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Dave Gahan

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David Gahan
Dave Gahan performing at Royal Albert Hall in 2010.
Dave Gahan performing at Royal Albert Hall in 2010.
Background information
Born (1962-05-09) 9 May 1962 (age 62)
OriginNorth Weald, Essex, United Kingdom
GenresAlternative dance, synthpop, new wave, industrial rock, alternative rock
LabelsMute
Websitedavegahan.com

David Gahan (/ˈɡɑːn/; 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). Though his bandmate Martin Gore continues 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), Sounds of the Universe (2009) and Delta Machine (2013). Three of these songs were released as singles, including "Suffer Well" in 2006, "Hole to Feed" in 2009 and "Should Be Higher" in 2013. In 2012, he also contributed lyrics and sang lead vocals on the Soulsavers album The Light the Dead See. Q magazine ranked Gahan no. 73 on the list of the "100 Greatest Singers"[1] and no. 27 on "The 100 Greatest Frontmen".[2]

Childhood and early years

David Gahan was born as David Callcott into a working-class family, to parents Len Callcott[citation needed] (a bus driver) and his wife Sylvia (a conductress or "clippy" on London 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 half-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 10 years old, his stepfather died. David 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".[3] "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".

While attending Barstable School on Timberlog Close in Basildon, Gahan started bunking off school, got into trouble with the police, was suspended from school and ended up in juvenile court three times for offences ranging from joyriding and graffiti to criminal damage and theft. He enjoyed the thrill of stealing cars, driving them around, and setting them alight.[4] Gahan tells of the time: "I was pretty wild. I loved the excitement of nicking a motor, screeching off and being chased by the police. Hiding behind the wall with your heart beating gives you a real kick - 'will they get you?'".[5] In his final year at school, Gahan 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 which, he claimed, led to him trashing his probation officer's office. His punishment was weekend custody at a sub-Borstal attendance centre in Romford for one year.[4] Gahan recalls: "You had to work. I remember doing boxing, stuff like that. You had to have your hair cut. It was every weekend, so you were deprived of your weekend and it seemed like forever. I was told very clearly that my next thing was detention centre. To be honest, music saved me."[6]

Within six months of leaving Barstable School in July 1978, Gahan found and lost something on 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. Eventually, he earned a place at Southend Technical College, which he enjoyed immensely. After two 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)

Dave Gahan with Depeche Mode 2009.

In March 1980, Vince Clarke, Martin Gore and Andy 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 synthesisers. The same year, Gahan joined the band after Clarke heard him perform David Bowie's "Heroes".[7] The band was soon renamed Depeche Mode, a name suggested by Gahan after he had come across a fashion magazine called Dépêche-mode.[8]

A new wave/synthpop pioneer of the early 1980s, Depeche Mode has explored new musical directions for over 30 years, and their sound has remained diverse since their inception. They have released thirteen studio albums, four greatest hits compilations and two remix albums. The band has achieved global sales in excess of 100 million.[9]

Gahan had expressed some resentment about never writing songs for Depeche Mode.[citation needed] In a 2003 interview he shared, "During the making of Exciter, sometimes I felt a bit frustrated that there was a lack of experimentation."[10] 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.[11] Eventually there was a compromise, and three of Gahan'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 No. 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". Gahan also wrote the lyrics to the B-side "Oh Well" but the music was done by Martin Gore. It is the first collaboration between the two.[12][13] "Hole to Feed" was released along with Gore's "Fragile Tension" as a double A-side single in late 2009.

In 2013, with the release of Depeche Mode's 13th album Delta Machine, Dave Gahan is credited for having written the songs "Broken", "Secret to the End", the single "Should Be Higher" and two B-sides "Happens All the Time" and "All That's Mine". Co-writer this time is Kurt Uenala. Gahan has written a second song in collaboration with Martin Gore, called "Long Time Lie".

Solo albums (2003–present)

Dave Gahan signing autographs in 2003.

In 1997, Gahan 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 the Paper Monsters 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 Singles Chart. The album became a Top 10 hit on the European album chart and a Top 40 hit in the UK Albums Chart.[14] 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.

Gahan 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 Gahan, they were to be producing it together.[15][16] The material was recorded at Gahan's 11th Floor Studios in New York City. 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.[17] 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".[18] 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.[19] According to the second press release for the second album, the release day for the single "Kingdom" was 8 October,[20] 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.[19] The second studio clip on Dave Gahan Dot Com had "Kingdom" playing throughout. 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 seven tracks played during an instore set at New York's Soho Apple store on 23 October.[21]

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, notorious for the death of Sid Vicious' partner, Nancy Spungen.

In July 2007, Side-Line magazine revealed that Gahan had been working with Thomas Anselmi on a project 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".[22] The song was released in October 2008,[23] and the album released via download at the start of 2009. He also appeared in the accompanying video for the song.[24]

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.[25]

Dave Gahan is the main vocalist and lyricist on Soulsavers' fourth studio album The Light the Dead See. The album was released on 21 May 2012.[26]

Gahan sings and plays harmonica on "Low Guns", the first single from the 2014 album "The Morning After" by English band SixToes. The single was released on 18 November 2013. The SixToes remix of "Jezebel" was released on the special edition of Sounds of the Universe in 2009. Members of SixToes also collaborated with Soulsavers, on the album The Light the Dead See.[27]

Personal life

Gahan has lived in New York City since 1997.[28] He 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. Gahan officially adopted Jimmy on March 24, 2010.[29]

Gahan 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.

Health

Gahan is a recovering heroin addict. He has survived four brushes with death, living up to the nickname, "The Cat", that paramedics gave him during his roughest years in LA.[30]

In 1993, Gahan suffered a small heart attack during a performance in New Orleans, leaving his bandmates to improvise an encore without him.[31] 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".[32]

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.[30] 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".[8] He has also claimed he saw/heard his then-girlfriend, his now 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.[33] A number of dates were either postponed or cancelled as further tests were conducted, revealing a low-grade malignant tumor in his bladder. Gahan underwent an operation to successfully remove the tumor. 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.[34] 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.[35][36] 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 with appearances in 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
Solo
Soulsavers

References

  1. ^ "Rocklist.net...Q Magazine Lists". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  2. ^ "Q286 Exclusive preview - News - QTheMusic.com". News.qthemusic.com. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  3. ^ ""The Big Uncertainty Of Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan" (1987) from Belgian pop-magazine JOEPIE" Jaakko's Depeche Mode page. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
  4. ^ a b Spence, Simon (2011). Just Can't Get Enough: The Making of Depeche Mode. Jawbone Press. p. 89. ISBN 978-1-906002-56-5.
  5. ^ Miller, Jonathan (2004). Stripped: The True Story of Depeche Mode. Omnibus Press. p. 31. ISBN 1-84449-415-2.
  6. ^ Dalton, Stephen. "Just Can't Get Enough". Uncut (May 2001): 45.
  7. ^ Shaw, William (April 1993), "In The Mode", Details magazine: 90–95, 168
  8. ^ a b Stokes, Paul. "Cash For Questions: Dave Gahan". Q Magazine (June 2003). Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  9. ^ "New Depeche Mode album number one in 20 countries" EmiMusic.com. 1 May 2009.
  10. ^ "Zonkel, Phillip: Gahan no longer in such a hurry." Daily News (Los Angeles, CA). 24 August 2003.
  11. ^ Quan, Denise. "A Sobering Interview with Depeche Mode". CNN.com. 13 May 2009.
  12. ^ "Depeche Mode present birth first song in 4 video postings" Side-Line.com. 24 November 2008.
  13. ^ Details of the Universe[dead link‍]
  14. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 220. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  15. ^ "David Gahan of Depeche Mode Working on New Solo Album" ArtisanNews.com. 24 May 2007.
  16. ^ "Dave Gahan Set to Release 'Hourglass,' His Second Solo Album in Late October" DaveGahan.com. 26 June 2007.
  17. ^ "Dave Gahan to release second solo album 'Hourglass'" Side-Line.com. 28 June 2007.
  18. ^ "Depeche Mode frontman announces first new solo single" Side-Line.com. 7 August 2007.
  19. ^ a b "More info on upcoming Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode) single" Side-line.com. 16 August 2007.
  20. ^ "Dave Gahan announces first single "Kingdom" from his second solo album" DaveGahan.com. 7 August 2007.
  21. ^ "Dave Gahan special Apple Store live EP available now" Side-Line.com. 19 December 2007.
  22. ^ "Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan contributes vocals to new Mirror project" Side-Line.com. 17 July 2007.
  23. ^ "Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan contribution to Mirror album 'Mirror' out now" Side-Line.com. 3 October 2008.
  24. ^ "Thomas Anselmi: Mirror". SuicideGirls.com. 9 March 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  25. ^ "Depeche Mode singer Dave Gahan invites himself as singer on 'Visitors' from fryars debut 'Dark Young Hearts'" Side-Line.com. 10 November 2008.
  26. ^ Spokony, Sam (1 March 2012). "Dave Gahan Discusses Soulsavers & New DM". The Quietus. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  27. ^ Stovin, Jack (3 October 2013). "SixToes collaborate with Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode". AltSounds. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  28. ^ Aquilante, Dan: "Q&A: DAVE GAHAN" NYPost.com. 19 April 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
  29. ^ Depeche Mode: "[1] Old News - The Archives" "depeche mode dot com" 27 March 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2013
  30. ^ a b Cameron, Keith (18 January 1997). "Dead man talking". NME. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  31. ^ Dalton, Stephen. "Just Can't Get Enough". Uncut (May 2001). Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  32. ^ Grundy, Gareth. "Dead man talking". Arena (April 1997). Archived from the original on 7 May 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  33. ^ "depeche mode dot com". Depechemode.com. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
  34. ^ "Dave Gahan injured – Depeche Mode Cancel Final 2 Shows in Europe" Side-Line.com. 13 July 2009.
  35. ^ "Depeche Mode Cancel Gig Due to Another Dave Gahan Illness" Spinner.com. 12 August 2009.
  36. ^ "Yet Another Depeche Mode Concert Canceled" Side-Line.com. 17 August 2009.
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