Martin Lee Gore (born July 23, 1961 in Dagenham, Essex, England) has been a member of the band Depeche Mode since its inception in 1980. He is the primary songwriter, and also plays keyboards and guitar. He is also the backing vocalist, and sometimes the lead singer. In 2003, Martin released Counterfeit, a solo cover album follow-up to his 1989 Counterfeit EP. Both feature his takes on other people's material, and he has stated publicly before that he considers himself not the most prolific songwriter