‘Simon Cowell Should Be Shot’

Depeche Mode guitarist Martin Gore has struck out at talent shows like “X Factor” and its founder Simon Cowell.

“I’m not advocating violence but I think somebody should shoot Simon Cowell,” he told Music Week (via NME).

During the same interview, frontman Dave Gahan talked about how difficult it is for musicians to be successful these days:

“It’s a pretty horrible business today really, I’ve got to say. You have to be tough and you’ve got to be thick skinned because there are going to be things written about you that you’re not going to like.

“You’re going to get scrutinised, your work will not always be liked and if they do like something really a lot they’re probably not going to like the next thing and compare it to the last thing. It takes a time for a band to grow if they’re any good.”

Gahan said Depeche Mode were lucky to be given time to grow as a band, unlike artists today who are under pressure to make their labels a profit quickly: “We were lucky that we were taken under the wing of [producer] Daniel Miller who never once in the studio said, ‘Where’s the hit song?'”

Depeche Mode are currently writing a new album, due in 2013.