One aspect of this month's blog special that I'm particularly happy to share with you is that it will feature exclusive excerpts from Halo - The Story Behind Depeche Mode's Classic Album Violator, the book I have co-authored with Kevin May which is to released this May. Kevin and I got in touch when I ran the last month long blog project on Black Celebration in 2016. He contributed a blog and that led to his involvement in The Global Spirit Tour Project and, ultimately, to my involvement in Halo.
Last year Kevin very kindly asked me if I would co-author the book and I was delighted to accept his offer. He's done a remarkable amount of work on the project and has uncovered numerous Violator related gems that tell the album's story in a new and fascinating way. I've chipped in here and there and have been thrilled to have been involved in something that's subject is so close to my heart.
Depeche Mode fans are well known for their in-depth knowledge of the band and trying to work out athe way of telling the story of the band's best known album in a new and fresh way has been a challenge, but we are confident that you are going to enjoy what's in store.
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| Me (L) and Kevin (R) at the Spirits In The Forest premiere in London, October 2019 |
Kevin has been running his own blog about Halo for a few years ago. I'd certainly recommend you have a look at it for everything related to the book. Here's what the Author Bio page has to say about us:
Kevin is a UK-based journalist who normally spends his time writing about the travel industry for a global news service called PhocusWire, where he is editor in chief.
A 25-year career has seen him edit business publications MediaWeek, Travolution and Tnooz, write about escapees from prison, robbers and other shady characters for the Police Gazette at New Scotland Yard in London, and cover the shenanigans of local politics for the Essex Enquirer in Depeche Mode’s home town of Basildon.
He was born and raised near Rochester in Kent, holds a degree in criminology, a postgraduate diploma in magazine journalism, has won a couple of press awards, yet misses the backpacking days of his 20s (but is lucky enough to travel regularly for “The Day Job”).
Kevin first saw Depeche Mode at London’s Wembley Arena with two mates in November 1990… on the World Violation Tour.
David is a Glasgow-based blogger who has hosted the Almost Predictable Almost website since 2011. The blog focusses on Depeche Mode and is especially known for The Global Spirit Tour Project which saw David publish a fan-written review of all 130 concerts on Depeche Mode’s 2017/18 Global Spirit Tour, three of which were written by his co-author, Kevin.
David was raised in Castle Douglas in South West Scotland, where the local Woolworths was his source of all things Depeche-related from Enjoy The Silence onwards. He now lives in Glasgow and, in between coming up with new ways to talk about Basildon’s finest, spends his time supporting and shouting at Liverpool F.C.
At various points this month we will share highlights from the book and even a few exclusives that you won't find in the book or anywhere else. We've spoken to as many people as we can think of who were involved in the Violator era. You can look forward to exclusive interviews with the likes of Francois Kervorkian, Billie Rae Martin, Gareth Jones, Steve Lyon, Paul Kendall and many more on the musical side of things. We've also spoken to various actors from the videos, people involved in the artistic side of things and a few fans too to try and tell the story of Violator in as full a way as we possibly can. We're really excited about the book and we hope you are too.
We are hoping to release translated versions in a number of languages in addition to the English language version. More on that later in the year.
We are hoping to release translated versions in a number of languages in addition to the English language version. More on that later in the year.
In tomorrow's blog, Kevin May will give you an insight into his own views on Violator and how it inspired him to start the whole Halo project. After that, we'll return to the usual blog content that sees me ramble on about formats, cover art and other nonsense.
Halo - The Story Behind Depeche Mode's Classic Album Violator will be released in May 2020 on paperback and digital. Keep an eye on this blog and both the blog and Halo's Twitter feeds for more information.
missed this first time round ...... don't know how you have time to write a blog or a book! Hats off to you both
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