Gary Numan

Gary Numan

Gary Numan was on a US 2006 tour promoting his latest album, Jagged. This interview took place backstage at Irving Plaza before the show.

Interviewing Gary Numan

I was happy that Gary Numan granted me an interview. However, I couldn't help but feel a bit anxious as I walked into Irving Plaza to set up my camera, for I wondered if management might be mean, or change their minds after seeing that it was just little ole me and my tripod who showed up, not a big fancy television crew. But they were all very nice and treated me with respect. I met each band member while I waited backstage, and each politely offered me food and drink.

My interview with Gary Numan was more of a casual conversation than a very serious interview. Gary is a very nice person to speak with, and I enjoyed talking with him about a variety of topics — from his new album (Jagged), to his pilot hobbies, to cat food.

Video Interview Downloads

The video interview is a little over an hour long, so I've broken it into 3 parts to make downloading easier. I didn't cut anything out, as I figured the whole interview experience flowed better that way.

▶ Watch Part 1

▶ Watch Part 2

▶ Watch Part 3

MP4 (Mpeg 4) version available: Feel free to download the MP4 versions of the Gary Numan interview here. These are for downloading only, about 130MB each — clearer, less grainy, with hardly any loss to the original quality.

Fans of Gary Numan

Gary Numan's fans come in a wide variety, so I included a video clip where I interviewed some fans waiting in line before the concert. One fan was dressed like Numan in the old days — I found this interesting, since she was a girl dressed as a man; usually you see guys trying to dress like Numan. I also spoke with a fan who'd come all the way from Alaska.

▶ Watch Fan Interviews

The Concert

Gary Numan gave a very passionate performance, and it reminded me of opera. Of course Gary doesn't sound like an opera singer, but in an interesting opera, the actors/singers are very expressive when singing, and they convey to the audience the emotions of that scene. When Gary Numan sang, his voice reflected a variety of gut-wrenching emotions and tones. His actions, too, were very expressive and complemented his voice — as if he were unraveling a story. Gary Numan exhibits a unique element of drama while he performs. The audience were enamored by his performance.

Here are the concert pictures from Irving Plaza, NY. Click on a thumbnail to make it big!

The other band members looked like they were having fun. Chris McCormack (of the band 3 Colours Red) had an odd habit of going right up near audience members and strumming the guitar in their faces — I thought that was quite funny. At the end of the show, the drummer threw his shirt off and strutted half-naked off stage, feeling as proud as a peacock. He certainly made his presence known, given that throughout the whole concert I hadn't seen him behind that big drum set.

The other guitarist, for some reason, reminded me of a mountain goat — not in a bad way, but humans sometimes resemble animals. For instance, the goalkeeper of the German football (World Cup) team, when he had lots of blonde facial hair, reminded me of a lion with a floppy mane.

Gary Numan (One Man Music Team)

Most people remember Gary Numan from his hit single "Cars." In fact, a common error I see floating around the web quite often is that Gary Numan is from the band Cars, with Rick Ocasek. What a pity. Gary Numan has moved on from his '80s stereotype and has produced an onslaught of new albums incorporating darker, more industrial sounds. Bands from Nine Inch Nails to Marilyn Manson to Fear Factory have said Gary Numan's music had a major influence on them.

Rumors circulated in the '80s that Gary Numan was obsessed with money and wealth, and was seen driving around London in a white Chevrolet. It's been reported that David Bowie allegedly wanted Gary Numan off the set of the Kenny Everett Show, as they were both scheduled to appear. Bowie has also been quoted as saying he didn't know "cloning was part of the '80s," in reference to Gary Numan. It's ironic how a celebrity like David Bowie — a super-mega-rich person, and still today — was never labeled by the press as someone who loved wealth, while Gary Numan had the misfortune of carrying that label.

Gary Numan mentioned how he might have said lots of stupid things to the press, and that's why they had negative things to say about him.

I found some old video interviews with Gary Numan from when he was in his 20s, and he appeared quite pleasant. I was a bit disappointed — there was no video of Gary Numan expressing violent behavior, like smashing cameras or beating journalists. So since that didn't take place, I wonder why the press would want to write bad things about him. Even if he came off as aloof, that can't really offend a journalist.

Gary Numan has Asperger's Syndrome (a very mild case of autism) since he was a child, though he's never been officially diagnosed with it. His wife, Gemma, has been a gem and helped him deal with it. Complexities of the brain are something very hard to accept or deal with, much less understand — but accepting is the first step to dealing with things like that. Upon doing some research, it seems that people with autism often have above-average IQs, and in many cases are geniuses. Noted scientists such as Albert Einstein were also said to have had it.

Gary has mentioned in interviews before that, because of his Asperger's, he might come off as cold and uncaring without realizing it. I could understand how that might alienate close friends, but I still don't think it was enough for the press, especially in the '80s, to scorn him. The media can be very fickle.

Gary Numan deserves more respect from the media for creating such a unique body of musical work over the years. Sure, he's not curing cancer by creating music — but he's contributing to the art field that exists within society, even though his contributions aren't widely acknowledged. Institutions that claim to respect artists' contributions will never consider Gary Numan for the Musical/Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; instead, award shows like the MTV Music Awards and Grammy Awards seem to honor musicians with mediocre talent at best.

The zoologist Desmond Morris, who wrote the book "The Human Zoo" (if you've seen my skits, this is Dr. Doctor's favorite medical book), offers some interesting, insightful observations about the creative individual:

The creative talent will therefore find himself alternately praised and damned by society in a bewildering way, and will be constantly in doubt about his acceptance by the rest of the community. — Desmond Morris, The Human Zoo, Chapter 12

Gary Numan has tried very hard to break out of the typecast of being a one-hit wonder from the '80s. He's turned down more offers than he's accepted, since many were geared to promoting him solely as "the person who did Cars," completely overlooking all of his latest music.

It's refreshing to see an artist who doesn't succumb to the business side of the music world, where record labels are so keen on marketing the artist as a money-making commodity. Instead, he's stuck to his artistic roots and created a massive body of work encompassing various styles. Not only that, but Gary Numan really is a one-man music team — everything from managing his website, to his music, to the cover art on his albums, is created by Gary Numan himself. He has the comfort of his own record label, and sells his records through his own website.

In a sensible world, the song "Haunted," from Gary Numan's latest album Jagged, would have had a good chance of reaching #1 on the music charts. But this is not so. Obviously there must be some sort of logical explanation for this. Apparently, some evil forces have inverted the entire top 40 charts — as a result, the worst music, which belongs at the bottom, now appears at the top; conversely, the better music is now at the bottom of the charts. These strange forces have successfully convinced much of the population that the current bad music is really good. And who are these evil forces, you ask? Just turn on the TV or radio and you'll hear them.

Despite the fact that corporate mainstream media has the potential and power to reach large audiences, it's relatively useless, since it does not acknowledge the contributions of real artists. Alternative media is much more effective in spreading the word.

In terms of promotion, Gary Numan is very open to all sources of media and doesn't shut himself off from underground sources. There are many artists who aren't open-minded to alternative media, and would rather only be interviewed by pre-defined media. Without depending on publicists, major labels, or mainstream TV, Gary Numan has still managed to maintain a loyal audience internationally! He has the freedom to create music for the love of it, without being bound to any corporate entity — that is a very good thing. Looking at how Gary Numan has overcome all these obstacles can truly serve as an inspiration to independent artists. Although the creative road might be the loneliest and most difficult, it can still pay off in the end. Gary Numan has proved this!