Bell of the ball: An interview with Andy Bell
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By Gregg Shapiro
Even though it’s been 10 years between Andy Bell solo albums (if you don’t count Bell’s “Torsten” side
projects), the gay music icon hasn’t exactly been sitting idly by. As one half of Erasure, Bell (and Vince
Clarke) released about a half dozen studio albums. But now Bell is back with the fabulous “Ten
Crowns” (Crown Recordings Limited). Glittering with Bell’s trademark vocals and enough dance beats to take you on the “galactic journey” he references on album opener “Breaking Thru The Interstellar.” Andy
was gracious enough to make time for an interview in advance of his upcoming tour dates. [Andy Bell
performs on November 7 + 8 in Chicago at Metro.]
Gregg Shapiro: Andy, I’d like to begin by congratulating you on being one of the Pride ICON winners at the 2025 Peugeot Attitude Pride Awards Europe. What does an honor such as this mean to you?
Andy Bell: It's really flattering because I'm an old bird now [laughs]. I'm 61 years old. I think just to have a little nudge from the powers that be to remind the young ones that we’re still around [laughs]. There were some people that existed before they did and fought for their right to be as comfortable as they are, even though we're under attack, again.
GS: What is the significance of the title of your new album, “Ten
Crowns?”
AB: To be honest, it’s not really that significant. It’s my third solo record, and it’s been 10 years since the last record. We were trying to think of a title, and it just so happened I had 10 (dental) crowns done in Miami. I thought, “Ten Crowns, that sounds really good.” It kind of sounds like a reference to a semi-royal something or other. I thought it's good enough for a title.
GS: Dave Audé, who produced“Ten Crowns,” also co-wrote all the songs on the album with you.Please say something about how that creative collaboration works.
AB: Dave is really amazing. I have three or four people I trust in my life, studio-wise. One is Vince Clark, one is Dave Audé, and one is Gareth Jones, the recording producer. I've had a kind of working relationship with Dave Audé for the past 12 years or so. We had a couple of Billboard number ones on the dance charts quite a while ago. We carried on writing as an exercise in between. He moved his family from LA to Nashville. He's such a sweet guy, and he's so untainted by the record business after being in it for so long. He’s a straight man, and he comes from Utah, but he has the sensibility
of a bear [laughs].
GS: That’s a great sensibility to have. You're saying he's warm and fuzzy?
AB: Basically, he's warm and fuzzy, and he cares, times ten.
GS: Sisely Treasure, whom folks will remember from Cooler Kids, co-wrote “Put Your Empathy On Ice” with you and Dave, and she also sings with you on the track. How did this collaboration come to be?
AB: That came about because she had already written the song with Dave. Cooler Kids also did a tour
with Erasure, and (Sisely’s former band) Shiny Toy Guns is my husband's favorite band. I didn't realize how versatile Sisely was with her voice and stuff. She'd written this song, and the verse was something like, “I stand on the side of your grave and I mourn the blah blah blah…” I thought I'd like to make it something that's still a bit dark but much more uplifting. We rewrote the chorus and the verses just so it sounded a bit more like David Bowie.
GS: Speaking of collaborations, does the song “DHDQ,” from your 2010 album, “Non-Stop,” have anything to do with Debbie Harry’s guest appearance on the “Ten Crowns” song “Heart’s a Liar”?
AB: It doesn't, but I suppose we could put one and one together and get three [laughs] because Debbie's my total heroine; she always has been. When I wrote that “Debbie Harry drag queen” song, it was it was by no means any disrespect to her. It was really an ode to her being the queen of New York and the queen of punk. Somebody did ask her if she felt like a drag queen, and she goes, “Oh, well, I suppose so [laughs].” I would not exactly call her look drag. It was just a bit of trickery with the lyrics.
GS: In keeping with your collaborative work, you have a long history of collaboration, not just in Erasure with Vince Clarke, but in your solo career, from your k.d. lang duet on “No More Tears
(Enough is Enough)” from “The Coneheads” soundtrack to Jake Shears and Claudia Brucken who
appeared as guest artists on your “Electric Blue.” What makes you so good at playing well with
others, Andy?
AB: I love meeting people. If we click, especially when you're in the studio together, it's such good fun.
It’s hilarious! Writing together with Boy George is hilarious. If I'm doing remixes for people – I did one for Sandra Bernhard, one for Amanda Lear, and one for Goldfrapp – and I love the person, I'll add vocals to them as well without telling them, so it's like a really nice surprise [laughs] when they get
the remix. Usually, they ask me for another one, and I'm like, “Oh, haven't got time!”
GS: It’s the Bell bonus!
AB: Yes, that's what it is!
GS: In “Dance For Mercy,” you sing about what sounds like a near-death experience.
AB: I've had a few [laughs]. I've never seen the light, though. Maybe I'm going to hell [laughs]. You
know how all the people talk about going towards the light? I’ve never seen it. That's why I've always
thought that it's not my turn yet. My nan always had this turn of phrase that you're too wicked for this world, which kind of meant you're an angel, really.
GS: I love the “Diamonds Are Forever” reference in “Dawn of Heaven’s Gate.” Have you ever had the chance to meet Shirley Bassey?
AB: I have not. If I did, we would probably have a field day, I'm sure. She loves to drink, she's from Wales, I love Welsh voices. Her voice isincredible. She's got one of the most amazing voices in the world ever. I think we would get on like a house on fire.
GS: “Dawn of Heaven’s Gate” also includes lyrics in Spanish that echo what you sing in English.
AB: We've never had a hit in Spain,for one [laughs]. We're huge in South America. We had a guy in the studio; the engineer was from Chile. I thought that it would be wonderful to have the lines translated into Spanish, just to let the people know what I'm singing about. Usually they can't speak English, so they just go by the feeling of the lyric. I wanted them to know that this is the kind of thing that I write about.
GS: You are embarking on a multicity solo U.S. tour from October into December. What are you most looking forward to about being on tour?
AB: We've got a great team. We've got an amazing band. We've got a great tour manager. (Andy’s
husband) Steve's gonna be on tour with me. We've already got the show down pat. It's a great mixture of all the new songs and Erasure classics. I'm looking forward to celebrating with our fans and the local people. We just have a great, wild time. We had some shows in Germany, Denmark, and the UK, already. It was so hot in those places. 100 degrees on the stage. Hopefully, it's gonna be just as steamy [laughs].
GS: I had the pleasure and privilege of hanging out with you several years ago when you were
DJing at Smart Bar in Chicago. Will you be including DJ dates in your schedule while you are on
tour?
AB: Funny you should say that, because I just asked Stephen about maybe getting a Pioneer for the
desktop so I can start doing remixes. I can feel it stirring in my blood. You're probably a bit psychic there.
GS: Better psychic than psychotic, I always say.[Laughs] “Wonderland,” the debut album by
Erasure, will be celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2026. Is there anything special in the works to mark the occasion?
AB: Apart from the Erasure shows that we have in September, and Vince and I writing already for a new
record, there aren't any special celebrations planned, so far, for the “Wonderland” anniversary. But I
think it's time for a high-energy resurgence, and we caught the very end of it in 1985, 1986, post-Frankie Goes to Hollywood, was the death of the clone. We missed the boat a bit on that record. Hopefully, it will be rediscovered.
GS: Finally, I now live in Fort Lauderdale, and I know you also spend time here in South Florida, where we are at the mercy of a relentlessly anti-LGBTQ governor and his evil cronies. Do you have any words of wisdom to share with our queer community?
AB: I would just like to say if you don’t need any fashion designers or production teams for your theater, or you don't need any TV, people fair enough. But you know you're not gonna have the same look that you have now. No style! They need us, and we need them, full stop.
