title:  Neo-Nazi Leader Calls Depeche Mode ‘Official Band Of Alt-Right’; The Band Has Other Ideas
text: Richard Spencer, the Trump supporting leader of the white nationalist alt-right movement is a fan of the 80s and 90s alternative rock band Depeche Mode, so much so that he said that the band, who sings about racial equality, is the  official band of the alt-right.  Um, no, they aren t and Depeche Mode was quick to let them know.When asked if he likes rock music, according to New York magazine s Olivia Nuzzi, Spencer joked,  Depeche Mode is the official band of the Alt-Right.  Though the  lifelong Depeche Mode fan  later told Rolling Stone,  My tongue was firmly in cheek,  the 38-year-old speaker-provocateur expounded on his love of the group, prompting a quick rebuttal from the left-leaning band. They aren t a typical rock band, in terms of lyrics and much else,  he tells Rolling Stone.  Depeche Mode is a band of existential angst, pain, sadism, horror, darkness and much more. It s not bubblegum pop, with frontmen who sing about  luuuuv  and sugarplum faries [sic]. There was a certain Communist aesthetic to an early album like [1982 s] A Broken Frame as well as titles like Music for the Masses but then there s a bit of a fascist element, too. It s obviously ambiguous, and as with all art, everything is multi-layer, contradictory and ambivalent.Source: Rolling StoneThis is all pretty funny since Dave Gahan, Depeche Mode s frontman, called Trump a  nazi  during the presidential campaign, and sorry Richard, it wasn t a compliment, although perhaps that s how Spencer took it:When asked about Trump, Gahan told Italian journalist Matteo Cruccu of Corriere della Sera in a video interview:  The things that he s saying sound very similar to what someone was saying in 1935. That didn t work out very well! The things that he s saying are cruel and heartless and promoting fear. Source: Heat StreetNot surprisingly, Depeche Mode responded to Spencer with a firm and unambiguous  Depeche Mode has no ties to Richard Spencer of the Alt-Right and does not support the Alt-Right movement.This is a statement the band made during the 80s about race relations. Enjoy:Featured image via Wikimedia