Interview by Hannah Pool
Thursday July 26, 2007
The Guardian
You're back with a new album but you've not had a top-10 hit for 10 years. Do you mind?
You really can't mind, otherwise you'd just be bitter - you just have to go with it. I do get narked, I must admit, when I see certain people on chat shows all the time. I think we don't get the exposure that we deserve. We're either in fashion or out completely, and I think we've been out completely for quite a while. But then I think, "So what?"
You were diagnosed with HIV in 1998. How did you react?
I kind of knew. It was one of those things. I'd been a bit self-destructive for a while and this seemed to be part of that. It's amazing how much pain the body puts up with.
Is there a complacency among gay men about HIV?
There are definitely HIV-positive people who meet other HIV-positive men, and like still having unprotected sex. I think it must be quite hard for young gay men because there is so much for them now to do - there are so many saunas and stuff like that for them to go to, and it's so easy to get it.
You've had both hips replaced?
That was caused by avascular necrosis, which is the blood supply drying up at the top of the bone. It can be from cocaine use. There is not much history of it from HIV. I was walking around like a monkey - the skeletal support goes, you're holding on to things. I saw the Queen Mum's surgeon. It takes a while to be able to walk, about three to four months per leg.
Has your dancing changed since?
I'm not pogoing around.
Has gay culture become depoliticised?
Definitely, it has been made very commercial. In some ways it's good because the culture has been disseminated, but a lot of it is quite superficial.
Weren't Erasure part of that superficiality?
We're not about the body beautiful. It's about being an old drag queen, and being all craggy, with in-your-face seaside humour.
Is the gay political struggle over?
In some ways yes, because the age of consent is the same in law. But as far as homophobia goes in Russia or Poland, places like that, there's still loads to do.
· Erasure's Light at the End of the World tour starts on September 3
(full interview here)
Thursday July 26, 2007
The Guardian
You're back with a new album but you've not had a top-10 hit for 10 years. Do you mind?
You really can't mind, otherwise you'd just be bitter - you just have to go with it. I do get narked, I must admit, when I see certain people on chat shows all the time. I think we don't get the exposure that we deserve. We're either in fashion or out completely, and I think we've been out completely for quite a while. But then I think, "So what?"
You were diagnosed with HIV in 1998. How did you react?
I kind of knew. It was one of those things. I'd been a bit self-destructive for a while and this seemed to be part of that. It's amazing how much pain the body puts up with.
Is there a complacency among gay men about HIV?
There are definitely HIV-positive people who meet other HIV-positive men, and like still having unprotected sex. I think it must be quite hard for young gay men because there is so much for them now to do - there are so many saunas and stuff like that for them to go to, and it's so easy to get it.
You've had both hips replaced?
That was caused by avascular necrosis, which is the blood supply drying up at the top of the bone. It can be from cocaine use. There is not much history of it from HIV. I was walking around like a monkey - the skeletal support goes, you're holding on to things. I saw the Queen Mum's surgeon. It takes a while to be able to walk, about three to four months per leg.
Has your dancing changed since?
I'm not pogoing around.
Has gay culture become depoliticised?
Definitely, it has been made very commercial. In some ways it's good because the culture has been disseminated, but a lot of it is quite superficial.
Weren't Erasure part of that superficiality?
We're not about the body beautiful. It's about being an old drag queen, and being all craggy, with in-your-face seaside humour.
Is the gay political struggle over?
In some ways yes, because the age of consent is the same in law. But as far as homophobia goes in Russia or Poland, places like that, there's still loads to do.
· Erasure's Light at the End of the World tour starts on September 3
(full interview here)
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sad Interview
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