 | | Erasure in 2007 (C) Steve Double |
Their songs are timeless. BBC Berkshire gladly hold up their hands to screaming out A Little Respect on a certain karaoke game. Now Erasure are back for 2007 with a new album, called Light At The End Of The World, and a UK tour kicking off in September. BBC Radio Berkshire's Phil Kennedy chats to Andy Bell and Vince Clarke from one of the most successful song-writing duos of all time. Read excerpts below or listen to the full interview here: So you've had a bit of a break, why come back in 2007? Andy: "Well the last album we released was an acoustic record and we did a tour with that with an acoustic band - just to do something different. It's just the right time for us to get together again and start writing." How did you first meet? It was in 1986 with Sometimes (Erasure's first single) wasn't it?
 | | Back in the day: Erasure in 1986 |
Andy: "Yeah Vince put an advert in the Melody Maker and I was looking to join a band at the time and I just so happened to come across that." Wow. When you applied for that you knew who Vince was, from Yazoo, Depeche Mode... "I was really beside myself when I heard it was Vince Clarke. "I was screaming all around the house. Vince had already split from Alison (Moyet, Yazoo) and there was a guy I was sharing a house with, and he pointed to Alison's first record, Alf, and he said: 'next year, that's going to be you'!" Vince were you jumping round your house when you realised it was Andy Bell. (deadpans) "Yeah I was very excited actually, myself and the producer yeah, couldn't believe it." Obviously given the fact you were welded together by advert, you weren't friends. How do you get on as a working partnership and a friend partnership? | "I love a song that's over in three minutes." | | Andy Bell, Erasure |
Vince: "Well obviously our friendship has developed over the years and it's when Andy started co-writing and we were working together in that way that we really got to know each other. "Now when we get to write an album, we sit in the room with a guitar and a tape recorder and it's all very natural and comfortable for both of us." Is technology in 2007 more of a hindrance. Given that in the 80s it seemed to be cutting edge going the electronic route. Is now almost too technological for you? Andy: "It makes it easier actually for a band like us. Everything's more reliable, if there's a power cut it doesn't necessarily mean the show stops." It makes you wonder that way back, we mentioned Depeche Mode, if you'd had some of the technology we have now, how big it would have been then. Vince: "With Depeche it was just four synthesisers and a tape recorder on stage, so you had to rely on everybody being sober. And that was a problem sometimes." Do you have to rely on Andy being sober? Vince: "He's always sober. He's the most sober man I know." You mentioned the acoustic thing - as soon as I heard Erasure and Sometimes, the bit that caught my ears straight away was the guitars coming in - it was something new. You didn't expect that from Vince Clarke... Vince: "I remember when we wrote that song, it was at the record company Rough Trade's old depot, and when Andy sang the bit that went (cue Andy: 'ah hah hah ah hah hah') we thought, 'yeah, that's a hit'". I love the way you're proud to say: pop is great. Andy: "For us it's the music that we love listening to so it's going to be the music that we write. I love a song that's over in three minutes." Now you've got this new album out, you've decided to go to America and lose yourself and write the album. "Yeah, it's called Light At The End Of The World and I went to visit Vince in Portland, Maine, where he lives now with his family. We saw him for about one month for writing and then two months for the recording and then we mixed it in London." You're about to go on tour again. Does that fill you with dread or are you looking forward getting out there? Andy: "Well I am now, I was a bit nervous about it. If you'd asked me a month ago I'd have been more scared about it but I feel better now because everything seems to be falling into place." Do you still get a thrill from doing songs like Sometimes, or Stop, or doing your Abba bit? "I do, I love doing the old songs, I especially love playing A Little Respect - the audience responds to that song, they'll sing along so it's still a huge thrill." What's the plan then - you've got the tour but are you heading back off to Portland to get away from Andy again Vince? "Well we're touring America first and then we're coming to the UK in the autumn. I guess we'll be meeting up again next year to think about the next record." ______________________________________________
On tour: the nearest gigs to Berkshire are in Oxford, Bristol and London. Get full Erasure info here:
Erasure >
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