MMN Exclusive: Yaz and Erasure Mastermind Vince Clarke on Robot Soul and Strange Sentimentality
The day prior to my wedding, I got on the telephone with Vince Clarke, a founding member and primary songwriter at varying points for Depeche Mode, Erasure, the Assembly, and influential techno-blues duo Yaz (or Yazoo, as they were known in the UK). I confessed openly to Clarke that, the very next afternoon, Yaz’s timeless synth-ballad “Only You” would be the soundtrack to my first dance with my wife. You can hear him recoil a bit, as if he’s heard this before, and doesn’t quite know how to accept credit for shaping other peoples’ personal moments.
But, as is the case with Yaz’s two excellent early ’80s landmarks, Upstairs at Eric’s and You and Me Both, and all of his preceding and subsequent work, the soft-spoken musician’s songs have a way of wringing emotion from people like extraneous water from an over-saturated washcloth. And of all his wildly under-appreciated contributions to pop- and dance-music over the last 30 years, it’s his short-lived collaboration with Yaz vocalist Alison Moyet that often invokes fans’ warmest and most enduring feelings.
With Yaz’s 2008 reunion-tour document, Reconnected Live, recently released as a CD/DVD via Mute, and in the wake of his continued collaboration with Erasure mate Andy Bell, Clarke and I discussed the pros and cons of looking back, putting his fans’ loyalty in perspective, and the joys of self-reliance.
MMN: You probably have a lot of people telling you how a Yaz or Erasure song was played at a crucial point in their wedding or some other important moment in their life.
Vince Clarke: I guess so. What more people say is that they met their future partner at one of our concerts, whether it be Erasure or Yazoo.
MMN: Which must be strange, because you’re probably just making what sounds good in your head, but it inspires this often-rapturous response from people.
VC: It’s very flattering, but as you say, I don’t know what we set out to do when we write songs. We just set out to make the best songs we possibly can, I think.
MMN: It seems like it’s worked out ever since Depeche Mode that you’re drawn to very specific two-person collaborations. Is there going to be a point where you’ll explore a larger group dynamic again?
VC: I don’t know that I’d like to get more band members into my situations particularly. I’m pretty self-reliant, really. I think I’ve gotten used to the idea of me being the person that makes the music, and Andy or Alison or whoever being the person who does the singing. It’s like, Andy doesn’t venture into programming because he’s not that interested in it, and I don’t venture into singing because I can’t do it.
MMN: Do you feel lucky to have worked so consistently with all these gifted vocalists? It has to make it easier to do your job.
VC: Oh, absolutely. It makes things a million times easier. Especially with Andy, it’s fantastic to have someone to work with on the songwriting as well. I’ve always liked singers that can sing with a little bit of soul. That’s something I’m drawn to, and the actual music side of things, people keep telling me that it’s quite clinical sounding. So I guess the two complement each other perfectly.
MMN: It seems a lot of modern dance bands are concerned with the tone of their programming first, whereas your groups have always been more song-oriented.
VC: [Andy and I] literally don’t go near a synthesizer when we’re writing, because I’ll just get sidetracked and we’ll never get anything done.
MMN: And I think your faithfulness to a certain approach and aesthetic is what’s kept your various projects’ fanbases so loyal.
VC: I think so. Obviously, [Erasure is] in a very privileged position because we have built up this following and have a very supportive record company, and through the good and bad times that kept us going. I think they know that what we do, we do honestly, and that we do care about them and the stuff that we’re producing.
MMN: Do you think you were able to be that honest during the Yaz days?
VC: I think we were far more self-conscious then. Myself and Alison never really sat down and wrote together. We didn’t know each other intimately enough to write a proper song. And of course, when you’re younger, you’re very self-conscious about how you look and how you sound, so it was a different experience back then.
MMN: In retrospect, was the appeal of reuniting with Alison to maximize the songs’ potential now that you’ve both matured more?
VC: Well, it all came about because Alison contacted me, because she was interested in doing something to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band. I said, “No I can’t do that right now,” because I was really busy. And Andy said he’d like to take time out to do a solo record, so I said, “Well, if he’s gonna do that, then maybe we could do a Yazoo tour,” and I had discussions with Alison about how it could and should be done, and it just went from there. Alison always felt she wanted to perform material that she’d never been able to. She felt a need to finish the chapter kind of thing.
MMN: I’m sure you had to have a similar inclination toward that closure.
VC: Not really, actually. It hadn’t occurred to me. [Laughs] I mean, I hadn’t played the stuff since we’d made it. I hadn’t listened to it. So when it came down to actually programming the stuff, I got all those tapes, digitized them, and started putting it in the computer and looking at it closely, I was just amazed at how little there was on tape. At the same time, it was kind of refreshing. I thought, “Oh, well, that’s what we used to do.” [Laughs]
MMN: And it has to give some perspective on how you got from there to her.
VC: What amazed me when I went back to this stuff was that the memories it brought back to me were those of being in the studio, recording a single bass line or a simple drum pattern. And because I had no experience in the studio, everything you recorded sounded brilliant, so you didn’t mess around with different sounds. It was all new. And then we’d record maybe 8, 10, or 12 tracks of music, and you wouldn’t be thinking about filling the spaces. And I think that’s what happened with Yazoo. It’s very sparse, and I think the sparseness in the music shows off Alison’s voice.
MMN: Do your partnerships work better when you have someone as meticulous as yourself, or with someone who’s as diligent?
VC: I don’t think with singing that you can be that organized. You’re dependent on your voice sounding good on a particular day. It not being so predictable is probably a good thing, and that’s where the soul is, really, in singing I think.
MMN: It’s that soulfulness that seems to have always set your projects apart from your peers’ over the years.
VC: Certainly, when I started making electronic music, there were some pretty robotic bands around, but at the same time, I think the first two Human League records were very soulful, in a weird, electronic, artsy way, so who’s to say?
MMN: It’s surprising that you haven’t developed more of a second career producing over that time.
VC: Yeah, I’ve done a little bit, but I don’t think I’m really confident enough to do that. There is a production project coming up, a collaboration with Amanda Palmer from the Dresden Dolls, so you know, bits and pieces come along.
Live Photo: Nicole Nodland
This interview is dedicated to my wife, Colleen.
Listen to Yaz, and hear Upstairs at Eric’s along with other albums, at MOG.
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Always refrehsnig to hear a rational answer.
Vince and Alison together sounds better that Erasure… Yaz shall play for a long time for my happiness!
Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke is the best.
If only electronic artists still understood the possibilities of allowing for a little space in their music. Space for, ya know, melody and such.
Every interview with Vince is a source of inspiration to me as a musician. I’d loved the comment about the sparseness in the music.
A man of many talents. Always looked so serious tho.
Yeah, he seems a relatively serious guy. For someone whose primary band’s shows are basically a debauched carnival of melodic jubilance, at least.
I think he might be my idol too. Even if hes looking progressively similar to Brian Eno as they both get older.
mr Vince Clark is my idol….
Excellent interview. Well thought out questions for Vince. Thank you.