Electronic rock legends Depeche Mode have hit out at The X Factor and it’s media mogul head Simon Cowell, launching a scathing attack on the programme and how it’s made today’s music business ‘pretty horrible’.
The band, who tour the world throughout the summer months of 2013, have made their thoughts on the talent contest show clear - claiming that they think Simon Cowell should be ‘shot’, an opinion many belonging to the rock scene share.
Speaking to Music Week, bandmember Martin Gore said: “I’m not advocating violence, but I think somebody should shoot Simon Cowell! His influence in the music industry over the last God knows how many years it’s been now... it’s just like, so many people think that that's what music is. What happened to bands getting together? They are very few and far between now and the ones that do probably can’t afford to get into a studio and make a record.”
His bandmate Dave Gahan added: “It’s a pretty horrible business today really, I’ve got to say. You have to be tough and you've got to be thick skinned because there are going to be things written about you that you’re not going to like. You’re going to get scrutinized, your work will not always be liked and if they do like something really a lot they’re probably not going to like the next thing and compare it to the last thing. It takes a time for a band to grow if they’re any good. We were lucky that we were taken under the wing of Daniel Miller who never once in the studio said, ‘Where’s the hit song?’”
The band also talked about the fact that they seem to be bigger outside of the UK than inside, despite being an English band.
“[Not being fully appreciated in the UK is] probably the bain in our side if we’re really honest,” Gahan confessed. “I mean we should get fucking OBEs because we’re still going and we really are a very English band. Forget all the Britpop which was just a rip-off of everything that came before – The Stones, The Beatles and stuff. We actually took music somewhere else and I think arguably in the beginning it was just not understood.”
Gore added: “We did really well in the early Eighties in the UK, but I think because we became so successful so quickly it was hard to maintain that momentum, and the English in general have the kind of mentality where they want to move on to the next thing much quicker than anybody else. There's a lot more longevity for bands in other countries because people don’t have that mentality.”
What do you think of the band’s comments - do you agree? Let us know in the comments section below.
Depeche Mode tour world stadiums, arenas, and festivals in the summer months of 2013 - check below to find tickets to their UK gigs through Stereoboard.
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