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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.
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Our music over the years has been very cinematic. It's surprising we never really got into film soundtracks.
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I lead two totally separate lives. There are times when I have to slip into rock star mode.
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I loathe the idea of going onstage in a T-shirt and jeans.
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I do a cover of a Velvet Underground song, and they were one of the most important bands, for me.
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People are People still gets played to death on '80s stations. It was our first big break in America. It's not exactly my favorite song.
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I don't think I've ever tried to be anything other than a weirdo.
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When I write a song, I always start on acoustic guitar, because that's a good test of a song, when it's really open and bare. You can often mislead yourself if you start with computers and samples and programming because you can disguise a bad song.
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If you go into the eastern bloc countries we are huge, and in Russia. Maybe there is something about the depressing nature of our music and lyrics that some people find an affinity with.
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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.
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I sit down and create atmospheres, start playing guitar or piano and just sing whatever comes out of my mouth.
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All of my kids are into music. My older daughter plays guitar, piano, sings. My young son, he sings.
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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.
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Songwriting is a mysterious art. When I sit down to write a song, the end result should be mysterious and have this dark quality.
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I find it odd seeing a DJ playing to huge audiences. I know that people have been doing it for a while, but the fact that it's been embraced so much in America now and it's become like this new, big thing, I find it slightly odd.
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I started getting back into buying old analog gear while we were recording. Lots of old drum machines and synths. It wasn't a conscious thing. I didn't consider myself a collector, but boxes of vintage gear would turn up virtually every day.
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There's something insane about this business - about the cycle of making albums and going on tour to promote them.
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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.
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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.
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It creates a conflict of interest - what songs would I use for me, and what would I use for the band.
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The only things we have to worry about are really stupid things.
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There haven't been many credible electronic covers records.
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Kids today don't know that much about vinyl.
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It was so exciting to go to the record shop and buy a piece of vinyl and hold it, read the liner notes, look at the pictures. Even the smell of the vinyl.