Dave Gahan
Dave Gahan
David "Dave" Gahanis an English singer-songwriter, best known as the baritone lead singer for the electronic music band Depeche Mode since their debut in 1980. He is also an accomplished solo artist, releasing albums in 2003and 2007. Though his bandmate Martin Gore continues to be the main Depeche Mode songwriter, Gahan has also contributed a number of songs to the band's most recent albums; Playing the Angel, Sounds of the Universeand Delta Machine. Three of these songs were released as...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionRock Singer
Date of Birth9 May 1962
I have a very addictive personality, so I'm even careful about wanting more of anything than I need - even chocolate.
You're only going to get surface with me. It takes me ages to warm up to people.
'Presence of God' is really that understanding that sometimes when you step out of your own shoes and just open your ears and listen to what's going on around you, you get answers to the questions you were asking.
I go to see some big shows of other bands, and I feel like I'm so bombarded and over-stimulated that I lose interest in the music. There has to be light and shade, and less stimulating moments. There has to be an arc to the show.
I think there's a great strength in having the courage and also having the support to do what you want to do when you're an artist in any way, shape or form.
To go on the road and see people sing my own lyrics back to me is just fantastic.
You've got to put interesting people around you; you've got to work with people who are gonna inspire you to take the songs you've written into a completely different direction, because there's nothing more boring than going to the studio and predictably knowing what is going to happen.
Making a record with 'Depeche Mode' is not a simple process. It's quite complicated and long. We have the luxury of time. I'm not sure that's such a good thing when you're being creative.
I really believe that the more distractions and fixes I remove from my life, the better I'll feel about myself. The biggest of those is Depeche Mode. It's the one marriage that survived, but I'm not sure it works - for me, anyway. Jumping on a plane to go somewhere else and be told how wonderful I am doesn't feel good any more.
I definitely have a dark side of me that can be pretty vicious... as we all do.
To me, it's always been a challenge to look for the light: to look for those spaces in your heart where there is hope and faith and try to embrace that rather than crush it. I've spent so many years trying to crush those feelings of hope, and I certainly succeeded for quite a while.
Joy comes from places you least expect it. It's usually the simple things, like watching my son play basketball or going through Central Park when the blossoms are blooming.
If you ask me who the members of the Rolling Stones or Led Zep or the Clash were, I'd be able to tell you every member. But I couldn't name a single member of Arctic Monkeys.
Depeche Mode have never got over their teenage awkwardness with each other. We're still like that. Mates but not mates. That awkwardness is there, only now we have families and kids.