Came as little surprise that Depeche Mode’s master mind Martin Gore would join a long line of artists receiving the Moog innovation award at Moogfest.
Yesterday, it was announced that Martin L. Gore, a founding member of legendary band Depeche Mode will be the 2019 recipient of the Moog Innovation Award at this year’s Moogfest. Throughout the band’s history, Martin has utilized Moog synthesizers to create some of the most popular songs of the 80s and 90s and has inspired artists like Trent Reznor, Johnny Cash, and countless more.
The Moog Innovation Award recognizes artists who have contributed to the exploration of sound in popular music and beyond for the past 50 years, exemplifying the bold, innovative spirit of Bob Moog.
Past recipients include visionary artists Gary Numan, Devo, Suzanne Ciani, Brian Eno, Bernie Worrell, synth designers like Herb Deutsch, last year’s recipient Bernie Krause, and Thomas Dolby, who will also be performing and presenting this year.
BTW you can find a brand new interview with Suzanne Ciani right here:
https://stereoklang.se/quadraphonic-waves-interview-with-suzanne-ciani/
Moogfest has announced its initial 2019 lineup. Included in the first wave of artists are William Basinski, GAS, Tim Hecker, A Place To Bury Strangers, U.S. Girls, the Field, Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore, Matthew Dear, Suzi Analogue, and more. The experimental music festival will take place from 4/25-28 in Durham, NC.
More performing artists will be announced down the line. Tickets are on sale now and more information can be found here.
Speaking of Depeche Mode a large crowd was gathered in front of New York’s famous Metropolitan Museum of Art for last week’s opening of the Play It Loud Instruments of Rock & Roll.
The exhibit, co-curated by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, offers an amazing collection of instruments that helped shape the history of music. Among the collection was a unique piece of equipment (three ARP 2600 model synthesizers mounted together as a single instrument) used by Depeche Mode on the albums, “Songs of Faith and Devotion” (1993), “Ultra” (1997), and “Exciter” (2001).
Richard from the NY based Industrial N’ Beats act, Neikka RPM, was a guest at the event and reported to us that the exhibit was literally mind-blowing: “I just stared at the Depeche Mode synth rig, I examined it from top to bottom while the very songs it was used to create ran through my mind. I know I’m being over dramatic, but damn! It was like being completely awestruck by a religious relic!”