Alan Wilder
Wilder standing behind a large electronic box
Wilder performing in 2010
Background information
Birth nameAlan Charles Wilder
Born (1959-06-01) 1 June 1959
Hammersmith, London, England
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • composer
  • arranger
  • record producer
Instrument(s)
  • Synthesizer
  • sampler
  • keyboards
  • piano
  • drums
  • percussion
  • flute
  • guitar
  • bass guitar
  • vocals
Years active1975–present
Labels
Member ofRecoil
Formerly of
Websiterecoil.co.uk

Alan Charles Wilder (born 1 June 1959) is an English musician, composer, arranger, record producer and former member of the electronic band Depeche Mode from 1982 to 1995. Since his departure from the band, the musical project called Recoil became his primary musical enterprise, which initially started as a side project to Depeche Mode in 1986. Wilder has also provided production and remixing services to the bands Nitzer Ebb and Curve. Alan Wilder was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020 as a member of Depeche Mode. He is a classically trained musician.[1]

Early years

Alan Charles Wilder was born the youngest boy born into a middle class family of 3 boys and was raised in Acton, West London. He began piano at the age of eight, through the encouragement of his parents. Later on, he learned the flute at St Clement Danes grammar school and became a leading musician in his school bands. After school, Alan worked as a studio assistant at DJM Studios. This led to him ending up working for bands such as the Dragons and Dafne & the Tenderspots (as Alan Normal). Others include Real to Real (featuring Adrian Chilvers on bass, Pete Fresh on guitar, Wolfgang Marlander on drums and Paul St. James on vocals), the Hitmen, and the Korgis, appearing on the UK No. 13 single "If I Had You" (1979).

Depeche Mode (1982–1995)

Alan Wilder (left) with Depeche Mode, 1985

Following the departure of Vince Clarke, Depeche Mode placed an advertisement in the music magazine Melody Maker: "Keyboard player needed for established band – no timewasters." Even though the ad was looking for someone under 21 (Wilder was 22) he lied about his age to get the job, and got away with it. He joined Depeche Mode in January 1982, initially as a tour keyboardist, and soon thereafter as a full member of the recording band. His first studio contribution was on the single "Get the Balance Right!" in December 1982, released the following month.

Wilder wrote a handful of songs for Depeche Mode, including "Two Minute Warning" and "The Landscape Is Changing" (and a B-side, "Fools") from the album Construction Time Again,[2] and "If You Want" (and a B-side, "In Your Memory") from the album Some Great Reward[3] and finally co-wrote "Black Day" (and a B-side, "Christmas Island") from the album Black Celebration. However, Wilder's more notable contributions to Depeche Mode were as a musician, arranger, and producer.

In addition to playing synthesizer throughout his time with Depeche Mode, Wilder also played piano on the band's signature ballad "Somebody". In the documentary film 101, Wilder demonstrates how different synthesizer parts of a song are split and arranged across a sampling keyboard for playing them live during the concert, just one small example of Wilder's ongoing contributions to Depeche Mode during his time as a member of the group. For the recording of the album Songs of Faith and Devotion and its corresponding Devotional Tour, Wilder also played live drums.

For "Enjoy the Silence" from the album Violator, Wilder took Martin Gore's melancholy ballad-esque demo and re-envisioned the song as a percolating, melodic dance track.[4] The resulting single went on to become one of the most commercially successful songs in Depeche Mode's history.

Departure

In June 1995, Wilder announced his departure from Depeche Mode "due to increasing dissatisfaction with the internal relations and working practices of the group".[5] After his split from Depeche Mode, Wilder was approached by Robert Smith with an offer to join the Cure. Wilder respectfully declined.[6] According to Wilder himself, the possibility was offered on behalf of the Cure by Daryl Bamonte (tour manager for both Depeche Mode and the Cure, and brother of the Cure member Perry Bamonte), and he declined as joining another band was the last thing on his mind.[7]

Wilder briefly reunited with Depeche Mode during the Teenage Cancer Trust concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 17 February 2010. During the encore, Wilder played piano on "Somebody".[5]

Recoil (1986–present)

Side project

Alan Wilder (right) performing in 2010.

Recoil began in 1986 as a two-track experimental EP. Simply entitled 1 + 2, this collection of primitive demos caught the attention of Mute Records label boss Daniel Miller and was inconspicuously released as a mini-album on 12" vinyl. An album, Hydrology, soon followed in 1988 and both were eventually re-issued by Mute on CD as Hydrology plus 1 + 2.

Douglas McCarthy (Nitzer Ebb, Fixmer McCarthy) sang on Recoil's next album, Bloodline, released in 1992. Wilder recruited guest vocalists for the first time, with further contributions from Toni Halliday and Moby. Bloodline also yielded the first two Recoil singles, a cover of Alex Harvey's song "Faith Healer" as well as "Electro Blues for Bukka White".

Solo work

In September 1996, after leaving Depeche Mode, Wilder began work in his own studio, The Thin Line. He pieced together what would become Recoil's next album, Unsound Methods (1997). This album was followed by Liquid (2000), SubHuman (2007), and Selected (2010).

Recoil returned in 2012 to release the concert film A Strange Hour in Budapest on Blu-ray.

Discography

Early work

  • The Dragons – "Misbehavin'" (1977)
  • Dafne & the Tenderspots – "Disco Hell" (1979)
  • The Korgis – "If I Had You" (1979) – UK No. 13 (the track also appears on The Korgis, as well as all of the band's compilation albums)
  • Real to Real – "White Man Reggae" (March 1980)
  • Real to Real – "The Blue" (1980)
  • Real to Real – Tightrope Walkers (November 1980)
  • Real to Real – "Mr. and Mrs." (March 1981)
  • The Flatbackers – "Serenade of Love" (1981)
  • The Hitmen – "Ouija" (1981)

With Depeche Mode

Wilder appeared on all of Depeche Mode's releases from "Get the Balance Right!" (31 January 1983) up to "In Your Room" (10 January 1994), later taking part in reissues and compilations containing material from his time in the band.

Discography featuring Alan Wilder

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations

Singles

Video albums

Depeche Mode songs composed by Alan Wilder

As Recoil

Collected

Wilder organized with Omega an auction selling a lot of DM collectable items on 3 September 2011 in Manchester. A DVD called Collected + was released as promotion for these events.

Covers and collaborations

  • 1991 – Mixed the Nitzer Ebb song "Come Alive" from the As Is EP.
  • 1991 – Along with Flood, produced the Nitzer Ebb album Ebbhead.
  • 2001 – Provided strings and ambient sounds for the song "Polaroid" from the Curve album Gift.
  • 2003 – Provided strings and sounds for The Digital Intervention track "Coma Idyllique" from the album Capture. 'PK', a longtime Recoil collaborator is one of its members along with Olivia Louvel.
  • 2012 – Covered two tracks: "Inheritance" – Recoil (ft. Linton Kwesi Johnson & Paul Marshall) and "Dum Dum Girl" – Recoil (ft. Shara Worden) for a Talk Talk tribute album (double) CD/book set called Spirit of Talk Talk. He also became executive music producer for the album.
  • 2016 – Provided music and arrangements for "Calling the Clock" by Dede (featuring Alan Wilder).[8]

Remixes

  • 1989: Toni Halliday – "Time Turns Around" (Euro-Tech Version)
  • 1991: Nitzer Ebb – "I Give to You" (Wilder Mix Full Version)
  • 2010: Nitzer Ebb – "I Am Undone" (Alan Wilder Remix)
  • 2011: Depeche Mode – "In Chains" (Alan Wilder Remix)
  • 2011: Sonoio – "Minutes" (Expansion Mix)

References

  1. ↑ Bell, Max: "ALAN WILDER: THE BAND BOY Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine", PRIVATE LIVES – THE DEPECHE MODE STORY, 1985
  2. ↑ "Depeche Mode | Review | Music @ The Digital Fix". Archived from the original on 17 September 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  3. ↑ "Depeche Mode | Review | Music @ The Digital Fix". Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  4. ↑ "Music @ the Digital Fix – Depeche Mode". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  5. 1 2 "Depeche Mode joined by former band member at Teenage Cancer Trust show". NME.com. 18 February 2010.
  6. ↑ Miller, Jonathan: Stripped: Depeche Mode, Omnibus Press, 2003, ISBN 0-7119-9397-1.
  7. ↑ Shunt Q+A Vault: Other Artists – likes / dislikes / record collection Archived 2 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 25 October 2009
  8. ↑ "SHUNT – The Official Recoil Website". Recoil.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
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