The characters in Halo come from every aspect of the Violator era, covering the production of the album, marketing, design, videos, tour and lots more.
Our co-authors David McElroy and Kevin May spoke to almost 20 individuals who were associated closely with Violator, from when the first seeds of the production schedule were sown in the summer of 1988 to those helping with the World Violation tour, which eventually ended in late-1990.
To help readers learn more about the “cast” of Halo, we’ve assembled a who’s who of those involved in the book and the album.
The list is in order of appearance in the book (* indicates those who agreed to be interviewed).
- Depeche Mode (David Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher and Alan Wilder) – the band
- D A Pennebaker – the filmmaker (101)
- Daniel Miller – the boss of Mute Records
- Gareth Jones * – the former producer and engineer (Construction Time Again, Some Great Reward, Black Celebration, Ultra, Exciter)
- Flood (Mark Ellis) – the producer (Violator and Songs Of Faith And Devotion)
- Francois Kevorkian * – the mixer (Violator)
- Daryl Bamonte – the band assistant
- Derrick May – the techno DJ and producer
- Dave Bascombe – the former producer (Music For The Masses)
- Pino Pischetola * – the engineer in Milan (Violator)
- Steve Lyon * – the engineer in London (Violator and Songs Of Faith And Devotion)
- Phil Legg * – the engineer in London (Violator)
- David Browne * – the engineer in Lonon (Violator)
- Roberto Baldi * – the engineer in Milan (Violator)
- Nils Tuxen * – the pedal steel guitar player (Clean)
- Paul Kendall * – the engineer in London and harmonica player (Personal Jesus)
- Anton Corbijn – the video director and sleeve designer (1986 to the present day)
- Richard Bell * – the video producer (1986 to 2001)
- Richard Smith * – the sleeve designer (Violator, Songs Of Faith And Devotion, Ultra)
- Angela Shelton * – the actress (Clean video)
- Pam Heffer * – the dancer (Halo video)
- Neil Ferris * – the plugger for Mute Records (1981 to 1997)
- The Los Angeles Police Department – the law enforcement at Wherehouse Records
- Bruce Kirkland * – the publicist in the US (1985 to 1993)
- Andy Franks * – the tour manager (1981 to 1998)
- Billie Ray Martin * – the singer for tour support band Electribe 101
- Mistie Fowlkes * – the daughter in the family-owned drive-in movie theatre on Strange Too
- Jonathan Kessler – the manager (1993 to the present day)
Halo also features contributions from the following group of Depeche Mode fans – each with a unique recollection of the Violator era:
- Sean Salo (USA)
- Panos Sialakas (Greece)
- Chris Snodden (Northern Ireland)
- Caroline Rose (France)
- Michael Rose (England)
- Stephane Devillers (Belgium)
- Niggels Uhlenbruch (Germany)
- Rob Rohm (USA)