In spiritual teachings, the violet flame is a divine transcendent force that transmutes the negative and transforms it into a positive. It's therefore a fitting name for Erasure's sixteenth studio album, which was released on September 23rd, 2014. Though the effervescent synth-pop grooves are nothing short of a party, the lyrics hint at darker times. As Andy tells me in our phone interview (which took place on the eve of the album's release), following the death of his manager and former long-term partner in 2012, he found solace in a new relationship and feels like he's been given a second chance in life. It's this return to the good times that served as the creative fuel for The Violet Flame. Here we talk about the new album and tour, the challenges of being out in an increasingly corporate and closed industry, and his two and four-legged sources of love and inspiration.
Nicole Powers: Where are you calling in from?
Andy Bell: I'm in New York City, in The Village.
NP: Because you're on a big U.S. tour right now?
AB: Yeah, we had our seventh show last night. We've got a few days here doing promo and then we're off to Atlantic City. I'm going to do some DJing there. And then we're touring around here until virtually the end of October. Then we go back to the UK, and then we do Denmark and Germany, and then we come back to New York for New Year's Eve, 30th and 31st.
NP: I saw you perform a few years ago in Los Angeles and the show was absolutely spectacular. You had sequined thongs and angel wings that would have made any Victoria's Secret model jealous.
AB: Well, I wasn't as fit this time. I got my gym sessions a bit ballsed up... Because I've been so busy this year -- we've had the Erasure album, another one with two other guys [iPop], a track with Dave Aude ["Aftermath"], I've been writing an album with him, and then this other show at the Edinburgh Festival called Torsten the Bareback Saint, which was 12 nights -- so I've literally had no time to go to the gym. But I've got this lovely sparkle sequined black tail coat and a lovely hat by Steven Jones that he made that looks like Swarovski crystal. It's a top hat which is really oversized. And then I'm just wearing these sequined leggings and hob nail boots. It's kind of Dickensian disco style.
NP: Dickensian disco -- love it. I guess the upside of being a little bit more modest with the outfits is there's more space for sequins.
AB: There is, but I do strip off half way because I think that's what people expect. I do go off and put on a pair of micro shorts and then come back. But they love it. They just holler and they love it.
NP: So you're not going to disappoint.
AB: No. I'm one of those people that doesn't like to self-edit... If you see a photograph of yourself but you're looking quite ugly, I think the actor in me comes out. Because I don't want to be always looking beautiful all the time... When I get up there, I'm just wondering what state of mind I'm going to be in, whether I'm going to love my body and show off my creases.
NP: Are you going to be like Kylie Minogue and officially retire your bum at some point?
AB: Once you've used something that's been a bit of your calling card, I think you can't use that too many times. Kylie has a lovely bum so I'm sure she can get much more mileage out of it.
NP: You have a lovely bum too.
AB: Thank you very much.
NP: The new album is very effervescent, it's like a glass of champagne, non-stop bubbles.
AB: After my last partner passed away... that was two years ago, we were together for 25 years. [Andy's long time manager and former partner Paul Hickey died on November 4th, 2012.] Even though we weren't together at that point, we were together as soul mates. And now I have a new partner and we got married a year and a half ago. We've been together for four years and he really helped me through... Life is so fabulous and I just feel like I've been given a whole second chance, and I think it's been reflecting in the music.
We live half in Miami, half in London, and we did the writing in Miami rather than in New York, which is where I used to go. I used to go and meet Vince [in New York] because he's halfway between London and Miami, so instead of being freezing, we did the writing in Miami in February and we had a really great time.
We did writing every afternoon for two weeks... We wrote on synth rather than guitar. I think when we're writing on guitar or piano, which is what we usually do, it's much more melodic and kind of folksy in some way. I wanted to get away from that a bit so I said to Vince, let's write on synth. He came up with lots of loops. He's been listening to Beatport quite a bit and DJing, so I think it definitely rubbed off on the music. In some ways it was more simplifying but I think quite effective.
NP: It sounds like you were both in the mood to party more this time. It definitely comes across on the record.
AB: Yeah and the strange thing is -- not that we've hung up our party shoes -- but we're both much more tempered than we were before. And that's how we've come to write a good party record, which is kind of ironic really.
NP: After all of these years how do you keep the music fresh?
AB: I think it's perhaps down to mood and your own reflection on your life and what's going on. I mean, we have had down periods and we have made maudlin albums, but I think that's just being a creative person, you know, being an artist. What's on the inside comes out. And I think at the moment we just feel like in some ways we've been regenerated... We really care about what we do, Vince and I, because we've never been really mainstream. I know we had our time in the UK for about 10 years or so, but, I think especially in America, because we were always an out gay band, or I was as a lead singer, you're not included in the rock fraternity. You're on the outside. We've never been hailed in Rolling Stone or anything like that, so you have to forge your own way. And I think in some ways that gives you longevity because you find your own path rather than being led.
NP: There's much more discrimination in general between dance and mainstream music in America than there is in the UK. That dates back to disco and the whole burning of The Village People's records thing. America still hasn't forgotten that.
AB: Yes, yes... It's very tricky. People would say to us when you read a biography of Erasure it's always like they only had two Top 20 hits in America. [They actually had three: "A Little Respect," "Chains of Love," and "Always."] And I think, well hello, come on, what we did was really rock & roll -- or in the spirit of rock & roll. It's the same as Elvis. He was singing gospel and black music and hanging out with the black guys when it was illegal. It's the same for us. I think what we did was really very brave and very cutting edge but that gets erased from the history. People only believe what they're told and they always look to the commercial markets and think that's a measure of your success, which it isn't.
NP: To this day I think that dance music in America is still a victim of homophobia. It's very much ghettoized here in a way that it isn't in the UK.
AB: Yeah. The huge artists here in America tend to be the black artists and the female artists, and they have to be virtual porno stars to get their music to sell. I'm not dissing those girls, but I think it's just indicative of the male corporate music business.
NP: It is much more corporate and much safer in America. I always get so disappointed when I'm watching award shows like the Grammys. Everyone is so cautious about what they say. They don't want to offend. They don't want any radio station to stop playing their music. Part of the attraction of pop music is that it's supposed to be the soundtrack to rebellion. When you take rebellion away, you take the spirit of the music away.
AB: Yeah, they have really. Everything's become asinine. Also creating controversy for the sake of creating it, which is not controversial, you know. It's all by numbers. I think what's very strange, because record sales have really completely dropped off, there's only really a super league of artists which completely tow the party line in the United States... I like Coldplay and I like Radiohead, but once you are courted by the huge sponsors it loses its value in some way.
NP: The music becomes a commodity.
AB: Yeah, yeah.
NP: You guys have always shaken your asses to the beat of your own drum.
AB: It's not something that we've done consciously... The whole thing of us being out has just made us subversive I suppose from the get-go. There's not any huge conspiracy or anything against us, but you just know how the system works and that's it. We're not really part of it, you know.
NP: I remember almost a decade ago in the UK, Elton John was one of the first big celebrities to get 'married' and it was like a royal wedding with people lining the streets. [Prior to gay marriage being legalized in the UK, Elton tied the knot with partner David Furnish in a civil union ceremony in December, 2005.] It's still not like that in America. We're still a few mental leaps behind.
AB: I think it's slowly chipping away. There's these pockets of resistance... They're always putting up barriers, they'll do their utmost because really you're chipping away at their belief systems that they've had in place forever. So it's hard to get things done. But slowly, surely, you do see bits of the puzzle coming together, gay rights and stuff coming much more to the forefront. It's going to take awhile. I think it's going to take at least probably about 10 more years.
NP: You were on the True Colors tour, which is a wonderful festival for the LGBT community and everyone that supports it...
AB: I was on twice, both times, yeah.
NP: What did you take away from that?
AB: What was amazing was there was really a sense of empowerment. For me, it was all the women doing it. Cyndi, she was at the helm for a start. I didn't really realize how deeply involved Cyndi was with the gay rights movement, but her sister's gay so she's been there from day one. We had Margaret Cho, Cyndi Lauper, The Dresden Dolls, and Rosie O'Donnell, we made almost like an act on the stage. They were like, 'Oh Andy... look at you with your bitches on the stage.' They just messed with my ego so much. You felt like they'd been following you all along or they knew what you'd been doing all this time. That it hadn't just gone unnoticed by people. I just felt really embraced by those people. It was great fun... I felt really honored that I was part of it to be honest, and not just a little part. It was a great group of people and I just felt at least we did something; We managed to get someone elected who was pro gay rights -- even if they're still bombing half the world.
NP: It's kind of scary, isn't it?
AB: I know. Awful. It's awful.
NP: How many times do we have to invade Iraq?
AB: I know. You can't come to terms with everything. I always just say to myself, well, where would you rather live? Would you rather live here? Would you rather be in New York or London or Saudi Arabia? ...I know where I'd rather be. I'd rather have my life exactly how it is being in Miami and London, with my lovely man and our baby Doberman.
NP: Oooh, you've got a dog? I need to get a picture.
AB: He's gorgeous. He's called Angel Baby. He's a rescue dog. Now he's five years old and he's the most sensitive, lovely being you could imagine, honestly.
NP: Dogs are people too. They're part of your family, aren't they?
AB: They are. I read a thing in the paper about how dogs are evolving really quickly... When you look into a dog's eyes you can see how sensitive [they are]. Their souls are incredible. I feel like they might inherit the earth. We're going to blow ourselves to bits and the dogs are going to come up to be the next ones.
NP: They say that dogs are like their owners. Does Angel resemble you or your partner?
AB: Well, he's very sensitive and he's really quite shy, so I think he's a bit of both of us. But at the same time, he's more of a star. When we're in Miami, everyone is stopping the dog going, 'Oh my God, look at the dog, look at the dog.' First of all, I felt, oh dear, I'm like secondary to the dog. Because people don't know who I am at all in Miami... But Angel, when he's being photographed and stuff, he's like a model. He knows exactly how to turn on the charm and stuff like that. He's such a hustler. At the same time he's really, really shy. He's very sensitive. He's scared of all other dogs, little ones and big ones. He's on his own really.
For more on Andy Bell visit AndyBell.com/. For more on Erasure, their new album The Violet Flame, and their ongoing Violet Flame Tour visit ErasureInfo.com/. Erasure photo by Joe Dilworth.
