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Latest News About David Gahan Solo Work

February 27th 2003

Logo ©Davegahan.com
Here is the press release of his new album Paper Monsters from Dave Gahan's official website launched today www.davegahan.com
 
DAVE GAHAN BIOG
NEW ALBUM
PAPER MONSTERS
 
DAVE GAHAN has risen from livewire Essex soulboy to globally adored rock 'n 'soul star during more than two decades as one of pop's most iconic frontmen. As the voice of Depeche Mode, Dave has become a hero to millions, hitting intense public highs and deep personal lows. But in all this time he never quite found the right emotional frame of mind to vent his true feelings on record. Until now.
 
'Paper Monsters' is Gahan's first solo album, and finds the singer starting from scratch again. Composed with a multi-instrumentalist friend from New York, Knox Chandler, and produced by Ken Thomas of Sigur Rós fame, the album is a 21st century masterpiece of tones and textures, reflection and rebirth. Boasting the freshness of a debut but the seasoned wisdom of an old soul, it was recorded in an open-ended, back-to-basics manner which Dave found both liberating and exhilarating.
 
"What really hit me most was how happy and fulfilled it made me feel," he nods. "I wanted to hear something that makes me feel good. That's been the train of thought throughout this record, and Ken's been really great with that."
 
Although Dave has fronted Depeche Mode for 22 years, 'Paper Monsters' marks his debut as a fully fledged songwriter. The monsters of the title make passing reference to his former appetite for destruction, but mostly to more everyday demons - from the agonies and ecstasies of long-term love to the heartbreaking euphoria of fatherhood. But while sensual, sublime confessionals like 'Hold On', 'A Little Piece', and 'Stay' may be lullabies of longing wrapped in chamber-music arrangements, the album's prevailing mood is overwhelmingly positive. "It sounds hopeful because that's what I am," insists the rejuvenated singer.
 
Indeed, 'Paper Monsters' is a musical journey where hope conquers hurt. According to Dave, 'Bitter Apple' is about rediscovering the exquisite pain of love. 'Stay', meanwhile, is a majestic hymn of quiet awe inspired by the birth of his daughter. "When she was born it was like a big arrow went through my heart," Dave recalls. "I really started to feel like my heart was beating again."
 
But 'Paper Monsters' also has its dark, wasted, lustful side. From the meatgrinder glam racket of 'Bottle Living', featuring Dave's own ragged blues harmonica, to the nightmarish Wizard of Oz fantasy of 'Dirty Sticky Floors', the singer gives vent to the sleazy alter ego he half-jokingly calls Evil Dave: "Essex Boy made good," he laughs.
 
All of the album's diverse emotional themes come together in 'She Said (Goodbye)', an uplifting anthem about answered prayers and spiritual reawakening. "The most important thing to me was that all of the songs have a sense of humour," Dave explains, "but at the same time a message of hope and faith."
 
A masterpiece of reflection, redemption and rebirth, 'Paper Monsters' finds Dave Gahan at the peak of his powers, seizing the day and celebrating his unquenchable lust for life. 'It's like I'm waking up, and I'm realising there's been a hell of a lot given to me," explains Dave. "I've been given a lot of chances in my life and it's time for me to take those gifts and do something with them. It's all about freedom."
 
 
Barbara Charone - MBC Media


Picture ©Davegahan.com / Anton Corbijn
On the official website launched today you will find also wallpapers taken from pictures of Anton Corbijn, from a photo session recently done in January in Lisbon, Portugal.

Tour Info

Here are some dates of festivals and concert places where Dave will appear :

 
Date Day Country City Venue Ticket Outlet Web / Phone
June 7 Sat Germany Nurburgring Rock am Ring Festival www.tickets-per-post.de
+49 69 944 3660
June 8 Sun Germany Nuremburg Rock im Park Festival www.tickets-per-post.de
+49 69 944 3660
June ?? Sat Belgium Werchter Werchter Festival www.rockwerchter.be
June ?? Sun UK Pilton, Somerset Glastonbury Festival
July 1 Tue Germany Leipzig Stadt Park www.tickets-per-post.de
+49 69 944 3660
July 2 Wed Germany Hamburg Haus Auensee www.tickets-per-post.de
+49 69 944 3660
July 4 Fri France Paris Olympia www.olympiahall.com
+33 8 9268 3368
July 6 Sun France Belfort Eurockeennes Festival www.eurockeennes.fr
+33 3 8422 4658
July 9 Wed UK London Shepherds Bush Empire www.wayahead.com
+44 1159 129000
July ?? Sat UK Manchester Move Festival www.gigsandtours.com
+44 1159 129000
July ?? Sun UK Wolverhampton Civic Hall www.gigsandtours.com
+44 1159 129000

 

February 7th 2003
 
Dave Gahan will perform live at the MTV Rock Am Ring , on June 6th -8th in Germany.
 
As announced on the official Depche Mode website David Gahan's first single is scheduled for May 19th 2003 (tbc), and the release date for his album is for June 2nd 2003 .
The titles are still not available . He recorded it in New York as you could see on a MTV interview ( video on the official website) at theElectric Ladyland Studios
People who worked with Gahan on this album : Knox Chandler & Ken Thomas
From what some rumours said, the album sounds quite "rock"

Also a new website is launched for Dave Gahan :
http://www.davidgahan.com (soon online)


September 1st 2002
 

Article taken from MTV.COM

Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan
"I'm just really full of energy, and getting healthy is a theme that has crept into my lyrics and vocal melodies." - Dave Gahan
Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan has been singing Martin Gore's lyrics for half of his life. Now, he's ready to show Gore that he's not the only one who can put words in Dave's mouth.

"There's that danger of Martin becoming a crutch," Gahan said of the lyricist/composer of the band. "Martin has a particular style he sings in, and for me it was important to get away from that on this [solo] album."

Gahan, who turns 40 this week, said he will enter a studio in July to begin work on the 15 songs he has demoed for his as-yet-untitled debut solo album, tentatively scheduled for release in March 2003.
The singer will be working with producer/percussionist Ken Thomas (Sigur Rós) and cellist/guitarist Knox Chandler (Siouxsie and the Banshees, Psychedelic Furs) on the album.
He also plans to tour in support of the effort, including some possible surprise club dates around the end of the year. The brooding vocalist said his sobriety
- he battled a debilitating, nearly fatal heroin addiction in the mid-late '90s - has colored many of his songs.

"I'm just really full of energy, and getting healthy is a theme that has crept into my lyrics and vocal melodies," he said.
"They're about wanting to find a place of peace and belonging, but at the same time experiencing that and seeing it through other people. I always played around with writing songs, but when you're spending a lot of time in bars you have a lot of big ideas, but you don't do much with them."

As examples, he cited the track "Hold On," which describes the birth of his daughter. "You have to hold on and wait for these little surprises to come," he explained.
"Just when you think things are in their darkest, blackest place, these little things happen."
And though Gahan said some of the songs will likely have the signature Depeche Mode keyboard sound, a demo of "A Little Piece" mixes gospel emotion and eerie music that wouldn't be out of place on a song by expat American cult singer Scott Walker.

Gahan admitted that the demo initially scared his record company because it was such a departure from his DM work, but that he doesn't mind bucking expectations. In the meantime, fans will have plenty of the good old DM sounds to tide them over until Gahan's album, the release of which should coincide with the second collection of covers by Gore under his alter ego, Counterfeit.

On May 28, the band will release a double-DVD entitled "One Night in Paris - The Exciter Tour." The live document of their two-night stand at the scenic Palais Omnisports de Paris Bercy was filmed by longtime collaborator Anton Corbijn during the band's 2001 tour.

"I watched it in my house alone a few weeks ago and halfway through I got very nostalgic and thought, 'This is good,' " Gahan said. "It's very weird watching yourself ... and sometimes painful. Anton told me that after watching a few performances he wanted to get across how I become a different person for each song and how I throw myself into that song and drift away somewhere. It's very easy to do that when singing Depeche Mode songs.
For me, it's a very visual experience and it takes me to a place, sometimes very sad, sometimes very jubilant."

The first CD features the nearly two-hour performance, while the second disc contains bonus footage with behind-the-scenes clips, the backdrop films Corbijn filmed to accompany the songs, and interviews with the members of the band, which also includes keyboardist Andrew Fletcher.

Don't plan on enjoying the silence for too long, though: Once all this solo action is out of the way, Gahan said he expects Depeche Mode will get back in the studio to record their next album.

-Gil Kaufman