Erasure • Features • Interviews
Erasure (1997)
Andy Bell
So this is the tenth album you've done. How does it differ from previous albums?
Andy: Well, I think the new album doesn't differ really that much from the previous Erasure albums, not including the last one. I think it's… it is more akin to the "Wonderland" album and the "Innocents" album, mainly because it's… I think it's choc-a-bloc full of singles. I mean, sometimes it's really difficult for us to choose lead tracks from albums because there's always so many songs on there.
Why was the "Erasure" album different then?
Andy: I think it was just… the last album was more about us making music really and enjoying ourselves, not that we didn't on the new one and… we just had time to experiment. I think we kind of put ourselves through the mill a bit on the last one, you know. We thought maybe we could have a… a nine minute single. It didn't really work out like that, you know. They started editing the tracks and we got a bit confused, you know, especially on tracks like "Fingers And Thumbs". We just threw so much stuff in there, we didn't really know what was going on. You couldn't decipher the kind of main melody or the single within the track.
So what ideas did you take in with you initially into the studio?
Andy: We decided to write as many pop songs as we could, ultra pop songs. We wrote sixteen songs and… they were all just going to be two-and-a-half minutes long… and that's what we did!
Has the song writing process changed in any way?
Andy: I think the song writing just gets better and better. The songs on the new album, I really love them. I think there's a real confidence in there and you can tell that we've been practising our craft now for a long time. I think it's just come together really nicely.
Vince said that the song writing was relatively easy for this album.
Andy: Yeah, compared to last time, 'cause we had so much time last time to experiment and… I didn't really concentrate on the lead vocals because we were so busy doing backing vocal harmonies and rhythm parts and things like that. This time Vince said, "Make sure you sing the lead melodies first before you do anything else," so… we got stuck on a few tracks and we sang the leads probably about sixty times or something like that, you know.
It was quite hard coming up with the lyrics because when you've got so many kind of two-and-a-half minute pop songs and they're mostly all love songs - you can't help yourself. I'm not a very regular reader or anything, you know, so I start running out of adjectives and… and I get a bit bored with my own lyrics, so this time, I just… if I got stuck, I just faxed Vince and then he'd send me some over the next day and they'd be just like down pat, quite clichéd lyrics from both of us, but getting the lyrics back from Vince, I could just like sing them completely fresh, 'cause you… 'cause you get bogged down with your own… singing your own words.
You don't use any cut-out techniques or any little exercises to help with lyric writing?
Andy: No, I think… maybe I should do that, you know, or maybe I really ought to read more, 'cause I don't read hardly at all. I was a useless reader when I was at school, although I do like it, you know, if I'm away on holiday or something and have a couple of books and nothing to do, just sitting on the beach, I love reading, I can't put them down, but otherwise… when I'm at home, I'm a bit of a couch potato!
What does it mean when a new album comes out, to you personally?
Andy: I suppose I say it every time, but I really love this album. I really do. If I was not me and an objective person buying this album, I'd be really pleased. Once you've got all the songs down and they're all together as a package and the artwork's all there, it's just like you've completed some kind of project or something, like a building or a project at school or something.
How does the album make you feel?
Andy: Listening to the songs, I thought, "Oh, Madonna'll really like this. She'll really like all these songs together," and I think a lot of the songs are kind of quite reminiscent of the mood that I get when I listen to her songs. I always feel safe when I'm on tour and you walk into a lift and they're playing "Open Your Heart" or something in the lift. I always think, "Oh good, there's Madonna! She looks after you."
Why the title "Cowboy"?
Andy: We were… wracking our brains out what to call the album and Vince came up with the title "Cowboy" and we were kind of getting a bit cynical about the music business and so we thought, well, there are plenty of cowboys in the music industry and sometimes I fancy myself as a bit of a romantic 'Home On The Range' cowboy singer, you know, around the camp fire.
What's the lyrical inspiration on the album?
Andy: I think when we were writing in Dublin, we were there for about two weeks and it was raining like nearly every day. That's why the opening track on the album's called "Rain" and… when me and Vince are working together, it's us against the whole world, really, so I think a lot of the songs are about that kind of struggle and I was like trying to focus… kind of put my love somewhere and I mean I've been eleven years with my lover and you kind of like get a bit complacent after a while and there's not a lot of drama involved in our relationship, so I have to make it all up, you know, so I kind of like look elsewhere!
Does that mean that your writing is now less personal?
Andy: I think it's always quite dreamy, the writing. It's never that realistic and I quite fancy myself as a tortured soul, even though it's not true and a lot of the lyrics are quite nonsensical!
Describe the single "In My Arms". What's that all about?
Andy: "In My Arms" was one of the later songs that we wrote and it kind of came out and it was quite a straightforward melody, but the chords underneath the melody made it sound as if the melody was changing all the time, when it really wasn't and we thought that was quite good and… I think it's quite a kind of a passionate laid back song, for us.
I didn't really know what the song was about at all. It's kind of like, standing on the quayside kind of song and watching whatever's going on, but then I thought, well, maybe it's to do with Vince & I just having to contend with the whole rigmarole of getting out and promoting and completing an album again, 'cause we were sort of like away from it for a while.
So did it take a long time for the album to be made?
Andy: Yes, well, it took nine months, in all, with writing and recording, but there were quite a few gaps in between.
What did you do in those gaps?
Andy: We took three months recording vocals in Spain. We were messing about for like… a lot of the time we were there and just hanging out and everything.
There's a Blondie cover on the B Side of "In My Arms". Whose decision was that?
Andy: We were asked if we'd like to do a track for a Blondie tribute album that was supposed to be coming out on Chrysalis and we said, "Yes," and we did "Rapture" and the reason we did that was because that was one of the only Blondie songs that Vince knew, otherwise there's loads of songs… other ones that I would've liked to have done, but after we'd recorded the song, we didn't hear anything for ages and then heard that the project was dropped, so we just had this spare track, really.
You seem to prefer female vocalists. Why is that?
Andy: I just think they're much more honest, you know, and that sung from a female perspective, it's usually… they're the hurt person. To me there aren't many honest male singers.
What kind of themes run through tracks like the singles "Don't Say Your Love Is Killing Me" and "Rain"?
Andy: It's funny that the tracks that should eventually be picked as singles are the least coherent ones and quite superficial. "Rain" was… that was written in Dublin and was just about two people at home, being out, going out in the soaking rain and you're… you're on the way home and really looking forward to getting back and sitting by the fire and drying off and then "Don't Say Your Love Is Killing Me" had a working title, for ages, called "Whitney", 'cause we thought it sounded like a Whitney Houston song and I just… wanted it to be like very gay and like really hi-energy and to be sung from the perspective of a diva, so I just kind of like got all the diva clichés…
What's your favourite song on the album?
Andy: My favourite song is "Love Affair" and that was probably partly because it was recorded so quickly, in three days and the vocal was done in three days and it was recorded for the lead track of soundtrack that Vince did, called "Good Vibrations" and we were helped very much with the lyrics on that one because we were given some letters by the ex-lover of the producer of the movie to inspire us for the lyrics.
What were the letters like?
Andy: They were alright! They were OK! We seem to come across a lot of older gay men that are kind of like into their young, good-looking boys, you know, and they're still like little teenage girls, these men, they sort of like give everything for these young boys and then like wonder why a month later the guy just gets up and leaves them, you know!
If you knew then what you do now, what would you change about the first few albums?
Andy: I wouldn't change anything about the first few albums, but I think I would have had second thoughts about being in the industry! [laughs]
And why's that?
Andy: Well, I think it was a good time when we started ten years ago. The music industry, the media, was much more into the music and into creating some kind of longevity for the bands and now it's much more commercial or maybe it's just because I've woken up, you know, but it seems to be much more commercial and much more kind of an overnight thing and much more like in the spirit of the kind of Tom Watkins kind of people that… don't really give a damn about their artists but take the money and run, really.
Within the music industry are you sociable?
Andy: Um… not as much as… going out to film premières or parties, but when projects come up and it involves artists that you kind of… felt an affinity for, like say somebody like Debbie Harry or Lene Lovich, who we did a track with for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and people like Alison Moyet, going to her gigs, and Kirsty MacColl and hanging out with her and just loving that… 'cause to me, they're not really industry people either, well, you know, and… I think you just get together with them and sort of like… have a bit of a bitch, really!
What happens when you get recognised in the street?
Andy: Most people kind of… already have the impression that you're quite pleasant, or that you're quite a down to earth person and when they actually talk to you and… think, "Well, he's alright," you know. There's been the odd time when people come up or you've heard like second-hand that somebody spoke to you last week and they think you're a real bastard and all that kind of stuff and I think, "Nah! No way!" [laughs]
Vince said that he doesn't think that you can work without each other. You need each other as a working partnership.
Andy: Definitely, yeah. You know, when you're working you do sometimes lose your confidence and the best thing to do is just for me to phone up Vince and… you know, he's always perfect. He's always got the right answer and it's like… and it never comes down to him saying, "Oh, don't you worry about that," like, "It'll be alright," and everything. He just says the right thing at the right time.
How was the Tiny Tour? Are smaller venues better than playing large ones?
Andy: I think it's definitely the smaller venues, because they tend to be theatres. I feel more at home and just the dimensions of a human being on stage is much more… user friendly to the audience and they can like see you and they can hear you and they could almost touch you. I just don't like the cattle market kind of syndrome, you know, and maybe twenty rows back nobody can see you any more. You're just a little pinprick… but it still felt like quite heavy work, even though it was only twenty-five dates!
What's it like when you take new songs on the road?
Andy: I was hoping on the Tiny Tour that we would have done more new tracks, but because of the timing involved, it was almost impossible even to get the Golden Oldies programmed. I'm really looking forward to doing the tracks on the new album 'cause not many people would've heard it by then and to me it's just like singing something fresh, not something that we've sung twenty times already.
Is there that infamous buzz going on-stage?
Andy: Definitely there's a rush of adrenaline before you go on, especially if the audience is getting warmed up and sometimes you get lost and sometimes you really enjoy yourself while you're there and you can have a completely different gig to Vince on stage, but I think the whole thing where people say, "Oh, it's ecstasy going on stage," and like, "And you just live for the applause," and all that kind of stuff, I think that's really over the top!
What can we expect from this tour? Obviously you have a lot to live up to.
Andy: It's a bit all up in the air at the moment. I think it's going to be quite surreal and hopefully quite gospel-y 'cause I think there's definitely a gospel thing going on there somewhere on the album and I think just singing the new songs is going to be really refreshing for us and hopefully that'll put Erasure in a new light, just hearing the new material.
We're not really precise yet with what we're going to do on stage. It's quite vague but… I've been watching a lot of "Lost In Space", so… we're thinking kind of like post-apocalyptic cowboy… flavour.
Have you thought about costumes?
Andy: I've started thinking about it. Last time we tried to get hold of some stuff from W & LT 'cause they've got these complete rubber body suits, but they have all the head covered as well, which you couldn't do that, but I like the idea of kind of like camouflage and the second skin kind of thing. I mean, I'm not into Skin Two or anything like that, but just the kind of fantasy element of being an animal, so it looks quite scary, you know, sort of Hammer Horror.
What's been your favourite costume?
Andy: My favourite costumes have been the kind of things that have been really simple and had the most effect, completely unintentionally, like the rubber leotard on "Victim Of Love" and that was just a piece of footage that they caught from St Moritz or somewhere like that and then played it on 'Top Of The Pops' and then the single kind of like shot up the charts the next week just because of this clip, you know, and then also on the last tour, no, not the… the one before, just wearing Calvin Kleins and a white vest and Vivienne Westwood nine inch red high heels.
Have you ever set out to shock?
Andy: I do, but I don't think that it's cold and calculated, not as much as Madonna. It's much more the kind of thing that a teenager would do, living at home with his parents and doing it to kind of… rile them, really.
Do you have any ambitions for stage sets or anything?
Andy: I think I would… if I had my way and if we had the bucks and had the time, I'd quite like to have a whole sort of thing on stage where it wasn't just us, it was like you had a spotlight or it clicked over to somewhere else on the stage and there was somebody playing a violin or something and then it like clicked somewhere else and it was just like four windows lit up with people sitting in the windows, doing a barber shop quartet and things like that, you know, and then maybe somebody doing a bit of tap [laughs] or something!
Are there any other things that you've suggested?
Andy: I thought it'd be nice to have the tops of skyscrapers on the stage, with like Astroturf on them, that glowed, on each one, and then you could have a little shed on the top and it'd be like the life that goes on top of the skyscrapers and then you could have like a cow or some animals on one, that are just grazing there and then you could have, a bit like Westside Story, where you have a tightrope going between one block and the other and a little girl walking across with an umbrella and things like that… [laughs]… but it gets too intricate!
How will this tour compare to your past tours?
Andy: It kind of gets to be a lot to live up to, but I hope that people's expectations aren't too high, because we're just going to go ahead and do what we can, really, and… I think because we enjoy it so much and just the whole putting together of the thing, it usually comes out quite good.
How do you celebrate after a show?
Andy: We come off, have a cup of tea or have our cocktail of the night, which is probably maybe like maybe a frozen Margarita or a Sea Breeze or something like that, then like have people backstage, maybe that we haven't seen for ages, ask them what's going on, invite them back to the hotel, you know. It depends whether we're feeling tired, or go out for the night.
How do you see yourselves now, in relation to the rest of the pop world?
Andy: I think it's pretty much the same as it's always been. I think, in the industry, it's almost like Erasure are the kind of band that… we're always in the background and I think we're the least hyped band in the industry, I mean apart from people like The Cure and those kind of people and New Order, but it seems to be still that there's a bit of a label… that people don't like admitting that they like us, 'cause they think, well, you know, it's… saying you're a poof or something like that if you like Erasure. That's why I think we're the most rock & roll band in the… in the industry, 'cause we get up people's noses without doing anything!
Do you have any ambitions left within Erasure that you'd like to fulfil?
Andy: I'd quite like Erasure to have a good American reception. It would be like impossible to ignore us or impossible to write anything about us if we went and had a number one in America or something.
Any other ambitions?
Andy: A total ambition of mine is to do an electro Country & Western album. I know kd's been there, she's ventured there, or that's where she came from, but I'd love to do that and it's already in my mind, you know, calling it "Gingham", the album, and having it just naked laying on a gingham table cloth underneath an oak tree or something, you know, with just a pair of boots and a hat and doing all these like classic Country & Western records with an electro backing.
What sort of fan mail do you get?
Andy: We get quite a bit from mums and single mums as well, quite a bit. I don't know whether it's because they heard that I was supportative [sic] of them, through my own family as well. My own two youngest sisters have both had babies by themselves. I don't know whether it's because they think that I'm particularly sensitive or purely because they really enjoy the music but we get letters from them saying, "Oh, here's my little girl and here's my other little girl and we really love your music and you helped us through this time," and those kind of things, you know.
Would you consider doing a different career?
Andy: A different career? I would like to get more involved with the acting and… I know that Maddie's got her film things… projects going on, and I've been in touch with Pedro Almodóvar and he seems to be up for writing a part but it's, you know, it's been kind of like two years up in the air kind of thing and I need to learn Spanish, but I quite like doing anything that's a bit more… left of centre, I suppose.
Have you acted recently?
Andy: I just did one and a half minutes in the "Good Vibrations" film and played a porno director. I flew all the way there, paid for my own fare, like for the hotel and everything, didn't get paid for doing it, like did it voluntarily and… they almost forgot I was there and I nearly didn't do it, you know, and they said, "Oh, Andy's here. He's been waiting all day!" [laughs] I did the play, "The Night They Buried Judy Garland", that was just for a week, and for me that was a disaster, 'cause I hadn't learnt any of my words or anything so I just like blagged it on stage and… that's it really.
Vince's answer to the last question was, I think, "I can drink a lot." What is the best thing about being Andy Bell?
Andy: The best thing about being Andy Bell is that I get away with murder. [laughs]
Can you expand?
Andy: I think it's a typical Taurean trait that whenever you feel like you're being pushed or cajoled into doing something you don't really want to do… I mean, Vince is much more vocal and he'll say, "No, I'm not doing it," and that's it, but I won't do that. I'll kind of like get guilt-tripped into doing things but then I'll make my excuses and… if I feel like I'm doing something under pressure or that I don't really want to be doing it, to me it doesn't work out properly anyway, you know. I think I've always been a bit of a spoilt brat, from when I was really young. I don't mean precocious, but definitely very stubborn.
And that's stayed with you?
Andy: Yeah.
Vince Clarke
What's it like doing an album tenth time around?
Vince: The tenth album was relatively easy to record because we had more songs than we needed this time round. The song writing came relatively easily and I was working with a guy called Neil McLellan, who gave the album a certain direction which I think was lacking before, so it was a very pleasant experience. Also I got to cook a lot.
Why do you think that the songs came easier this time around?
Vince: I just think my relationship with Andy is a lot better. It gets better all the time, you know. We feel very much at ease with each other. It's a pleasure to write the songs.
What do you think you've gained on this new album?
Vince: Neil McLellan, he's really hot on making drum loops and putting some kind of groove into the songs, you know, and I've always been a 'fours on the floor' man, so it's possibly made our rhythms slightly simplistic, so that's something that he has introduced into the songs.
What are your favourite songs on the album?
Vince: The only song that I can remember is a song called… "Love Affair", which is a ballad. It's the last track on the album and it was written initially for a film which we were involved in last year and it's like the song goes over the closing credits and it's just a romantic, slushy song.
What's the film?
Vince: The film is called "Good Vibrations". It's a film about the porno industry in America and it's a sort of comedy and it's due out hopefully in '97.
Why can't you remember any of the other songs on the album?
Vince: Well, I can remember the songs, but I can't remember what they're called because they all had working titles, you know. There's a song called… "Don't Say Your Love Is Killing Me", which I think is going to be the second single and that was always called "Whitney" for some reason. But you know, they all have weird titles like that.
Any more like that?
Vince: There's titles on the album which I… which I find hard to relate to the actual songs that they are because not only does like the working title have no relationship to the song, but also the actual title has no relationship with the song, but that's down to my partner.
What were you listening to at the time that you made the album and thus what is your inspiration?
Vince: I wasn't really listening to any music, I don't think, when we made the album. I don't listen to the radio much and if I listen to any records then it's usually stuff like Joni Mitchell or Simon & Garfunkel.
You're not a clubbing man?
Vince: I like to go to clubs, but I never know what they're playing in clubs. I mean, unfortunately they don't tell you, you know. I kind of… you know, I kind of appreciate that music in that environment, but I don't know that I'd go out and buy it.
So you're not a trainspotter in the sense that you'll hear a sound on someone else's record and try and imitate it or better it?
Vince: Well, maybe sometimes, I mean, in the sense of imitating arrangements, possibly. And I mean, all our songs, when we write songs, in the end, everything we write, every melody we write, has been written before, I think. You know, if it was something that we put together that had never been heard before, then we probably wouldn't accept it. It's things that are familiar that make it into an acceptable melody.
What about technology? Are you a boffin in that area?
Vince: No, I'm not a boffin. I mean, I like messing about with synthesisers. I'm not a trainspotter in that sense, you know. I used to be. [laughs] All synthesisers have numbers. I can reel out the numbers.
Are there any particular noises on the LP or sections that you're pleased with… sampling or otherwise?
Vince: Well, sampling is a bit weird for me because, I mean, Neil did a lot of sampling on this record or used samples that he kind of manipulates and messes around with, but it's not something that I'm really into 'cause I don't really understand how to use the machines. I use this kind of old analogue equipment to make the music with. I mean every time you make a record, you know, you try to make a new sound. It's very difficult, though. It's very difficult not to repeat yourself.
There are sound references on the album. On one track there's something that sounds like the sounds on Telstar. Was this done consciously?
Vince: Well, again, I mean, it's familiarity, I think. I mean, you know, if you get a sound that sounds like a Telstar organ, then immediately you think, "Oh yeah," you know, "That's worked somewhere else before. It's bound to work on this!" and also I like sounds that make people wince a little bit. I mean, that sound, particularly, you know, makes everybody wince, because it's so corny.
Are there any proper instruments on the album?
Vince: [laughs] Proper instruments! They're all proper instruments! Yeah, there's guitar. There's a bit of guitar stuff on the album. I think that's it. We tried to do violin, but it sounded so atrocious! [laughs]
How do you know when you've got a single? Do you get a feeling in the middle of the track?
Vince: Because the time between when you've finished a record and when it's released is so great, I've forgotten the stuff and I mean I get excited about songs when we write them and I get excited about songs when we actually mix them, you know, and they suddenly come alive again, but then there's months and months in which I forget what we've done, so… by that point I never know what should be the single or what ought not… well, I know what ought not to be, but I kind of know… I never know what should be and you know, the record company's idea of what a single is and our idea is usually, well more and more so, it's different
When was the album made and how long did it take to make it?
Vince: I finished my bit in about June, last year, '96. It took… altogether about six months to record and mix and… about three months before that to write, although not three months like three months sitting down writing every day, you know. I mean, we only, you know, we only spend an hour doing it or something.
Right, but a long conception. I mean, longer than most bands, I'd wager…
Vince: I mean, it's quick for us. We spent a lot longer on the last album, the previous album. It could be done a lot quicker, it's just that we just can't get our act together!
Musically, where did you want to take off from the last album?
Vince: Well, I think we wanted to go for singable melodies, you know, more than anything. The previous album, I kind of had this idea that, you know, that we could sound like Pink Floyd, but we just never got there! [laughs]
Has the song writing process changed for you since the old days and your previous bands?
Vince: Yeah, certainly. I mean, I never wrote together with anybody before. I mean, I tried to write with Alison, but it never kind of worked out, but now I only write with Andy. I wouldn't have the confidence to write on my own any more, actually. You know, we rely on each other so heavily. Even us writing together has changed over the years. It's like… it's just so casual now. I guess we were a lot more precious, you know, when we first started.
You know, if you had an idea, you'd kind of try and see it through, no matter how much the other person disapproved, but now the song has to have like 100% backing from both of us before it'll actually get processed and made into a record.
Do you contribute to Andy's lyrics at all?
Vince: Not very much. He sometimes gets stuck, you know, and when he gets stuck, then he sends me them over and I change a few things around, you know, but mostly they're down to Andy.
Have you ever wanted to sing or write lyrics yourself?
Vince: I used to write lyrics when I wrote songs on my own but… I don't think I could do it any more, actually. It's weird. I guess it's 'cause you just get into this… again, it's like just relying on someone else, you know.
It's a team, then?
Vince: It's a team, yeah. We need each other. We're stuck with each other!
How has Andy changed as a performer and a singer?
Vince: He's got a lot more fussy! [laughs] I think he gets better and better as a performer and… as a singer, I think that he tries too hard, actually, you know. I think he sounds great, anyway, and he may sing a song a hundred times and invariably, you know, the first two takes are the best take. I mean, everybody says that about all singers, but it's… you know, it's really noticeable with him, I think.
Is it possible for you yourself to rate this album compared to what you think of the others?
Vince: No, not at all. No, because when you look back on other albums, on previous albums, I mean you associate those with… with what you were doing at the time and how you were feeling, so they kind of… it's all very nostalgic. It's nothing to do with the quality of the music.
Are you working on anything else at all? Do you do remixes?
Vince: I do remixes occasionally for friends, but I don't get asked very much, you know, really, but occasionally I do bits and pieces, but the problem is, I always make them sound like me, so… I'm always amazed when people ask me [laughs] to do anything, but I've done a few in the past. I wouldn't like to do it like as a job I don't think, you know.
Are you generally happy with the result?
Vince: Of the remixes? Well, I do as best I can, you know. It's quite difficult because you have to then get it approved, you know. I mean when we do our… make our music we don't have to get it approved, only by ourselves. We're our critics.
Have you done anything for TV?
Vince: I've done TV stuff before and I've done radio things before. What was the last thing I did? Oh, the last TV theme was "Top Of The Pops", I suppose, but that was over a year ago now and before that I did this… thing for 'Science Week' or something on the radio. Again, I mean, you know, the opportunities come and I take them, if I'm interested.
Do you enjoy touring?
Vince: Well, I enjoyed the last tour that we did, at the end of '96. That was good fun because it was… it had been a long time since we had toured, so it was all kind of quite new again, but on the whole, I mean, if it goes on too long then it gets boring, the same as anything else.
Do you get nervous before shows?
Vince: Actually, no, not on the last tour I didn't at all. It's funny that! I mean, on previous tours I've taken beta-blockers, you know, to calm my nerves, but it was fine on this tour. It was really fine. I really enjoyed it.
What do you stipulate backstage as a rider before you go on?
Vince: We're very boring, actually. Just… beers and water. Really, that's all, yeah. I mean, we try to avoid food if can, because otherwise we end up fat… fatter.
Do you play a lot of live keyboards on-stage or are you just a one finger man?
Vince: I don't play any keyboards on-stage, or I didn't on the last tour. I just hit the button that made the thing go.
So what else do you do when you're on stage?
Vince: I watch Andy.
Do you pretend to play?
Vince: No, no. There's no keyboard to play. I didn't have any keyboards on stage. It's all like these rack mount keyboards so there no actual physical keyboards as such, they're just connected by wires and then there's a computer which I… press a button on and off it goes. Easy life!
Are you ever tempted to get a guitar out or a trumpet or do some drums?
Vince: Well, I've done guitaring on tour. Yeah, a little bit of guitar. My guitar playing is atrocious. What I usually tell the sound man is, "If I'm really playing badly just to turn me right down, you know. Keep it quiet!"
Have you ever used a live band?
Vince: Well, we've done bits and pieces, you know. I mean, before we've had percussionists and trumpet players and guitarists on stage, you know, to augment what we had already, but… not like live drums or anything like that.
What will this tour, "The Cowboy Concerts", promise?
Vince: Well, apparently, according to Andy, this is going to be based on a post-nuclear Western… and I don't know what that means! It means, I think, that everybody is going to get like [???] by radiation or something. Everybody'll leave the venue glowing.
Is Andy the concept man?
Vince: Yeah! Andy comes up with the wacky ideas.
What's your input?
Vince: Well, I do all the hard work beforehand. I just prepare everything.
Erasure are known for wearing some outrageous costumes on-stage. Are there any outfits you won't wear?
Vince: Well… I'm a bit wary to wear skin-tight clothes, but aren't we all?!
Will you be at the front of the stage at all this time?
Vince: No, I'll be firmly in my position, in my place at the back. I know my place!
I do believe myth has it that you did step out to the front once when you were doing the Abba songs…
Vince: They made me do that! They made me do a dance routine which makes me cringe even thinking about it, you know. I mean, it was OK, but I'll never, ever do it again!
It seems that you haven't changed your view about the glare of the spotlight
Vince: Yeah, it's just as embarrassing as it always was.
Do you like being a man of mystery?
Vince: I like keeping myself to myself, you know, definitely. I enjoy my privacy.
Do you get recognised in the street?
Vince: Very rarely. In fact, someone recognised me in Sainsbury's a few weeks ago and it's weird 'cause I've lived in this town for two-and-a-half years, you know, and no-one's ever said anything, and I'm in the queue and there's this woman in the other queue and she was talking to her friend, who was behind me and she went [whispers] like this, right, and this girl looked round and I just went completely red, bright red.
I mean, normally, you know, people see you or something or they might turn their head or say something, you know, occasionally, but it really got me. I think it was because I'm in Sainsbury's and [I'm going], "Oh no! So embarrassing!" and it was like a huge queue as well, so I just had to stand there being red in this queue. It was awful!
What do people say if they come up to you and recognise you?
Vince: [laughs] They usually say, "Are you such-and-such?" and you say, "Yeah," and they say, "Oh, I thought so," and they walk away! [laughs]
How do you feel about success, then? It seems that you might have a relaxed attitude.
Vince: Well, I'm, you know, as I said earlier, I'm not very… I'm not as ambitious… Did I say that earlier? No, no, I didn't. Past interviews! Robot mode! No, I'm not as ambitious now as I was when I was younger so… You get a bit disappointed, you know, when things don't happen as perhaps you'd have liked them to, but not that much. I mean, music's not that important, you know. I think I… you know, I can see things more in perspective than I did do when I was younger.
Can you ever see yourself doing another job?
Vince: I've talked about it before. I've thought about it before, but I can't think of anything I could do. I mean, I've done loads of jobs before. You know, I've done loads of work before, before I did this, but mostly kind of manual labouring. I wouldn't like to go back to that particularly, but other… careers, I don't know.
It's nice to make music. I mean, it would be nice to possibly do music in another form, you know, making film music or something like that'd be interesting, but it would be nice to do it with Andy… 'cause I think we work so well together as a team
What would you say the best thing about being Vince Clarke is?
Vince: Um… my capacity for drink!
Are you allowed to engage in that, being a pop star?
Vince: Whether I'm allowed to or not it doesn't matter, does it? I mean, that's the good thing about being private! [laughs]