http://thequietus.com/articles/04296-al ... peche-mode
Do you still keep in touch with any of Depeche Mode?
AW: I keep in touch with Dave, mainly by email or text. I haven't had much contact with Martin or Fletch since '95 but it was good to catch up with everyone recently at our brief reunion at Royal Albert Hall.
Are you amused or bemused by the amount of speculation on the web about a potential return to DM? Do you think they need you, as many people seem to think?
AW: I read in the The Daily Star that we are in fact becoming a quartet again, so it must be true! I think Martin and Dave will always need a strong producer - someone who can really be all things to them, like Flood for example, who can make sure they don't slip into safe ways of working - any worthwhile producer should do that for their artist actually - and someone who can be very hands on with the technology as well.
Whatever happened back then, the pressure must have been unbearable. Did the Gore / Gahan vision just diverge hopelessly from yours, or was your decision to leave entirely born of creative frustration? Or is that the same question?
AW: It is basically the same question, yes. I would describe it more as a lack of vision. I always felt everything was too safe - we could have gone so much further but lethargy was a big enemy. Perversely, we did create some of our very best work under the most tense and trying of circumstances, but it just wasn't much fun - like pulling teeth trying to get anything agreed upon with any enthusiasm. I basically decided during the making of Songs of Faith & Devotion that I didn't want to make records that way any more.