Post by ultra blue dress on Nov 29, 2006 10:04:48 GMT -8
(I just found this on a myspace bulletin. I've yet to read it (I will in a bit) but I'm sure it's interesting)
November 2006 - Freeangel meets Steve Malins,
author of Depeche Mode biography, now freshly updated and released in different languages for the first time ever , Italian is one of those (and freeangel.it was promoter with violator.it for the distribution to italian fans).
Steve Malins answered to all questions, it was such a kind person and I'd like to thank him!
I seize this occasion to inform you that Steve Malins will be in Milan on 1st December, for John Foxx (Utravox!) show at Transilvania Live! Don't miss the occasion to meet him and sign your book!
Here is my interview to him!
Thanks a lot to Violator.it friends who supported and incouraged me in this little adventure!
::INTERVIEW WITH STEVE MALINS:: (page 1 of 2)
1)- YOU WROTE BIOGRAPHIES ABOUT IMPORTANT ARTISTS, WITH A LONG CAREER FULL OF SUCCESS, AS WELL AS EXCESSES, AND YOU HAD A LOT TO WRITE ABOUT THEM. HOW DID YOU ORGANIZE YOUR WORK TO WRITE THIS BOOK? (meeting,interviews, etc.)
I approached the band and Daniel Miller first of all. They didn't want to make it an 'official' biography but Daniel Miller was very generous with his time and I met up with Andy Fletcher.
Martin Gore wrote me a letter answering various questions.
I also spent a whole day with Alan Wilder, fuelled by a few bottles of wine. And I approached as many people connected to the band as possible.
Organisation, as with all these things, was opportunistic. I tried to get inside the story as much as I could.
Dave Gahan was reluctant to get involved - this was post drugs etc and I understand that there were probably a lot of things he didn't want to rake over again.
- WHICH WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT PART TO WRITE?
I can't think of a specific difficult thing to write other than that you're always trying to get the centre of the story and that's always a challenge - even if you have band members are sat in front of you as everyone has their own take on things.
So, the difficulty is simply to give the best account you can and try to find some insights and just a general feel for the band. That faces you on every page, I guess.
2) - YOU MADE YOUR LATEST UPDATE OF THE BIOGRAPHY LAST YEAR, WHILE THE BAND WAS INVOLVED IN THEIR NEW ALBUM.
DID YOU MEET DIRECTLY THE BAND OR (as I read in the introduction about Martin and Andy) YOU COMMUNICATED WITH THEM ONLY BY PHONE AND FAX?
With the update I didn't have direct contact with the band though I did with management who were very kind and helpful.
3- WHICH WAS THE BIGGEST DIFFICULTY IN COMMUNICATING ONLY BY FAX OR PHONE AND NOT TALKING WITH THE PERSON DIRECTLY? DID YOU HAVE PROBLEMS IN THE INTERPRETATION OF THEIR ANSWERS?
It was ok in that a lot of it was to do with checking facts. Obviously it's no use doing things this way if you're looking for a more expansive insight but I'm not convinced that I would have got that from the existing band members anyway.
4)- DEPECHE MODE HAD MANY CHANGES FROM 1980 TILL TODAY: FROM THE EARLY SYNTH POP BAND TO DARK ELECTRONIC GROUP, TO AN OFTEN CRITICIZED BAND TO THE PRESENT WELL CELEBRATED AND BELOVED BAND, FROM INGENUITY TO TRAGIC EXCESSES.
WHO ARE DEPECHE MODE NOW? AFTER SOME YEARS FROM THE FIRST EDITION, DID YOU FIND THE BAND CHANGED?
They've changed all through the career and what I found interesting was the way the relationships altered through different phases. I was really interested in the dynamic of the band. That has changed again because of Martin's personal problems - ie the divorce. That's light years away from the situation say during Songs of Faith & Devotion, when Dave was going through a hellish period.
I think the book tracks all the different dynamics between them, starting with Andy and Martin as young church goers hooking up with the more 'laddish' juvenile offender Dave and then there are periods in the 80s where Dave is married and rather moral about things while Martin is acting like a born-again teenager in Berlin; of course then Dave starts to go off in a different direction again after that. That's the fascinating thing,
Depeche Mode are not this static thing but they've always been able to make their differences work somehow - in a very ragged, inefficient, but ultimately creative way - Songs of Faith & Devotion being the most obvious example of that.
5)- AS YOU WROTE OTHER BIOGRAPHIES ABOUT OTHER ARTISTS, SUCH AS DURAN DURAN, WHICH ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DEPECHE MODE AND OTHER ARTISTS YOU INTERVIEWED? IS THERE SOMETHING YOU LIKE BEST OR HATE IN THEM?
I think all the artists I write about are incredibly under-rated. Gary Numan as a pioneer, Duran Duran as a pop band, Depeche Mode as a combination of both - they really are fantastic artists but I suspect because of the baggage associated with the 80s and the fact they use synthesizers they're never held as highly as Nirvana or The Rolling Stones. I suppose in my own way I really try to re-dress that balance. It's my passion and dictates a lot of things that I do.
::INTERVIEW WITH STEVE MALINS:: (page 2 of 2)
6- HOW DID YOU DECIDE AT THAT TIME TO WRITE A BIOGRAPHY ABOUT DEPECHE MODE? WAS IT YOUR OWN IDEA OR THE BAND ASKED YOU TO WRITE IT?
It was my own idea. The publishers were happy with the Numan book and they asked if I wanted to write another book. I said I'd love to write a book about Depeche Mode... and they agreed!
7)- NOW THAT YOU WROTE ABOUT THE RECENT LIFE OF DEPECHE MODE WITH THEIR MOST RECENT PRODUCTION, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THEIR FUTURE? DO YOU THINK TO MAKE AN ADDITIONAL UPDATE TO THE BOOK IN SOME YEARS?
I hope they continue to make good records and maybe one day I'll write another update. Personally I really like a lot of the stuff on Playing The Angel and it does strike a chord with me. But I have no idea whether they will still be making albums in ten years or five years..... I don't think they really know themselves.
8)-DO YOU THINK DEPECHE MODE WILL ALWAYS SUCCEED IN THINK UP THEIR MUSIC WITH NEW EXPERIMENTATION OR THEY WILL TURN INTO MORE COMMERCIAL MUSIC SOONER OR LATER?
I thought Playing The Angel was a good balance between the two but I was a bit concerned about some of the live shows I saw. I like things very stripped back and stark, and I didn't enjoy the hints of jazzy piano and cheesy dance workouts.
In really hope they don't over-complicate arrangements and become too pop. I love their early stuff which is pop, but it's great cos it's so simple. It sounds fresh. I don't like musicianly elements intruding too much into what I view as an amazing electronic band.
9- WHICH WAS THE FEEDBACK OF THE BAND ABOUT YOUR BIOGRAPHY? WERE THEY SATISFIED? DID THEY SHOW ANY HESITATION IN TELLING THEIR PRIVATE STORIES AND SEE THEM PRINTED?
I've heard different things - mostly positive but to be honest I just don't ask. I have met them since the book came out and we didn't talk about it! The thing is, as with anything really, you do your best and you stick by it. I worked at Q for 9 years or so and when I was writing a feature I never worried about what the band would think of it - I just focussed on my own instincts and the reader. They're the people buying the magazine or book after all.
So yes, of course, I know there are things in the book that various band members would have been happier if I'd left them out but equally I felt I had to keep them in to achieve some kind of balanced picture - as I saw it anyway.
10 - FOR THE FIRST TIME THE BIOGRAPHY IS TRANSLATED IN OTHER FOREIGN LANGUAGES. DO YOU THINK TO SELL MANY COPIES?
I hope so!!! I don't know really..... you just throw things in to the melting pot and then it's kind of out of your hands. I didn't write it for commerical reasons - I love electronic music and I'm kind of a bit of obsessive about it really. I remember at school being the only person into Depeche Mode or Gary Numan so that's kind of stayed with me!!! It's given me a certain drive to express why this stuff is so bloody good.
11)- NOWADAYS, INTERNET IS THE MAJOR CONTAINER OF INFORMATION ABOUT EVERYTHING. IT'S EASY TO FIND INFORMATION ABOUT DEPECHE MODE CAREER AND THEIR STORY. WHAT'S THE ADVANTAGE FOR A FAN OR A NON-FAN TO READ THIS BIOGRAPHY?
I think the main advantage is the experience of reading a book. It's something that you can lose yourself in which is very different to a computer screen and the internet. Books are special, no matter what the subject. It's those moments when it's 2 in the morning and you can't put a book down.
There's a flow to a book that is very different to the net - cyber-space is brilliant, but very fragmented. But with a book you can make connections from page to page and there's a pace to the whole thing. Of course if you're only interested in pure information then that's different but facts are only part of the story. I still believe that books can take you places that the internet can't.
Steve
x
interview and translation by
Taken from:
www.freeangel.it/special_malins_eng.htm
November 2006 - Freeangel meets Steve Malins,
author of Depeche Mode biography, now freshly updated and released in different languages for the first time ever , Italian is one of those (and freeangel.it was promoter with violator.it for the distribution to italian fans).
Steve Malins answered to all questions, it was such a kind person and I'd like to thank him!
I seize this occasion to inform you that Steve Malins will be in Milan on 1st December, for John Foxx (Utravox!) show at Transilvania Live! Don't miss the occasion to meet him and sign your book!
Here is my interview to him!
Thanks a lot to Violator.it friends who supported and incouraged me in this little adventure!
::INTERVIEW WITH STEVE MALINS:: (page 1 of 2)
1)- YOU WROTE BIOGRAPHIES ABOUT IMPORTANT ARTISTS, WITH A LONG CAREER FULL OF SUCCESS, AS WELL AS EXCESSES, AND YOU HAD A LOT TO WRITE ABOUT THEM. HOW DID YOU ORGANIZE YOUR WORK TO WRITE THIS BOOK? (meeting,interviews, etc.)
I approached the band and Daniel Miller first of all. They didn't want to make it an 'official' biography but Daniel Miller was very generous with his time and I met up with Andy Fletcher.
Martin Gore wrote me a letter answering various questions.
I also spent a whole day with Alan Wilder, fuelled by a few bottles of wine. And I approached as many people connected to the band as possible.
Organisation, as with all these things, was opportunistic. I tried to get inside the story as much as I could.
Dave Gahan was reluctant to get involved - this was post drugs etc and I understand that there were probably a lot of things he didn't want to rake over again.
- WHICH WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT PART TO WRITE?
I can't think of a specific difficult thing to write other than that you're always trying to get the centre of the story and that's always a challenge - even if you have band members are sat in front of you as everyone has their own take on things.
So, the difficulty is simply to give the best account you can and try to find some insights and just a general feel for the band. That faces you on every page, I guess.
2) - YOU MADE YOUR LATEST UPDATE OF THE BIOGRAPHY LAST YEAR, WHILE THE BAND WAS INVOLVED IN THEIR NEW ALBUM.
DID YOU MEET DIRECTLY THE BAND OR (as I read in the introduction about Martin and Andy) YOU COMMUNICATED WITH THEM ONLY BY PHONE AND FAX?
With the update I didn't have direct contact with the band though I did with management who were very kind and helpful.
3- WHICH WAS THE BIGGEST DIFFICULTY IN COMMUNICATING ONLY BY FAX OR PHONE AND NOT TALKING WITH THE PERSON DIRECTLY? DID YOU HAVE PROBLEMS IN THE INTERPRETATION OF THEIR ANSWERS?
It was ok in that a lot of it was to do with checking facts. Obviously it's no use doing things this way if you're looking for a more expansive insight but I'm not convinced that I would have got that from the existing band members anyway.
4)- DEPECHE MODE HAD MANY CHANGES FROM 1980 TILL TODAY: FROM THE EARLY SYNTH POP BAND TO DARK ELECTRONIC GROUP, TO AN OFTEN CRITICIZED BAND TO THE PRESENT WELL CELEBRATED AND BELOVED BAND, FROM INGENUITY TO TRAGIC EXCESSES.
WHO ARE DEPECHE MODE NOW? AFTER SOME YEARS FROM THE FIRST EDITION, DID YOU FIND THE BAND CHANGED?
They've changed all through the career and what I found interesting was the way the relationships altered through different phases. I was really interested in the dynamic of the band. That has changed again because of Martin's personal problems - ie the divorce. That's light years away from the situation say during Songs of Faith & Devotion, when Dave was going through a hellish period.
I think the book tracks all the different dynamics between them, starting with Andy and Martin as young church goers hooking up with the more 'laddish' juvenile offender Dave and then there are periods in the 80s where Dave is married and rather moral about things while Martin is acting like a born-again teenager in Berlin; of course then Dave starts to go off in a different direction again after that. That's the fascinating thing,
Depeche Mode are not this static thing but they've always been able to make their differences work somehow - in a very ragged, inefficient, but ultimately creative way - Songs of Faith & Devotion being the most obvious example of that.
5)- AS YOU WROTE OTHER BIOGRAPHIES ABOUT OTHER ARTISTS, SUCH AS DURAN DURAN, WHICH ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DEPECHE MODE AND OTHER ARTISTS YOU INTERVIEWED? IS THERE SOMETHING YOU LIKE BEST OR HATE IN THEM?
I think all the artists I write about are incredibly under-rated. Gary Numan as a pioneer, Duran Duran as a pop band, Depeche Mode as a combination of both - they really are fantastic artists but I suspect because of the baggage associated with the 80s and the fact they use synthesizers they're never held as highly as Nirvana or The Rolling Stones. I suppose in my own way I really try to re-dress that balance. It's my passion and dictates a lot of things that I do.
::INTERVIEW WITH STEVE MALINS:: (page 2 of 2)
6- HOW DID YOU DECIDE AT THAT TIME TO WRITE A BIOGRAPHY ABOUT DEPECHE MODE? WAS IT YOUR OWN IDEA OR THE BAND ASKED YOU TO WRITE IT?
It was my own idea. The publishers were happy with the Numan book and they asked if I wanted to write another book. I said I'd love to write a book about Depeche Mode... and they agreed!
7)- NOW THAT YOU WROTE ABOUT THE RECENT LIFE OF DEPECHE MODE WITH THEIR MOST RECENT PRODUCTION, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THEIR FUTURE? DO YOU THINK TO MAKE AN ADDITIONAL UPDATE TO THE BOOK IN SOME YEARS?
I hope they continue to make good records and maybe one day I'll write another update. Personally I really like a lot of the stuff on Playing The Angel and it does strike a chord with me. But I have no idea whether they will still be making albums in ten years or five years..... I don't think they really know themselves.
8)-DO YOU THINK DEPECHE MODE WILL ALWAYS SUCCEED IN THINK UP THEIR MUSIC WITH NEW EXPERIMENTATION OR THEY WILL TURN INTO MORE COMMERCIAL MUSIC SOONER OR LATER?
I thought Playing The Angel was a good balance between the two but I was a bit concerned about some of the live shows I saw. I like things very stripped back and stark, and I didn't enjoy the hints of jazzy piano and cheesy dance workouts.
In really hope they don't over-complicate arrangements and become too pop. I love their early stuff which is pop, but it's great cos it's so simple. It sounds fresh. I don't like musicianly elements intruding too much into what I view as an amazing electronic band.
9- WHICH WAS THE FEEDBACK OF THE BAND ABOUT YOUR BIOGRAPHY? WERE THEY SATISFIED? DID THEY SHOW ANY HESITATION IN TELLING THEIR PRIVATE STORIES AND SEE THEM PRINTED?
I've heard different things - mostly positive but to be honest I just don't ask. I have met them since the book came out and we didn't talk about it! The thing is, as with anything really, you do your best and you stick by it. I worked at Q for 9 years or so and when I was writing a feature I never worried about what the band would think of it - I just focussed on my own instincts and the reader. They're the people buying the magazine or book after all.
So yes, of course, I know there are things in the book that various band members would have been happier if I'd left them out but equally I felt I had to keep them in to achieve some kind of balanced picture - as I saw it anyway.
10 - FOR THE FIRST TIME THE BIOGRAPHY IS TRANSLATED IN OTHER FOREIGN LANGUAGES. DO YOU THINK TO SELL MANY COPIES?
I hope so!!! I don't know really..... you just throw things in to the melting pot and then it's kind of out of your hands. I didn't write it for commerical reasons - I love electronic music and I'm kind of a bit of obsessive about it really. I remember at school being the only person into Depeche Mode or Gary Numan so that's kind of stayed with me!!! It's given me a certain drive to express why this stuff is so bloody good.
11)- NOWADAYS, INTERNET IS THE MAJOR CONTAINER OF INFORMATION ABOUT EVERYTHING. IT'S EASY TO FIND INFORMATION ABOUT DEPECHE MODE CAREER AND THEIR STORY. WHAT'S THE ADVANTAGE FOR A FAN OR A NON-FAN TO READ THIS BIOGRAPHY?
I think the main advantage is the experience of reading a book. It's something that you can lose yourself in which is very different to a computer screen and the internet. Books are special, no matter what the subject. It's those moments when it's 2 in the morning and you can't put a book down.
There's a flow to a book that is very different to the net - cyber-space is brilliant, but very fragmented. But with a book you can make connections from page to page and there's a pace to the whole thing. Of course if you're only interested in pure information then that's different but facts are only part of the story. I still believe that books can take you places that the internet can't.
Steve
x
interview and translation by
Taken from:
www.freeangel.it/special_malins_eng.htm