Just got off the phone to an absolute legend – former Depeche Mode member Alan Wilder and solo ‘Recoil’ artist. Many of you might think his music a little too obscure, but as a hardcore DM fan it was an opportunity not to be missed. I’ll write up the interview next week. For now, here are the questions I asked. Not done an interview in a while, a bit ropey, but got there in the end.

Alan Wilder Selected blog

Selected Album

• What are you doing right now?
• Why now?
• Track selection – difficult process? What were you trying to achieve? Do you have any personal favourites?
• Remastering work – baking old tapes?
• Remastering work – replace loops with live bands on the album. How did that work out?
• Which do you prefer, the electronic or the human? (you’ve made a point to work with real people rather than samples)
• Have you ever been tempted to get into dance music – releasing mainstream drum and bass or house tracks, DJing at Amnesia or Bora Bora in Ibiza?
• How do you work with people who remix your tracks?
• Do you listen to a lot of contemporary bands? What are you listening to right now?
• What is the basic technology you use to sketch your music?
• Which comes first, the sound or the melody?
• Do you think it’s easier to generate good music with today’s technology?
• Do you think it’s easier for the artist to promote themselves and connect with their audience online than ever before? Or do you think ultimate power still lies with the labels?
• When you left Depeche Mode – what inspired you to continue as a solo artist?
• Do you think Mute is a pretty unique label?
• Have you enjoyed the whole social networking angle to artist promotion?
• Who else would you love to work with?

Tour

• What are the differences between studio and live?
• How are you enjoying the tour so far?
• A lot of the venues selected seem to have special significance – place where you played with Depeche Mode. Was that intentional?
• What can we expect from the London gig?
• What special guests?
• What did it feel like to be reunited with Depeche Mode after all these years?
• Can we expect a reunion in the near future?
• What’s going to happen after the tour?