Alan Charles Wilder (born 1 June 1959) is an English musician, composer, arranger, record producer and member of the electronic band Depeche Mode from 1982 to 1995. After his departure from the band, the musical project Recoil became his primary musical enterprise, which initially started as a side project to Depeche Mode in 1986. Wilder has also provided production and remixing services to the bands Nitzer Ebb and Curve. In 2020, Wilder was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Depeche Mode.
He is a classically trained musician.[1]
Alan Charles Wilder was born the youngest of three boys to a middle class family and was raised in Acton, West London. He began piano at the age of eight, through the encouragement of his parents. Later on, he learned the flute at St Clement Danes grammar school and became a leading musician in his school bands. After school, Wilder worked as a studio assistant at DJM Studios. This led to him working for bands such as the Dragons and Dafne & the Tenderspots (as Alan Normal). Others include Real to Real (featuring Adrian Chilvers on bass, Pete Fresh on guitar, Wolfgang Marlander on drums and Paul St. James on vocals), the Hitmen, and the Korgis, appearing on the UK No. 13 single "If I Had You" (1979).
Following the departure of Vince Clarke, Depeche Mode placed an advertisement in the music magazine Melody Maker:『Keyboard player needed for established band – no timewasters.』Even though the ad was looking for someone under 21 (Wilder was 22), he lied about his age to get the job. He joined Depeche Mode in January 1982, initially as a tour keyboardist and soon thereafter as a full member of the recording band. His first studio contribution was on the single "Get the Balance Right!" in December 1982, released the following month.
Wilder wrote a handful of songs for Depeche Mode, including "Two Minute Warning" and "The Landscape Is Changing" (and a B-side, "Fools") from the album Construction Time Again,[2] "If You Want" (and a B-side, "In Your Memory") from the album Some Great Reward,[3] and co-wrote "Black Day" (and a B-side, "Christmas Island") around the release of the album Black Celebration.
However, Wilder's more notable contributions to Depeche Mode were as a musician, arranger, and producer.
In addition to playing synthesizer throughout his time with Depeche Mode, Wilder also played piano on the band's signature ballad "Somebody". In the documentary film 101, Wilder demonstrates how different synthesizer parts of a song are split and arranged across a sampling keyboard for playing them live during the concert, just one small example of Wilder's ongoing contributions to Depeche Mode during his time as a member of the group. For the recording of the album Songs of Faith and Devotion and its corresponding Devotional Tour, Wilder also played live drums.
For "Enjoy the Silence" from the album Violator, Wilder took Martin Gore's melancholy ballad-esque demo and re-envisioned the song as a percolating, melodic dance track.[4] The resulting single went on to become one of the most commercially successful songs in Depeche Mode's history.
In June 1995, Wilder announced his departure from Depeche Mode "due to increasing dissatisfaction with the internal relations and working practices of the group".[5] After his split from the band, Wilder was approached by Robert Smith with an offer to join the Cure.[6]
According to Wilder himself, the possibility was offered on behalf of the Cure by Daryl Bamonte (tour manager for both Depeche Mode and the Cure, and brother of the Cure member Perry Bamonte), and Wilder declined as joining another band was the last thing on his mind.[7]
Wilder briefly reunited with Depeche Mode during the Teenage Cancer Trust concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 17 February 2010. During the encore, Wilder played piano on "Somebody".[5]
Recoil began in 1986 as a two-track experimental EP. Simply entitled 1 + 2, the collection of primitive demos caught the attention of Mute Records label boss Daniel Miller and was inconspicuously released as a mini-album on 12" vinyl. An album, Hydrology, soon followed in 1988, and both were eventually re-issued by Mute on CD as Hydrology plus 1 + 2.
Douglas McCarthy of Nitzer Ebb sang on Recoil's next album, Bloodline, released in 1992. Wilder recruited guest vocalists for the first time, with further contributions from Toni Halliday and Moby. Bloodline also yielded the first two Recoil singles, a cover of Alex Harvey's song "Faith Healer" as well as "Electro Blues for Bukka White".
In September 1996, after leaving Depeche Mode, Wilder began work in his own studio, The Thin Line. He pieced together what would become Recoil's next album, Unsound Methods (1997). The album was followed by Liquid (2000), SubHuman (2007), and Selected (2010).
Recoil returned in 2012 to release the concert film A Strange Hour in BudapestonBlu-ray.
In August 1991, after marrying his first wife, Jeri Young, Wilder bought a 30-acre, eight-bedroom country estate in Itchingfield, West Sussex, England, where he later built his personal recording studio, The Thin Line. In 2024, Wilder listed the property (minus the studio) for sale, citing the desire to downsize.[8]
In May 2024, Wilder purchased a vacation property in Vestfold, Norway.[9]
Wilder appeared on all of Depeche Mode's releases from "Get the Balance Right!" (31 January 1983) up to "In Your Room" (10 January 1994), later taking part in reissues and compilations containing material from his time in the band.
Wilder organized with Omega Auctions an auction selling a lot of Depeche Mode collectible items on 3 September 2011 in Manchester. A DVD called Collected + was released as a promotion for these events.
1991 – Mixed the Nitzer Ebb song "Come Alive" from the As Is EP.
1991 – Along with Flood, produced the Nitzer Ebb album Ebbhead.
2001 – Provided strings and ambient sounds for the song "Polaroid" from the Curve album Gift.
2003 – Provided strings and sounds for The Digital Intervention track "Coma Idyllique" from the album Capture. 'PK', a longtime Recoil collaborator is one of its members, along with Olivia Louvel.
2012 – Covered two tracks: "Inheritance" – Recoil (ft. Linton Kwesi Johnson & Paul Marshall) and "Dum Dum Girl" – Recoil (ft. Shara Worden) for a Talk Talk tribute album (double) CD/book set called Spirit of Talk Talk. He was also executive music producer for the album.
2016 – Provided music and arrangements for "Calling the Clock" by Dede (featuring Alan Wilder).[10]
