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Our Artist of the Month series goes on in June with Mr. Alan Wilder – coincidentally, Mr. Wilder celebrates his 52^nd birthday on June 1^st. While nobody can dispute the artistic quality of Alan Wilder’s 30-year activity, it is also clear from the word go that Alan Wilder, in his capacity of a classically trained musician, who actively works in both production and remixing, has a potential that amazes and will amaze. Alan Wilder is not only a musician, but also a visionary, with very clear and pertinent ideas about what the music business is, or rather, should be about.

A relevant and dominant piece in the Depeche Mode puzzle, Alan Wilder helped shaping up the Depeche Mode sound since 1982: and there are some who claim his intrepid sound is still resilient in the band’s current output, even if Alan Wilder declined before 2010 being in cahoots with the band with which he parted ways in 1995, mentioning lack of respect and acknowledgement as main reasons for his departure. Depeche Mode was looking in 1982 for ‘no timewasters’, and indeed, Alan Wilder proved to be up to the task – he did not waste anyone’s time and moved on when he felt his creativity was stifled by the band’s direction.

Alan Wilder’s time with Depeche Mode meant, retrospectively, two different things. Staying true to themselves, and standing the test of time, Wilder collaborated on durable titles from the band’s discography, most notably as a musician, arranger and producer. On the other hand, if we are to take Wilder’s own standpoint to its truest, it also meant the uneven, but strong enough concoction of his one-man Recoil. By 1986, when Recoil caught the attention of Mute Records boss Daniel Miller, Alan was still living the Depeche Mode dream, but found ways of artistic expression that he did not know how to fit into the band profile. Further on, and up to 1995, it became obvious to anyone following the phenomenon that Recoil is not just another side project, but an ascending repository of Wilder’s creativity – and he let himself follow that urge. [continue reading Artist of the Month on Viva Music’s site in English] [cititi sectiunea Artistul Lunii de pe site-ul Viva Music in limba romana]