1) You seem to be rather adventuresome in the holidays you take, have you ever considered Scuba Diving or Climbing Mt. Fuji? (Jonathan Frost)
Vince: I tried scuba diving once and found it very claustrophobic. I think I'll stick to snorkelling. I haven't got a head for heights, so I don't think I'll be climbing any mountains.
02) What is your favourite beer? (Michael Jurney)
Vince: Kolsch from Cologne.
03) I heard a rumor that the guys from Komputer (ex Fortran Five members) where such big Vince Clarke fans that they went through your trash to recover a prototype roland analog synth, and had it repaired and used it for there new band Komputer... is there any truth to this story? (Aaron Van Sickle)
Vince: Komputer did salvage and repair an old keyboard that I'd disposed of (a poly-synthi I think?). I'm not sure if it was because they were fans or just thrifty blokes.
04) Did you ever co-write anything with Martin Gore, which was never released? From what I've read, you and Gore have opposite ways of writing songs...(?) (Thomas)
Vince: Martin and I never attempted to write a song together. I've only ever really collaborated with Andy.
05) Did you read any of the Depeche auto-biographies? and are there any grave mistakes in there that upsets you or makes you laugh till you burst into tears? (Thomas)
Vince: I haven't read any of the Depeche biographies yet (must put that on my 'to do' list).
06) The earlier Erasure and Yazoo albums had more percussion "noises", ie Knocking On Your Door, Stop!, Nobody's Diary... Later releases seem to focus less on percussion noises and more on just the music. Am I correct? (Mike)
Vince: I guess we've been using a lot more 'real' sounding drum sounds in our most recent recordings. There is quite a lot of 'weirder sounding' percussion on the new album.
07) Do you purposely make live backing tracks sound different than the studio version, and if so, why? (Pat)
Vince: It varies from tour to tour. Sometimes I'll completely reprogram the entire set with new sounds and arrangements and sometimes I'll attempt to emulate the sounds of the original recordings.
08) Given your worrying nature with regards to live shows, what type of backup system do you take with you on the road? (Pat)
Vince: Every back-up system known to man!
and a joke from Vince...
Vince: A bloke walks into a bar and asks the bartender if he will give him a free beer if he shows him something amazing. The bartender agrees, so the man pulls out a hamster, who begins dancing and singing "My Way" by Frank Sinatra
"That is amazing!" says the bartender and gives the bloke his free beer.
"If I show you something else amazing, will you give me another beer?" The bartender agrees, so the man pulls out a small piano and a hamster and a frog. Now the hamster plays the piano while the frog dances and sings "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive.
The bartender, completely amazed, gives him another beer. A man in a suit, who's been watching the entire time, offers to buy the frog for a $1000 Eventually the man reluctantly agrees to the sale.
"Are you nuts?" asks the bartender. "You could've made a fortune off that frog."
"Can you keep a secret?" say's the man. "The hamster's a ventriloquist."