Five years of preparation and writing, twenty-three years of collecting memorabilia, and three decades of being a fan. A long-term investment that pays off — not for the band, but for us. Countless hours of passion, effort, money and knowledge were passed on through generations of fans. When I first heard about this book, I thought — ’Yes! Finally, something we’ve been waiting for all these years. Something created by fans, for fans… because the band doesn’t feel the need. But we do. That’s what the MONUMENT is for — Librum MONUMENTum — a memory book built by fans for the band they love. So, take a moment to read the interview with Dennis and Sascha, the authors of MONUMENT.
[101dM.pl]: You are a fan of depeche MODE. As many of us you’ve had our 'depeche moment’. From other interviews, I know that your first song was Pipeline. Mine was Pimpf :-). When did you start to collect depeche MODE’s memorabilia? Did you start in parallel at the beginning of being a fan or later?
[Dennis Burmeister]: I´ve started collecting after the wall came down. Before this, it was quite impossible to collect anything. We just had some cassettes in bad quality and some posters from BRAVO-magazine, but it was not a lot…
[101dM]: What was your first memorabilia, which you can say 'it started my collection’?
[DB]: If I remember correctly, I first bought the limited live – 12″s, the L12Bong2 (Get The Balance Right), L12Bong3 (Everything Counts) and L12Bong4 (Love, In Itself), and it was very exciting, because the quality was superb. Later, I bought the same records on CD, and all sounded like science fiction.
[101dM]: I understand you very good. For me, it was one of the first concert recordings of depeche MODE I’ve ever met in the 90’s, just after 101. Sad that they didn’t release this concert on video as they planned in the beginning.
[101dM]: When did you realise that the collection of posters, CDs, newspapers, it’s more than just filling the gaps in the discography, and it’s not average, random awareness about the band?
[DB]: Is it more than that? I´m just a collector like other fans, too. And I don´t think that I have a very unique collection. I still collect stuff like in the beginning. I love to collect nice things, rare records and all that stuff. It´s a question of quality, not quantity. The music is still most important for me. That is, what brings us together and makes us fans of a community.
[101dM]: Is there something you don’t have, or you would call it 'holy grail’ for you? What are you dreaming about (from depeche MODE stuff)?
[DB]: I would say that the first demo tape of the band is really a kind of ’holy grail’. I was, and I´m still very proud to have this little part of music history in my collection.
[101dM]: Many fans write private biographies of depeche MODE for their own needs. Did you have something similar? What was the impulse for the creation of the 'Monument’?
[DB]: It was very simple: the publisher asked me, and I liked the idea of making an illustrated biography. There never was an illustrated history of the band, and I liked the idea very much to make a book full of facts and photographs. I mean, there are a lot of books about the band, but most of them are very superficial, boring and filled with all those stupid rumours.
[101dM]: How long has the 'Monument’ been built?
[DB]: We needed about five years for everything. I, for myself, needed a year for photographing, digitising, Editing and all that stuff. It was very hard sometimes, because I have a job and a small family. It was very difficult to find it all the time. But it worked 🙂
[101dM]: Were there any risks at the beginning when you started the project? What do you think?
[DB]: There was no risk at all. Many people were privy to it, but no one thought or talked about any risks. MUTE supported us from the beginning, so we had a very good feeling.
[101dM]: On the other hand, it’s hard not to resist the impression that if not for fans like you and Sascha, some projects never could have happened. How is that, if not fans, it would not have been catalogued and still published TV archives of depeche MODE. Today, even the webmaster of depeche MODE uses these resources. If not the fans, full discography on depmod.com couldn’t have happened, if not fans … etc. I could give more examples. WTF? Why are fans more creative and digging deeper, instead of moaning and yelling again and again at the band?
[DB]: Hmmm… Hard to say, but I think the band are still pure musicians. I´m sure they never would write a biography about their lives. But I still hope that Alan will do it one day. He should have a lot of memories and tons of pictures in his archive. Here we go, Alan… just ask me, I´m waiting… I´m willing to help 😀
[101dM]: Soon, the national editions of 'Monument’ will come. November 9th in Poland, in parallel in England too. Will there be any differences in relation to the German version?
[DB]: There are only small differences. For the English version of ’Monument’, I conducted a very large interview with Daniel Miller. I think it is the biggest and longest Interview about the band, Daniel has made in decades.
[101dM]: What will be the difference between the collector’s edition and the standard edition of the MONUMENT in Poland? Except hardcover finish.
[DB]: Seriously, I don´t have a clue. I asked several times, but it was a big secret. But I hope to get a limited edition for my collection. 😀
[101dM]: The German version has been out for some time. During this time, did you get any additional documents, recordings or other materials which are must-haves or should be in the MONUMENT? In other words, do you plan to re-issue or extend, or revisit the book in the future?
[DB]: We’ve still got a lot of offers from different photographers, but it would not be fair to the fans, creating a „new” book. We don’t want to rip off any fans. But we get very nice photographs directly from C.C. Catch. She was a very big star since mid of the 80’s and still is, and she sent us material from her archive. One of the pictures can be found in the German re-release and also in the English version.
[101dM]: Do you plan to issue other language editions of the Monument apart from Polish and English?
[DB]: But it needs to have the Publishers in respective countries as licensees. Currently, unfortunately, there is nothing official yet. All in all, we are more than pleased that Anaconda Publishing is available in Poland now.
[101dM]: Earlier, you mentioned about interview with Daniel Miller. For those fans who won’t be able to buy the English version. Could you tell them something about this interview with Daniel? What is it about?
[Sascha Lange]: We were interested in Daniel Miller, primarily the history of Mute Records and his former understanding of punk and DIY*, his interest in Krautrock, his work with depeche MODE and how he looks back today after more than 30 years on everything. Fortunately, he had taken a lot of time to answer our questions, and we were able to learn some funny stories about him.
* — DIY — Do It Yourself
[101dM]: So you plan to re-release the German version. Will it be extended of the European leg of THE DELTA MACHINE TOUR, or time frame will stay the same?
[DB]: Yes, there will be some minor updates, but it has not become a major overhaul.
[101dM]: Aren’t you afraid that whenever depeche MODE will releases a new album, you will be asked to reissue the updated version of your book?
[DB]: Since it always takes about 4 years for depeche MODE to release a new album, we could also imagine releasing updated editions. Or if the band make albums still long enough, just a second part of Monument.
[101dM]: In the letter to Polish depeche MODE fans you wrote, that you collected albums, posters and articles released in Poland. I know that at that time it was really hard to travel between the countries in the communist camp. Did you travel in person, or did you trade/swap with Polish fans?
[DB]: Neither Sasha nor I had in the 80’s the opportunity to travel to Poland. During this time, unfortunately, there was little contact between depeche MODE fans in the Eastern Bloc. The main reason was the lack of contact opportunities and the language barriers between countries. Hardly Eastern fans could then lead rational conversations in English. Polish newspaper article about depeche MODE and Polish editions of license plates were thus often incidental findings, from people who were there on vacation.
[101dM]: To be honest, we didn’t treat printed in Poland memorabilia as something special. For us, higher value had West German editions of Bravo, Popcorn, or other western magazines where, at that time, you could find more and with better quality pictures… (plus Bong, photo albums, etc).
[DB]: Of course, the West German youth magazines were also in East Germany the most popular collector’s items, in addition to records. But as a crazy fan, you just collected everything you got from depeche MODE and including quite a Polish newspaper articles.
[101dM]: What surprised me in the letter, that you were jealous about the first depeche MODE gig in Warsaw in 1985. Why?
[Sascha Lange]: At that time it was surprising as young people in the GDR, why is in Poland and Hungary in 1985 was already possible to organize concerts with depeche MODE, but not in the GDR. We also wanted to see the band live. But the GDR officials did not dare to give a concert. We should once again say more firmly that the GDR was really euncool.
[101dM]: Sascha, you spent some time bringing to public memory the history of the East Berlin concert in 1988. In Poland, the concert in Warsaw in 1985 is some kind of foundation of depeche MODE’s subculture. Fans existed before and collected the music, but during this concert, Polish fans saw how many of them were in Poland at that time. And how many couldn’t come to see the band? This concert spun the fan movement in my country. Did concert from 1988 in East Berlin was something similar to East German fans, or you had to wait another 2 years until the Wall collapsed?
[SL]: Exactly, the East Berlin concert has reinforced the general depeche MODE hysteria in the GDR by a multiple. Numerous fan clubs were founded afterwards. Everyone hoped that the band would come back to the GDR during the next tour. Fortunately, the Wall fell in late 1989, and a few months later, all flocked to the concerts of the WORLD VIOLATION. We talk about those times in the chapter of Behind the Wall.
[101dM]: Ok, last question. How do you find THE DELTA MACHINE TOUR? Are you a fan of the studio or live aspect of depeche MODE activity?
[DB]: To be honest, I still have my problems with depeche MODE in these days. I saw them in Berlin… and I make no secret out of it, but I still miss Alan Wilder. depeche MODE are not the same without him. Sure… I like Delta Machine; I like Sounds Of The Universe and the other albums. But it´s not the same. Something has gone with Alan. And every time I see or hear depeche MODE, I still think about that. It still hurts…. isn´t it?
[101dM]: You owe me. I have the same feeling; I still miss Alan in the band. Thank you guys and good luck!