Martin Gore Quotes

When people meet me I think they're surprised to find out I'm not always angst-ridden.

I always hate explaining away songs, because for me they mean something, and for other people, they'll mean something absolutely different.

I lead two totally separate lives. There are times when I have to slip into rock star mode.

I will be the focal point for however long I decide to play. Half of me likes that idea and half of me doesn't, but once the adrenaline kicks in, I'll probably really enjoy it.

Anything that I write comes from the soul.

I don't think I've ever tried to be anything other than a weirdo.

I'm not advocating violence but I think somebody should shoot Simon Cowell.

I do a cover of a Velvet Underground song, and they were one of the most important bands, for me.

It creates a conflict of interest - what songs would I use for me, and what would I use for the band.

When I write love songs, people think they're really soppy - but I see love as a consolation for the boredom of life.

Once I'd chosen the songs, it seemed like it would just be a question then of recording them. But it's a case of trying to re-invent the songs; taking them in different directions.

There are Depeche Mode parties around the world where people listen to our music all night long. The more remixes we can give them, the more interesting those nights have got to be.

God knows why - no pun intended - but every time I write a song, I feel a need to touch on religion.

Music is really all about experimentation and lots of trial and error. It's just mind-numbingly boring until you hit on something that works well.

I sit down and create atmospheres, start playing guitar or piano and just sing whatever comes out of my mouth.

I was born with the wrong sign In the wrong house With the wrong ascendancy I took the wrong road That led to The wrong tendencies I was in the wrong place At the wrong time For the wrong reason And the wrong rhyme On the wrong day Of the wrong week Used the wrong method With the wrong technique Wrong Wrong.

I knew at quite a young age that I had an issue with drinking.

I don't know if it's cool to say this anymore, but I grew up listening to Gary Glitter. A majority of his songs were in that shuffle-blues beat, and I think that's probably why I tend to write like that.

I want people to feel good about listening to this [Delta Machine] record, to get some kind of peace. It's just got something magical about it.

I tend to like songs that are very emotional, that strike a chord with me emotionally.

If you go into the eastern bloc countries we are huge, and in Russia. Maybe there is something about the depressing nature of our music and lyrics that some people find an affinity with.

When you first sit down to write the first song, until you've maybe got three or four under your belt, it's always, to me, like a mountain to climb. You look at that one blank piece of paper and you think, `God, how many songs do I have to write here?' It always feels like pressure.

For years, I was stuck behind a keyboard rig. When I started playing guitar onstage, it was a bit of a release - not to be stuck in one spot the whole night. It's really enjoyable having the freedom to move around. You just have to remember to end up somewhere near a microphone.

England never felt claustrophobic for me at all. I think it would feel more difficult for me if I lived in mainland Europe. America I think is really easy because Los Angeles has film stars everywhere and musicians and Santa Barbara a lot of people have homes there even if they don't live there. You are kind of inconsequential, no one cares.

Our music over the years has been very cinematic. It's surprising we never really got into film soundtracks.

I live in Santa Barbara. My wife's American, and she lived in England for 11 years and then told me she'd had enough.

I wasn't ever a massive David Essex fan, but I liked a few of his tracks, and Stardust was one of them.

When I write a song, I always start on acoustic guitar, because that's a good test of a song, when it's really open and bare. You can often mislead yourself if you start with computers and samples and programming because you can disguise a bad song.

I loathe the idea of going onstage in a T-shirt and jeans.

I like their darkness but I also like the pop-side of the Velvet Underground.

I don't write poems and put them to music. Just let things flow.

I studied German at school. I lived in Berlin for two years and had a German girlfriend for five years, so I don't find speaking German particularly difficult. Singing was slightly more difficult.

If you took music out of my life, I don't know what I'd do. It's the one thing that I have a real passion for.

More than accepted, it's encouraged for rock stars to be out of control.

You make one solo album, and some people swear you're about to leave the band or there are creative differences.

Songwriting is a mysterious art. When I sit down to write a song, the end result should be mysterious and have this dark quality.

The only things we have to worry about are really stupid things.

There haven't been many credible electronic covers records.

I try to get a degree of realism in my music.

The majority of the time I'm at home with my family, I play football three times a week.

I think being in a band is probably the only job when you're actively encouraged to be out of it most of the time.

There's something insane about this business - about the cycle of making albums and going on tour to promote them.

Kids today don't know that much about vinyl.

People are People still gets played to death on '80s stations. It was our first big break in America. It's not exactly my favorite song.

I'm not particularly prolific.

I wanted to keep the music very electronic, very filmic, and give it an almost sci-fi like quality. Music is a necessity for me. I go into the studio at least five days a week, every week, so once I had the idea and the template, the process was quick and fun.

I started getting back into buying old analog gear while we were recording. Lots of old drum machines and synths. It wasn't a conscious thing. I didn't consider myself a collector, but boxes of vintage gear would turn up virtually every day.

I find it odd seeing a DJ playing to huge audiences. I know that people have been doing it for a while, but the fact that it's been embraced so much in America now and it's become like this new, big thing, I find it slightly odd.

If you repeat yourself, then I think you're in danger of losing that fan base, because if you're not interesting yourselves, you're not interesting your audience.

I love being in the studio. If I'm at home, I will go to the studio pretty much every day anyway. It's just something that I like to do.