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Vincent John Martin (born 3 July 1960), known professionally as Vince Clarke, is an English synth-pop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been the main composer and musician of the band Erasure since its inception in 1985, and was previously the main songwriter of several groups, including Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and the Assembly. In Erasure he is known for his deadpan and low-key onstage demeanour, often remaining motionless over his keyboard, in sharp contrast to lead vocalist Andy Bell's animated and hyperactive frontman antics.

Vince Clarke
Clarke performing with Erasure at Delamere Forest in Cheshire, England, 2011
Background information
Birth nameVincent John Martin
Born (1960-07-03) 3 July 1960 (age 62)
South Woodford, England
OriginLondon, England
Genres
  • Electropop
  • synth-pop
  • new wave
  • dance
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • songwriter
  • remixer
  • DJ
  • record producer
Instrument(s)
  • Synthesizer
  • keyboards
  • keytar
  • guitar
  • violin
  • piano
  • melodica
Years active1977–present
Labels
  • Mute
  • Reset
  • VeryRecords
Member ofErasure
Formerly of
Websiteerasureinfo.com

Erasure have recorded over 200 songs and have sold over 28 million albums worldwide.[1][2] Vince Clarke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020 as a member of Depeche Mode.


Early life


Vincent John Martin was born on 3 July 1960 in South Woodford, Essex; he later moved to Basildon, Essex. He initially studied the violin and then the piano, but he was inspired to make electronic music upon hearing Wirral synth band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD).[3][4] Along with OMD, other early influences included the Human League, Daniel Miller, and Fad Gadget.[5]


Career



Early bands


In the late 1970s, Clarke and schoolmate Andy Fletcher formed a short-lived band called No Romance in China, with Clarke on vocals and guitar and Fletcher on bass guitar. In 1979, Clarke played guitar in an Ultravox-influenced band, the Plan, with friends Robert Marlow and Paul Langwith.[6]


Depeche Mode


Clarke in San Francisco, 1986
Clarke in San Francisco, 1986

In 1980, after the Plan dissolved, Clarke and Fletcher formed Composition of Sound, and were soon joined by Martin Gore.[citation needed] Clarke provided vocals until lead vocalist Dave Gahan joined the band, which was renamed Depeche Mode. At that time he adopted the stage name Vince Clarke, by which he is currently known. The band initially adopted a slick synthesised electropop sound, which produced the studio album Speak & Spell and the Clarke-penned singles "Dreaming of Me", "New Life", and "Just Can't Get Enough" in 1981.[7]

Clarke left Depeche Mode shortly thereafter. There were many rumoured reasons for his departure. He commented on Depeche Mode's later material as being a little dark for his taste, but good nonetheless. Clarke also stated that he did not enjoy the public aspects of success, such as touring and interviews, and found himself frequently at odds with his bandmates, particularly on the tour bus.[8] He also stated: "I think everybody in the band, especially myself, imagined that the reason we were doing so well was because of themselves ... We were pretty young and very lucky, and things had happened very quickly for us, and I don't think we were really mature to handle the situation."[9] Clarke was replaced by musician Alan Wilder, and Depeche Mode went on to achieve international stardom.


Yazoo


Clarke then teamed up with lead vocalist Alison Moyet (at the time known by the nickname of "Alf") to form the popular synth-pop duo Yazoo (known as Yaz in the U.S.), which produced two studio albums and a string of hits including "Only You," "Don't Go," "Situation," "The Other Side of Love," "Nobody's Diary," and "Walk Away from Love."

Yazoo disbanded in 1983, and Moyet went on to have a successful solo career. Yazoo reformed in 2008 for a series of live dates to celebrate 25 years since the duo's split.


The Assembly


Clarke teamed up with Eric Radcliffe in 1983. Their idea was to collaborate with different artists on each new single, under the name the Assembly. With singer Feargal Sharkey, former lead vocalist of the Undertones, they scored the top 5 UK hit "Never Never". Meanwhile, Clarke founded the label Reset Records with Radcliffe. During 1983 and 1984 he produced four singles, "The Face of Dorian Gray", "I Just Want to Dance", "Claudette", and "Calling All Destroyers" for his friend Robert Marlow, which were released on this label. They also produced a studio album, at first shelved but later released in 1999, under the name The Peter Pan Effect. In 1985, another collaboration took place with Paul Quinn of Bourgie Bourgie; the result was the single "One Day" by Vince Clarke & Paul Quinn. However, the project never took off, and Clarke moved on to other projects.[10]


Erasure


Clarke performing with Erasure at Delamere Forest in Cheshire, England, 2011
Clarke performing with Erasure at Delamere Forest in Cheshire, England, 2011

In early 1985, Clarke placed an advertisement in Melody Maker for a singer, and one applicant was Andy Bell, who was a fan of his earlier projects. He teamed with Bell to form the group Erasure, and the duo became one of the major selling acts in British music with international hits like "Oh L'amour", "Sometimes", "Chains of Love", "A Little Respect", "Drama!", "Blue Savannah", "Chorus", "Love to Hate You", "Take a Chance on Me", and "Always".

As of November 2022, the duo have released 19 studio albums and have enjoyed a long string of hit singles spanning their four decades together.


VCMG


In 2011, Clarke collaborated with his former Depeche Mode colleague Martin Gore for the first time since 1981, as techno duo VCMG, on an instrumental minimalist electronic dance album called Ssss, released on 12 March 2012. The first EP, entitled Spock, was released worldwide exclusively on Beatport on 30 November 2011.[11] The second EP, Single Blip, was once again first released exclusively on Beatport on 20 February 2012. Their third EP, Aftermaths, was released on 20 August 2012.[12]


Collaborations and other works


In July 1984, Clarke teamed up with Stephen Luscombe of Blancmange, Pandit Dinesh, and Asha Bhosle. The group, West India Company, released a four-track, self-titled EP.[12]

Clarke worked with synth-pop producer Martyn Ware (of Heaven 17 and The Human League) in 1999 as The Clarke & Ware Experiment[13] and released the album Pretentious. The duo collaborated again in 2001 for the album Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle, which was created with "3D music technology" specifically designed for listening in headphones. That same year also saw the release of the Clarke-produced album Erasure's Vince Clarke, which featured The Peter Pan Effect, an album that he and Eric Radcliffe produced for his long-time friend Robert Marlow.[12] Clarke wrote "Let's Get Together" for the pop girl group Girl Authority for their second and final studio album, Road Trip (2007). The song was originally meant to be for Depeche Mode but was never recorded by them.[12] Clarke also co-wrote "What Do I Want from You?" with Freeform Five, for their debut studio album Strangest Things (2005).[12]

Also in 2001, Clarke founded Illustrious Co. Ltd. with Martyn Ware, to create new forms of spatialised sound composition using their unique 3D AudioScape system, collaborating with fine artists, educational establishments, the performing arts, live events, corporate clients, and educational settings round the world.[14]

In 2004, Clarke provided additional music for an episode of Johnny Bravo entitled "The Time of My Life". This was a collaboration with Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs.[12]

Clarke was an essential component of a 2000 project called Family Fantastic.[15] They produced the album Nice!.[16] In 2008 Family Fantastic released a second album, entitled Wonderful.

On 21 May 2009, Clarke was awarded with an "Outstanding Song Collection" prize, during the Ivor Novello Awards ceremony of the same day, in recognition of 30 years in the music industry.[17]

Clarke was featured in the BBC Four documentary Synth Britannia (2009).[5]

In 2012, Clarke collaborated with the band the Good Natured on a track called "Ghost Train", available as a free download on their website, in exchange for a Tweet.

Also in 2012, Clarke produced a cover of the Depeche Mode song "Fly on the Windscreen" featuring Ane Brun.[12]

Clarke also did DJ sets in various locations in North America and Europe and also continued his production work of remixing songs for Dido and Chad Valley. [18]

In October 2013, Clarke announced on his Twitter page that he was providing assistance to musicians BT and Christian Burns for their All Hail the Silence project.[19][20]

On 14 July 2015, Clarke announced a collaboration with Jean-Michel Jarre called "Automatic", which was released as a part of the full album Electronica 1: The Time Machine on 16 October 2015.[21]

On 10 June 2016, in collaboration with Paul Hartnoll, Clarke digitally released the album 2 Square on his new record label, VeryRecords.[22]

Since 2017, Clarke has hosted The Synthesizer Show with VeryRecords artist Reed Hays on Maker Park Radio, a non-profit community streaming radio station from Staten Island, New York.[23] The first episode aired 20 December 2017.


Influences


In December 2013, Clarke listed his "13 LPs that mean the most to him" for The Quietus:[24]


Production and recording methods


When Clarke started making music, synthesisers were predominantly analogue - digital synthesisers were rare, and would remain that way until the launch of the Yamaha DX7 in 1983.[25] In order to connect analogue synthesisers, analogue drum machines and analogue sequencers together, multiple CV/gate cables were required between each device. This system was not standardised, so inter-operability between instruments from different manufacturers was not always straightforward. In addition, some manufacturers used their own proprietary interfaces. When an industry-wide standard called MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) was introduced in 1983, Clarke, like most other electronic musicians, gradually migrated to the new technology. However, he continued to prefer his older analogue instruments:

"... CV and Gate is tighter. I can hear and feel that it's tighter than MIDI – we can even prove it using 'scopes. Because everything is clocked simply, it arrives bang on the beat. The whole production starts to 'tick over'. Just look at Kraftwerk's stuff. I think that 'feel' has been lost with MIDI sequencers. No matter what you do with MIDI, the music will never sound as good as it did in the good old Futurist days. That's why our tracks sound the way they do."[26]

For Erasure's fifth studio album Chorus (1991), he gathered together his collection of analogue synthesisers from various recording studio locations in London and set up a small studio in Amsterdam. This led Clarke to assemble an intricate patch system to more easily enable the control of his analogue instruments:

"... the secret is having a good patch system – not as in patching to the mixing desk, but in patching CV and Gate. Because we don't use MIDI at all, you have to run three or four cables between each synth module – CV, Gate, Filter, Amplitude or whatever – and you've got to have a really unique system to do that."[26]"

In 1993 Clarke described his approach to songwriting:

"Andy [Bell] and I get together with a guitar and a tape recorder, I'll strum some chords, he'll sing a melody, and we work in little sections, four or eight bars long. Then we'll try stringing the sections together. It's like a jigsaw puzzle. I find it very hard to relate songwriting to synthesisers, actually – we write songs in a very traditional way. The electronic side of things is just to create the atmosphere. It's mostly just messing about..! Once we've worked out a song, I start programming up the arrangement on the BBC UMI sequencer, which lets me run 16 synths simultaneously. That way you get a better idea if parts are working together or not. Then we start refining the individual sounds. And finally the whole lot is transferred to my Roland MC4, piece by piece, so it's being run in CV and Gate. Once we've got that, it's a case of Andy sketching out vocal ideas – in the studio we use two 48 track digital tape machines, which gives Dinger 24 tracks just for his voice!"[26] "

Clarke continued to expand his collection of analogue synthesisers and in 1994 set up "37B", a recording studio built adjacent to his custom-made home, "Ammonite", in Chertsey, Surrey. From 1994 to 2003, all Erasure studio albums were either wholly or in part recorded at "37B".[27][28][29]

In 2004 Clarke moved to Maine. While waiting for his studio equipment to be shipped from the UK he began using an Apple Mac laptop with Logic Pro, Max/MSP, and various software synthesisers (many of which were analogue emulations). Since then he has continued to use Logic Pro, along with both software and analogue synthesisers:

"Nowadays, you can take the best bits from digital and analogue. On certain projects – say, if I'm doing library music – where you need to have instant recall all the time, then it's obviously much more convenient to use the computer. When it comes to writing a new song, though, I still like to have the old analogue gear there, too. But, a lot of soft synths have a character of their own, too; the Moog Modular V is just crazy! I think that analogue has an inherent sound to it – it's like the old argument over vinyl versus CD. It seems that you hear more frequencies coming from an analogue synth than you do from a software synth, but the great thing about the latter is that you can do far more complex modulation, both within the synth itself and on the keyboard. To emulate any of those really complex modulations on an analogue ... well, you'd need a mile of cable."[30] "

As of 2009, Clarke has installed his analogue synthesisers alongside his Logic Pro-based workstation in a custom-built commercial studio called "The Cabin" in Maine.[31][32][33]

Current & past studio equipment: Dave Smith Instruments Mopho, Roland System 700, Roland System-100M, Roland Jupiter-8, Roland Jupiter-4, Roland MKS-80, Roland SH-1, Roland VP-330, Roland JP-8000, Roland Juno-60, Roland Juno-106, Roland Super JX, Roland D-550, ARP 2500 Modular, ARP 2600, PPG Wave 2.2, Waldorf Microwave, Waldorf Pulse, Moog Modular, Minimoog, Moog Source, E-Mu Modular System, Buchla 100 series Modular, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, Sequential Circuits Pro-One, Oxford Synthesiser Company OSCar, Synton Syrinx, Korg MS-20, Korg MS-10, Korg 700, Korg M1, Korg DVP, Serge Modular, Polyfusion Modular, Oberheim Xpander, Oberheim SEM System, RSF Kobol, Electronic Music Studios VCS 3, Matten and Wiechers x2 48 track sequencers total 96 track, Sennheiser Vocoder VSM201, Apple iPad 2, Apple Power Mac G5, Apple MacBook Pro.[34][35]

Current & past software: Apple Logic Pro, Cycling '74 Max/MSP, Arturia ARP 2600 V, Arturia Minimoog V, Arturia Moog Modular V, GForce impOSCar, GForce Oddity, LinPlug Octopus, Muon Tau Pro, Native Instruments Absynth, Native Instruments Reaktor, Native Instruments FM7, Native Instruments FM8, Vienna Symphonic String & Choir Libraries.[35][36]


Personal life


Clarke has been married to Tracy Hurley since 2004. They have a son named Oscar and live in Brooklyn, New York City, with another home in Maine. Tracy Hurley is co-founder of the Morbid Anatomy Museum (now closed[37]) in Brooklyn.[38] Her twin sister, the American author Tonya Hurley, is married to Michael Pagnotta, the former manager of Erasure.[39]


Discography


with Depeche Mode
with Yazoo
with the Assembly
In collaboration with Paul Quinn
With Erasure
Solo
In collaboration with Martyn Ware
with Family Fantastic
In RadioActivators
In VCMG
In collaboration with Paul Hartnoll
Remixes

He has remixed the following songs for artists other than Erasure:


References


  1. "ERASURE New Single "Elevation" Remixed by BT". Remixmag.com. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  2. Simpson, Dave (30 July 2014), "Andy Bell: 'I'd had enough of being bullied'", The Guardian
  3. Shand, Max (12 October 2020). "Synthpop King Vince Clarke on Erasure's 18th Studio Album, 'The Neon'". PopMatters. Retrieved 3 March 2021. [OMD] were such a huge influence on me. The reason I got into electronic music was because I heard the track 'Almost'. That's when I thought to myself, oh my God, electronic music actually has some emotion, and I wanted to do that, be a part of that.
  4. "Erasure". The O-Zone. 29 November 1995. 8 minutes in. BBC 2. BBC. When I was 18 or 19 I heard a single called 'Electricity' by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. It sounded so different from anything I'd heard; that really made me want to make electronic music, 'cause it was so unique.
  5. "Synth Britannia (Part Two: Construction Time Again)". Britannia. 16 October 2009. 4 minutes in. BBC Four. BBC. When I first started playing synthesizers it [my inspiration] would have been people like The Human League; Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, their very first album; I was a big fan of Daniel Miller's work, as the Silicon Teens and as The Normal; and also of Fad Gadget, who was on Mute Records.
  6. "Interviews – "Robert Marlow Interview (1999)"". Erasureinfo.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012.
  7. Di Pirna, Alan (2008). Keyboard Presents: the Best of the '80s – the Artists, Instruments, and Techniques of an Era. Backbeat Books. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-87930-930-5.
  8. According to later interviews, including the documentary on a remastered release of A Broken Frame (1982).
  9. VH1 Behind the Music television series.
  10. "The Assembly | Biography, Albums, & Streaming Radio". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  11. Archived 2 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  12. "Vince Clarke". Radio Swiss Pop. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  13. "Vince Clarke: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  14. "illustrious". Illustrious Company. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  15. "Familyfantastic.co.uk". Familyfantastic.co.uk. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  16. Badgley, Aaron (29 February 2000). "Nice! – Family Fantastic | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  17. "The Ivors 2009". The Ivors. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  18. "Up & Down (Vince Clarke Remix) - Single". Beatport. 16 April 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  19. Archived 7 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  20. "All Hail the Silence Debut Tour with Erasure This Fall". Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  21. "Jean-Michel Jarre announces Vince Clark Collaboration".
  22. "Depeche Mode Co-Founder Vince Clarke Finally Understands Dance Music". VICE MEDIA GROUP. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  23. "The Synthesizer Show w/ Vince & Reed". Maker Park Radio. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  24. Turner, Luke (19 December 2013). "Oh L'Amour: Vince Clarke Of Erasure's Favourite Albums". The Quietus. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  25. "Synthesizer History Timeline – Synthesizer Wiki". Sequencer.de. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  26. Archived 23 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  27. "Jonathan Miller, "Erasure – Under Cover", 2002". Garethjones.com. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  28. Ian Masterson, "Dome Sweet Dome", Private Ear 20, 1995 Archived 23 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Erasureinfo.com. Retrieved on 18 July 2011.
  29. Rebecca Tanqueray Poptastic in deepest Surrey, The Sunday Times, 10 November 2002
  30. Vince Clarke interview, Computer Music magazine 136, March 2009, p. 84.
  31. "Vince Clarke Music • Biography". Vinveclarkemusic.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  32. Vince Clarke interview, Computer Music magazine 136, March 2009, p. 82.
  33. Electric Independence: Vince Clarke & the Temple of Synth, Motherboard video interview, 2010 Archived 26 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Motherboard.tv. Retrieved on 18 July 2011.
  34. "Vince Clarke Music • Studio". Vinveclarkemusic.com. Archived from the original on 17 July 2010. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  35. Vince Clarke interview, Computer Music magazine 136, March 2009, pp. 82–85.
  36. "Florian Grote, "Exploring The Depths of Software Synthesis: Tech Talk with Vince Clarke", Native Instruments, 2008". Native-instruments.com. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  37. "Morbid Anatomy Museum Closes Its Doors". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  38. "How We Met: Alison Moyet & Vince Clarke – Regulars, The New Review". The Independent. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  39. "Biography for Vince Clarke (II)". IMDb. Retrieved 22 September 2014.



На других языках


- [en] Vince Clarke

[es] Vince Clarke

Vincent John Martin, (South Woodford, Reino Unido, 3 de julio de 1960), conocido como Vince Clarke, es un músico inglés conocido principalmente por ser un importante precursor de la música electrónica desde 1981 en el grupo Depeche Mode, así como en Erasure y Yazoo. Es el autor de populares temas del género como «Just Can't Get Enough» de Depeche Mode, «Only You» de Yazoo, y coautor de «A Little Respect», «Chorus», «Love to Hate You», «Breath of Life», «Always» e «In My Arms» de Erasure.

[fr] Vince Clarke

Vince Clarke, de son vrai nom Vincent John Martin, est un auteur-compositeur-interprète et producteur britannique né le 3 juillet 1960 à South Woodford, quartier de la banlieue nord-est de Londres (situé à l'époque dans le comté administratif d'Essex mais aujourd'hui dans le borough londonien de Redbridge). Vince Clarke est le compositeur et le musicien principal du groupe Erasure depuis 1985 et fut précédemment un membre fondateur des groupes Depeche Mode, Yazoo, et The Assembly.

[ru] Кларк, Винс

Винс Кларк (англ. Vince Clarke; настоящее имя — Винсент Джон Мартин (англ. Vincent John Martin); род. 3 июля 1960 года, Рэдбридж (англ. Redbridge), Большой Лондон, Англия) — британский синтипоп-музыкант и автор песен, связан с большим числом известных групп, включая Depeche Mode, Yazoo, The Assembly и Erasure. Винс — один из основателей Depeche Mode, покинувший группу 12 января 1982 года. Он провёл в группе два года и является автором восьми из одиннадцати песен первого альбома Depeche Mode Speak & Spell (1981).



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