, computer-animated video also perfectly fits with the mood of the song and Vince Clarke has created an excellent mix of it too. Do you have a special affinity for Asia, or is that some kind of homage to Kraftwerks “Dentaku”, or did your fellow musician, Erika Tele (artist and vocalist of Japanese origin), just influence you?

BM: At risk of being labelled a weeb 😉 my other love growing up, alongside synths and electronic music, was mecha design, anime in general, and a healthy dose of tokusatsu. I think that influence never really left me. Working with Erika was a coincidence but I value her multicultural input to Alka and we definitely bond with our mutual love of anime and Japanese culture. ‘Faito’ was one of those tracks that developed organically out of layers of EMS Synthi recordings and a discarded Japanese vocal take from another track through the magic of Todd’s sleek production. 

SL: The album title “Regarding The Auguries” can be explained in different ways. Some think that what is happening in the world at the moment has already been prophesied by the wise men, while others think that it is almost impossible at this time to plan even for a week. And what do you think? How do you see our current life? What did you want to teach the listeners with your music?

BM: One of the things that kept reoccurring during the production was the theme of birds and in particular the Japanese Tengu mythology, where a sort of demon is thought to transform into a bird. An augury was an ancient Roman form of interpreting omens or divination through the observation of birds. ‘Regarding The Auguries’ is just a poetical take on this process often referred to as “taking the auspices”. Had we all being paying closer attention to the auguries, however, we would’ve foreseen the woes of the current world. In retrospect, the album can be seen as a sort of real-time interpretation of how we got where we are today.

SL: And what do you do when you are not actually making a new album? Do you still make remixes for other artists? Or do you put together DJ sets? I know it’s almost impossible to talk about tours right now, but would you like to do live sets with the new album? Are there at least any plans to do something like this in the (hopefully) near future?

BM: I’ve recently finished up some remixes with my mate Roger O’Donnell, the keyboardist for the Cure, along with some other projects. I’m currently working on a DJ set for air in November but mostly I’m always working on new music along with my various synth building and repair projects. We had been working up our live set and playing out a few select shows before the pandemic and would love to continue that in the future, but for now we must heed the auguries and all be safe. 

Track list:

1. Fractured Time
2. Widthchild
3. Faito
4. Earth Crisis
5. Scrapple
6. Sourcery
7. My Heart
8. Solfège
9. Doubt
10. Dead Like Me
11. King Card
12. Solfège (Fujiya & Miyagi Remix)
13. Faito (Vince Clarke Remix)
14. Fractured Time (DJ Jekyll of Shelter Remix)

Regarding The Auguries will be released as a limited-edition CD, download and stream through VeryRecords on 9th October 2020.

Or check here on Spotify.

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(Interview by János Janurik) About a year ago, I had the honour to ask Gareth Jones about his studio work on Erasure’s legendary “Wild!” album. Back then he mentioned his upcoming solo electronic music project. The long wait is finally over. The studio magician’s long-awaited debut album will be released on the 18th September. On that occasion, I asked him my questions again.

SL: In our last conversation last year, you summarized your memories of working on Erasure’s “Wild!” album. The Erasure guys have just released their new album “The Neon”. At the online launch party they also mentioned your name concerning a new remix to “Nerves Of Steel”. Could you please tell us a few words about this project?

GJ: Andy had an idea for an approach to a remix, and I was delighted to help him realise that idea. It is a mix full of respect. It’s an homage in fact. I love Andy and Vince. It’s family.  It’s always amazing to work with them, so I jumped at the chance to collaborate on this remix.  I also created a second ElectroGenetic remix, which is a different kind of thing. Darker perhaps. 

SL: When we run back over the past and take a look at your massive CV, we can see that you have been active in the music biz for four decades. You were the sound engineer on John Foxx’s cult debut album from 1980. Do you remember how you got your first studio job?

GJ: A musician and record producer called Mike Finesilver owned a small 8 track studio in Newington Green called Pathway. He generously gave me a chance to work in his studio. Thank you Mike! I’m forever grateful.

SL: Your name is closely linked to the Hansa Studios in Berlin where you experimented with recording atmospheres and the method of sampling. In 2018 the film “By The Wall” was screened, which narrated as a kind of documentation what had happened musically in the Hansa Studios between 1976 and 1990. What are your most noteworthy experiences about these legendary Hansa times?

GJ: So many great musicians from whom I learned so much. Diamanda Galás, Depeche Mode, Einstürzende Neubauten, Adrian Sherwood, Ideal, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Conny Plank, Roma Baran, Daniel Miller, Fad Gadget, Palais Schaumburg, Wire, Holger Hiller, Crime and the City Solution. These are my teachers.

SL: Through your work with Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, and also with Nick Cave you have made a name for yourself among music producers. But your portfolio also includes younger artists and bands like Apparat, Wovoka Gentle, Compact Disk Dummies, and Polly Scattergood. Do you receive these requests for joint work directly from the newer generation of musicians? I mean, do they know you and your previous work well? And vice versa, do you have your finger on the pulse of contemporary pop music? Could you name some new pop artists who you think are exciting enough?

GJ: I do get approached directly and many of the younger generation know some of the amazing musicians I have worked with in the past. I don’t have my finger on the pulse. I’m a drifter. A feather on the breath of God.

SL: When I got the news about your solo album, I immediately got interested. I belong to the generation that not only appreciates albums of their favourite bands, but also the work of those who work in the production background. So you’ve always been a hero of mine. As I said, I was curious how this personal work would sound from you. How long have you been working on this album? What was the main motivation behind its creation?

GJ: I made a commitment to myself to complete an album in the year 2019. This personal contract with myself helped me to cross the finish line. I’ve been working on the album for 50 years. The motivation was not to let myself down.

SL: To what extent was this work different from your previous studio works on the albums of different artists? How did it feel for the first time being your own boss and that having an opportunity to realize your own ideas without compromise?

GJ: I really enjoy working with collaborators. And getting hired to work for other artists. One of the great things about it is that the person you are working with always inspires you and pushes you forward. My ELECTROGENETIC project is a solo work, so I was stuck alone with myself (and my dreams and fantasies) and this meant that I had to inspire and encourage myself. Not always easy. I learnt a lot about the creative process, the joy and pain of commitment, and had to negotiate intensively with my inner critic in order to get anything done. Also, I acquired an even deeper understanding of the challenges that so many of my dear friends and colleagues have been through over the years in making their own music and art.

SL: The album title “Electrogenetic” can have several meanings. Through creation we, humans, are similar to God – at least for a certain period of time. I thought of something spiritual when I had a first look at the album cover. What about you? What were you trying to say with it? What`s behind the title and the cover?

GJ: With the title I am trying to express my feelings about the generative power of modular electronic synthesiser patches. Often, when working with modular synthesisers, we build a patch and it offers something beyond what we could imagine or expect. This certainly happens for me often and it is part of the deep power of the modular synth creative process. So in a sense the electronics give birth to the music, and I am a kind of midwife, a birth father to the process. I am trying to emphasise and echo this process in my choice of name: ELECTROGENETIC.

The ankh and the wedding ring in the photograph on the cover hang of a lamp over my desk where I write my journal and create music at home, so I see them every day and when I took a series of photographs of these powerful symbols I realised I had my album cover right there. The wedding ring was my father’s. The font that I use for ELECTROGENETIC is from an old fashion stencil that I found in the basement of my father-in-law’s house. I love the dirty analogue outlines of the font – it enhances and reflects my aesthetic and music.

SL: When I first listened to the album, I immediately got a “this is the kind of atmospheric electronic music with goose-skin effect I’ve long missed” thought. Everything is very poetic and the listener is immediately tied up. Where did your ideas, themes and musical expression come from to this work?

GJ: This is my first solo LP, so it probably contains images and feelings from my entire life, and it is inspired by everything I have experienced, so that would be a very long list! 

The album emerged because I made a commitment to myself to complete a project within that year. I found this to be a very powerful process, the contract with myself. I really wanted to honour that contract and this which drove me forwards to completion, to the finishing line. Also my mother and my mother-in-law had recently died (my father and father-in-law died some years before) so in some way everything changed. This experience distilled into the entire project. In some sense I hope it is a loving Requiem for my parents and all the ancestors, the four billion year chain of life that precedes me.

SL: It’s hard to choose “favourite tracks” from the album because it’s a coherent musical concept, but are there parts of the whole that are of very personal importance to you?

GJ: Every track on my LP connects to every other track. In some sense they’re all important to me, and in another sense it’s “all for nothing“ – supremely important, and completely insignificant at the same time. That’s my life. I hope some listeners will go the whole journey with me and listen to the LP from top to bottom, that is how it is designed to be listened to. And I hope you will enjoy the journey.

SL: The last thing I want to ask is about your collaboration with Daniel Miller under the pseudonym “Sunroof”. Your special performance of the Depeche Mode album “Construction Time Again” 10 years ago in Berlin attracted the attention of Depeche Mode fans. Just as popular are your joint remixes. Are there such works still to be expected from you? And what are your further plans for the near future?

GJ: “Sunroof” goes back many years now and I hope it will extend many years into the future. My musical relationship with Daniel is one of the great important relationships of my life and we have always enjoyed making music together, and I hope we always will. Watch this space!

For more information on ELECTROGENETIC, including Gareth’s notes on each track, visit the album website.

Track list: 

1. The Beginning 
2. Trinity 
3. Mercury 
4. Michigan 
5. Farewell 
6. Goonhilly 
7. Safe Travels 
8. I Believe 
9. Alone Together 

You can pre-order / buy the album on Bandcamp.

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(Interview by János Janurik – Photo by Phil Sharp) Erasure is going to release their 18^th studio album, ‘The Neon’ on 21st August. Their first single has already made it clear for the fans that Vince Clarke and Andy Bell are still world champions and hit guarantors in the synth-pop genre. Let’s forget about the Corona crisis and the shadow-side of life for a while now, let’s turn on the NEON lights and let our hearts and souls warm up in their lights! The boys are back in town! Vince and Andy joined Janos Janurik / our co-editor for an exclusive interview.  Enjoy reading!

JJ: It’s been more than 3 years since our last online interview. On the one hand, nothing has changed – and I am referring to international politics here; on the other hand, we have to face all the harshness of this Corona pandemic. One might think that the follow-up of ‘World Be Gone’ (2017) would be an even gloomier record. However, even after the first single (‘Hey Now (Think I Got a Feeling)’) we knew that the new sound would be something ‘optimistic, more upfront’ – as you described it yourself. I also think that this is exactly what the fans – their ears, souls, hearts and minds – currently need to enjoy a bit of the beautiful side of life with the help of your music. The album will be released at the end of the summer, but still gives the listener the impression of a little bit of sunshine. Have you appointed this release date in order to help the fans go through these difficult times? Could you please tell me some words about the “Neon” online album launch party?

Vince Clarke: The release date was chosen by the record company. It was put on hold for a while but then they thought, despite the lockdown, that the fans would appreciate some new music. It’ll be an opportunity to chat about the new record, answer some fan question and talk to some of the people from Mute, involved in the “Neon” process (and drink beer).

JJ: Let’s stay with this first single release topic. Although the song was written before the Corona era its lyrics could not even be intentionally more up-to-date. ‘Walk through the city singing Hallelujah, wish for a lover’s touch’, ‘Head for the city feeling kind of lonely, I gotta play the part’. Andy, you also mentioned on your online video chat on the 1^st of May that you were living far away from your spouse at that time. In another interview you also mentioned that you could also interpret the song “Nerves Of Steel” – which will be the second single and will surely become an absolute fan favourite – in a way that you can do anything and survive alongside a beloved partner. How has the pandemic affected your private life? I suppose these times have also taken on your ‘nerves of steel’. How can you protect yourself emotionally as a highly sensitive artist right now?

Andy Bell: I think for Vince & I it was very fortuitous that we got the album mixed & the photos just right before the pandemic broke. Of course it is very sad & frustrating to be away from your partner especially when you could do with some help, but really he was a great inspiration in all honesty when I was writing the lyrics in Atlanta. I have never lived on my on ever since leaving my childhood home so this is a very good exercise in independence & it proves that I can look after myself though I prefer to be with someone. London has been a completely different place without all the cars & people it is slowly coming back to life but I prefer it to be quiet.

JJ: Vince, in that sense, you’re in a better position to have your wife and son right next to you. And if you want to experiment with your synthesizers alone you just go to your basement where you have your own home-studio. On the new album you grabbed more for classical analogue stuff that added more warmth and 80s’ flair to the new songs. I really like those space-like instrument parts in songs like “No Point In Tripping”, “Shot A Satellite”, “Diamond Lies” or “Careful What I Try To Do”. For me, this is one of the true essences of Erasure’s music, why I’ve been your fan for over 3 decades now. They guarantee goose-bumps and make the fans of the classic analogue synth sounds happy. What can you tell us about the development phase of the musical basis of the new songs? Was it a pure coincidence that you just picked these synths (like Sequential Circuits Pro-One and Moog) out of your huge collection? Is there a favourite synthesizer the sound of which you like best? 

VC: I never have a really clear idea of how the songs should sound in the beginning. My process has always been about experimentation. I do have my favorite synths but I try and incorporate as many different machines as possible. It’s more interesting for me and hopefully results in less predictable sound.

JJ: The new album is full of potential hits. The fans already know the pre-released single “Hey Now (Think I Got A Feeling)” and the song “Shot A Satellite”, released as an appetizer but there are several more that are sure to become fan favourites. Let’s think of the beautiful mid-tempo song “Nerves Of Steel” or of “Fallen Angel”, which is an energetic up-tempo song and immediately lures you to sing along. Another absolute favourite of mine is the synth-disco-anthem “No Point In Trippin”. “Diamond Lies” with its catchy oriental motifs is also a highlight of the album. Radio stations should play these songs in heavy rotation. Do you already have personal favourite hits from the new album? Which song is going to be the next (third) single?

VC: My personal favorite is “New Horizons”, cos I’m an old romantic at heart.

AB: My favorite is “Nerves of Steel” I just keep playing it over & over again it’s sounds like electro rock to me & I can`t wait to perform it live hopefully next year. It is a song about the grit & determination that it requires for a relationship to last. It is a celebration of world lovers no matter in which form. The last single will be “Fallen Angel” which is a roller coaster ride of emotions.

JJ: What I am also very happy about is that after a long time we finally have an Erasure ballad with piano underpainting again. “New Horizons” is definitely one of the most beautiful Erasure songs ever released. The music, Andy’s voice and the lyrics – everything fits perfectly! The song caresses the soul and gives new hope. Do you believe in the healing power of music? Which song touched you emotionally for the last time?

VC: For me, music has always been a comfort. I think that’s especially true right now. I’m not sure music is a healer but it certainly gives us hope. “Life In A Northern Town” is my current favorite comfort song.

JJ: The end track “Kid You’re Not Alone” also goes straight to the heart and brings the album to a nice conclusion. It reminds me of such crowning album closing tracks as “Because You’re So Sweet” or “I Bet You’re Mad At Me”. I am sure that fans will choose the brilliant ‘Neon’ album – which is colourful, warm and brings light to the world, just like its title – as their favourite. The only thing missing is a tour to have the work well done celebrated together. And then we, ‘kids’ will ‘not (be) alone’. I know that it is very difficult to plan live appearances at the moment, but is there a chance to see you at least on the Internet until live shows are considered safe?

VC: There might be a couple of small events happening soon but there are no plans for a full concert, especially because Andy and I are 3000 miles apart.

JJ: Please tell us a few words about the successful artwork which beautifully completes the musical content. Fans who have pre-ordered the special edition are sure going to be happy about the coloured NEON design.

VC: The artwork was inspired by a photo shoot we did at “Gods Own Junkyard”. A museum dedicated to the history of Neon.

JJ: In addition to Erasure, you also have your side projects such as Andy’s Torsten trilogy or Vince’s new discoveries on his VeryRecords label. Not to mention his radio program about the magical world of synthesizer music with Reed Hays. What releases are still to be expected from you until we can see you on tour again? Andy recently put an interesting playlist of his favourite mute songs together. I’ve also heard rumours about Vince’s possible collaboration with Neil Arthur of Blancmange. What does your musical life look like outside of Erasure?

VC: There is a new Alka album coming out soon on VeryRecords. The Neil Arthur collaboration is on going. It’s nearly finished but at the moment there is no release date.

JJ: Erasure are not only in the studio but also on stage in top form. As I mentioned before, these times are not necessarily favourable for tours. But Andy spoke in a radio talk in May about a possible US tour starting next March and about further UK/EU concerts in the autumn of 2021. Are you looking forward to meeting the fans? What would your message be to your fan community?

VC & AB: We are both really looking forward to begin a tour next year and properly showcase the new album. “Hang on in there” would be our message to the fans.

The new Erasure album can be (pre) ordered at Mute.

Erasure – “The Neon” tracklisting

1. Hey Now (Think I Got A Feeling) 
2. Nerves Of Steel
3. Fallen Angel
4. No Point In Tripping
5. Shot A Satellite
6. Tower Of Love
7. Diamond Lies
8. New Horizons
9. Careful What I Try To Do
10. Kid You’re Not Alone

Editor’s Note: I’m giving this album a 5 star rating.

© JJANURIK

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

(Interview © Janos Janurik) 2019 is a year full of anniversaries and anniversary releases and tours, just think of bands and records or special concerts such as Alphaville (“Forever Young” (Super-Deluxe-Box)), the anniversary tour to A-ha`s debut album “Hunting High And Low”, special live performances of The Cure to their legendary “Disintegration” album – just to name a few…

This series is complemented by the re-release of Erasure’s “Wild!” LP. The album was originally released in October 1989 and put the duo of Vince Clarke and Andy Bell on the top of the charts. According to Erasure’s fan base this record is still one of their best and contains timeless classics like “Drama!”, “You Surround Me”, or “Blue Savannah”, which are still part of their concerts.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of “Wild!”, our contributor, Janos Janurik, invited three people involved in that project for an interview: the unique and unrepeatable Vince Clarke and his right hands, who also have a good reputation among Depeche Mode fans: the two producers, Gareth Jones and Mark Saunders.

They were all ready for a discussion and answered the questions of our colleague as follows.

Vince Clarke

SL: In the series of the Mute album re-releases the last Erasure LP of the eighties, “Wild! ” will be published on the occasion of its thirtieth anniversary. Which (not only musical) memories of the autumn of 1989 are still awake in you?

VC: – I remember the music was recorded in my very first home studio in London. Mark Saunders worked with me whilst Andy recorded with Gareth Jones at the ‘Church’ studio.

SL: The producer of this album was Gareth Jones, a long-time studio employee of Mute Records artists like Depeche Mode, Wire, and Nick Cave. His partner in the production team was the legendary mix master Mark Saunders. You worked together with Gareth on other Erasure albums. Which cooperation do you remember best? Do you have a favourite remix of Mark’s Erasure catalogue?

VC: – Mark did a fantastic remix of ‘You Surround Me’. He was/is very easy going and we got on well. At that point I didn’t really know Gareth.

SL: The single releases “Drama!” and “Blue Savannah” are still fix parts of your live setlists. On the Violet Flame Tour you performed remixes of the rarely played “Wild! ” singles “Star” and “You Surround Me”. Except “2000 Miles” you actually played all album songs at your previous concerts. Are you still satisfied with this material? How do you rate this album after 30 years of time?

VC: – Not bad. 🙂

SL: The “Wild! Tour” has perhaps been the biggest of your tours so far. You toured the world with a gigantic stage set. For the first time you had dancers on stage besides the background singers and there were also several costume changes and two different setlists. During this tour you also played live behind the iron curtain in Prague and then in exotic places like South America, Japan and Australia for the first time. Not to mention the legendary finale at the Milton Keynes Bowl. Do you have any special souvenirs from this tour that will bring back good memories?

VC: – I don’t have any souvenirs, but I remember that the tour was very exciting, especially play to such big crowds.

SL: The second disc of the forthcoming re-release will feature 14 bonus B-sides, remixes, rarities and live recordings, five of which are previously unreleased, including a brand-new remix of “Drama!” by Richard Norris and a recently discovered unreleased mix of “How Many Times?”. This song is my favourite song from the album and which one is yours?

VC: – “Blue Savannah”.

SL: But Erasure is not a nostalgia band of the 80s, because in the meantime you have released more than a dozen albums that have all been received positively – by fans as well as critics. What does the band-future of Erasure look like? Are there any plans for new material yet?

VC: – We hope to be writing for a new album in 2019.

SL: What would your message be for your fan base?

VC: – THANK YOU!

Gareth Jones

SL: Gareth, you’re supposed to be the in-house producer for Mute Records. Before working with Erasure, you’ve worked with renowned Mute artists such as Depeche Mode, Wire and Nick Cave. How do you remember the first meeting with label boss Daniel Miller and the studio work in Berlin with Depeche Mode on their „Construction Time Again” album?

GJ: – I have told this story many times, so I will keep it brief.

I was introduced to Daniel Miller and Depeche Mode by my friend and mentor John Foxx. He owned a studio called “The Garden” in Shoreditch in East London, and Daniel and Depeche Mode were interested in recording there. I was working for John at the time and he sent me over to the MUTE Records office, which at that time was in Kensington Gardens Square in West London, to meet the whole team. I was a bit nervous, but they were all super nice and normal people, and agreeably weird. Luckily for me they felt good about me too, and offered me the job.

SL: How did the request to produce Erasure’s „Wild!” album come about? Have you had contact with Vince Clarke and Andy Bell before?

GJ: – Before we started working on the “Wild” album I didn’t know Vince or Andy very well at all. For this record they had decided to make sure that there was plenty of time for Andy to work on his vocals. They were looking for someone to engineer and produce the vocals.  I had already been working in Berlin with the incredibly talented Diamanda Galas.  She had met Andy a couple of times I believe (I don’t know where) and she was kind enough to recommend my vocal production skills to him. So that is how I join the team.

SL: How was it working with them compared to Depeche Mode?

GJ: – This was a very different process from working with Depeche Mode. Initially I was hired to record and produce Andy’s vocals. Vince was in another studio with the other co-producer of the record, Mark Saunders. We were in the church studio and I think Mark and Vince were in Swing Studios. 

The studios were both in North London so we were able to have meetings often, and we were continually exchanging musical and vocal ideas.

When it came to mixing it was decided that Mark and I would both mix the album. I was mixing in the Church and Mark was mixing in Konk.  We were all determined to get the best out of the songs, so we all pushed each other to do our best like a Sound System contest.

I remember the first single “Drama!” went back and forth between our two studios a few times! Eventually we were all happy.

SL: Are there any favourites from this album that you are still proud of today?

GJ: – The whole record was an amazing experience. Vince and Andy are such strong song writers, talented musicians and all around wonderful people that it was a real pleasure and privilege to be a part of this great record.

I loved the whole process and I have a special affection for “Drama!” and” Blue Savannah”.

SL: You were not only involved in the „Wild!” project as a producer, but also as a remixer, for example the „Syrinx Mix” from „You Surround Me”, which is one of my favourites. Do you have a favourite remix from Erasure`s discography that you particularly enjoyed working on?

GJ: – I did 2 remixes of “Blue Savannah” (“Der Deutsche Mix 1 & 2”) in Berlin with my friends Sun Electric – Stephan Fisher, Max Loderbauer and Tom Thiel. I really enjoyed this – they are all so musical, creative and professional. It was truly a fantastic experience.

SL: After the „Wild!” album you had numerous co-productions with Erasure – among them you worked on one of my favourite albums from them, on the self-titled „Erasure”. And how about you? Do you have a favourite album from Erasure?

GJ: – The first album, “Wild!”, is dear to my heart. I also love the “Erasure” album. It was such a pleasure to work with my friend Thomas Fehlmann as a co-producer on the album and he bought so much to the table. I was so happy that Diamanda agreed to do a guest vocal on the record. We also had the pleasure of an amazing LP mix by Francois Kevorkian.

– The „Wild!” album also included an extensive world tour. Did you see Erasure live back then? If so, where? What did you think of them as a live act?

GJ: – I saw the Wild tour in Hamburg I think. I invited my parents to come along. The show was incredible. I am always impressed by Erasure live shows. The love between the band and the audience is so tangible and touching. Andy is an outrageously talented frontperson, and Vince is always Mr Cool. What a great combination!

SL: What are you currently working on and what are your plans for the future?

GJ: – I am currently writing and recording a solo electronic music project and a new collaboration that I am very excited about.

This year I will also be writing and releasing a new LP for the “Spiritual Friendship” project – an ongoing collaboration with the amazing Nick Hook.

I am also producing an exciting and enjoyably weird electronic pop album with American and European musicians for a new project called “Of Love And Lust”.

I will be back in Yann Tiersen’s fantastic new studio on the island of Ushant (Ouessant) later in the year, helping out with a new recording.

Mark Saunders

SL: Among your early outstanding works is the engineering of some of David Bowie’s songs from 1985 and 1986, who was the idol of several generations of musicians, including Erasure’s Vince Clarke. How do you remember this studio work?

MS: – I feel incredibly lucky to have been in a studio to witness the true legend, David Bowie at work. It was just under a year from starting at West Side Studios in London when Bowie first came in to work on songs for the movie that he was also acting in – „Absolute Beginners”. Before that, I’d been making demos on a Tascam 8-Track tape machine in a dilapidated cow shed on my dad’s farm. Working with Bowie was an unfathomable step up! When the Bowie sessions started, I was transitioning from assistant engineer to house engineer. My bosses, producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley (Madness, China Crisis, Elvis Costello, Bush, Bowie & Jagger), were constantly throwing me in the deep end on sessions. There were quite a lot of jazz songs that we recorded for the Absolute Beginners soundtrack were and there would often be drums, bass, piano, guitar, and sometimes up to 9 brass players all playing together in the studio. It was intense as a newbie engineer to get thrown in on those sessions. I remember one session feeling somewhat overwhelmed and turning around to my boss Alan to get some confirmation that I was doing ok and he was asleep on the sofa behind me! For Bowie’s songs for the soundtrack, when the band were laying down the backing track for Bowie to sing on, Bowie would always sing along a ‘rough’ vocal to keep the band inspired. His vocals were always brilliant and as far as I was concerned, nearly every one could have been the master vocal take. But surprisingly, when Bowie was happy with the backing track, he would approach singing lead vocals in quite a clinical way. He would often sing one line, stop, and listen back to it before moving on to the next line. He would also quite regularly check his vocal on the demo version of the song to during this process. His vocals always sounded fantastic though. The pinnacle of those Bowie sessions was when on one day, we recorded the epic title track „Absolute Beginners” and then late in the afternoon, Mick Jagger came in to record „Dancing In The Street” for Live Aid! This was incredible for me – this was a year and one day from starting in a professional studio – and I was working with Bowie & Jagger! This being before cellphones and frustratingly, I had no way to text friends and say – „You’ll never guess who I’m working with today!”. „Dancing In The Street” was one of the first records I ever got an engineering credit on.

SL:Erasure are part of the success story of Mute Records. Your first commissions with the record company included remixes of Depeche Mode`s „Strangelove” and „Everything Counts”. These tracks are – after 30 years – still firm parts of the Depeche Mode club evenings. Did you like making them (with Tim Simenon)?

MS: – I think that these remixes occurred just after or around the time that I worked with Tim on Neneh Cherry’s brilliant debut album „Raw Like Sushi”. Tim was great to work with, he was young and came from the DJ-ing aspect of music rather than being a studio musician or an engineer and he had a naive (in a good way) approach to making records that kept things moving along and fresh sounding – particularly noticeable on „Buffalo Stance” by Neneh Cherry – her first hit. The „Everything Counts” Depeche remix was a pretty simple affair. I seemed to remember hiring in a Roland SH-01 for that session which was definitely used for the bass. Personally I would have preferred to have made the remix more musical – but Tim was happy to keep it more of a hardcore club track. Our Strangelove remix was much more complicated and fraught with technical difficulties.

In those days I was syncing my Atari 1040st computer, running Cubase, to a timecode track (SMPTE) which was recorded on one track of the multitrack tape that contained the song.

This quite often lead to difficulties because after hours or playing and rewinding the tape, the tape would start to wear out. Usually the code track was on the edge of the tape and the edges wore out faster.

So as it go late into the night, we had real problems syncing the computer to the tape machine. And the computer was running all the new parts and samples that Tim and I were adding for the remix. I think this one turned out pretty well though!

SL: Before the release of “Wild!” you also made remixes for Erasure songs like „A Little Respect”, „Stop!” and „Knocking On Your Door”. Did you follow the band`s history from the very beginning?

MS: – I’d been a fan of Vince since the early Depeche days and the Yazoo era but I missed the early Erasure days. My first Erasure work was a remix of „A Little Respect”. I’m sure this came about because of my work for Tim Simenon who was signed to Rhythm King records which was based out of Mute’s offices. I didn’t meet the band though until I mixed the „Crackers International EP” which included the songs „Stop!”, „Knocking On Your Door”, „God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman” and – my favourite – „The Hardest Part”. I mixed „The Hardest Part” first and that was the first time I met Vince – when he came in to check the mix. I was nervous and nobody had warned me about his very dry, deadpan sense of humour. For one thing, when he listened to the mix, he barely moved. He barely even seemed to blink! He didn’t tap his feet, smile or turn around to me to give me an assuring look – nothing! He sat like a robot with his head between the speakers. I took this as a sign that he must absolutely hate the mix – I was literally pacing back and forth behind him wondering how I’d got the mix so horribly wrong! Eventually the song finished, Vince stopped the tape and then paused for what felt like an eternity before turning around and saying „I love it!” And then with a dead straight face he said – „Just one thing… Did you not like like the kick drum?” My heart nearly stopped! Had I really missed out the entire kick drum track on an Erasure record! But before I had a chance to respond, he said „Just kidding… there’s no kick drum on this song!”

SL: In 1989, Erasure`s „Wild!” album was released that still belongs to the fans’ favourites and includes such classics as „Drama!” and „Blue Savannah”. What memories can you recall of these studio works with Erasure?

MS: – As Erasure had time constraints for the making of „Wild!”, I was hired to co-produce the tracks with Vince Clark and Gareth Jones (Depeche Mode, Wire, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, Interpol) was hired to work on vocals with Andy. When Vince and I finished a track in his basement studio in his house in Notting Hill, London, the multitrack would be whisked off to The Church studios in Crouch End in the north end of London for Andy to sing on. On the first day of the recording, Vince sat me down and said – in his deadpan way, „Do you want to know how much money you’re going to make from this album?” Before I could utter much more than „Oh… well… err”, he’d tapped away on a calculator for a few seconds and was holding up the resulting calculation to show me and said „How’s that?” To which I gulped and said „Err… that looks just fine… thanks.” Vince’s basement studio contained nearly every great synth known to man and it was beautifully laid out, with a mixing board against one wall facing the window, and the other three walls had floor to ceiling racks laden with all the synths. One thing completely stunned me on day one though. We decided on what song to start with and Vince then proceeded to expertly get a kick drum sound from one of his synths – an ARP 2500 I think. When he was happy with it, he said, „OK let’s print that to tape (an Otari 24 track 2in Tape machine)”. I said „Are you sure you want to record it now?” He frowned and said „Why not?”.

I said, „Well, wouldn’t you prefer to hear the kick drum in context with a bass and maybe a couple of synths before you commit it to tape?” He still looked completely baffled – like I was asking him to pilot a space craft to the moon or something else outside of his comfort zone.

He replied „But this is the way I’ve always done it.” – which is a fair response from someone whose already produced a shed load of mega hits! „OK”, I said, „but surely, you have more than enough excellent gear here to have all the parts running live from your sequencer and refine all the sounds in context with each other before we need to commit to tape – right?” Long pause and more deep frowning – followed by „I’ve never thought about doing it like that”. This blew me away! This was Vince Clarke, the guy that I watched on Tomorrow’s World many years before I got into the music biz explaining how the Fairlight could sample sounds and play them musically on a keyboard and then sequence them to create a song – all inside a massive computer. Ground breaking stuff! And yet here was the same guy who hadn’t thought of running multiple parts on his sequencer before! Anyway, luckily, rather than kick me out of his studio, Vince gave my suggestion a go and after a couple of hours he said „I like this way of doing it…” and so that’s how we worked from then on. Vince is a musical genius and I loved working with him. He was all about keeping stuff dead simple and keeping songs short… He would quite often say „That’ll do”, like a builder who’s just skimped on the bolts holding some majorly important steel beams together. An example of the Vince Clark genius was the rising and descending piano riffs in „Blue Savannah”. Vince, during the programming/recording said „This needs a piano riff”. Then he just seemed to sit there and stare into space. After a while, I said „Why don’t you just try and play something?” He said… „Sshh… I’m thinking!” After what seemed like an eternity, he started furiously typing numbers into his ancient BBC UMi computer. Minutes later, he sat back and said „Right, let’s have a listen then.”… and my jaw dropped when the brilliant piano riffs popped out of the speakers. He had worked it all out in his head and then had typed in – numerically – each note, the position of the note, the note length and the velocity. Bloody brilliant! At the beginning of the record, Daniel Miller, the Mute Records boss, said to me „I want you to try and get Vince to try some new sounds on this record – experiment a bit more. He’s been using the same sounds for years.” So I tried, but I didn’t push the idea with Vince because I loved all his tried and trust analog synth sounds. We did use some samples from my Akai S1000 sampler a few times, like the acoustic guitar sample on „Star” – although Vince had no interest in using a sampler, as far as I remember. When the recording was finished, both Gareth and I started mixing the songs. I can’t remember if we both mixed all of the songs or not – and I can’t remember exactly who’s mixes ended up on the record – but I think it was a fairly even split between Gareth’s and mine. I mixed in Konk Studios, just up the road from The Church where Gareth was mixing. Konk, owned by The Kinks, had a great big room with a full size snooker table in it which was fab. Vince drove up from Notting Hill one day during the mixing and said „Come on, take a break… Let’s have a game of snooker!” So that’s what we did – we played at least two games and then I said, „OK, let me play you some mixes then”, to which he replied ‘nah, I only came up here for a game of snooker’. I assumed he was joking because, for one thing, the drive from his house to Konk was a fairly arduous journey across a big chunk of London. He told me he was deadly serious though and it took a great deal of effort to persuade him to stay and listen to a mix. I decided to play him „Blue Savannah”. Now, if you’ve ever heard the acoustic slide guitar samples in my 12” remix of this song… well, I had originally put them in the album version. I found the samples in my library while I was working on the song and when I loaded them into the Akai S1000, I loved them! They fit the key of the song perfectly. But somehow I had a feeling that I might be on shaky ground when Vince heard them. My instinct was right. When I played him my album mix, he assumed his normal position… stone faced, and dead still in front of the speakers. But when the first slide guitar riff came in, he positively flinched… like someone had slapped him around the face! But amazingly he kept listening without moving again until the end of the song.

Then he turned to me and said „Yeah, it’s good… but… I would never, ever, have a slide guitar in any of my songs… ever!” So that was the end to the slide guitar in the album mix. And now I think about it… how did I ever get away with putting them in the 12” version?!

Vince had an unerring confidence in what he was doing. If Daniel Miller, the Mute Records boss, had any doubts about anything to do with the record, Vince would say „Don’t worry Daniel, it’s going to go to number 1” – which of course it did, in it’s first week of release!

SL: A remix of „You Surround Me” also bears your name. You made a danceable club hit out of that original ballad. Erasure even played this version live on their Violet Flame Tour 2014. Please tell us a little about it! Which song, by the way, is your favourite from the „Wild!” album?

MS: – I was in Mayfair studios in London for this remix. I remember getting depressed because for quite a long time I couldn’t get anything going that I liked – mainly because of the tempo of the track I think. Then I tried playing double tempo drums along with the song and all of a sudden I was up and running and excited about the mix! I’m pretty sure I was thinking Billy Idol when I did this version. I was pretty happy with the result and was very flattered to learn that the band played my version live. My favourite song from „Wild!” is definitely „Blue Savannah”. My next favourite song that I worked on with Erasure was „All This Time Still Falling Out Of Love” from the album „Nightbird”.

SL: Not only for Erasure, but also for Yazoo you made a remix for their hit „Situation”. Did you see the duo live during their reunion 10 years ago?

MS: – Working on the remix of „Situation” with Daniel Miller was a great honour. What an absolutely perfect pop song… and less than 2 minutes and 30 seconds long! On my website is an extended edit of the song that never got released… actually, I don’t think I ever played it to the band or Mute. I was lucky enough to see them in New York during their reunion tour. They sounded great. Alison Moyet is awesome… I got to work with her too a couple of times and she, like Vince, has a very dry sense of humour and is very down to earth.

SL: What future plans and current works in progress do you have?

MS: – I moved back from the States in 2017 which was a big deal after 21 years of living there. I feel much more inspired musically in the UK. I’m in love with the BBC 6 Music radio station… best radio station I’ve ever heard. They play the most eclectic range of music that you could possibly imagine but they somehow nearly always play stuff that appeals to me! I have two young boys and for a few years now life has been more about family life than pursuing my career but I feel that as they are getting older there is going to be room for both – hopefully soon!

P.S.: A short info for all those who have missed a conversation on the topic with Andy Bell, he is currently very busy with his new solo project “Torsten in Queereteria” (release date: 12 April 2019) and therefore unfortunately could not be at our disposal.

“Erasure – Wild! – 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition”, is out Friday, 29th March 2019 via BMG / Mute Records.

CD1 Track Listing:

• Piano Song – Instrumental
• Blue Savannah
• Drama!
• How Many Times?
• Star
• La Gloria
• You Surround Me
• Brother and Sister
• 2000 Miles
• Crown Of Thorns
• Piano Song

CD2 Track Listing:

• Sweet, Sweet Baby – The Moo Moo Mix
• Drama! – Richard Norris Mix (unreleased)
• Blue Savannah – Mark Saunders 12″ Mix
• Piano Song – Live at the London Arena (unreleased)
• Runaround On The Underground – Remix
• How Many Times? – Alternative Mix (unreleased)
• Supernature – Daniel Miller & Phil Legg Remix
• Star – Soul Mix
• No GDM. – Unfinished Mix
• Drama! – Act 2
• Brother and Sister – Live at the London Arena (unreleased)
• Dreamlike State – 7″ A Cappella Mix (unreleased)
• You Surround Me – Gareth Jones Mix
• 91 Steps – 6 Pianos Mix

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

2 days after the free EP “50 Shades of Gay” by Junksista to celebrate the international day against homophobia and transphobia, we can present you an interview with yet another LBGT minded duo, namely Erasure.

(Interview by Janos Janurik) I can clearly remember the first time I met Erasure live as it was on my 18th birthday. OK, actually it was a one-sided meeting only because it happened at their Budapest concert in 1992 and I stood among the public with other fans and they were on stage performing live.

I was so impressed of what I saw and heard on that evening that I even wrote a fan-review on it – although I kept it in my drawer. Approx. 10 years later I started freelancing for various music sites – among others for example I was the editor of the Hungarian Mute microsite. I did several articles on Erasure and in March 2005 I finally got the opportunity to meet my heroes in Munich and I interviewed them face-to-face.

I have kept contact with their management/record company and our relationship slowly became amicable. I still help their work silently with my promo articles and it was evident for me that I would get in touch with them again to do another interview on the release of their new album “World Be Gone”. Maybe I have a soft spot for Erasure but “World Be Gone” is really one of their bests – both musically and lyrically. Let`s take a look in the minds of Mr. Vincent Clarke and Mr. Andrew Bell and let them tell us about their past, present and future…

SL: You recently had an important milestone in your career. You celebrated a big anniversary to mark 30 years of being together as a pop-duo. Have you ever thought you`d come this far? Are there any unfulfilled wishes in your life?

V: It would have been impossible to imagine (in the 80’s), that we’d still be around after 30 years. As for ambitions there’s just that elusive ‘perfect pop song’.

A: I didn’t really think about how long we’d last, whether it be 30 or 50 years to be honest I take each day as it comes I was just very honoured to be able to work with Vince Clarke in the first place! I think it is kismet & we were meant to be a song writing partnership. Sometimes I wish we had a bit more recognition within the industry but it’s not absolutely necessary!

SL: Sometimes you’re just ranked as a typical 80s band although your career mainly happened in the 90s and in the `00s – and you`re still present in today`s music business. Do you think radio stations are responsible for that? Do you get enough airplay nowadays? 

V: The radio station ‘business’ is about playing the latest and newest. That’s totally understandable. More airplay would be nice, but that’s not the way of the world.

A: I think pop is mainly for teenagers so you are very lucky if you manage to keep some of those initial fans with you, for me being a gay man seems to keep you forever young so I don’t tend to think about things in a traditional way.

As for the radio etc it’s all up to them & it’s all very corporate & centralised I don’t need to be categorised in any way & take no notice any way!

SL: Do your supporting gigs with Robbie Williams have anything in common with making your music known for a wider public, with the newer “pop-kids”? How did you get to know each other with Robbie? What are your expectations of this tour?

V: We met Robbie once, when Take That first started their careers at a TV show in the UK. This tour is a fantastic opportunity for us to remind people of our music… I’m not sure Robbie’s fans are ‘kids’ anymore?

A: I think Robbie & his wife maybe slight fans, I like him & it’s a good opportunity for us to play to a million people without having to do 75 shows!

SL: There is a new Erasure album coming out on Mute on 19th May 2017. It`s titled “World Be Gone”. The title is not too optimistic but its content is full of hope – except for a few parts. How can you find optimism in the most unlikely circumstances?

V: I believe good and bad comes in waves. I’m a naturally optimistic person. I have to be, especially as I have an 11 year old son.
You have to otherwise you might as well pack it all in.

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.