TRY WALKING IN MY SHOES

I’ve been mostly just linking to articles, reviews and interviews about “Spirits in the Forest” and… I’m about to just link to another interview, but this one is very special, cause it was for my dear friend Jenna Rose Robbins, whom I managed to sneak into a quick cameo in the film (well, we spent almost an entire day filming, but in the end you see her for some 6-10 seconds, blame the editing).

You can jump straight to her website and either read or watch our conversation. I didn’t even realize it went on for over 40 minutes (time flies when you’re having fun).

A curious fact: I cried watching the film in several opportunities, but it wasn’t until the 5th time in a theater (6th overall) that I got emotional with my own story. Before, I went from full tears running down my eyes to a lump in my throat with my fellow spirits whenever watching the filme. But the last time, however, was after I finally read what other Brazilian devotees thought of the film over the weekend and how much they stressed the connection with the song “Walking in my Shoes” and that short film in particular starring Australian-born, but also Berlin-based artist Mikey Woodbridge.

Despite liking the video, I wasn’t very taken aback when I saw my first couple of “Global Spirit Tour” shows in Leipzig and Dresden. I found it to be overall quite literal (including a pair of very high heels that are indeed a challenge to walk on). Later when talking to Jenna, we confirmed that when we both saw the video for the first time, we didn’t know it was set in Berlin, but then slowly started to realize it was filmed on the Hauptstadt by the way the apartment is decorated, the heating, the staircase of the building, the architecture on the streets of what was obviously Kreuzberg, the sign in German on the cafe where Mikey stops and, ultimately, the Bar Tausend under the S-Bahn (urban rail) bridge that connects the Friedrichstraße station that Mikey enters as the song ends. And we both realized it more or less at the same time (even if we didn’t attend these same concerts, we both attended the one in Berlin on June 22nd, 2017). So curious how we both thought alike. Also, now, like so many things Depeche, I had mixed feelings about the video when I first saw it, and now I’m absolutely in love with it. If “Walking in my Shoes” was a song I loved, now it’s a song I adore and want the chorus to be engraved on my tombstone.

PS.: French-German channel ARTE will show the film in Germany on Jan 24th, 2020 (the same date as the new release date of the “MODE” box set). You can see more details here (including the fact they’re showing “101” right before).

PS 2.: If you can’t wait that long, the film is available on Amazon Prime, Vimeo, Youtube, Google Play Store and iTunes. On most of these platforms it’s available on SD or HD, and for rent or purchase.

PS 3.: Did you know Jenna has a very interesting book about her crazy idea of following the band during part of their Devotional tour in 1993 called “Faithful and Devoted: Confessions of a Music Addict”? I highly recommend you do. Here’s some more info about it.

PS 4.: WordPress is on the verge of updating some stuff and my site may face some visual issues until I fix everything. If this happens, please bear with me while I work on it. Internet knows no holiday breaks.