gary numan
by mikrosopht
what was it like putting together Hybrid?
I didn't do it. Hybrid was a record company idea and a project that they did most of the work on. As I understand it people were asked to participate and then given a free choice on what songs they wanted to remix. I was asked by some of these people to redo the vocals as many of the arrangements, tempos and so on were changed significantly and the original vocal couldn't be used. I was, therefore, closely involved in most of the remixes as they were progressing and so felt very much a part of the project. It just wasn't mine.
which are your favorite mixes?
That's a difficult question to answer as I'm completely biased by what are my favourite songs. A lot of the people that worked on Hybrid are friends of mine and I wouldn't want to upset anyone by picking favourites, even if i could.
how did you hook up with your current Artful record label?
Steve Malins, who is now part of Artful, is also my PR man in the UK, and has been for many years. He brought me in to the Artful set up. As my PR he was very aware of what I needed, and what had been missing from previous labels we'd worked with. He convinced me that Artful was the right mix of small and vibey, with the ability to react quickly to changing situations, but with powerful backing in the shape of Universal when required. So far it's gone very well but the real test I suppose will be when the new Jagged Halo album comes out later this year.
where does the name Gary Numan originate from?
A London edition of the Yellow pages phone book. It was Neumann Kitchen Appliances or something like that. I took out the e and the extra n and ended up with Numan.
how did you get started in music?
The same as most others I guess. Fascinated by the Rock life style as a boy, put together lots of bands with mates but, unlike most, had nothing to fall back on and so threw my itself into it with absolute abandon. It was all I lived for, that desire to be a Rock star. I was bought a guitar for Christmas when I was small. I never did get good enough to be able to play other peoples songs and so I started to write my own using the few chords that I had mastered. Nothing much has changed on that score.
which of your works are most fascinating for you?
I don't think of them as 'works', they're just songs. And I don't find any of them fascinating. Most of them are attempts at trying to improve on the mistakes I made with the previous album. It's an ongoing battle. I'm never satisfied, always surrounded by other artists that seem to write better songs than mine. But it's that constant feeling of never quite getting it right that drives me on. It's not so much that I believe I have something to offer the world musically speaking, or something important to say, I'm just trying to make fewer mistakes than I made on the last album.
where do you usually get your song titles from?
It varies. I don't have a set procedure for anything. Every album is different in the way I go about making it and the titles are no exception. On one album, made many years ago, every song started with the title, before any lyric or music had been written. The last album, Pure, the titles were about the last thing to appear and were taken mostly from the lyrics. I would imagine that taking the title from the lyric is quite common for songwriters.
who would you consider to be your inspiration when it comes to writing music?
No-one. I'm influenced by a constant and never ending stream of things. Other bands, soundtracks, films, adverts, books, people, current news, friends, life in general. The trick is to have your eyes and ears open 24 hours a day. I got an entire image and album sleeve design from a road sign in Germany once. Another time I was waiting at some traffic lights when a truck pulled up beside my with a faulty engine. It had a strange rhythmic kind of tickover. That rhythm became a song called Music For Chameleons. Inspiration is everywhere if you're awake enough to notice it.
what has 25 years in the music industry tought you? tell me about your career
No offence but it would take a book to answer that. A very large book at that. In a nutshell, it started well, went downhill for a long time and now it's going very well again.
music culture: then vs. now
I couldn't care less and yet somehow I manage to know even less than that about music culture. Then or at anytime since.
have you always wanted to be a musician? what other interests do you have?
Not exactly. I always wanted to be in a band. I always wanted to play with technology. Music was kind of a by product for me, a necessary evil. I got into music, and actually enjoyed and cared about it, a long time after I became a musician. As for other interests, I'm an aerobatic display pilot, specializing in world war two aeroplanes. I also teach formation aerobatics. I run my own web site, I have a boat and have recently completed a number of navigation and handling courses for that, I have a hovercraft, a small racing car although I don't compete, motorbikes, I also fly helicopters plus I do some other things that don't involve internal combustion engines. I'm married to Gemma and we have lots of animals and so we get involved in many animal rights issues.
what particularly has kept you in music throughout the years?
Desperation I think. That and the genuine feeling that I don't want to do anything else day in day out. I love it, I love writing, I love touring, I love the freedom that comes with being, effectively, self employed. If I wake up and it's a beautiful sunny day I don't have to work. That's cool. Being able to write songs, and actually earn a living from that, is amazing. It's like being paid to play with your favourite toy all day long. I've never taken it for granted, never. Understanding exactly how fortunate I was, and am today, is the one big thing that helped me to stay with it for the many years that things were not going so well. It's not about great reviews, although they're nice, it's not even about making money, although that's nice as well when it happens, it's about that freedom to be able to choose when and where you work, to be able to get out of bed when you want to, to not have to sit in commuter traffic for a lifetime and then die. I can't think of anything that would get me out of music.
any advice for aspiring professional musicians?
Don't believe a single word that your record company tells you, good or bad and don't ever think that you're Gods gift to music, there is always someone better. Also, if you can learn to enjoy the journey, it doesn't matter where it takes you. Success is NOT everything.
how do you feel about digital music file sharing?
Nervous but vaguely optimistic.
what are your favorite cities you've lived in? which to play music in?
I hate living in cities. I've only ever lived in London and Los Angeles for any length of time. Los Angeles had better weather but my neighbour got shot. I did spend six weeks in Vancouver once but that was more of an extended visit. To play in they're fantastic, all of them. I've hardly ever had a bad time on stage, anywhere in the world. I love touring. I would find it really hard to pick a favourite. Impossible actually.
which do you prefer more: writing music or playing music? why and why not.
I love writing music and playing it but I would have to lean towards playing live as the one I love the most. I think it's easy to understand why. I'm travelling around the world on a cool bus, with a band I love, who are all my closest friends, I'm playing my songs to people that already know and like them, and the hours are good. I get to see things that few people do. I've experienced things that make you see life in a slightly different way. It's just the best job in the world.
with all you know now, is there anything you'd have done differently?
If I had to do it all again but with what I know now I would do almost everything differently. Some things in a very minor, subtle way, some things in a very major, radical way. But that makes it sound as though I regret the path I've taken and I don't. I don't even think that way to be honest. I think about yesterdays mistake just long enough to learn from it and then I never think about it again. I have an almost bizarre lack of interest in yesterday, and an almost obsessive and fanatical desire to try and figure out what's coming tomorrow. I'm eternally optimistic, driven towards whatever's coming with the sure belief that I'm going to like it.
what effect does an album review have on you? how seriously do you take them?
I like the good ones, ignore the bad ones, and don't take any of them seriously. It's just an opinion, everybody has one. And opinions can change. I've had songs rubbished in the past that are now being hailed as classics of their time. So much for opinion.
do you have any plans for future recordings?
The new Jagged Halo album should be finished by August-September and, hopefully, will be out by the end of the year. I'm working on a track with Afrika Baambaataa (actually I'm re-singing his cover version of my song 'Metal'. The same song that Nine Inch Nails covered a while ago). I have a co written song on the new Junkie XL album, a single coming out soon with Rico called Crazier, in fact we just filmed the video to that in Berlin, apart from that I'm possibly working on a co write album with Andy Gray, who is also co-producing the Jagged Halo album with me.
what one message do you want to communicate with your music?
This may sound a little odd but I don't write music to communicate, I write it as therapy. I write for me. If people are able to identify with it in some way then I'm happy but that is not the reason I do it. If I have any message it's purely by accident and most likely one of introspection and a selfish obsession with my own problems, values and beliefs, or lack of them. Any communication is unintentional. I'm screaming in my own small room to no-one but me. It's just that sometimes people walking by can hear me.
a message to your fans?
I'm glad you walked by and heard me. Thank you.
gary numan website