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 often find myself on my knees praying to something or someone to not be in control...My hotel check-in name used to be Mr BL Zebub.
I have the urge to still be part of the world, the universe, of life. Through music I have the feeling that I come a little closer to that.
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.
I still hold on to the idea that a record can really change the way I feel.
I go to a very visual place when I'm singing. It's very cinematic and I get this feeling of space. I love when music does that.
I always played around with writing songs, but when you're spending a lot of time in bars, you have a lot of big ideas, but you don't do much with them.
Growing up in a band is weird - you get stuck hanging on to what it is you think you are. But what I took into Depeche was that punk ethic, that you don't have to be accomplished to be a musician. If you've got ideas, you can do this.
When I was growing up in the early '70s and really getting into music, waiting outside the record store for that 45, waiting for a single from The Dead, The Clash, David Bowie, or T-Rex or something to be there. There was something about that that was so special.
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.
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.
When I'm with the wife, and we're having a romantic night, I occasionally think about a glass of red wine, but I'll order a sparkling water. I'd like the wine, but it wouldn't end with one glass, so I don't even go there.
In the early to mid-'90s, everywhere I turned, someone had died. It wasn't just people in bands. It was the people I was hanging out with. At some point, I thought, 'I may be heading down that road.'
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.