Martin Gore

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

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

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

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

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

“As part of Depeche Mode, I don't think it's right for me to be using my own songs for a solo project. I'm not a very prolific songwriter, so I keep those for Depeche Mode.”

“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 didn't write songs for a very long time.”

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

“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.”

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

“I don't like to think 10 years down the road.”

“I'm not particularly prolific.”

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

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

“I even have nephews who make music, my daughter makes music. I don't know what advice to give them these days. It's really a tough industry to break into.”

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

“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.”