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
The thing about Depeche songs is that they’re so descriptive. For me, they tell some kind of story about a character who’s trying to redeem himself or to find something to believe in-some kind of faith or hope.
Music is still the one thing that ties people together. People can come together from all different religions, walks of life, colours, creeds and enjoy the same song. That's still the most incredible thing to me about performing live.
Certain songs like 'Enjoy the Silence' - to me, it always fits anywhere. There's something about that song that's really timeless, and I never get bored or feel like I have to muster something up.
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.
There's that side of me that wants to be the loving, caring father, and there's the other side of me that's just a dirty animal. If I don't let that out, I go nuts.
It takes a long time to find your own voice. Along the way, you imitate all the things that influence you - in my case Johnny Cash, Bowie, John Lydon.
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.
Like every New Yorker, I have a love/hate relationship with the city. There are times it's overbearing, but when I'm away even for a little while, I can't wait to get home. I am a New Yorker.
I do use texting as a great way to communicate quickly, but I dont Twitter or anything.
I have to feel the audience. I enjoy that feeling of community.
I think Depeche Mode music somehow appeals to the oddball, to the person who is looking for something a little bit different.
You have a tendency to just remember the bad times and bad moments. I think that often it's the way of life. Yet the rewards we got from it were fantastic and we played a lot of shows to sellout audiences in I don't know how many cities. I just think we didn't realise how insane it was until we were actually right in the middle of it and couldn't stop. We just couldn't stop.
Joy comes from places you least expect it. Its usually the simple things, like watching my son play basketball or going through Central Park when the blossoms are blooming.
Really, what I'm always drawn to is the voice - PJ Harvey , Björk . If the voice interests me, then I'm interested to listen to what's happening.