Have you enjoyed making the 'Non-Stop' album
and have you achieved what you set out to achieve with it?
The making of NS was a great adventure for me; it took a fairly long time
to get it off the ground but once we started in ernest PG & I; it was quite
swift & thrilling. I just would have appreciated a bit more support - well
lots actually - from the UK media but alas it wasn't to be. Maybe I'm asking
too much in our celebrity obsessed X-Factor world but the support from the
fans, and Vince, Michael P, Daniel, Paul, and everybody at Mute, during
a very volatile period in the music industry has been second to none. We
had lots of favourable reviews and I wanted to make a cool dance record
which is what we achieved.
How did you come to collaborate with Pascal Gabriel
on 'Non-Stop'?
After a bit of a stop/start beginning writing with Stephen Hague, which
was very pleasurable, I just decided that my heart wasn't really in it,
but we did do some wicked songs. I believe the idea to work with Pascal
came through Daniel Miller & MJ.
Do you have any favourites from the tracks on
the album?
Touch and Slow Release are my faves.
Are there any more unheard tracks from the 'Non-Stop'
sessions still to be released?
Maybe one b-side.
Wasn't there supposed to be a track on 'Non-Stop'
that featured Kate Pierson from the B-52s? What happened to that and will
we ever get to hear it?
I still have great faith in the track that Kate and I wrote, we had a fabulous
time doing it! It just wasn't in keeping with the rest of the album. I'm
sure it will surface in some guise in the future!
What is the process that decides which songs
are to be singles? Is that down to you or the record company?
Well I'm beginning to think I should trust in my own gut-feeling some more
but this time we trusted the judgement of the radio pluggers. I don't know
if the outcome would've been any different. I'm at that difficult age for
radio i.e. over 40 and not M.O.R. enough for mainstream apparently!
Did you really listen to all the entries in the
'Say What you Want' remix competition, and did you really choose the winner?
Believe me, ask Richard Evans! I was in Spain and was listening to them
all. My favourite was definitely the Joy Joy Mix 'cause it was so Abba-sounding.
I also liked some of the more ravey/Euro mixes like Fabrice Potec and Hans
Lindqvist.
What do you think of the new remixes of the old
Erasure songs? Are you involved in choosing which remixes are released?
I thought there were some really great mixes. I get a bit confused when
new remixes sound rather like the old one but I don't think it has any thing
to do with copying, I believe it's just pure coincidence and Vince's original
sounds are so pure and 'original' that it's quite hard to stray very far
from the character of his sounds unless it is something really radical!
You've been doing some remixing for other people
over the last few years, do you have plans to do more of that and if so
then who would you most want to remix?
I love remixing would've loved to have got my hands on Madonna but that
didn't happen. But yes would love to do more, watch this space.
How do you go about coming up with lyrics for
your songs? What were the inspirations for 'Non-Stop' and what is inspiring
you on the new Erasure songs?
Basically unless you are inspired from beginning to end from the very start
of a song (a song that writes itself!) I just collect lots and lots of rhyming
poetry per song and sift out what I don't need. I really love coming up
with fresh new melodies, that's my favourite part, and creating harmonies.
The tricky bit is attaching the lyrics! With NS I found it slightly easier
because the melodies were quite robotic and rhythmical which naturally lend
themselves to more spoken style lyrics which I find easier in some ways
(I don't know why!).
It seems that your lyrics are very honest and
often very personal. Are there lyrics you've written in the past that embarrass
you now, or that you wish you hadn't made public?
You can never be personal enough!
Will we get to see you play solo, or see Erasure
live sometime soon? If so then where are planning to play… there's a lot
of parts of the world that haven't seen you for a very long time!
Erasure is coming yeah!
You've also been DJing quite a lot recently,
is that something you're keen to do more of, and if so will you DJ internationally?
I love DJing the more you do the more you want; it's all about the music
and enjoying yourself, and maybe people get to hear and like it too. Not
like narrow, centralised computer radio 'play-lists'.
Are there still any other artists you'd like
to duet with? Alison Moyet for example?
Would love love love Barbra, Dolly, Debbie, Annie, Boy... all girls!
How are you getting on with the new Erasure album?
I'm getting very excited. It's gonna be fantastic. Vince and I are in a
great space and have brand new chapters in our lives.
Do you and Vince ever argue? If so, what about?
Not really. Sometimes a tiny bit about words, but he usually gets his way!
Are you happy?
Over the moon and the rainbow.
What's your favourite joke?
As you know jokes aren't really my forte. OK, 'What's the difference between
a straight man and a gay man?.... about five pints! Ta-dah!
Thank you to everyone who sent in questions for Andy, there were too many of you to mention individually (sorry!) and we merged some of your questions together to get more of them answered, so if you can't see your actual question then hopefully there's at least one that touches on the same subject!