Ask Erasure - "Vince Clarke (Aug 2005)"
This Ask Erasure feature publishes the responses that Andy and Vince have given to questions that people have sent in. Feel free to submit questions via the Contact section.

1) "Did you enjoyed the touring with Client? Did you choose them or were they were chosen by somebody else?" (Andy H)

Vince: It was great touring with Client and Piney Girl. We chose them because we thought that it would make for an interesting and varied night of music.

2) "Vince, what were the plusses and minuses of your time in Holland? I moving there soon..." (Danny Griffiths)

Vince: I lived in Amsterdam which is a very beautiful city. The friends I made there were very down to earth people. The only problem I had was my terrible pronunciation of the Dutch language.

3) "Do You like Isaac Asimov's books? And if yes, which is your favourite?" (Andris H)

Vince: I'm not a huge fan, but if I were to pick the book I liked best, it would be 'I Robot'.(terrible movie)

4) "What kind of music do you listen to these days?" (Tyronne Mayadunne)

Vince: I recently started to listen to Cat Stevens (again).

5) "Have you ever thought of making cover versions of 'Boney M' songs? I bet you and Andy could make some really amazing disco/dance versions of several Boney M songs." (Tyronne Mayadunne)

Vince: I hope not. (I want to stick to writing our own material)

6) "As an individual, can you ever detach yourself from Erasure and play an Erasure album and listen to it as you may do with other bands?" (shazza b)

Vince: It's impossible for me to listen to an Erasure album without thinking of ways to improve it.

7) "Nave you ever thought about getting back together with Martin Gore and do some music together after all these years apart?" (Thomas Foster)

Vince: He won't take my calls?

8) "I would like to know if you realised in the beginning that you might be as successful as you are now, and were you worried you would ever run out of ideas?" (Nick Allen)

Vince: I had no idea how things would turn out and yes, I do sometimes worry that I'm going to run out of ideas. That's why it's great to work with Andy who never seems short of melodic starting points.

9) "I was curious if you could give us more details regarding what soft synths you're using, which ones you find particularly good, etc." (Mark Kilborn)

Vince: Reaktor, Moog, Absynth, FM7, Oddity and all the Logic Audio soft-synths. (I love the Moog V)

10) "Have you ever considered making "Erasure" versions of the songs you wrote with DM / Yazoo, maybe just for live performances?" (Thomas)

Vince: We did a version of "Just Can't Get Enough" for one of the fan club gigs, but that was a one off.

11) "Whose the most dislikeable and rude famous person you've met? Dish the dirt!" (Ros Thomas)

Vince: Not telling!

12) "What are the lyrics of "Ice Machine" about?" (Rolf)

Vince: I have absolutely no idea whatsoever.

13) "Having got to love the Loveboat album, can you just tell me what was the thinking behind the production? Was it intended to sound "antique" or " back to basics"? Any chance of a slightly cleaned up version of the whole album?" (shazza b)

Vince: We wanted to make a much harder sounding record using just a few simple instruments, the stylophone features in a lot of the tracks. The album may be released in Dolby 5.1 in the near future.

14) "Vince, how old were you when you decided you wanted a career in music?" (Lisa)

Vince: Eleven (as a violinist).

15) "Has Andy played you any of the stuff he's been recording with Manhattan Clique!? What do you think of it?" (Cactus!)

Vince: I've heard the album, it sounds fantastic. It's a body rockin' disco stompfest!