With the 21st anniversary of The Innocents nigh, Erasure are re-releasing their classic album along with a DVD of The Innocents tour from 1988. Besides making RealMusic Blog feel old, it was also the ideal opportunity to have a chat with lead singer Andy Bell about how old it makes him feel (”it seems like a different lifetime!”) and also to discuss Erasure’s future plans, his forthcoming solo album and what he thinks of the current 80s revival…
You’ve been off the UK radar for some time now - what have you been up to?
“Erasure’s always around but I’ve been having a break from us after 21 years to do some solo stuff - get my life back a bit! So I’m releasing an album under a pseudonym - I still think there’s a bias against us in the UK press but it does seem to be turning with bands like La Roux in fashion again. The solo album comes out in March - it’s already been played on Radio One a couple of times.”
Is your new stuff the same style as Erasure?
“Well it’s still electro because I can’t help it so it sounds really current.”
It’s the 21st anniversary of The Innocents - does it seem that long ago to you?
“it feels like it was a different lifetime! Whenever I’ve met Debbie Harry she always refers to Blondie in the third person and I understand what she means now because it was so long ago. Back then though it was all so new and fresh. The Innocents was our third album and we were working so hard, saying yes to everything and touring that album for over a year so it’s all a bit of a blur really.”
Do you still enjoy performing the older songs?
“I love it! Some of the songs get a bit boring after a while like Victim Of Love, but I still love singing A Little Respect, Blue Savannah and Sometimes.”
Can you still reach the high notes in A Little Respect?
“I can but we lower the key of the song by half a semi-tone so that it’s possible.”
You’re originals from the 80s - what do you think of the current 80s revival?
“I can’t quite believe how much like us the new songs sound, albeit far more naive than us - but to the artists doing them it’s all new and fresh of course. Hearing it all really makes me appreciate how unique Vince is though.”
Are you marvelling at the revival of 80s fashion too?
“I did my solo project in a studio in Shoreditch, East London and that was really weird as that’s electro central now in terms of music and fashion. We recorded Erasure’s first album in Shoreditch too, but back then it was a bleak desert - not so much now…”
Do you prefer your style now or back then?
“I was speaking to some guy in the bar last night and he was saying to me that he remembered me in a rubber leotard on Top Of The Pops and that I looked hot but I knew it. At the time though it was the absolute opposite - I didn’t have a clue! I like to be experimental with costumes though - two tours ago I wore a Victorian bushel with riding crop - stuff that gets people gets people talking. In my everyday life I’m a T-shirt and jeans man but on stage I like to make a splash.”
La Roux’s said that she takes a lot of inspiration from Vince - what do you think of her music?
“I was DJing in Palm Springs and she played before me - I thought she was really great and so sweet. She received some award and asked for Erasure to present it to her which I was touched by, but we were on tour so had to decline.”
Why do you think you and Vince have survived this long?
“We’re very similar, down to earth people and we’re not easily impressed or into the celebrity lifestyle. We don’t go to parties all the time, which is also probably why our profile is so low in the press too!”
Have you started on the new Erasure album yet?
“We have - Vince will be working on it over Christmas and I’ll be doing vocals early next year. I might be taking part in an ITV show called Pop Star To Opera Star next year, so if that happens we’ll have to work around that too. But the album should be out late next year with a tour.”
What’s the most played song on your MP3 player right now?
“I Feel Space by Lindstrom.”
If you could be the love child of any two artists, who would you choose?
“It would have to be Joe Jackson and Siouxsie Sioux.”
Watch Erasure perform A Little Respect back in 1988…
The 21st Anniversary remastered edition of The Innocents will be available on CD and as a deluxe boxset with two discs and a DVD from October 26th.
Listen To Erasure Radio on RealMusic
(Clare Lydon)
