Q&A: Erasure's Andy Bell

 

Singing songs that have been part of people’s life soundtracks for the last 20 years, Andy Bell remains a charming gay icon not only because of Erasure’s numerous hits, but because of his openness and honesty. Having come out in the 80s—and then again in 2004 as being HIV positive—Andy Bell has proven that integrity and artistry are not mutually exclusive facets. You can too sell over 25 million albums worldwide and carry your head up high. Surely that deserves more than a little respect.

Most recently, Andy traveled to 24 American cities as an act on the True Colors tour. His recognizable voice and pop-perfect songs have made him a sought after performer this year, making appearances in various gay pride festivals across the pond and elsewhere.

I interviewed the voice of Erasure to find out what the rest of this year looks like for him. The charismatic crooner dished on who he was most excited to see during True Colors, his dream duet and “Telly Nellies.”

Read the entire interview after the jump.

 

 

You fired the starting gun at the London Pride Run recently. Do you run?

I don’t run, I’m quite hopeless. In school, it was my Bugbear, doing cross-country running. I hated it! It was one of those things that you have to do in the pouring rain, freezing cold, with your shorts and stuff like that. Nobody’s going to make me do a 10K run.

Manchester Pride just passed... What’s the difference between how Gay Pride is celebrated in the U.K. as opposed to the U.S.?

I don’t know really, to be honest. I was only in one gay pride in the U.S., in San Francisco, which was probably around 20 years ago now. I was given the keys to the city, which was a real honor. The difference in the U.K. is that everybody’s trashed. I think in the U.S. it’s more, uh, I don’t know, sensible?

You’re heading to Dallas for a show there during Gay Pride (September 19th). Why? What makes shows like this fun and/or important for you?

I think what makes them fun is they’re spontaneous. I had a really good time in Dallas on the True Colors tour. And then I just went over to the VIP area just by chance and there was a load of gay people from the Dallas area and they said, “Would you be interested in coming over for Gay Pride?” And I just thought, “Why not?”

You’ve been out for years. How important is your gay identity to you? Are you a musician first and gay second?

For me, it’s still important because there’s still so much work to do. But also, it’s not the be-all, end-all of my existence. Last week I went on holiday to Sitges. It’s kind of half a gay resort with lots of Italian and French men, and it’s all really body beautiful. And there [are] all these dark rooms in the bars that you go to. To be honest, I got a bit gayed out, and I just thought, “Well there must be more to life than this, looking gorgeous and having sex all the time.” To me being gay is not the be-all and end-all. [It’s nice to] have quite a pretty down-to-earth life, really.

Who were you most excited to meet or see perform during True Colors?

It’s really nice being around [Cyndi] and she’s got great energy. But for me, it was the B-52’s because I was a fan from way back. I had “Rock Lobster” and “Wild Planet” on vinyl. I’d seen them once in London, but didn’t really get to meet them or anything. [It was nice] seeing how charming they are. Fred [Schneider] is really funny. Also, meeting Carson Kressley was really sweet. He was just making me laugh all the time.

 

 

If you could have any artist cover an Erasure song (or duet with) what song would it be? What artist?

Oh god! I don’t know. I would LOVE to do a song with Debbie Harry. Either “(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear” or “Atomic,” ‘cause that’s one of my favorite songs ever!

I’d like to do something maybe with Madonna, but I think she might be too hard to do something with ‘cause she likes doing all her own stuff, I suppose. But I did hear one time that she was quite a fan. I saw the last [tour]; I have to say she’s really incredible. It’s a huge show. It’s like Cirque du Soleil, really. But just seeing her dedication to the art is mind-blowing. She’s kind of like a Zen master, with all the stuff that she does. [I don’t have] 10 percent discipline that she has.

Then how do you stay in shape? What’s your fitness regimen?

I’m not really that obsessed with it. I mean, I do like looking good, but if I pile on a few pounds here and there, well hey, ‘cause I like my food. When there’s a tour coming up I do like to get ready for it, vocally as well. I went [to the gym] for the first time last Saturday since probably about three or four months. But I was quite pleased. I seem to be able to change my body shape quite quickly. Not that people would notice, but I do. But the hardest thing is the belly, especially at my age!

How do you feel about sexuality when it comes to pop stars? Is there an obligation for someone to come out? Or is it an entirely personal matter?

If you know that somebody’s gay and they’re making homophobic comments just to hide themselves, then they’re the worst people and they deserve to be outed. But a lot of people are quite shy about their sexuality. Not everybody wants to go out all blaring or shouting about it all over the place. I think it is quite a personal thing. For me, I just wanted my cards on the table from the get go.

How do you feel TV and film are doing when it comes to presenting TV or imagery of gay people?

I’ve got a friend who’s a choreographer named Les Child. They keep asking him all the time to do these panel shows where you’re judging people. He calls [gay personalities on TV] “Telly Nellies.” I think there are quite a lot of those. I just think we need to show diversity. I’ve got nothing against Telly Nellies, but it gets a bit tiring.

What’s the most important issue gay people are facing and dealing with today?

For me it’s still this lingering homophobia that you know is always there and you can instinctively feel it. Especially in the music business. Everything is so clean-cut, even though it’s all these girls taking their clothes off and showing their bodies. Underlying it, there’s still this homophobia, which does go alongside mysoginism.

During a recent stop on the tour, Cyndi Lauper called President Bush homophobic and anti-American. Care to comment?

I think he’s quite an easy target. I don’t agree with his politics. People like him do need to get with the program. It’s the same with Arnie in California. Finally gay people can have civil partnerships after all this time, and that might even be taken away from them again. I just think there’re all these people that always use their religion as some kind of a cloak, to make them seem more righteous than they really are and then condemn other people. To me that’s really hypocritical. But that’s what politics is, that’s their game.

The Anglican Church is grappling with big gay issues – whether or not to allow gay priests or to acknowledge or marry gay couples. How big of a deal is this?

I think most of the people, unless you’re a Christian, don’t give a tosh about it. There’re so many people in the church that are gay anyway, especially the Catholic Church. To me, I wouldn’t be that bothered if the church broke up. I gave up going to church when I was about 11. We went to a Methodist church and after a while I just thought, “This is bullshit, I don’t understand it.” I love Jesus, don’t get me wrong. I think he was a fantastic person, but so were lots of other people as well. To me the whole thing is about tolerance, it’s about forgiveness, it’s about loving your fellow man. And if [the church] is going to break themselves up by stupid who-sleeps-with-who, then that’s their problem.

 

Gay music and video from NewNowNext.com

 

What’s coming up for you musically?

I’m just working on some solo material, which is a third of the way through. So hopefully it should be finished by the end of this year to come out next year. And there’s an Erasure Pop Hits 2 coming out in October, which is all the singles we’ve had released, from “Always” onwards. And then I might be doing some piano recital stuff in March here in the U.K. in a place called the De La Warr Pavilion, which is in Bexhill, near Hastings. It’s a thing for Michael Nyman, he’s playing down there. We haven’t worked it out yet what we’re going to do, but it’s quite a number of singers doing stuff with him. And that’s about it, really. And Dallas Pride, of course!

What’s the secret to the enduring appeal of Erasure’s music?

I think because we haven’t had a huge amount of commercial success, it makes it still kind of [like] you belong to people. And people have to do research to find out stuff about you. It makes you kind of like a project for them. I think our music has always been really high-quality even though it necessarily hasn’t had huge amounts of exposure everywhere, and I think that’s [why] people appreciate it.