par dave1er » 18 Mar 2010, 21:42
Interview d'Alan Wilder par le fan-club suisse de DM :
dm.ch: Alan, it's been quite a while since you packed your bags and started touring. The last time you were really on tour must have been with Depeche Mode in 1994. Why does the Recoil man feel the urge to go en route for a longer period? After all, the "Selected Event" tour takes several weeks, months, actually
AW: The idea really evolved once I decided to undertake some promo visits. I realised that I couldn’t just keep making personal appearances to sign CDs and this seemed a perfect opportunity to do something extra, given that we have some new remixes on the ‘Selected’ album, and in a way it’s a celebration of nearly 25 years for the project. Once we decided to put an audio/visual presentation together, it made sense to visit more cities and maximise the effect.
dm.ch: You are in Zurich with your long-time co-producer Paul Kendall on March 31st. What can we expect of this evening called "A Strange Hour with Alan Wilder and Paul Kendall"?
AW: Come along and find out:)
dm.ch: Would you consider doing a Recoil live gig, on stage with a real band some day?
AW: Probably not – there are so many live bands out there, I prefer something a little different, although I did see Massive Attack recently and they made their collective work very well live, with a band and different vocalists appearing at various points in the show.
dm.ch: Usually there was always a longer time period between two Recoil album releases. Now, only three years after "SubHuman", you released a Best Of album. Does "Selected" rather mark the end of a 24-year chapter beginning in 1986 with "1+2" than, in promotion matters, the beginning of a new and more commercial era?
AW: More commercial? Who said that?:) Well it was only the other day that I realised the project is almost 25 years old! So I guess it’s time for a bit of a celebration, but apart from that I will try to carry on experimenting with not too many preconceptions or limitations. I just do what I do and see what transpires.
dm.ch: On your Recoil albums you've already worked with different famous voices like Tony Halliday, Moby or Douglas MacCarthy. How do these collaborations work? Do all the artists come to the "Tine Line" and carry out your instructions or is it the other way round?
AW: It varies from singer to singer. Usually I provide a framework for them to work to with on their own, then we get together (often at The Thin Line) and record the ideas, and then I re-work everything at least once more. It’s important that the atmosphere is there from the beginning to hopefully inspire them.
dm.ch: After a bluesy "SubHuman" in 2007: Does the concept of "Recoil" still have some potential for further collaborations and experiments?
AW: I very much hope so. It is such an open book, as I say with no real restrictions, so I guess anything could happen.
dm.ch: You recently contributed a great remix called "I Am Undone" to the new Nitzer Ebb album. Are you planning on doing some more remixes "made by Alan Wilder" for other bands?
AW: Thank you – glad you like it. Remixing is not something I actively pursue – the Ebb mix was a mutual favour really (they did one for ‘Selected’). I enjoy doing them occasionally if it’s a good track.
dm.ch: During the years of 1982 to 1984 with Depeche Mode you've composed songs like "Fools", "Two Minute Warning", "The Landscape is Changing" and "If You Want". Would you be tempted to remix these tracks or to re-arrange them using contemporary techniques?
AW: That’s not really something I’d be especially interested in. There are certain old DM tracks I’d like to have another go at but these would be from a later period I think.
dm.ch: In Switzerland you are known from numerous concerts and TV appearances with Depeche Mode. Do you connect anything else with our country?
AW: Hmm... there are the clichés of course:) Neutralism, Toblerone, Mountains, the Red Cross. Then there is Yello, a distinctly below average national football team, a genius tennis player, H. R. Giger, too many languages, a rather good restaurant in Berlin called Nolas, and my very good friend Reto Bühler.
dm.ch: Your Swiss fans are looking forward to seeing you at the "Kaufleuten" in Zurich on March 31st. They wish you a very successful upcoming "Selected Event" tour.
AW: Thank you – and I’m very much looking forward to being there. I’m not really sure how the crowd will be so I’m very curious about that event.
"Le rock français, c'est comme le vin anglais." (John Lennon)