The band's latest CD, "Ultra," is in many ways a triumph for Depeche Mode, which has emerged from a dismal few years that nearly destroyed it. Not only did the band's keyboardist and drummer, Alan Wilder, quit two years ago health problems plagued the remaining members following their exhaustive last tour, culminating with the attempted suicide and, later, drug overdose of the lead singer, Dave Gahan. Several court appearances and rehabilitation have put Gahan, 35, back on track, and he says he's looking forward to a more subdued family life. Prior to the NBC taping Thursday, Gahan, songwriter Martin Gore and keyboardist Andrew Fletcher sat down individually with the Press-Telegram for exclusive interviews. The following are excerpts from the discussions.

ANDREW FLETCHER, KEYBOARDIST

You're performing "Ifs No Good" on The 'Tonight Show." Would you say it ranks as one of your favorite songs from the new album?

AF: I think the album's unusual, for me, anyway. I like all the songs so much it’s very hard to have favorites. They've all got different atmospheres. "It’s No Good" was always going to be a single. You knew it from the moment you heard the demo. Some of the other songs at the demo stage you don't know if they're going to be a single or not. But tracks like "Enjoy the Silence" (off 1990's "Violator"") and "It's No Good" were always going to be singles from the first time we heard it. I remember Martin ringing me up with "It’s No Good" saying, "I think I’ve written a No.1," and it has been No. 1 in many countries. It’s funny, sometime you do tracks and you think it’s a surefire smash and then it’s a complete flop.

Can you give me an example of a song you thought was going to be huge and wasn't?

album (1993's "Songs of Faith and Devotion"), we thought that was going to be a big hit single and that was a massive flop. Sometimes you can tell and sometimes you can't. But we still feel it's better for us to make the decision rather than record companies because generally we're more right than them.

So it's totally up to you guys what goes out as a single?

AF: Yeah. You have to stick to you believe in. Maybe early in our careers we were unsure and unconfident, so we let people do other things, but now we're pretty confident in our decisions. We listen to everyone, though. We can't just be a dictator in everything; you have to listen to everyone and make your mind up basically.

Do you ever go back and listen to "Speak and Spell" (their first album) and think back to those days?

AF: I've got favourite songs on and "Speak and Spell," (including) the single, "Dreaming of Me." So I play that quite a bit. It has a lot of memories for me. And obviously "Just Can't Get Enough" you hear all the time anyway, so I don't actually play the album very much as a rule.

I know you reached a point in time toward the end of your last tour when you burned out. Describe what you were going through.

AF: I had bad a nervous breakdown when we were recording the album and then I went straight on tour and it was a very long tour, a very stressful tour. And it just went on and on and on, and then they decided to do another American tour and I just didn't agree with doing it and thought it was a mistake, bad for our careers, and I just needed rest, so decided not to do it.

Do you regret that decision?

Was it Martin and Dave who really wanted to do it?

AF: Alan particularly wanted to do it which makes me very suspicious. It might have been a case of milking the band because he knew he was going to leave.

He knew back then?

AF: That's what I think, yeah. I don't know if he’ll admit to that, but that's why I think now, looking back the way it was done, he saw this as the last sort of tour I think when he left the band he thought it was going to be the end of the band, but the spirit is actually greater now.

Have you talked to him since?

AF: No one has. He's very secretive, he lives in the country-side. No one sees him.

Alan was obviously intimate with you in terms of the creative process and performing. Is it difficult to have somebody who was so close to you become such a source of contention?

AF: We haven't had one conversation with him since our meeting, which now was two years ago. There are a few little things where he's been a bit weird over instruments and guitars through our tour manager. Alan was never an original member of Depeche Mode. He became, through the grace of us, a full-time member of Depeche Mode after he was employed as a musician, and he chose to leave. If it had been Martin leaving or myself or Dave leaving, it might have been more serious because we are the original spirit in the band.

So he was expendable?

MARTIN GORE, SONGWRITER

Are you nervous about tonight?

MG: A little bit. It's' probably my worst nightmare going on TV with large audiences. I love writing songs, I love being in a band, but this isn't exactly my idea of fun, playing in crowds and going on TV That’s just one of those things I have to accept. It's part of the job.

So if you could be doing anything else in L.A. today, what would you be doing?

MG: I’d be on the beach at the moment. We're staying out in Santa Monica on the beach and I'd be there.

Have you guys gone to any clubs while you've been in LA.?

MG: No, we've been mellow in the evenings, but we've done quite a lot of work. We did a photo session on Monday, we had this Internet thing on Tuesday, yesterday we did a video all day, now we've got the 'Tonight Show" and tomorrow we've got the launch party and then hopefully we're finished. That's all we have planned this year.

Why The "Tonight Show" rather than another show in the States?

MG: They are the ones who would have us. We were supposed to do "Saturday Night Live" and we got pulled at the last minute and Henry Rollins got the show we were supposed to do. They favored Henry Rollins over us.

Have you seen the crowd outside the studio?

MG: There always seems to be this sort of response for us here. It's quite incredible. Actually, that Internet thing the other night apparently broke records, which is nice to hear Ifs just amazing, the fanaticism. We've never been able to put our finger on why 'our fans are so obsessive. We do seem to be the group with the most obsessive fans in this business.

The lyrics you write seem to touch a common thread in all of these people: Where do you come up with this stuff?

MG.: I've always said that I write about things that interest me and move me. I think that somehow touches some common denominator in people. I also think that the songs are ambiguous enough for people to tie them into their own lives.

Are you still as fascinated about religion as you were when you first started writing lyrics about it?

MG: I always say I believe in God, somehow I believe in God, and I've never gotten past that point, so it still is a fascination because I'd love to go past that point and I'm never able to.

When was the last time you were in church?

MG: See, church doesn’t particularly interest me. Religion is more interesting than church.

Were you raised in a religious home?

MG: No, not particularly. My parents would have claimed that they were Church of England and religious, but it’s not like it is over here. People don't go to church generally in England, it’s not a big deal. I think it's just a slogan, "I'm Church of England." But if you actually put them on the point, I don't think they would particularly go past the point of saying, "I believe in Jesus Christ." Or I don't know if they'd actually even say that.

Is it true that Vince Clarke (of Erasure) wanted to produce the new album?

MG: He actually suggested quite a few times that he wanted to replace Alan and get the original lineup back together and we laughed about the first 15 times. But every time we met he kept saying it and made us think maybe he's serious.

Was he?

MG: I don't know. I hadn't actually said to him, "Do you fancy coming back for one record?," I don't know, maybe he would have done it. But I think our music has gone in such different ways. I don't think it would have worked at all, anyway. I don't think we'd be compatible anymore.

DAVE GAHAN, VOCALIST

What happened to your hair?

DG: I got it cut.

It looks great. How'd you like the long hair?

D.G.: I just got tired of it. I had it long for about seven years or something

Do you prefer it short?

DG: It’s different. It kind 6f felt like less hassle. It gets hot in the summer and I'm getting tired of washing my hair

Your clothes always seem to be so hip and stylish. Where do you get your clothes?

DG: All over the place. I’ve always been keen on clothes and stuff and I went to college for three years and studied fashion design. I actually wanted to be a fashion designer, not a rock star. So sometimes I draw clothes myself and have 'em made up. I like shopping around. I've got a I lot of clothes, you know. A lot of my wardrobe is stuff that I just kind of get an idea and get somebody to run it up for me.

When you shop for clothes, do people recognize you and come up and talk to you?

DG: I don't really get hassled that much. Occasionally you get people coming up.

Does it bother you when that happens?

DG: Uh, no not really. The only place it bothers me is if I'm taking a piss in the toilet.

Has that happened?

DG: Yeah, a few times. I have a good method, though. They come up to me and I just turn around and piss on their leg. It usually works.

Do you look forward to a time when you will tour again?

DG: Not even thinking about it, no.

So after this week...

DG: We're newly done. We've been doing this since January all over Europe and then we're done for awhile. It's completely up to fate.

You don't have any plans? What are you going to do with the time?

DG: I have a lot of plans. I just moved into a new apartment in New York and l want to get settled and spend a lot of time with my son, just take the day as it comes, really. It's nice to actually do that for a change rather than be planning too far ahead. I'm not really into doing that at the moment. Its a bit too daunting, planning the future all the time.

Do you ever long for a traditional family life?

DG: Yes, I do. And it's something that's very difficult for me to put everything into my career and what I do and balance that, with a normal family life and being away from home 90 percent of the time. It's very difficult and obviously I haven't done it very successfully, but it is something I do yearn for in the future. I'd like to spend more time with the people I really care about but haven't had the time in the past to really develop friendships and stuff. By the time I get friendly with people and start developing a relationship, I'm off again somewhere else. Especially with the band based in Europe and I'm based in the States, I spend more time away than the rest of the guys do from their families.

There's been a lot of coverage over the last yew or two on you and the band. Do you think the media has been fair in its reporting?

DG:  But I find now that it's too taxing on the people that care a lot about me like my family, my son.  He's old enough to pick up the papers and read.  Sometimes stuff is really kind of glamorized or it gets kind of portrayed sort of in the wrong kind of light and that's why I was trying to kind of very graphically explain that it's not cool and it's not fun and it's a complete kind of cliche way to live, especially being in a rock band.  But you can change it, you can turn it around.