[% META title = 'The Highway Star -- The Staff' %]

Credits... or who do we think we are?

"The DP editorial team? Yes I can picture you now, shirtsleeves rolled up, smoke hanging in the dusty room, a single light bulb holding back the gloom, all of you wearily slouched around a scuffed up conference table. Empty coffee cups and brandy bottles litter the surface, barely discernable beneath the mountains of Deep Purple quotes from which the one, THE one, must be found before the deadline. Trond breaks the ominous silence. "There's only one thing to do. We must Email RG." Eyebrows arched, brows furrowed, shadows moved across faces as heads turned to the speaker, who stood his ground grimly. "He's the only one you can count on," he muttered darkly. Slowly he reached for the computer, all the time expecting any one of them in the room to lunge for the cable, but no one moved except for a stinking rat that scurried away in the dark. Suddenly...."
Roger Glover, December 12/1996

Contact Email Addresses:	Concert Reviews Current Contest Frequently-Asked Questions Joanna Links Photos Sales Tablatures and Lyrics Tour Dates Letters To The Editor General website help

Name:	Dave Hodgkinson
Email:	daveh@dhcs.demon.co.uk
What:	Dave, when not working on a secret NATO research project involving lab mice, large doses of MTV and arc-welding equipment, enjoys mountaineering, extreme snowboarding and candlelit dinners with minor European royalty. Don't believe that? Well, here's what we know for sure: Dave started it all nearly a decade ago. Last seen wrestling with an ancient Sparc somewhere in Bath, England.



Name:	Rasmus Heide
Email:	rasmus@thehighwaystar.com
What:	Once a terror of the European highways, Rasmus has turned in his truck keys for a journalist's fedora. Often assumes the penname Sam H Residue.


Name:	Benny Holmstrom
Email:	benny@thehighwaystar.com
What:	Calling Sweden home, Benny sees the world from a unique perspective, and often captures it perfectly on film. Occasionally answers to the name Remm T Shobolynn.


Name:	Ed "Janx" Jankauskas
Email:	edjanx@thehighwaystar.com
What:	The original East Coast Promo Man. Well, perhaps not -- he's too young for that. But he does know a mean drink recipe, so we forgive him.


Name:	Doug Macbeath
Email:	Doug@communic-8.com
What:	He's not telling. He's often to be found at the Southern Bar in Edinburgh, though, so you can ask him yourself if you drop in and buy him a drink.


Name:	Jouni Maho
Email:	Jouni.Maho@african.gu.se
What:	Our resident cunning linguist, and the superlative meticulous THS discographer as well.


Name:	Stathis N. Panagiotopoulos
Email:	span@thehighwaystar.com
What:	The epitome of the hard-core DP collector, if Stathis doesn't have it it probably doesn't exist, or else you should be asking him for an offer!! Stathis lives in Greece, which probably doesn't explain his obsession.


Name:	Svante Pettersson
Email:	svante@thehighwaystar.com
What:	The erstwhile editor-in-chief without a life, Svante's finally seen the light and abdicated the big desk for a less-demanding role. Balancing on the fine line between being a Purplehead and a Blackmoron, he can be found masquerading around Sweden as Ernest Spot Van Set.


Name:	Wolf Schneider
Email:	lonewolf@thehighwaystar.com
What:	Often found flying stunt kites on a wind-swept beach in Canada's Wet Coast, Wolf's alter-ego Chief Old Wrens is an archivist of arcane and obscure knowledge since trying to compete with Stathis as a collector of DP material is pointless.


Name:	Trond J. Strøm
Email:	trond@thehighwaystar.com
What:	The other editors have remarked that "when Trond's on holidays, the editorial meetings seemed dead. When Trond returns from holidays, all hell breaks loose; obviously, Trond is still the soul of The Highway Star". As you can see from the silly 'ø' in his last name, Trond is from Norway.


Name:	Stephen Thompson
Email:	stephen@communic-8.com
What:	He's not telling either. But he can usually be found at the bar with Doug.


Name:	Andreas Thul
Email:	andi@thehighwaystar.com
What:	Partial to multimedia labs, Sam Brown, and Jon Lord (not necessarily in that order), Andi hails from Germany.



Name:	Brian Currin
Email:	brian.currin@new.co.za
What:	Brian is an inveterate and painstaking catalogist, based out of South Africa.


Name:	Akiko Hada
Email:	akiko@bunnies.de
What:	Akiko is a Japanese artist living in Europe, helping with our Japanese edition (along with her valiant assistants Kousa and Usako).


Name:	Nick Soveiko
Email:	nsoveiko@doe.carleton.ca
What:	Nick is a Russian computer dude transplanted to Canada, helping with our Russian edition.

The Highway Star is officially endorsed by band & management, but retain full editorial rights. The people you see above are fans, not a paid staff.

Awards and stuff

"The mothership of all Purple sites is The Highway Star - The Official Deep Purple Web Pages which is that rare beast, an official site that is absolutely brilliant. Everybody else should take a leaf from this. The site adopts a newspaper/magazine format and is put together by a cast of devoted Purplephiles from around the world." [Record Collector/March 2000]

"Whether it's biographies, discographies and editorial that grabs your attention, or sound files, movie archives and gossip, your appetite will certainly be sated here; everything is catered for in a well designed and easy to use format.
- aloud.com