Alan joined the band ca. in December 1981, after Vince Clarke had left ‘Depeche Mode’. In answer to a public ad ‘Depeche Mode’ had placed into the mag ‘Melody Maker’, Alan applied for the occupation as the keyboardist of the band.
As the one and only member of ‘Depeche Mode’ with a classic musical education, it was easy for him to play along to their music at his first audition. Although his age slightly mismatched the band´s requirements – he was already 22 years old, over one year older than the demands said – the three members of ‘Depeche Mode’ decided to engage Alan.
Alan should realize soon, that he was not a fully accepted member of ‘Depeche Mode’ for quite a long time yet. He was not involved in many decisions the band and their record label ‘Mute’ had to face and there were times when he did not have any direct contact to the other band members for days.
Only shortly before Christmas of 1982, ‘Mute’ officially confirmed Alan being now a full member of ‘Depeche Mode’. Still, there appeared lots of differences between the members of the band. Alan felt not quite comfortable with the shyness of Martin Gore. Later, he describes Martin and Fletch in his observations as “being and acting like a unit”. It was hard for him to connect with Mart or Fletch, when it was easier for him to have conversations with Dave, who acted much more open and uncomplicated.
Alan soon influenced the band´s style with his keyboards- and synthesizer-works to a great deal. He liked to add rich-sounding components as in ‘Never let me down again’ and spent lots of time in the studios, mixing and experimenting with sounds and possible new innovative styles. He also kept working parallel to ‘Depeche Mode’ at his solo project ‘Recoil’ and published the first album ‘Hydrology’ – consisting of song-mixes with typical ‘Depeche Mode’ song components in 1987.
Seeing no future in ‘Depeche Mode’ after their stressful ‘Devotional Tour’ in 1994, Alan left the band in 1995 to dedicate his time to family and his solo project.
Visit the website of ‘Recoil’, Alan´s Solo-Project.
