In this in-depth Geek Talk episode, Producer and Engineer Steve Lyon talks about how he got into Music Production, Gear, Alan Wilder & Recoil and more.
Thank you very much talking Engineer Alan Wilder on UA-cam 📺🎧🎹 Too 🆒🆒🔝🔝👍😍🥰🥳🥳 You are always incredibly amazing really beautiful with you and always the best 😺😏😊🙀❤️♥️💖Amazing, impressive, brilliant 😱🫣🤗😘 Always Top 🔝 Of the Top with VG everytime 💯🎉👌🤜🙏🏻🤛💪😻 Always The best for us 💗❣️ No change nothing VG we all still love you very much for still giving us this very good time with you 😮😮❤❤😊
Great chat. Can't wait for part 2. I miss Turnkey. Loved popping in there after a meeting down in London and the vintage synth museum downstairs. I'm surprised Mr Wilder hasn't produced a Gary Numan album or a done a remix of a song. Not a fan of The Beatles but I thought Get Back, all 10 hours of it, was a great study of songwriting.
The Wilder years were their greatest years. They will never get that back. Alan was the architect that built the soundtrack of my life and his contribution cannot be understated. Even with two session artists doing whatever they do, they have never come close to replicating the soundscapes that Alan created. He is missed on every album and tour. That Alan Wilder sound is missing and nobody else can replicate it. Not then, not ever.
@@carloenriqueibanezperez7067 he can’t listen to recoil as no one does lol it’s awful It’s missing Martin gore and flood to tell him what buttons to press
I can see in Steve’s body language how much respect and admiration he has for Alan Wilder. What a fantastic show. Thank you so much again Vaughn for bringing this to us!
@@israelgarcia7577 Yea, that they all need each other to make the true DM sound IMO. But I do agree with you, Alan probably misses them more. Martin and David are still benefitting a lot more from Alan's work, than Alan is. I think some mountains of ego and pride would have to be crossed in order for a DM reunion. Sadly, I'm not holding my breath.
@@paxsincera836 yes. Quite a sad story specially for Alan but fortunately those DM albums with him will stay in the real world like some king of magical materia apparently unreal
@@israelgarcia7577 I highly doubt that. When he was still a member, Alan said in an interview that he didn't see himself being a rockstar past 40 and wanted to settle down at that age.
@@paxsincera836I doubt Alan misses the exploitation. One thing many people are not considering is that he was simply treated differently, not like part of the band, and oftentimes they treated him very unprofessionally to say the least. He had two options: to be treated thusly or leave. No third option was given. So I don't think he "misses" it, as some people presume. You don't miss being treated badly and being exploited unless you have some psychological hung ups (which the majority people do have indeed, and perhaps that's why they project that on Alan).
So many comments lamenting Alan leaving. It was nearly 30 years ago... But then I had a scroll through the six albums released since his departure, and I was shocked to see that barely 15 tracks make it to a 'decent' líst in my humble opinion. Perhaps it can be the time of your life when you hear things, but albums like Black Celebration, Music for, Violator, and Songs of,.... even today, 90% or more of the tracks hold up and many still sound fresh. The production sound on all the albums since his departure are flat, lacking in atmosphere. The ability to sweep you off your feet in an epic soundscape, mixing Gore's lyrics with Gahan's vocals and new melodies and sounds on every album... simply evaporated. I've never really sat back much and thought about it... but it feels like most if not all the post Songs of Faith albums have been like a set of Gore demos that someone of far lesser creativity than Wilder has tried to stamp some originality on... and failed. The last 3 albums in particular have been pretty dire. Too much crooning Dave and no real leaps sound-wise. Perhaps it is a bit much to expect the changes we saw in the late 80s and early 90s, not only due to huge technological leaps but also the age and experience of the band members. I mean, how could anyone expect a Gore track from his 50s living a comfy life in the eternal sunshine of Santa Barbara to be anything like something he could produce as a 20 something living in 1980s Berlin? And when you listen to Alan's Recoil stuff, it also shows the other half of the equation. Amazing technological, production and sound originality, but otherwise, not really adding up to tracks that come anywhere near to 90s Depeche. It really is an amazing if somewhat sad example, of when something is worth far more than the sum of its parts. No wonder fans endlessly wonder what the last few albums would sound like if Alan had been there, sweating blood in the studio to create the masterpieces of the past. I guess we'll never know.
Alan made his version of In Chains, so you can actually compare. Imo Alan's surpassed the album version. I agree, DM is a quartet, full stop. Left as a trio, they became a different band. Not only music, but stage performance was lacking Alan's presence and his vocals. I visited their concert on Ultra tour, that was great, but completely different show. I wasn't hooked with their tunes made after that.
WOW this is the holy grail!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He and Alan mixed all the devotional live recordings and set up the keyboard programming for the Devotional tour.....can't wait!!!!
Alan must be a delight! Not only do us fans miss his musical contributions, but Engineers as well. I currently do not play instruments, produce, etc. but as a singer and lyricists I’d simply love to meet Alan to have a normal chat (and pick his brain a little). I truly do hope he knows how much he is appreciated for his contributions thru both DM and Recoil.
awesome interview Vaughn. As much as Alan Wilder is my hero, It's only right to also recognize the efforts of people like Steve Lyon from back in the day.
Yes to a Trent and Alan collaboration, and I want a Gary Numan and Alan collaboration, oh and more Recoil too. One can dream! Thanks for the video Vaughn :)
@@bruinman1012 yes, but do you know why? He worked his ass off and not only during albums recording. Others are LAZY and poor Fletch (RIP) never contributed musically. He always spent hours in studio while others were having a great time and he was fine with it until escalating somewhere between Violation tour and SOFAD recording. He knew it'll be his last tour and that's why he put special effort in songs like Walking in my shoes. Dave was his friend but he was so on drugs, they didn't even communicate. Martin was drunk all the time and stopped giving Alan credits for his work. Fletch was battling depression (bipolar), everything was falling apart and he was treated like not equal. Like hired worker. In short. He said he'd leave at some point anyways and Recoil is his, well recoil. Never wanted to conquer the world with it but have creative freedom. The entire in-band situation during Devotional tour and a bit prior to it made his decision come faster than he initially planned stating "I never want to go through this again". And Alan is actually a HARD working artist, the only one of the gang that DIDN'T have ego problem. You should meet Dave/Martin today. When I was on Epica show, they had beers with fans. Those 2 didn't allow to be touched (prior to covid), we had 180sec (3 mins), had to give all of our things away including phones etc. Alan was also thinking about getting back again around 2010 when he played piano for Somebody live, or was at least open to the idea. I have good sources and if they lied to me, I'm lying now to you (so take THIS section with some salt!), he talked about re-joining being happy about it. It was 2-1. Dave wanted Alan back, Fletch was a bit mean because Alan apparently said some hurtful stuff when he left (or to be precise, didn't say anything until it was "I'm leaving"). And Martin's ego didn't want to admit they need him :) There you go. Alan did "In chains" remix on his Mac relaxing on vacation in France and it sounded amazing. Alan was and is THE master of sound, human Emulator II and their music will never be made to it's full potential. You won't see him, he did that auction to sell everything DM related 12y ago and Martin was even more angry about it afterwards to the point he doesn't want to use ANY of Alan's samples live anymore. Alan sold even Martin's guitar that he still had since those boys were really lazy and he handled most of the things. He's retired from music and those who had a privilege to be around him know how important he is for music world and DM world fame.
I could never recover of Alans departure because his sound is like a finger print on their music since Alan’s gone I left too, I still love their music but definitely the most of Depeche Mode best times was in the wilders years at least to me the three of them were magical epic on music. Thank you for the interview , it was pretty interesting
Current DM is still Demo Mode .Even Ghost Again after few times sounds boring already........but I can still listing the old DM many , many times and this music still sounds amazing.Alan was the secret ingredient
One of the greatest examples of Alan's genius was his version of "To Have and To Hold" which made the final track listing cut on MFTM vs. Gore's Spanish Taster demo version. Not even close how much better Alan's version was.
Great interview with Mr. Lyon! I was first introduced to his work on Wild Mood Swings with the Cure, which is actually one of the Cure albums I’m most fond of for personal reasons. He did great work on that album.
I'd been thinking that Steve Lyon would be a good interviewee and then this popped up; it's great to hear from him (looking forward to part 2). I knew about his work with Alan but can't help but find it poignant, especially when he says, "I wonder what Charlie thinks of it." "Charlie": Dave used to call him that too...😔
That's interesting, I have Steve in my FB contacts, and I hesitated to ask if he would be up to mix my 2020 album, but didn't dare in fear he would be too expensive, and would find my music not professional enough. Maybe I'll find the nerve to ask him next time.
@@alejandromorales8715 Steve's very approachable and friendly. I used to go down to his studio and mix the album while drinking many cups of tea ha. He has some great stories also (as you'd expect)
@@knottydogg Just uploaded the album, probably my favourite track (and the most electronic sounding) is New Fears Resolution at 11:50 ua-cam.com/video/qYZJ3m9_Idk/v-deo.html
For the Amek 9098 compressor limiter in the rack, you don't see too many of them anymore.Takes me right back since I was the original product engineer for the 9098 rack range back in the nineties, got to work with Rupert Neve and lots of other talented engineers. You see plenty of 9098 EQ's around, but very rarely the compressor limiter. Great video Vaughn, love the channel.- cheers, Raymond Budd
Thank you Vaughn and special thanks to the sponsors for letting me watch this. I'm very excited. Steve Lyon is amazing, together with Flood they brought out the best of Depeche Mode. It was Alan and Svete who created the best versions of the songs for the best concert in history Devotional. It was their absolute peak. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Steve for this masterpiece.
the first song by DM was Somebody, I heard it for the first time around 1986. Then I became interested in their music. I quickly identified with the sound, but the whole thing touched me. Alan's work put an undeniable amount of effort into it and was so unique from album to album. I was very sorry when he quietly left the band. I have a constant feeling of missing! The new albums are not bad, nor will they be as big hits as the songs created during his time. Martin was a genius but Alan was the implementer. Maybe we should have put up with it a little longer, but we can't know that. with each new album I hope to call him. Martin or Dave, but no... and time passes .. I am sincerely sorry that not even now. An Italian female sound engineer and a possibly English guy are working on the new album. I do not know.. I'm sad but I have to admit that we won't see Alan working with them again. This is...
Thanks for the interview again, Vaughn. The geek talk is fascinating. Someone should tell Mr. Lyon something about midi controllers to put his two hands an a vst-compressor's knobs. 😄
Niiiice interview, Vaughn. I laughed when you did the 🚨when Alan Wilder’s name was mentioned. 😂😂😂 I guess it is safe to say that many on this forum want to know what Alan is up to now. I’ve just re-discovered Depeche Mode again since I’m going to their concert this year. And got sucked in to Where is Alan? Well, whatever he is doing, I have a feeling he has visited your channel. Maybe privately surprised and amused with the level of interest and love from his fans. 👍🏼💯 Keep up the good work, Vaughn!!! Cheers from the USA.
Not kidding, when I read the title "Engineer Steve Lyon Talks About Alan Wilder, Production, Gear And More", for a moment I thought "Gear" and "Production'" were bands, wondering how I have never heard of them :D
Wonderful interview, Vaughn, thanks for posting! Really looking forward to the SOFAD segment as well. Quickly here, as a recent-subscriber to your WatchVG channel, I have enjoyed the SOFAD album review series immensely, so thanks for that!
I enjoyed this interview. My first impression from Steve’s facial expressions during introduction was that he’d be a bit uninterested or something 😄 He comes across a bit introverted and reserved but actually seems a really nice fella. I’m warming up to the ADHD Val Kilmer too, now 😉
wow!!! thanks for this sir! - its really a breeze to hear an experience reactions and comments from producers...which are often overlooked ...hopefully FLOOD will be next.
Gore still writes great songs. I love Recoil but the sound worlds Wilder came up with expand upon some pretty basic songs. That said, I love Subhuman. The collaboration with a blues rock band on standards and originals for that album resulted in some dynamic rocking tracks with such amazing sound design. Probably my favorite post Wilder leaving DM work including all the post Wilder DM albums. The 5.1 mix for Subhuman is amazing as well and would be killer in Dolby Atmos. Hint hint.
Alan took DM out of the "pop" genre and created a musical masterpiece with Black Celebration, MFTM, Violator & SOFAD along with the live set ups. Sadly you'll never get Alan or that sound back. For me... Depeche are an electronic/keyboard band and I just can't get used to them playing instruments live!! I have to agree although Ultra was an excellent album the rest suffered to a point I'd be picking out tracks to listen to rather than listening to the whole album and when you listen to Spirit then see it live it's a world apart from doing the same with say Violator. SOFAD was DM attempting to be a rock band and making a bloody good job of it even to a point of making the headlines for all the wrong reasons! I am excited by the new album, Ghosts Again as the first single sounds better than the first single off the last album and the live Munich gig does sound stronger than Live Spirits but DM without Alan and now Andy are just not the same... still a great band though but just my thoughts...
Just to add to the above and reference to this video, it's very interesting that you get to interview the very people that worked with DM which builds up a bigger picture of what actually happened during the SOFAD period, I watched the videos on the Collectors Edition DVD's from SOFAD & Ultra but I somehow feel that you are not getting what "really happened" and there are things that the public weren't privvy to.
completely agree with the intruments thing. The drumming by Eigner is dire - really ruins tracks like Never Let Me Down Again. Even Gore's guitar is often grating, as it is often such a small part of most tracks. I can't wait to see them live in France one last time this year, but part of their performance has become a bit of a tragic singalong rock show. It would be great to see them do a retro tour, complete with a bank of keyboards, electronic drum effects, and all the old industrial electronic sound brought back front and centre... at least for the older tracks where this was the way they were meant to be played. Some of their older tracks live now sound like some sort of lounge covers band doing them.
Thank you very much talking Engineer Alan Wilder on UA-cam 📺🎧🎹 Too 🆒🆒🔝🔝👍😍🥰🥳🥳 You are always incredibly amazing really beautiful with you and always the best 😺😏😊🙀❤️♥️💖Amazing, impressive, brilliant 😱🫣🤗😘 Always Top 🔝 Of the Top with VG everytime 💯🎉👌🤜🙏🏻🤛💪😻 Always The best for us 💗❣️ No change nothing VG we all still love you very much for still giving us this very good time with you 😮😮❤❤😊
I was living in New York and one day I saw the Exiter CD and I decided to buy it, when I got home I realized I already had it. That is how meaningless that album was. I never again got another DM album. The last thing I bought was In Cain Alan Wilder remix. The rest, I listen to it on UA-cam.
I may be asking a stupid question but what is that background music at the very beggining of the video. can I find it on YT somewhere? Sounds very interesting.
The intro music was composed by me using some original DM samples . I'm glad you like it . It is not available anywhere because I have not released it . VG
A question to Vaughn and to all the fans here. I'm a huge "historic DM" fan but I never got into Recoil. What would be the Recoil's album you could recommend for a 1st listener?
Bloodline - sounds like the bridge between Violator and Songs Of Faith And Devotion. Some great guest vocalists also (Toni Halliday from Curve, Doug Nitzer Ebb, Moby. Outstanding album.
I'd start by listening to lots of different music. Recoil's curse is that he already had a fanbase... the hardcore DM fans, who are not, in principle, the ideal target audience for it. Recoil has more in common with stuff like The Haxan Cloak, The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble (a kind of jazz that even Vaughn's limited perception of the genre may enjoy) or even Sigur Rós than with DM. It's true that Bloodline is the closest to old school DM, but because of that reason, among others, I find it to be one of the weakest from his catalogue, contrary to what most other fans believe.
Hydrology is the Recoil album I love listening to. It's just 3 perfect instrumental tracks - Grain (7m 44 secs), Stone (14:32) and The Sermon (15:33) - but then you remember it's Alan Wilder and his magic fingers sending you in to synth heaven.
I wonder if the thing with hardware and "manipulating things in a random way" as said in the video, perhaps makes you listen in a different way, meaning more relaxed and laid back so therefore your mind is more open to take in and register nuances more maybe?
I never hear or read comment about how Dave andd Mart would feel themselves if Alan will make music with them, and this music will be muche better than all 1997-2022 discography. And everybody will say "now this is real depeche mode". So I think they even don't think about reunion
I did not like them, they were very arrogant and offensive, Depeche Mode - (if anyone says they dislike them, their fans troll them, like they did me). I had a five minute interest in them in 2016 and watched a bit of the 101 documentary, and even I could see from that that they had something I can't even describe, with Alan Wilder. He did seem to give a special edge to their music, and Alan is the only one I like out of them. They should have got down on their hands and knees and begged him to come back, after those two sorted out their issues. They lost a valuable member of the band and the most talented. Please come back to music Alan (even if you don't rejoin Depeche Mode); but it seems unlikely he will. A sad loss to the music industry.
I heard that after Alan left, the other 3 members were abducted and taken to Planet Jupiter 8 as a form of banishment. The 3 substitute elements that remained are bad copies of the exiled members. That's why DM has become so disgusting.
He wasn't trying to prove anything. He just wanted to do his own thing, with less collaboration and no touring:he wanted to be more at home with his family. He was never trying to compete with Depeche Mode. He also said that he thought that Depeche Mode continuing depended on Dave getting through his addiction and not because he(Alan) left the band.
In this in-depth Geek Talk episode, Producer and Engineer Steve Lyon talks about how he got into Music Production, Gear, Alan Wilder & Recoil and more.
George get Alan to your show to tell us once and for all why he didn't come back...
Thank you very much talking Engineer Alan Wilder on UA-cam 📺🎧🎹 Too 🆒🆒🔝🔝👍😍🥰🥳🥳 You are always incredibly amazing really beautiful with you and always the best 😺😏😊🙀❤️♥️💖Amazing, impressive, brilliant 😱🫣🤗😘 Always Top 🔝 Of the Top with VG everytime 💯🎉👌🤜🙏🏻🤛💪😻 Always The best for us 💗❣️ No change nothing VG we all still love you very much for still giving us this very good time with you 😮😮❤❤😊
Great chat. Can't wait for part 2.
I miss Turnkey. Loved popping in there after a meeting down in London and the vintage synth museum downstairs.
I'm surprised Mr Wilder hasn't produced a Gary Numan album or a done a remix of a song.
Not a fan of The Beatles but I thought Get Back, all 10 hours of it, was a great study of songwriting.
Thanks Vaughn nice chat-taster,he’s a nice understated insightful guy.Roll on part 2-start the tape.
@@andrewsly3183 cheers brother!! See you in part 2!! VG :-)
The Wilder years were their greatest years. They will never get that back. Alan was the architect that built the soundtrack of my life and his contribution cannot be understated. Even with two session artists doing whatever they do, they have never come close to replicating the soundscapes that Alan created. He is missed on every album and tour. That Alan Wilder sound is missing and nobody else can replicate it. Not then, not ever.
Here here!💯agreed
Agreed.
So go to listen Recoil.
Alan was great but DM has thrived with him and without him.
@@carloenriqueibanezperez7067 he can’t listen to recoil as no one does lol it’s awful It’s missing Martin gore and flood to tell him what buttons to press
I can see in Steve’s body language how much respect and admiration he has for Alan Wilder. What a fantastic show. Thank you so much again Vaughn for bringing this to us!
You are very welcome !! VG
Maybe one day you can invite Alan the Maestro!!!
DM was never the same without Alan. He is still missed.
Probably Alan missed DM more than he can admit too
@@israelgarcia7577 Yea, that they all need each other to make the true DM sound IMO. But I do agree with you, Alan probably misses them more. Martin and David are still benefitting a lot more from Alan's work, than Alan is. I think some mountains of ego and pride would have to be crossed in order for a DM reunion. Sadly, I'm not holding my breath.
@@paxsincera836 yes. Quite a sad story specially for Alan but fortunately those DM albums with him will stay in the real world like some king of magical materia apparently unreal
@@israelgarcia7577 I highly doubt that. When he was still a member, Alan said in an interview that he didn't see himself being a rockstar past 40 and wanted to settle down at that age.
@@paxsincera836I doubt Alan misses the exploitation. One thing many people are not considering is that he was simply treated differently, not like part of the band, and oftentimes they treated him very unprofessionally to say the least. He had two options: to be treated thusly or leave. No third option was given. So I don't think he "misses" it, as some people presume. You don't miss being treated badly and being exploited unless you have some psychological hung ups (which the majority people do have indeed, and perhaps that's why they project that on Alan).
Bravo! For what it's worth, I'd pay to see a similar sit-down with Alan himself. Take my money!
Or a musical Collaboration! Call it Boy George 🤪🤣!
I feel the same way. 😀💯👍🏼
Alan, the Great.
So many comments lamenting Alan leaving. It was nearly 30 years ago... But then I had a scroll through the six albums released since his departure, and I was shocked to see that barely 15 tracks make it to a 'decent' líst in my humble opinion. Perhaps it can be the time of your life when you hear things, but albums like Black Celebration, Music for, Violator, and Songs of,.... even today, 90% or more of the tracks hold up and many still sound fresh. The production sound on all the albums since his departure are flat, lacking in atmosphere. The ability to sweep you off your feet in an epic soundscape, mixing Gore's lyrics with Gahan's vocals and new melodies and sounds on every album... simply evaporated. I've never really sat back much and thought about it... but it feels like most if not all the post Songs of Faith albums have been like a set of Gore demos that someone of far lesser creativity than Wilder has tried to stamp some originality on... and failed. The last 3 albums in particular have been pretty dire. Too much crooning Dave and no real leaps sound-wise. Perhaps it is a bit much to expect the changes we saw in the late 80s and early 90s, not only due to huge technological leaps but also the age and experience of the band members. I mean, how could anyone expect a Gore track from his 50s living a comfy life in the eternal sunshine of Santa Barbara to be anything like something he could produce as a 20 something living in 1980s Berlin? And when you listen to Alan's Recoil stuff, it also shows the other half of the equation. Amazing technological, production and sound originality, but otherwise, not really adding up to tracks that come anywhere near to 90s Depeche. It really is an amazing if somewhat sad example, of when something is worth far more than the sum of its parts. No wonder fans endlessly wonder what the last few albums would sound like if Alan had been there, sweating blood in the studio to create the masterpieces of the past. I guess we'll never know.
Well said
Alan made his version of In Chains, so you can actually compare. Imo Alan's surpassed the album version. I agree, DM is a quartet, full stop. Left as a trio, they became a different band. Not only music, but stage performance was lacking Alan's presence and his vocals. I visited their concert on Ultra tour, that was great, but completely different show. I wasn't hooked with their tunes made after that.
I actually prefer Ultra to SOFAD! But otherwise I agree there's been something missing for 20 years.
@Jared B Absolutely. Awesome comment. will keep mine short, though, ha ha, but I could not agree more with what you wrote.
WOW this is the holy grail!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He and Alan mixed all the devotional live recordings and set up the keyboard programming for the Devotional tour.....can't wait!!!!
Cheers Dave!! VG :-)
@@VaughnGeorge did you manage to ask about the Devotional live recordings?
@@daveaskew2105 Yes Sir!! VG :-)
Alan must be a delight! Not only do us fans miss his musical contributions, but Engineers as well. I currently do not play instruments, produce, etc. but as a singer and lyricists I’d simply love to meet Alan to have a normal chat (and pick his brain a little). I truly do hope he knows how much he is appreciated for his contributions thru both DM and Recoil.
Hi there!! Thanks of your comment!! I am sure he is aware of the mark he left on the industry and the place he has in our hearts !! VG :-)
@@VaughnGeorge You are absolutely welcome! Not sure why UA-cam is only now notifying me of your reply, but I thank you kindly 😊
Happy 64th Wilder! 💖 Hoping this finds you truly happy & in good health. After all, you deserve the very best. Make a wish. 🌠
awesome interview Vaughn. As much as Alan Wilder is my hero, It's only right to also recognize the efforts of people like Steve Lyon from back in the day.
Yes to a Trent and Alan collaboration, and I want a Gary Numan and Alan collaboration, oh and more Recoil too. One can dream! Thanks for the video Vaughn :)
I miss Alan Wilder so much it breaks my heart, im not happy with DM not asking AW back, its ego getting in the way....well done VG for this video.
Why should DM ask Alan to come back? He was the one that jumped ship. He should be begging DM to take him back
@@bruinman1012 yes, but do you know why? He worked his ass off and not only during albums recording. Others are LAZY and poor Fletch (RIP) never contributed musically. He always spent hours in studio while others were having a great time and he was fine with it until escalating somewhere between Violation tour and SOFAD recording. He knew it'll be his last tour and that's why he put special effort in songs like Walking in my shoes. Dave was his friend but he was so on drugs, they didn't even communicate. Martin was drunk all the time and stopped giving Alan credits for his work. Fletch was battling depression (bipolar), everything was falling apart and he was treated like not equal. Like hired worker. In short.
He said he'd leave at some point anyways and Recoil is his, well recoil. Never wanted to conquer the world with it but have creative freedom. The entire in-band situation during Devotional tour and a bit prior to it made his decision come faster than he initially planned stating "I never want to go through this again". And Alan is actually a HARD working artist, the only one of the gang that DIDN'T have ego problem. You should meet Dave/Martin today. When I was on Epica show, they had beers with fans. Those 2 didn't allow to be touched (prior to covid), we had 180sec (3 mins), had to give all of our things away including phones etc.
Alan was also thinking about getting back again around 2010 when he played piano for Somebody live, or was at least open to the idea. I have good sources and if they lied to me, I'm lying now to you (so take THIS section with some salt!), he talked about re-joining being happy about it. It was 2-1. Dave wanted Alan back, Fletch was a bit mean because Alan apparently said some hurtful stuff when he left (or to be precise, didn't say anything until it was "I'm leaving"). And Martin's ego didn't want to admit they need him :) There you go. Alan did "In chains" remix on his Mac relaxing on vacation in France and it sounded amazing.
Alan was and is THE master of sound, human Emulator II and their music will never be made to it's full potential.
You won't see him, he did that auction to sell everything DM related 12y ago and Martin was even more angry about it afterwards to the point he doesn't want to use ANY of Alan's samples live anymore. Alan sold even Martin's guitar that he still had since those boys were really lazy and he handled most of the things. He's retired from music and those who had a privilege to be around him know how important he is for music world and DM world fame.
I’ve missed the Alan Wilder Alerts, so it was fun to see one again.
Yes, Reznor & Wilder!
Thank you to generous backers and sponsors. :-)
Also, thanks for mentioning Peter Gabriel has something new.
Man! When you think it can’t get any better, it keeps going! This album review is shaping to be a great one!
Cheers Carlos!! VG :-)
I could never recover of Alans departure because his sound is like a finger print on their music since Alan’s gone I left too, I still love their music but definitely the most of Depeche Mode best times was in the wilders years at least to me the three of them were magical epic on music. Thank you for the interview , it was pretty interesting
Current DM is still Demo Mode .Even Ghost Again after few times sounds boring already........but I can still listing the old DM many , many times and this music still sounds amazing.Alan was the secret ingredient
Always on the hunt for Alan BTS stories. What a genius - so fortunate you are to have worked with him, Steve! Great interview Vaughn. Thanks!
One of the greatest examples of Alan's genius was his version of "To Have and To Hold" which made the final track listing cut on MFTM vs. Gore's Spanish Taster demo version. Not even close how much better Alan's version was.
I thoroughly enjoyed that interview.Looking forward to part two.
Thank you Owen!! VG :-)
Great interview with Mr. Lyon! I was first introduced to his work on Wild Mood Swings with the Cure, which is actually one of the Cure albums I’m most fond of for personal reasons. He did great work on that album.
Thank you
Thank you
Thank you😍🤗
Maybe someday we can see an interview with alan😊 still dreaming...
Hello, Vaughn. Have you ever tried to interview Alan Wilder? Cheers from Brazil.
Oh Wow! What a treat! A million thank yous!!!
You are very welcome!! VG :-)
I'd been thinking that Steve Lyon would be a good interviewee and then this popped up; it's great to hear from him (looking forward to part 2). I knew about his work with Alan but can't help but find it poignant, especially when he says, "I wonder what Charlie thinks of it." "Charlie": Dave used to call him that too...😔
Bravo Vaughn! Great interview!
Awwww VG, you've done it again, loved this interview - its less interview, more friends chatting, its fantastic. Thankyou lovely. Hugs n happiness 🥰🥰🥰
Steve mixed an album of mine back in 2010 (small, self funded band project), he was a great guy to work with
That's interesting, I have Steve in my FB contacts, and I hesitated to ask if he would be up to mix my 2020 album, but didn't dare in fear he would be too expensive, and would find my music not professional enough. Maybe I'll find the nerve to ask him next time.
@@alejandromorales8715 Steve's very approachable and friendly. I used to go down to his studio and mix the album while drinking many cups of tea ha. He has some great stories also (as you'd expect)
@@alejandromorales8715 would love to hear your stuff, where can one go?
WHere can we hear this music?
@@knottydogg Just uploaded the album, probably my favourite track (and the most electronic sounding) is New Fears Resolution at 11:50 ua-cam.com/video/qYZJ3m9_Idk/v-deo.html
Trent and Alan together would be the best thing ever existed. Or both explode, because they are both control freaks and perfectionists. :D
During the NIN Fragility tour, before the show, Trent played some tracks from Recoil's "Liquid" album before the show.
For the Amek 9098 compressor limiter in the rack, you don't see too many of them anymore.Takes me right back since I was the original product engineer for the 9098 rack range back in the nineties, got to work with Rupert Neve and lots of other talented engineers. You see plenty of 9098 EQ's around, but very rarely the compressor limiter. Great video Vaughn, love the channel.- cheers, Raymond Budd
Thank you Vaughn and special thanks to the sponsors for letting me watch this. I'm very excited. Steve Lyon is amazing, together with Flood they brought out the best of Depeche Mode. It was Alan and Svete who created the best versions of the songs for the best concert in history Devotional. It was their absolute peak. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Steve for this masterpiece.
You are very welcome my friend!! VG :-)
the first song by DM was Somebody, I heard it for the first time around 1986. Then I became interested in their music. I quickly identified with the sound, but the whole thing touched me.
Alan's work put an undeniable amount of effort into it and was so unique from album to album.
I was very sorry when he quietly left the band. I have a constant feeling of missing! The new albums are not bad, nor will they be as big hits as the songs created during his time. Martin was a genius but Alan was the implementer. Maybe we should have put up with it a little longer, but we can't know that.
with each new album I hope to call him. Martin or Dave, but no... and time passes ..
I am sincerely sorry that not even now.
An Italian female sound engineer and a possibly English guy are working on the new album. I do not know..
I'm sad but I have to admit that we won't see Alan working with them again. This is...
37:07 the right moment all of you came here for.
Thank you 👍🏻
Thanks, man. God bless you.
Great interview! One step closer to Alan. I’m sure you’ll meet him one day
I hope so too! VG
Thanks for the interview again, Vaughn. The geek talk is fascinating.
Someone should tell Mr. Lyon something about midi controllers to put his two hands an a vst-compressor's knobs. 😄
Niiiice interview, Vaughn. I laughed when you did the 🚨when Alan Wilder’s name was mentioned. 😂😂😂 I guess it is safe to say that many on this forum want to know what Alan is up to now. I’ve just re-discovered Depeche Mode again since I’m going to their concert this year. And got sucked in to Where is Alan?
Well, whatever he is doing, I have a feeling he has visited your channel. Maybe privately surprised and amused with the level of interest and love from his fans. 👍🏼💯
Keep up the good work, Vaughn!!!
Cheers from the USA.
Thank you and yes , he has visited my channel. VG :-)
@@VaughnGeorgeDid he contact with you? Is there any chance he will give you an interview? )))
@@Surmelina Hello brother ! Alan has kept a low profile so it is going to be hard. But never say never ! VG :-)
@@VaughnGeorge we kinda become orphaned without him, we love him))
@@Surmelina well said my friend !! VG :-)
The main reason Alan and Trent haven't made anything together is that It would kill most of their fanbase by induced heart attacks
Not kidding, when I read the title "Engineer Steve Lyon Talks About Alan Wilder, Production, Gear And More", for a moment I thought "Gear" and "Production'" were bands, wondering how I have never heard of them :D
Wonderful interview, Vaughn, thanks for posting! Really looking forward to the SOFAD segment as well. Quickly here, as a recent-subscriber to your WatchVG channel, I have enjoyed the SOFAD album review series immensely, so thanks for that!
You are very welcome my friend !! VG :-)
Absolutely beautiful. Thank you.
You're very welcome !! VG :-)
Great interview V ❤
Cheers brother T!! VG :-)
Cracking first part Vaughan, really enjoyed this great interview 👍
Glad you enjoyed it! VG :-)
Steve produced the best DM album DM never made ! Host by gothic metal band Paradise Lost . It's a must listen to for all DM fans !
100% agree! Host is one of my favorite records. A masterpiece!
Thanks for the suggestion!
I enjoyed this interview. My first impression from Steve’s facial expressions during introduction was that he’d be a bit uninterested or something 😄
He comes across a bit introverted and reserved but actually seems a really nice fella.
I’m warming up to the ADHD Val Kilmer too, now 😉
What a great interview, so interesting!!!!!
Glad you enjoyed it! VG :-)
Vaughn knows what his dedicated subscribers want from him))))
He does indeed!! Glad you enjoyed it!! VG :-)
wow!!! thanks for this sir! - its really a breeze to hear an experience reactions and comments from producers...which are often overlooked ...hopefully FLOOD will be next.
Nice one Steve. 21:00 ish - agreed , crumbs ! check out the C24 tho. Nob bad. Hair still looks good. Git. x
This looks like it's going to be a Blinder Vaughan 😁👍
🎉excellent interview as always Vaughn !!!
Glad you enjoyed it! VG :-)
37:03 lolololl. Nice interview.
Can't wait for this one.
Great conversation to listen to. Thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it! VG
Gore still writes great songs. I love Recoil but the sound worlds Wilder came up with expand upon some pretty basic songs. That said, I love Subhuman. The collaboration with a blues rock band on standards and originals for that album resulted in some dynamic rocking tracks with such amazing sound design. Probably my favorite post Wilder leaving DM work including all the post Wilder DM albums. The 5.1 mix for Subhuman is amazing as well and would be killer in Dolby Atmos. Hint hint.
Alan, please come back home to DM, you're missed as much as Andy... God rest his soul.
Imagine this channel doing another video pretty much about Alan….
Surprising isn't it??!! VG
Thought you sacked off UA-cam because you wasn’t making millions !
@@aWolfForTheMasses I don't know what you've been smoking bro or where you're getting your info from. VG 😛
Great interview George!
Good work VG
Cheers Tom!! VG :-)
Great interview!!! Thank you!!!
Glad you enjoyed it! VG :-)
Alan took DM out of the "pop" genre and created a musical masterpiece with Black Celebration, MFTM, Violator & SOFAD along with the live set ups. Sadly you'll never get Alan or that sound back. For me... Depeche are an electronic/keyboard band and I just can't get used to them playing instruments live!! I have to agree although Ultra was an excellent album the rest suffered to a point I'd be picking out tracks to listen to rather than listening to the whole album and when you listen to Spirit then see it live it's a world apart from doing the same with say Violator. SOFAD was DM attempting to be a rock band and making a bloody good job of it even to a point of making the headlines for all the wrong reasons! I am excited by the new album, Ghosts Again as the first single sounds better than the first single off the last album and the live Munich gig does sound stronger than Live Spirits but DM without Alan and now Andy are just not the same... still a great band though but just my thoughts...
Just to add to the above and reference to this video, it's very interesting that you get to interview the very people that worked with DM which builds up a bigger picture of what actually happened during the SOFAD period, I watched the videos on the Collectors Edition DVD's from SOFAD & Ultra but I somehow feel that you are not getting what "really happened" and there are things that the public weren't privvy to.
completely agree with the intruments thing. The drumming by Eigner is dire - really ruins tracks like Never Let Me Down Again. Even Gore's guitar is often grating, as it is often such a small part of most tracks. I can't wait to see them live in France one last time this year, but part of their performance has become a bit of a tragic singalong rock show. It would be great to see them do a retro tour, complete with a bank of keyboards, electronic drum effects, and all the old industrial electronic sound brought back front and centre... at least for the older tracks where this was the way they were meant to be played. Some of their older tracks live now sound like some sort of lounge covers band doing them.
@@jaredb9281 Retro singles tour keyboards only 😀 sadly can't get Fletch back but Dave, Martin, Alan and Vince now that would be interesting 👍
great interview, thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it! VG :-)
Petition for Vaughn to interview mr Alan wilder 😁
Btw what did you think about "my cosmos is mine"?
Thanks for giving us such interesting content
NExt interview with Charlie then.
Thank you very much talking Engineer Alan Wilder on UA-cam 📺🎧🎹 Too 🆒🆒🔝🔝👍😍🥰🥳🥳 You are always incredibly amazing really beautiful with you and always the best 😺😏😊🙀❤️♥️💖Amazing, impressive, brilliant 😱🫣🤗😘 Always Top 🔝 Of the Top with VG everytime 💯🎉👌🤜🙏🏻🤛💪😻 Always The best for us 💗❣️ No change nothing VG we all still love you very much for still giving us this very good time with you 😮😮❤❤😊
R u drunk?
Awesome 😎
Wouldn't it be badass if Alan actually produced MM.
I was living in New York and one day I saw the Exiter CD and I decided to buy it, when I got home I realized I already had it. That is how meaningless that album was. I never again got another DM album. The last thing I bought was In Cain Alan Wilder remix. The rest, I listen to it on UA-cam.
I may be asking a stupid question but what is that background music at the very beggining of the video. can I find it on YT somewhere? Sounds very interesting.
I was hoping for more info on the KH 150's 30 day give away.
Hi, Great moment thx! What is the sound used at the very beginning, plz? Where to find?
The intro music was composed by me using some original DM samples . I'm glad you like it . It is not available anywhere because I have not released it . VG
A question to Vaughn and to all the fans here. I'm a huge "historic DM" fan but I never got into Recoil. What would be the Recoil's album you could recommend for a 1st listener?
Bloodline - sounds like the bridge between Violator and Songs Of Faith And Devotion. Some great guest vocalists also (Toni Halliday from Curve, Doug Nitzer Ebb, Moby. Outstanding album.
I'd start by listening to lots of different music. Recoil's curse is that he already had a fanbase... the hardcore DM fans, who are not, in principle, the ideal target audience for it.
Recoil has more in common with stuff like The Haxan Cloak, The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble (a kind of jazz that even Vaughn's limited perception of the genre may enjoy) or even Sigur Rós than with DM.
It's true that Bloodline is the closest to old school DM, but because of that reason, among others, I find it to be one of the weakest from his catalogue, contrary to what most other fans believe.
Bloodline is the most 'commericial' sounding so probably that one. My favourite is Unsound Methods which has a kind of trip hop sound.
Hydrology is the Recoil album I love listening to. It's just 3 perfect instrumental tracks - Grain (7m 44 secs), Stone (14:32) and The Sermon (15:33) - but then you remember it's Alan Wilder and his magic fingers sending you in to synth heaven.
I wonder if the thing with hardware and "manipulating things in a random way" as said in the video, perhaps makes you listen in a different way, meaning more relaxed and laid back so therefore your mind is more open to take in and register nuances more maybe?
Hey Vaughn, Which are the headphones that Steve mentioned he’s been using for mixing ?
Why very often there are those fancy looking rugs in the recording studios or on the stage and the drum sets are usually placed on them?
Would love you to do a show on Eric Radcliffe who did alot with Depeche,Yazoo, as well as other Mute artists.
Amazing
What was the name of the bands Steve mentioned about 39 minutes in, I couldn't quite make out what he said ?
Guys, what's this band he mentions around 39 minute?
DM with Alan = masterpiece
DM no Alan= disappointing
Hey VG 👋👋📺🎹❤❤🔝🆒🥳🥳
Crikey, he was tasty back in the day.
Bring back Vince!!!
Thank you, great talk
Glad you enjoyed it! VG :-)
Who is that sitting on the couch, to Steve's right?
Alan Wilder.
@@VaughnGeorge 🤣🤣🤣
@@VaughnGeorge really? Is it a joke or are you serious?
whats the track in the beginning ?
Here is the track: ua-cam.com/video/VJmNayLjXko/v-deo.html
I never hear or read comment about how Dave andd Mart would feel themselves if Alan will make music with them, and this music will be muche better than all 1997-2022 discography. And everybody will say "now this is real depeche mode".
So I think they even don't think about reunion
It's like after 93 Alan continues to make music, but DM stopped makes music, and start doin some Depeche Mode stuff for fans
🖤🌹
Surprisingly roomy acoustics for a control room/studio. Sorry but it is Geek talk after all :)
🥰👍
I wish this was miked a bit closer, hard to listen to roomy talking for this long
I did not like them, they were very arrogant and offensive, Depeche Mode - (if anyone says they dislike them, their fans troll them, like they did me). I had a five minute interest in them in 2016 and watched a bit of the 101 documentary, and even I could see from that that they had something I can't even describe, with Alan Wilder. He did seem to give a special edge to their music, and Alan is the only one I like out of them. They should have got down on their hands and knees and begged him to come back, after those two sorted out their issues. They lost a valuable member of the band and the most talented. Please come back to music Alan (even if you don't rejoin Depeche Mode); but it seems unlikely he will. A sad loss to the music industry.
I invite you to listen to mine cover GHOSTS AGAIN
2:32 sorry
Если бы допустить, что Алан вернулся в DM, это был бы лучший бизнес проект. DM заработал бы невероятные деньги. Стоило бы подумать.
Stop whining, please. Check the old Bong magazines. Alan said a dozen time, at least, he could not see him aged 40 in Depeche. Over and over.
I heard that after Alan left, the other 3 members were abducted and taken to Planet Jupiter 8 as a form of banishment. The 3 substitute elements that remained are bad copies of the exiled members. That's why DM has become so disgusting.
Stooooopid🤦🏽♂️
Clueless. Was Alan taking too because recoil was even worse
Why you and others move on from the discussion about Alan Wilder? What? over 25 years now? I've never seen people so stuck in time.
So we should only speak about things that happened in the last 2 years?? VG
alan has done zero in the last 30 years so ... what did he prove by that ?
He wasn't trying to prove anything. He just wanted to do his own thing, with less collaboration and no touring:he wanted to be more at home with his family. He was never trying to compete with Depeche Mode. He also said that he thought that Depeche Mode continuing depended on Dave getting through his addiction and not because he(Alan) left the band.