How do you feel being on the road again after such a long time?

Martin: We are looking forward to it. The previous tour was just too long for us. It was 15 months. For us to go on tour now is just right. We are doing a four month tour - to see how things go.

Did people mind you not going on tour after "Ultra"?

Dave: Actually, I think it was pretty positive. I think people understood it would have been insane for us to take that on, at that time. I think not only would we have been cheating ourselves but also our fans because we were just not ready. It was quite a big ordeal just getting the three of us together and recording another record. You know, after Alan departed, we had to have a re-think about how we were going to work and we had to find people to fulfil the role that Alan played. It took quite a while, probably about six months during the recording of "Ultra", before we really settled in and became OK with each other. Not that we disliked each other, it was just that everybody had been through a lot of different things and it took some time getting familiar with working again.

What can we expect from the live performance on the tour?

Andy: I think it is going to be a historical perspective with the greatest hits from 1986 - 1998 - playing all the songs that we recorded in that period. We will be doing most of the hits from that period plus a couple of earlier songs as well. It will be more of a celebration of our history.

Martin: I am working on my new dance routines as well!

Dave: A lot has happened since the last tour. There have been the Spice Girls and things like that, so we have been working very hard.

Martin: We have been watching very carefully, I think our fans will be surprised. We're getting there.

You've been through some troubled times. Has that been influencing the music?

Martin: We are not actually releasing a 'new' album, but there will be some new songs, I think the atmosphere that we are recording in at the moment - is a really good atmosphere - it speaks for itself, so perhaps that's the best way - it has been influenced by the fact that we are all healthy and having a good time at the moment.

Dave: I think we are all very grateful - I am - and I think I speak for the others - that we are getting to do this. We are more comfortable now and it's good to be working again.

How many songs can we expect on the tour?

Dave: We will be playing a few songs from "Ultra", and a new song from our Greatest Hits.

Martin: When performing live, we usually play 18-20 songs, so we sat down and did the list of songs that we feel we have to play. We are at the stage now where there are about 16 songs from the last 12 years or so that we don't even argue about, and that we have to play. There are 16 songs that I think people would be cheated if we did not play, so we will build from that.

Dave: The last 16 singles and a couple of really old ones!

Is Anton Corbijn part of the tour?

Dave: He may be involved in some of the stage show but we have not yet decided on who we are going to use. We are still looking at that. We have three different designs, and we're keeping an open mind on that - but not decided.

It's been five years since the last tour. Do you worry about your old fans having withdrawn from you or do you have loyal fans?

Dave: I think our fans have been really loyal. I don't know why but I think we created our own little niche and our fans have stuck with us. They have grown with us as well, which is really nice. Even today, at this press conference, I think there are a few fans outside, which is very nice. I don't think it was a worry. I don't think it was a consideration. We just didn't even consider touring at all with the last record, and there has always been pretty big gaps in between our tours.

Andy: We have been together 17 or 18 years, and have seen bands come and go all the time, but we just concentrate on trying to make our music as good as possible and by doing that I think it is the best way to actually keep your fans.

Martin: If you started worrying if there are any fans, I think you would start thinking about the music you make. I think we just make music for ourselves, music that we like and hopefully someone out there likes it and then will come along to the concerts. The music is the most important thing.

The 80's are back in fashion now. Has this been influencing you to do this historical tour?

Andy: I don't think you could ever say we have been trendy, it's probably why we have lasted so long. It certainly helped I'm sure. We like being a band of the 90's. It just so happens our music spans the 80's and 90's, so that most of the tracks from this album are going to be from that period.

The last tour almost split up the entire band. Have you taken any precautions for that not to happen this time?

Martin: We've got rules that we keep. I only drink two days a week - you may laugh.

You started out as a boy band. What would you like to be at the end of the 90's?

Andy: We want to be back. It's nice to be considered at the end of the 90's - to still be a credible band, a very well known band that's still making good music - I suppose

Dave: As I said, we are really fortunate that we have been able to make records over virtually two decades and there are not many bands that get to do that. That's it really. I don't think there is too much emphasis based on the 80's, 90's, 60's, 70's or whatever. We are just still making music, we still want to play and still have fans that want to come and see us - it is as simple as that.

Andy: When we started, we were very young. Hopefully, we are still young now....36, is that young?

Are you nervous about being on the road again?

Dave: Well sitting here in the lounge, deperately stopping my body from shaking.....I don't know, we did a couple of performances, just playing a few songs from "Ultra", at the launch parties that we did, and it was really nerve racking. But I think it is good to be nervous, you know nervous energy can be put into performing. For me, personally, it is pretty important. If I wasn't feeling nervous, then I would think there was something wrong, but yes, I am really nervous.

How many people can we expect on stage on the new tour?

Andy: Well, we are going to use a drummer for the first time, full time on stage - an Austrian guy, Christian Eigner. He is really good and he worked with us already on the Ultra parties and TV shows. We might have a couple of backing singers and perhaps a synthesiser. I don't know.

Martin: At the moment, Tim, our producer, wants to come on stage with us for a couple of songs and scratch - whatever that is. We're not sure.

At the beginning of your career, you mainly used keyboards, then lots of guitars came in. Do you consider yourself as a Rock & Roll band?

Martin: Not really, I started playing the guitar when I was 13, I didn't see a synthesiser until I was 18, so in a way it was unnatural for me to be a synthesiser player. So when we did our list of songs, in about 80% of them, I am playing the guitar, because 80% of our songs have guitar, but there are songs where I play the synthesiser.

Dave: I think for me all my favourite singers and players have always been from rock and roll bands like Mick Jagger, Donny Osmond...people like that.

What about Diesel Christ (that's a band from Germany/Sweden doing retro covers of DM)?

Martin: I liked the idea of what they did with "Songs of Faith and Devotion". They took the album and did it in a way that they thought we should have done it. Had they done it right - it would have been interesting. What's really nice is that before our Greatest Hits (I hate that term Greatest Hits) comes out, we have got this tribute album which comes out in the summer. You know, it's really interesting, it's got contemporary bands covering our songs. Finally, there are some good bands who have decided to cover our songs, and it does not originate from Sweden.

Isn't it a strange feeling that other bands are covering your songs?

Andy: I think you have to look at what records you are making now, and if you make the decision they are good, then that's OK to carry on. It's getting to that stage. We think our last record was one of our best, which is really good.

Dave: As a band we are interested in working with each other and interested in making music and performing it with each other. If anything, it is a compliment.

Martin: For a lot of contemporary bands to cover your songs and admit you are an influence - is surely the greatest honor you can have.

Any ideas about supporting bands on this tour?

Dave: We are thinking about it, but not decided or anything. Whoever want to support us - we decided it should be someone we dislike because they pick up a lot of spare change and they have to wear armour.

Where are you rehearsing for the tour?

Andy: In London. It is harder for Dave as he lives in New York, but London for us, is where our families live. When you go away for 4 months, I think it is important to be as close as possible to them, before we go away.

Martin: It's also common sense. Two of us live there and there are plenty of rehearsal studios. We could go somewhere else, but common sense dictates.

Which songs did those contemporary bands you mentioned cover?

Andy: Right across the board really, Smashing Pumpkins did "Never Let Me Down Again", The Cure have covered "World in my Eyes", Apollo 440 "I Feel You".....it's just not singles, it's also album tracks.

How long are you planning on touring the US?

Andy: About two months. We finish before Christmas, so it's a nice package. There are also likely to be a few Eastern European gigs before Helsinki, maybe Russia, which we have never been to.

Anything new on the music side? Something new musically on stage?

Dave: Well - using drums throughout the whole show is one. It's something we experienced on the Devotional Tour, and using backing singers, which worked well. A keyboard player, as Alan is not with us any more. And a couple of things we did at the "Ultra" parties. It really did transform the old songs quite a bit. For me, it felt more exciting to have a drummer behind.

Have you been working on new songs?

Martin: We have been in the studio for the last two months, finishing off a single. When we get back tonight, the mix should be finished. It was almost finished before we left yesterday. And another couple of new songs that will go on the first single's package. So we have been working on new stuff.

Any plans for a new studio album?

Andy: With this tour being four months, I think we all agreed we had not released as many records as we should have over the last 6-7 years. So it would be good to get an album done as soon as possible, but I can't tell you when that will be.

Martin: These days it seems traditional - three or four years between albums. I don't know if it will get quicker. I find it incredible to think we released an album every year of the first seven years of our career. How did we do that???

Is your tour starting in Helsinki?

Andy: We're thinking about that, we have a lot of fans in Eastern Europe. It would be nice to do a few warm up gigs there. We don't know where yet.

You insisted on having a drummer and another keyboard player on stage. Do you need to play everything live on stage?

Dave: We always got attacked for years and years doing that. We were probably the first band to do that and openly admit to doing that. Bands have been doing that for years, whether Pink Floyd or Depeche Mode. For us, it's very difficult to try and perform a lot of stuff live, but we are using computers on stage. So it is still impossible for us to play everything live as our records are far too complex. We have to run a computer. It's a fact. Anyone with any sense will realise that.