Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode /dᵻˌpɛʃˈmoʊd/ are an English electronic band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan (lead vocals, occasional songwriter since 2005), Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, vocals, chief songwriter after 1981), Andy Fletcher (keyboards), and Vince Clarke (keyboards, chief songwriter from 1980 until 1981). Depeche Mode released their debut record in 1981, Speak & Spell, bringing the band onto the British new wave scene. Clarke left the band after the release of the album, leaving the band as a trio to record A Broken Frame, released the following year. Gore took over lead songwriting duties and, later in 1982, Alan Wilder (keyboards, drums, occasional songwriter) officially joined the band to fill Clarke's spot, establishing a line up that would continue for the next thirteen years.

The band's last albums of the 1980s, Black Celebration and Music for the Masses, established them as a dominant force on the mainstream electronic music scene. A highlight of this era was the band's concert at the Pasadena Rose Bowl, where they drew a crowd in excess of 60,000 people. In the new decade, Depeche Mode released Violator, a mainstream success. The subsequent album, Songs of Faith and Devotion, and the supporting Devotional Tour exacerbated tensions within the band to the point where Alan Wilder quit in 1995, leading to intense media and fan speculation that the band would split. Now a trio once again, the band released Ultra in 1997, recorded at the height of Gahan's near-fatal drug abuse, Gore's alcoholism and seizures and Fletcher's depression. The release of Exciter confirmed Depeche Mode's willingness to remain together, the subsequent, and very successful, Exciter Tour being their first tour in support of an original album in eight years since the Devotional Tour, although the band had toured in 1998 to support The Singles 86–98 compilation album.

Andrew Fletcher

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Dave Kerzner

David Nathaniel Kerzner is an American musician, songwriter, producer, and sound designer as well as founder of the sound sampling development company Sonic Reality Inc. Along with Simon Collins, Kerzner is the co-founder of the band Sound of Contact. He is also the co-founder of the band Mantra Vega. His debut solo album, New World, was released in December 2014.

During his music career, Kerzner has worked with artists and bands such as Alan Parsons, Genesis, Francis Dunnery, Neil Peart, Keith Emerson, Tom Waits, and Smashing Pumpkins.

Early years

In the early 1990s, Kerzner began collecting rare musical instruments. When 16-bit stereo digital sampling technology became available, Kerzner sampled these instruments to license to such major digital musical instrument manufacturers as Alesis, Roland and Yamaha. Following this endeavor into the music software industry, Kerzner worked with such recording artists as Madonna, Ringo Starr, and Moog Cookbook as both a musician and as a sound engineer.

Vince Clarke

Vince Clarke (born Vincent John Martin; 3 July 1960) is an English synthpop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been the main composer and musician of the band Erasure since 1985, and was previously a member of several groups, including Depeche Mode, Yazoo and The Assembly.

Early life

Vincent John Martin was born in South Woodford, London and then he moved to Basildon, Essex. He initially studied the violin and then the piano, but his interest shifted toward synthpop upon hearing the 1979 debut release from Wirral electronic duo Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD). In a 1995 interview, Clarke said: "When I was 18 or 19 I heard a single called 'Electricity' by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. It sounded so different from anything I'd heard; that really made me want to make electronic music, 'cause it was so unique." Along with OMD, other early influences included The Human League, Daniel Miller and Fad Gadget.

Early bands and Depeche Mode

In the late-1970s, Clarke and schoolmate Andy Fletcher formed the short-lived band, No Romance in China. In 1979, he teamed up with Robert Marlow and Martin Gore to form French Look. Another band, named Composition of Sound, followed in 1980 with another addition of Martin Gore and also, Fletcher. Clarke provided vocals until singer Dave Gahan joined the band, which was renamed Depeche Mode. At that time, he adopted the stage-name by which he is currently known: Vince Clarke. The band initially adopted a slick synthesized electropop sound, which produced the album Speak and Spell and the Clarke-penned singles "Dreaming of Me", "New Life" and "Just Can't Get Enough" in 1981.