Dave Gahan

Dave Gahan

Dave Gahan (Template:Pron-en; born 9 May 1962) is an English singer-songwriter, best known as the baritone lead singer for the British electronic music band Depeche Mode since their debut in 1980. He is also an accomplished solo artist, releasing albums in 2003 (Paper Monsters) and 2007 (Hourglass). Despite his bandmate Martin Gore continuing to be the main Depeche Mode songwriter, Gahan has contributed a number of songs to the band's most recent albums, Playing the Angel (2005) and Sounds of the Universe (2009). Two of these songs were released as singles, including "Suffer Well" in 2006 and "Hole to Feed" in 2009.

Childhood and early years

David Gahan was born in North Weald, Essex, United Kingdom. Born into a working class family, to parents Len Callcott (a bus driver) and his wife Sylvia (a conductress or "clippy" on London's buses), Dave was six months old when his father left the family. Sylvia and Len divorced two years later and his mother moved Dave and sister Sue (born 1960) to Basildon, Essex, after Sylvia met and married her second husband Jack Gahan (an administrator with Shell Oil). The Gahan family continued to grow with the birth of two more brothers Peter (born 1966) and Phil (born 1968). Dave and Sue were raised under the impression that their mother's second husband, Jack, was their natural father.

In 1972, when Dave Gahan was ten, his stepfather died. Gahan recalls how he "came home one day and found this bloke [his biological father] at home". Of the incident, he has said: "I'll never forget that day. When I came home from school, there was this stranger in my mum's house. My mother introduced him to me as my real dad. I remember I said, that was impossible because my father was dead. How was I supposed to know who that man was? From that day on, Len often visited the house, until one year later he disappeared again. Forever this time. Since then he had no contact with us. By growing older, I thought about him more and more. The only thing my mother would say, was that he moved out to Jersey to open a hotel". "Mum had kept it back from me 'til there was a need to tell me about my birth father, it's a different generation and you can understand I guess she thought she was doing the right thing".

Gahan compensated for the loss of his father by becoming something of a "real wild boy with a chip on my shoulder, a real yob". His crimes as a youth included stealing cars, vandalism, and spray-painting graffiti on walls. As a result he had visited juvenile court three times before he was 14.

Within six months of leaving Barstable School in July 1978, Gahan found and lost something in the order of twenty jobs, from selling soft drinks, working in a greengrocers in Basildon Bus Station, working as a cashier in Sainsbury's petrol station in Savacentre, to working on a construction site. Gahan also applied for a job as an apprentice fitter with North Thames Gas. He was told by his probation officer to be honest with the interviewer, and as a result, he admitted his criminal record but claimed he was a "reformed character". As a result, he did not get the job. Eventually, he earned a place at Southend Art College, which he enjoyed immensely. After three years, he gained the British Display Society Award, which allowed him to get jobs doing displays in shop windows and shopping centres.

Career in Depeche Mode (1980–present)

In March 1980, Vince Clarke, Martin Gore and Andrew Fletcher formed the band Composition of Sound, with Clarke on vocals/guitar, Gore on keyboards and Fletcher on bass. Clarke and Fletcher soon switched to synthesizers. The same year, Gahan joined the band after Clarke heard him perform David Bowie's "Heroes". The band was soon renamed Depeche Mode, a name suggested by Gahan after he had come across a fashion magazine by the name of Dépêche-mode.

Originally a new wave/synthpop pioneer of the early eighties, for almost 30 years, Depeche Mode has explored new musical directions, and their sound has remained immensely diverse since their inception. They have released twelve studio albums, four greatest hits compilations and a remix album. The band has achieved global sales in excess of 100 million.

In the past, Dave had expressed some resentment about never writing songs for Depeche Mode. In a 2003 interview he shared, "During the making of Exciter, sometimes I felt a bit frustrated that there was a lack of experimentation." This led him, in 2004, to tell his bandmates that he wanted to write half of the songs on the new Depeche Mode album, and there was "no way" he could be involved in the band without contributing. Eventually there was a compromise, and three of Dave's songs appeared on 2005's Playing the Angel: "Suffer Well" (nominated for a Grammy award), "I Want It All" and "Nothing's Impossible". "Suffer Well" was released as a single in 2006, reaching #12 in the UK.

Three more Gahan-penned songs, co-written with Christian Eigner and Andrew Phillpott, appeared on the band's 12th studio album, Sounds of the Universe, released on 20 April 2009. The songs are "Hole to Feed", "Come Back" and "Miles Away / The Truth Is". Dave also wrote the lyrics to the B-side "Oh Well" but the music was done by Martin Gore. It is the first and currently only collaboration between the two. "Hole to Feed" was released along with Gore's "Fragile Tension" as a double A-side single in late 2009.

Solo albums (2003–present)

Dave Gahan signing autographs in 2003.

In 1997, Dave contributed to the tribute album "Dream Home Heartaches: Remaking/Remodeling Roxy Music" with the song "A Song For Europe". In 2003, he released his first solo album, Paper Monsters (which he co-wrote with guitarist and friend Knox Chandler), followed by a world tour (including a performance at 2003's Glastonbury Festival), singing both his new solo tracks and Depeche Mode fan favourites. His touring band included Knox Chandler on guitar, Martyn LeNoble (Porno for Pyros, Jane's Addiction, The Cult) on bass, Vincent Jones (Sarah McLachlan, The Grapes of Wrath) on keyboards, and Victor Indrizzo (Beck, Macy Gray) on drums.

The album was a moderate success. The first single "Dirty Sticky Floors" hit the Top 20 in the UK. The album itself became a Top 10 hit on the European album chart and a Top 40 hit in the UK. This success was backed by a world tour and a live DVD titled Live Monsters which was released in 2004. A year later, he also appeared as model and spokesperson of the Swedish mid-range fashion retailer J. Lindeberg and its S/S 2006 menswear line. The ads featured both him and seemingly random quotes like "What would happen if we all told the truth", "You can tell he's lying because his lips are moving", etc. These ads appeared prominently in international fashion press.

Dave did a collaboration in 2003 with Junkie XL and handled the vocals for a song called "Reload" for this Dutch DJ's album "Radio JXL: A Broadcast From The Computer Hell Cabin".

In 2007, Dave Gahan announced he was working on a new album via a video greeting for Depeche Mode's official website recorded at the 2007 MusiCares Charity event on 11 May. The album, titled Hourglass, was accompanied working by Andrew Phillpott and Christian Eigner. According to Dave, they were to be producing it together. The material was recorded at Gahan's 11th Floor Studios in New York City, Gahan's hometown for 10 years now. The material was mixed in July by Tony Hoffer, best known for his work with Beck, The Kooks and Air. According to Gahan, Hourglass is more electronic-sounding than Paper Monsters. The album made the UK Top 50, the French Top 20 and narrowly missed going to no.1 in Germany.

The first single to be pulled from Dave Gahan's second solo record Hourglass was "Kingdom". The single came in the following versions: a download-Single, a CD single, a Maxi-CD single and 12" vinyl besides a 7" picture vinyl. According to the second press release for the second album, the release day for the single "Kingdom" was 8 October, but a download was available way before on 27 August. Side-Line Magazine also reported that a first preview for the song had been leaked online. 21 August Second studio clip on Dave Gahan Dot Com had "Kingdom" playing throughout the clip. The single also spent a week at no.1 on the US Dance Chart.

On 17 December 2007, iTunes released the iTunes exclusive live EP "Live from SoHo" holding the 7 tracks played during an instore set at New York's Soho Apple store on 23 October.

The second single from the Hourglass album was the double A side "Saw Something / Deeper and deeper", released on 14 January 2008. The accompanying video was artistically shot in the Chelsea Hotel, New York, famous for the death of Sid Vicious' partner, Nancy. Sid Vicious of course was one of Dave's idol's in the late 1970s.

In July 2007, Side-Line Magazine revealed that Gahan had been working with Thomas Anselmi on a project called called Mirror, which was produced by Vincent Jones. Along with Jones, who played with Gahan's touring band and mixed the live DVD Live Monsters, Mirror featured another Gahan collaborator, Knox Chandler (Siouxsie & the Banshees, the Psychedelic Furs), as well as piano by Bowie favourite Mike Garson, and a monologue by Warhol superstar Joe Dallesandro. Gahan sang vocals on the track "Nostalgia". The song was released in October 2008, and the album being released via download at the start of 2009. He also appeared in the accompanying video for the song.

Dave Gahan also contributed vocals to a track called "Visitors", after walking in while producer and ex-Clor guitarist Luke Smith was working on the song in his New York studio. The song was released under the artist name of frYars.

Personal life

Gahan has lived in New York City since 1997. He currently lives with his third wife, Jennifer, their daughter, Stella Rose (named after Jennifer's mother, Stella), and Jennifer's son, Jimmy, from a previous relationship. He also has a son, Jack, (named after his stepfather) from his first marriage to Joanne. Gahan's marriage to his second wife, Teresa, a former Depeche Mode publicist, lasted four years. Both Joanne (Gahan's teenage sweetheart), and Teresa can be seen in the 101 documentary. Jennifer is featured in the "Suffer Well" music video, once as the angel and once as herself.

Gahan is a recovering heroin addict.

Gahan has survived five brushes with death, living up to the nickname, "The Cat", that paramedics gave him during his roughest years in LA.In 1984, shortly before recording began on 'Some Great Reward', Gahan flipped his car while driving and narrowly avoided serious injury. In 1993, Gahan suffered a small heart-attack during a performance in New Orleans, leaving his bandmates to improvise an encore without him. His doctors advised him to take a break from the tour, but he refused. The second brush came when he attempted suicide by slashing his wrists in August 1995: “It was definitely a suicide attempt,” says Gahan. “But it was also a cry for help. I made sure there were people who might find me.”. On 28 May 1996, Gahan overdosed on a speedball at the Sunset Marquis Hotel in Los Angeles, which resulted in his heart stopping for two minutes until he was revived by paramedics. Gahan said of the experience, "All I saw and all I felt at first was complete darkness. I've never been in a space that was blacker, and I remember feeling that whatever it was I was doing, it was really wrong." He has also claimed he saw/heard his then-girlfriend, his current wife Jennifer, calling him back. The album Ultra was eventually released once Gahan had completed a spell in rehab.

On 12 May 2009, shortly before the band were due onstage in Athens, Greece for a concert on Depeche Mode's Tour of the Universe, Gahan fell ill in his dressing room. He was rushed to hospital where it was confirmed that he was suffering from a bout of gastroenteritis. A number of dates were either postponed or cancelled as further tests were conducted, revealing a low grade malignant tumour in his bladder. Gahan underwent an operation to successfully remove the tumour. After doctor-ordered time to fully recover, the tour resumed in Leipzig, Germany, on 8 June. Gahan later suffered a torn calf muscle while performing in Bilbao, Spain, on 9 July 2009, resulting in two further cancellations. After two-weeks break, he and Depeche Mode returned to the tour for their North American leg. While performing in Seattle on 10 August 2009 Gahan again suffered injury, this time straining his vocal cords. Doctors ordered Gahan on complete vocal rest, resulting in two more cancelled shows. The band returned to the stage in Los Angeles on 16 August. According to press and fan reports, Gahan is performing as well as ever, despite the string of health setbacks. Depeche Mode returned to perform in Latin America in October 2009. In October 2009, Depeche Mode performed at Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, Chile and Argentina without Gahan showing any signs of stress.

Discography

Main articles: Depeche Mode discography and Dave Gahan discography

• Paper Monsters (2003)
• Hourglass (2007)

External links

• The Official Dave Gahan Website

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