Up-Load UK, Gigs News & reviews Gary Numan Interview

Up-Load	You have just completed a rather grueling 6 week UK and European tour to promote the new album Jagged. How was the tour for you and what was your favourite show?
Gary	My favourite show was the Hammersmith Palais on June 2. That was one of my favourite shows ever, let alone on the Jagged tour. Incredible crowd, one of the best I've ever had the honour of standing in front of and, to really make the night complete, the whole thing was filmed for a DVD. I couldn't have asked for a better night. The tours overall have been encouraging and, in the main, very enjoyable. The Jagged tours have been the first I've ever done where the new songs have gone down as well as, if not better than, the more established so called 'classics' and so that is a very cool development. I love touring, it's the best part of making and promoting albums for a living. I love the whole way of life, living in a bubble with your closest friends, touring the world, doing things and seeing things that most people can only dream of. I hope it lasts forever.
Up-Load	The new single ‘ In A Dark Place’ is out on July 17. The lyrics are quite powerful and ‘dark’. Can you tell us what inspired the lyrics and what it is actually about?
Gary	A man hears voices, terrible and terrifying. He thinks it's something dead, haunting him from beyond for the questionable things he's done in his life. Then he realises that it's the voice of God, but a God without mercy or compassion, and the full horror of what that means finally sinks in. I write a lot of stuff like that. It's inspired by my deep dislike of all things religious and my total lack of belief.
Up-Load	The new album ‘Jagged’ is incredibly strong in it’s sound but flows through from track to track in an almost seamless manner. Did you intentionally arrange it’s layout to be like this.
Gary	I often feel that albums are best listened to like a soundtrack to a film. They should leave you with an overall feeling. I don't like albums that run like a collection of disjointed songs without a clear connection. An album is a body of work, connected in many ways on many levels, and it should be listened to as a flowing, seamless thing. It's one big chunk of music made up of, in the case of Jagged, eleven smaller parts.
Up-Load	We all know that your music style has changed slightly over the past 25 years, but the true nature of your music has remained essentially the same. I have heard your music described by others, as anything from ‘New Wave’ to ‘Industrial’. How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard it, and do you hate these ‘labels’ and ‘genres’ that have suddenly sprung up to try and pigeon hole everyone who plays anything that isn’t strictly ‘pop’.
Gary	Labels are invariably misleading so they rarely help explain to someone what they are getting. They are, unfortunately, essential when reviews and articles have limits as to how many words may be used. To call Jagged 'Industrial' saves having to write many sentences trying to explain exactly what it sounds like. It's annoyingly simplistic but even I do it from time to time so I can't complain. I would say that the music has changed considerably over the years as it meandered along but what has stayed essentially the same is three things. Firstly, my voice. Love it or hate it it's the one I'm stuck with and has always identified me. Secondly, my music has always been tune first, noises and production later. Everyone of my songs is based around a tune, a melody, before anything else is added to it. A melody is the basic requirement of any song that wants to stand the test of time. Some other people tend to go for noises first, or a great groove, and then try to graft a song onto that. I'm not saying that's the wrong way to do it, it's just not my way. I think I'm quite old fashioned that way. Thirdly, having said all that about melody, I have always been driven by the need to find new sounds and new ways of using those sounds. I am constantly searching for new things in the strong belief that providing I can write decent tunes underneath then my music will constantly move forward. I hate nostalgia and try very hard not to repeat myself. Each album is an attempt to move forward musically.
Up-Load	I have been a fan of yours since way back in the days of Tubeway Army. Did you ever imagine back in the late 70’s that you would still be recording and touring 25 years later?
Gary	It's been over 28 years since I went professional on Feb 10 1978. I had nothing planned beyond the age of 30 and I was 30 on 1988 so everything since then has been an ongoing surprise. The biggest surprise of all is that I love doing this more now than ever before. I expected that enthusiasm to wear off over time but it's got stronger. That's probably why I'm writing better than ever, why the stage shows are more aggressive than ever. I'm really happy doing what I'm doing and I've now been doing it long enough where I finally feel that I know what I'm doing and I'm reasonably good at it.
Up-Load	We were lucky enough to catch your show in Nottingham in April and are also due to see you at the GuilFest festival on 15th July. Have you played at GuilFest before and what do you think of this year’s line-up.
Gary	I've not played at GuilFest before and I'm looking forward to it. My only concern is that people might be expecting some kind of retro set from me. They will be seriously disappointed I'm afraid. The music I've been doing for many years now is hard, dark and aggressive and has little in common with the original versions of songs like Cars that some people might remember. Any old songs that we still play, and we do play a few, are given the Jagged treatment and so fall into that big dark noise style. I have a feeling we may be just a bit too heavy. I haven't seen the line up yet so I'm not sure how we will fit in musically. The cool thing about festivals is that variation though so, hopefully, people are expecting a wide range of bands and styles.
Up-Load	Will you be at the Guilfest for the whole weekend, or just for the day? and are there any other bands that you would like to watch perform there.
Gary	As soon as I find out who else is playing I'll be able to judge better. I would certainly love to see other people play. I'm sure at an event the size of Guilfest there will be plenty of other good bands to watch. Before the festival I'm in the studio mixing a special version of Jagged and, soon after, we go to Portugal to play with Depeche Mode and then on to America for the USA Jagged Tour so I won't be around for the whole weekend. Lots to do.
Up-Load	Your wife Gemma and yourself have 2 children, Raven and Persia, how do you cope being away from them when you are on tour and is it true that you use a webcam to talk to them ?
Gary	It's hard. I do have a webcam set up and we try to talk to them everyday, if we can get a connection. Having the webcam is an amazing thing and really helps with the separation. Gemma tours with me and has a number of important things to do and so she simply has to be there. That means we both have the problem of being away from the children and the webcam is like a lifeline for both of us.
Up-Load	When you aren’t recording or touring how do you like to spend your time and are you still passionate about flying?
Gary	I was effectively banned from aerobatic display flying by my wife. So many people we knew were killed in accidents over the years her nerves could no longer stand the worry. I completely understand how she felt and I was already having feelings of doubt myself about continuing in the airshow world so it wasn't a massive problem to stop. I still fly enough to keep my licence valid but it's nothing like it used to be. I've even sold my plane. These days I have a sea going boat that I spend some time on but, mainly, time spent not working is time spent with the children doing whatever they want to do. I'm a Legoland regular these days.
Up-Load	Are there any bands or artists around at the moment who you would really like to work with and why?
Gary	I have side projects underway with Andy Gray and another with Ade Fenton, who produced the Jagged album, but, apart from that, I tend to sit back and see what comes along. I'm not good at collaborations to be honest as I seem to have an unlikely mix of low confidence but with a hint of control freakery. It doesn't make me that easy to work with. I'm best just left alone doing my own thing.

Interviewee:	Gary Numan
Interviewer/s:	Kate James & Matt James
Date:	9th June 2006
Venue: