Martin Gore
Martin Gore
Martin Lee Gore is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, keyboardist, producer, remixer, and DJ. He is a founding member of Depeche Mode and has written the majority of their songs. His work now spans over four decades. Gore's best-known compositions include hits such as "Personal Jesus", "Enjoy the Silence", "Stripped", "It's No Good", "In Your Room", "Strangelove", "I Feel You", "People Are People", "Precious", "A Question of Time", "Policy of Truth", "Everything Counts", "Behind the Wheel", "Shake the Disease", "Never Let...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionGuitarist
Date of Birth23 July 1961
I like the idea of doing cover versions. I think it's always interesting when people from bands because it shows people some of their influences.
I've got a really small studio set up at home. It's not like a big, old fashioned recording studio, it's just like a home set-up.
I always hate explaining away songs, because for me they mean something, and for other people, they'll mean something absolutely different.
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.
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 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 loathe the idea of going onstage in a T-shirt and jeans.
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.
I wasn't ever a massive David Essex fan, but I liked a few of his tracks, and Stardust was one of them.
I do a cover of a Velvet Underground song, and they were one of the most important bands, for me.
Kids today don't know that much about vinyl.
Songwriting is a mysterious art. When I sit down to write a song, the end result should be mysterious and have this dark quality.
There's something insane about this business - about the cycle of making albums and going on tour to promote them.
You make one solo album, and some people swear you're about to leave the band or there are creative differences.