Gary Numan Gets Friendly with Citysearch

Editorial

CS: You were only 20 when you started on the road to 'Godfather' status - how do you remember the early days?
GN: I never ever felt that I was particularly special, or clever. I never really got big-headed about it, and I was really lucky because I couldn't quite believe it got as big as it did. On the other hand I was very young, so I think I did quite badly handling the pressure of it. I think to my credit I realised I was struggling and sometimes reacting badly to situations that didn't warrant it - I was a little bit overwhelmed by it all. About 1981, I backed out of the whole thing. I think that was a really sensible thing to do because it enabled me to grow up a bit without everyone looking at me.

CS: What made you decide to get back in?
GN: I love it. I really did love being in the studio, but I didn't want to stay in the studio. These days, the most enjoyable thing for me is touring and being on stage - I think that kind of enjoyment comes with confidence, and you just have to do it for a long time to get that confidence.

CS: Have you ever thought what you'd be doing now if the career hadn't taken off the way it did? Did you ever have a plan B?
GN: No. I genuinely enjoy music and my take on it is if you enjoy something you'll find a way to keep doing it. Even if you're in a band that's not very successful - you're zipping around in a shitty tour bus, or something - it's still a laugh. And that's what annoys me about some musicians I talk to; they've got success but then they moan about it.

CS: Success can be measured in lots of ways - record sales, how big a room you can fill - how do you measure it?
GN: I'm totally free … I can do what I want. I don't have to be on a train at the same time every day going to work for someone else, or clocking on at a factory - not that there's anything wrong with that. If it's sunny, I can go to the beach … just be outside, do anything. I spend lots of time in the studio working on new music though, I just love it.

CS: You're about to tour Australian in March 2009 …
GN: Yeah, it's just an opportunity that came together and made sense - it's not part of anything. There's no other tour - we're just coming to Australia, doing the shows and going home again.

CS: Can you give us an idea of the tour …
GN: We've done a lot of shows this year - festivals and so on - and we'll pretty much be doing the same set. There'll be four or five of the older songs, like Cars and Are Friends Electric - we'll be doing heavier versions than they were originally - but essentially, 75 per cent of the show will be new stuff.

CS: When you say new …
GN: We did have an album of new stuff scheduled for April '09 - we're desperately trying to bring that forward now and get it ready for February. I'm not sure if I'm going to make it at this point! Normally the record company would want you to have something new to promote it, but I don't have a record company so I don't think it matters too much!

CS: Is it a luxury not having a record company?
GN: It's great in a way because I can do what I want, but sometimes the financial support a record company can give you makes touring a much easier thing to do. If I'd had record company support in the past, I'd have come to Australia much more often.

CS: You turned 50 this year, how's that feeling?
GN: Well when it came along I thought I handled it quite well, but over the last few months I'm beginning to think I didn't! I'm very aware that I'm now seeing myself slightly differently simply because I've gotten to a certain age - and that's wrong! I need to stop doing it! I think I might be having a minor mid-life crisis! Say I have a conversation about sex with somebody, it wasn't weird before, but now, say if they're young, like 20 or 21, I feel funny. I'm thinking that they're thinking I'm old and shouldn't be talking about that stuff. It's rubbish! I'm going to talk myself into being an old man before I am one. But apart from that, everything's fine!

CS: Have you thought about retiring from making music, or touring?
GN: I've thought at times I might have to because people just weren't interested anymore. But luckily I've managed to survive and now interest is much stronger than it has been at times. But from my own point of view, I've never wanted to stop, not ever.

CS: Do you have anything you'd like to say to your Aussie Numanoids?
GN: I'd just like to say I am genuinely, genuinely excited about coming over, because I haven't been in such a long time. I'm grateful that people are interested and want to come along. For me it's a major, major thing - it's not just another little tour I'm doing. I appreciate it more than I can say. I hope I don't disappoint them when I get there!

CS: We're genuinely excited, too!

Gary Numan will tour Australia in March 2009 - click here for tour dates. Tickets are on sale Friday, 10 October from Ticketek.

Kelly Ford, Citysearch, October 2008

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