![]() ![]() ![]() ‘He’s still here, isn’t he?’ Now he’s not, and it still doesn’t feel real.”Īfter the launch, the band headed back to Santa Barbara, California to finish work on ‘Memento Mori’ – a title, which Gore explains in London today, translates from Latin to ‘Remember you must die’. “That was always the knowing joke – that Fletch was going to outlive all of us. “Fletch was probably… let’s just say, the least of all of us in terms of excesses,” he told NME. When NME last met Gahan back in October to launch the band’s upcoming 15th album ‘Memento Mori’ in Berlin, he still had a lot to process. Eventually it will work out for you.”īut through all that leather-clad legend, there was the calming force of Fletch. “Do it your way and don’t be told how to. “It’s a ‘get up and do it yourself’ spirit,” frontman Dave Gahan tells NME, somewhat underplaying how some cute lads from Basildon became an iconically fearsome globe-conquering beast. What is it about Depeche that has that renewed appeal? That’s everyone from Lady Gaga, The Killers and Chvrches to Deftones and Nine Inch Nails. They’ve broken ground in pop, rock, electro, blues and industrial metal, inspiring any band with a drum machine and a synth, or just a kink and a dark side. Through that period and beyond, the band hit stadium-filling superstardom all while battling drama, hard drugs and hedonism. Vince Clarke, then chief songwriter, exited the band the year their debut dropped (going on to form Yazoo and Erasure) and was replaced by Wilder before his exit in ‘95 synth player, guitarist and singer Martin Gore would then the lead on songwriting. With the chart-bothering synthpop gems of ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ and ‘New Life’ from frisky 1981 debut ‘Speak & Spell’, Depeche Mode embarked on a journey that few could have predicted. When they first emerged from Basildon in Essex 43 years ago, they were a brightly refined but squeaky clean boyband-esque affair. Aged just 60, Fletch was the unshakable foundation of the new wave pioneers a constant presence and a peacemaker in a group that’s had its fare share of turmoil to navigate. “And then there were two,” came the text message to Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan from former bandmate Alan Wilder after he heard news of the sad passing of synth player and founding member Andy Fletcher back in May 2022.
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