Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan on losing Mark Lanegan: “I had this sense that he was still around for a while”

Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan has spoken to NME about the late Mark Lanegan ahead of a special London gig in his honour this week.

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The former Screaming Trees frontman, Queens Of The Stone Age collaborator, grunge icon and solo pioneer passed away in February 2022 at the age of 57. This Thursday (December 5), a tribute gig for Lanegan will be held at The Roundhouse – the venue of his last live appearance in the city – marking what would have been the legend’s 60th birthday.

The night will feature performances from friends and collaborators including Gahan, QOTSA’s Josh Homme and Troy Van Leeuwen, Chrissie Hynde, Primal Scream‘s Bobby Gillespie, Greg Dulli, The Kills‘ Alison Mosshart, Soulsavers and more, all delivering songs from throughout Lanegan’s catalogue.

Gahan became friends with Lanegan when they toured together in the ’00s, before going on to record together with Soulsavers and with the Depeche Mode man singing songs penned by and for Lanegan with Humanist.

Having also lost Depeche Mode’s Andy Fletcher in the run-up to recording the band’s 2023 album ‘Memento Mori‘, Gahan explained how he was feeling the profound impact of his friends’ passing.

“It’s time; you start thinking about time,” he told NME of the shadow cast by Lanegan’s death. “I knew that Mark was struggling with his health and was trying to take care of that in various ways. I think everything just caught up with him. You get to a certain age where you find yourself asking, ‘Why does this hurt? Why can’t I do that?’ You don’t feel older in my mind, but you feel it.

“To me, losing Mark was the same as when Bowie went. You know: tick-tock, we’re not invincible, we’re not here forever, you’ve just got to enjoy the time you have. Give a little more time to your family and friends and be grateful for what you have. Mark struggled for years with his demons – as we all do, some of us more than others – but his songwriting and in particular his voice have been my companion for years.”

Check out our full interview with Gahan below, where he told us about the magic of Lanegan, his dream of them working together in future, what to expect from the tribute show, and what’s next for Depeche Mode.

NME: Hello Dave. How have you been since we last spoke in 2023?

Dave Gahan: “I’ve been good, and to be honest it’s taken me quite a while just to recover after the ‘Memento Mori’ tour. It was fantastic and ended up being more than what Martin [Gore, bandmate] and I could have imagined in many ways. We had a lot of fun on stage, with Peter [Gordeno] and Christian [Eigner] being longtime members too.

“It was a great tour and I’ve just spent the last five months since I got home just trying to get back into my regular life of family, friends, a little bit of writing here and there, but to be honest I’m not that inspired by anything.”

“Having lost Fletch a couple of years before that too, as we’ve discussed a lot before, it just changed our perspective on things. In the words of Spinal Tap: ‘Too much perspective!’

With that perspective in mind, how do you feel now about the impact of Mark Lanegan?

“Spending time with him when he was healthy and back when Soulsavers opened for Depeche Mode in 2009, we got to hang out. His music changed the way I think about music, songs, songwriting and the use of your voice as an instrument to create this amazing cinematic story.

“Even if you’re not interested in what he was saying in any particular phrase, there was just something about the way he opened his mouth. I was completely engaged.”

When did you become a fan of his work?

“I can’t say I was a big fan of The Screaming Trees. That passed me by, probably due to my own antics and shenanigans of the time. I first heard Mark sing when he walked on stage with Mad Season. For some reason I was there at this small theatre in Seattle. He came on and sang a Lead Belly song. I just remember his voice. Layne Staley [Alice In Chains] had a similar impact where you’d just go, ‘How does that noise come out of that man?’

“Much later, his 2004 solo record ‘Bubblegum’ was an album that was played constantly when myself, Andrew Phillpott [Das Shadow], Christian, and Kurt Uenala were writing at demoing at this space I used to have on Varick Street [New York]. We were writing what became songs for my solo album ‘Hour Glass’. I would play ‘Bubblegum’ every day. I’ve played that record more than any other, apart from maybe Bowie. More than my favourite Nick Cave records, or PJ Harvey, Johnny Cash, Billie Holiday.

“It’s always the voice for me. I always try to create some kind of imaginary world, cinematic moment or something a lot more intimate. I’ve got better at that, but I try and learn from the best. I’d put Mark right up there.”

Did you dig into his previous work after that?

“His solo records before ‘Bubblegum’, like ‘Whiskey For The Holy Ghost’ and ‘Field Songs’, they’re amazing too. I played those records all the time. I’m still playing his music now, but I couldn’t for a while. For about a year after Mark passed away, I couldn’t listen to his voice. It just made me feel sad and a little concerned about my own [mortality].

“All those things happened when people close to me were passing away. It’s always shocking when you start thinking about your own mortality and those around you. ‘How much time do I have? What can I do?’ It’s all that shit that you don’t think about when you’re younger: it’s just balls to the wall. As you get older, you stop.”

Do you feel like the same thing happened to Mark in his latter years?

“Mark kept on pushing right until the end. Even when he was there in hospital, he was still trying to write things – some of it went into a couple of books he put out as well. I loved his last album ‘Straight Songs Of Sorrow’ too. I was playing that a lot on the ‘Memento Mori’ tour.”

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“I hadn’t really been playing that when it came out as I couldn’t listen to it, but on the last tour I was playing it a lot. I’m able to listen to his voice again now. Now, it’s got more joy in it. A lot of people might not say they feel much joy from Lanegan singing, but I do! And also humour. Bowie too. They were just so fucking clever. It all seems so effortlessly smart, melodic and thought-provoking.”

There’s no real archetype he fit either: this sort of ragged, reluctant rockstar, soul-filled grunge star… 

“Yeah, but also with a gospel-y, folk-y aspect as well to a lot of his stuff. That Americana road thing, travelling across the open plains, the chance meeting with someone in a small town that usually doesn’t end well!

“In a song like ‘Kingdoms Of Rain’, there’s so much hope in there – melodically – and so much feeling. Now, I’ve played these songs to other people before and seen them go over their heads or they’ll be like, ‘Yeah, it’s OK’. For me, he’s right up there as a 20th and 21st Century voice and writer. We talk about the Nick Caves and Johnny Cashes of this world in terms of what a voice can do. There are few of them, but Mark is at the top of that list.”

What was he like to be around? What can you tell us about the bond you had beyond working together? 

“He had a very dry sense of humour. He’d laugh when something was funny and then get very serious. I remember one time we were in the back of a van on our way to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting; we were talking about the horrible atrocities of the Nazis and Hitler. Then from the back of the van, you heard this deep voice growl, ‘Mussolini was worse’. It was quiet for a minute, then we all laughed because that summed up a lot about his personality.

“He was quiet and gentle, but you also wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of his anger. He was a big guy but he was a big softy at heart. He’d hate me for saying it… but I don’t really want to say much more about that.”

That comes across in the Humanist song ‘Brother’. You sang on that, but that came out of a conversation between Rob Marshall and Ed Harcourt about the kind of friend that he was, right? 

“Mark would send me playlists of songs that he’d like to hear me cover – anything from Mick Ronson to Nick Drake, Scott Walker, Gene Clark. He was very friendly in that way and if you engaged, he was always kind.

“It was good doing that song, because there were a lot of feelings coming up. It’s going to be interesting to do this tribute night of Lanegan songs. I’m going to do some different songs alongside all these musicians. It’ll be a great night, but Lanegan might be looking down on this capacity crowd at The Roundhouse listening to his songs, laughing at the irony. We probably could have done five nights because it sold out so fast. There are a lot of singers and musicians who really respected Lanegan and what he did.”

Similarly, you told us how the Humanist song ‘Shock Collar’ was originally written by Lanegan for him to sing but he roped you in for radio play. What was it like to inhabit his song in that way? 

“It was quite difficult, actually. He wanted to sing it in a key that was a stretch to him as well – he wanted to push his voice to the limits of his high end. It was an honour, to be honest. I enjoyed inhabiting his words and trying to be true to the feel of what he was trying to do.

“It was classic of Mark to say, ‘I’ve got this song I need singing and I thought of you straight away, 6Music are playing this other song with me on, so we’re gonna need you’ – the usual kind of chaos!”

You sang together on a cover of David Bowie’s ‘Cat People (Putting Out Fire)’ and you’ve sung his songs plenty of times. Do you feel like you were two sides of the same coin?

“I’d forgotten about that. We weren’t in the studio together for that, but it was great. There’s something about the tone of our voices that worked well together. We’re possibly two sides of the same coin in some ways. I have it with Martin [Gore, Depeche Mode] as well – when we harmonise, our voices just work well together. It doesn’t work that way with everyone.

“I have it with Wendi Rose, T Jae Cole and Janet Ramus who sing with Soulsavers too. They’ve been out singing with Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, but they’ll be coming back for this Lanegan London gig. When you experience something like that, you realise why you do this – to have that feeling without talking about it.”

How are you feeling about the gig and celebrating Mark’s legacy?

“Thank god all his songs are there. I’m familiar with a lot of the bands who are playing. The core band playing are the Soulsavers band, so I know everyone in there. I’ve been working on five or six songs in my little studio. I’ll probably do half of those, but we’ll see how it goes.

“I’ve just been in my little studio just singing along with Mark on different versions of these songs. It’s been interesting. I never really got to do that properly. I’d imagine that would have been something we’d have done in the future, if he was still here.”

Have you been in touch with anyone else on the line-up?

“I bumped into Bobby [Gillespie] about seven months ago. I was at an Ann Demeulemeester fashion show in Paris as a companion to my daughter [Stella Rose], who does stuff with Ann D. I don’t normally go to these things, but they sat me down next to Ann and there was this figure lurking nearby in the shadows.

“Then all of a sudden I hear, ‘Alright Mr G?’ [in a thick Scottish accent]. It’s Bobby. He asks me what I’m doing there and I tell him I’m here with my daughter, then I ask him and his son was walking in the show too. Next to Bobby’s wife was Jimmy Page, and that’s when I realise we’re in ‘the old rockstar’ area! All of the young trendy people were on the other side, but I felt quite comfortable in that position.

“Bobby and I talked a bit and he asked if I was doing the Lanegan thing. We also talked a bit when Lanegan passed. There were some weird things happening. Around that time, I wrote this song that ended up being ‘Wagging Tongue’ from ‘Memento Mori’. It sounds a bit hocus-pocus, but I had this sense that Mark was still around for a while. Bobby said he’d had the same kind of experience while sitting out in his garden. I had that with Fletch too, even as we went into the tour.”

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“There are reasons why we don’t know things beyond the limits of our thinking and why we’re here and all that shit. I’m pretty sure of that nowadays as I get older. You do just have to show up when you get asked to do these things to see what happens.

“Bobby and I hadn’t seen each other properly since the end of the ‘Songs Of Faith And Devotion’ tour, so we were like, ‘It’s been nearly fucking 30 years, mate’. It felt really familiar, and Bobby’s a really nice guy.”

You mentioned at the top of our conversation that you were writing. Is this just the early days of feeling around in the dark?

“Yes, it’s nothing for anything. I’m purposefully trying to not make any plans in that way creatively. I pick up the guitar and noodle away, and if there’s a little phrase of chords then I’ll pull out my iPhone and record it. It’s automatic to do that, but I’m very inspired at the moment by my daughter and am trying to be really supportive. She’s been out in Europe playing club shows. I’m more into that and wanting to see what happens there.

“I’m dad, so trust me – she puts up the walls and tells me to back off! As an executive producer role I try to wield a bit of influence, but she’s got her own thing going on. She has a very powerful voice that I heard when I was very young. I was shocked when I heard her singing a Billie Holiday song in her room when I was walking past. The intonation, the tone, it was all amazing.”

But it’ll be a few years yet before the Depeche Mode machine starts up again?

“Martin and I have talked. We actually saw each other recently, and it was really nice. We spent some time in Italy where [photographer and visual collaborator] Anton Cobijn and his wife were renewing their wedding vows in a really nice spot just outside of Rome. We had a really nice time without any work or show pressure. I actually did ask Martin if he’d been writing and he was like, ‘Nah!’ That’s normal – especially when you’ve worked intensely for a couple of years. It takes a while. Wait and see. I wouldn’t rule out as getting together at some point, but it’s not on the cards at this point.”

‘Mark Lanegan 60 – A Celebration’ will be at London’s Roundhouse on Thursday December 5. Visit here for tickets and more information.