Martin Gore & Dave Huxtable on languages, music + friendship

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Yesterday, our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange shared a video forwarded to him by John-Erik Bye Johansen. The video featured a conversation between two childhood friends now living in California – Dave Huxtable and Martin Gore, a member of Depeche Mode.

Dave Huxtable, passionate about languages, pronunciation, and accents, invited Martin Gore to join him for a video on his YouTube channel. The channel itself covers linguistic topics in a fun and engaging way. “I’ve known Martin Gore since before he started Depeche Mode,” Dave says. “We both loved learning languages in school and bonded on exchange trips to northern Germany. In this video, we talk about those memories and how living in California has changed our English.”

The video shows how Dave and Martin connected at school through their shared love of foreign languages, especially during German exchange trips. They also recall the challenges of learning languages in a school environment where authentic pronunciation often drew teasing.

In the video Martin also shares stories from his time living in Germany in the mid-80s. He explains how living there improved his German, especially through daily conversations with a builder named Werner, who didn’t speak a word of English. The two also discuss differences between British and American English, including why Martin prefers singing with an English accent.

The interview is of course more a friendly chat then an actual interview, filled with memories from milking cows to funny language mishaps and observations about language quirks in the U.S. and U.K.

Watch the full interview below.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff Chief editor

Bernard Van Isacker is the Chief Editor of Side-Line Magazine. With a career spanning more than two decades, Van Isacker has established himself as a respected figure in the darkwave scene.

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