::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
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