Gary Numan
Date: August 7th, 2006,
Venue: Irving Plaza,
City: New York.
Venue: Irving Plaza,
City: New York.
Gary Numanwas on a US 2006 Tour promoting his latest album Jagged. This interview took place at the backstage of Irving Plaza before the show. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Interviewing Gary Numan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| My interview with Gary Numan was along the lines of a casual conversation as opposed to 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. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ms. Divine's Tee Hee HeureThis video interview of Gary Numan will be airing on my local sketch comedy TV show called Ms. Divine's Tee Hee Heure. It airs in New York, in the boroughs of Queens and Manhattan via Queens Public Television and Manhattan Neighborhood Network TV.For showtimes click here | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Concert | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Gary Numan (one man music team)Most people remember Gary Numan from his hit single CARS. In fact a common error that I see floating around the web quite often is that Gary Numan is from the band Cars w/ Rick Ocasek . What a pity. Gary Numan has moved on from his 80's stereotype and has produced an onslaught of new albums incorporating more darker and industrial sounds. Bands from Nine Nails, to Marilyn Manson, Fear Factory have stated that Gary Numan's music has had quite a major influence on them.Rumors circulated in the 80's that Gary Numan was obsessed with money and wealth, and was seen driving around London in a white Chevrolet. It has been reported that David Bowie allegedly wanted Gary Numan off the set of the Kenny Everett show as they were both scheduled to appear on the show. Bowie has also been quoted to say that he didn't know that "cloning was part of the 80's", in reference to Gary Numan. It's ironic how a celebrity such as David Bowie who is a super mega rich person (and is still today) NEVER was labeled by the press as someone who loved wealth while Gary Numan had the misfortune of carrying of the 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. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Gary Numan has Asberger's Syndrome (very mild case of autism) since he was a child. He has never been officially diagnosed with it. His pretty 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. But upon doing some research, it seems that people with autism often have above average IQ and in many cases are geniuses. Noted scientists such as Albert Einstein were also diagnosed with it! Gary has mentioned in interviews before, that because of his Asberger's Syndrome, he might come off as cold and uncaring without realizing that. I could understand how that might alienate close friends, but I still don't think it is enough for the press especially in the 80's to scorn him. The media can be very fickle. Gary Numan deserves more respect from the media for creating such a unique embodiment of musical work over the years. Sure, he is not curing cancer by creating music. But he is contributing to the art field that exists within society, yet his contributions are not widely acknowledged. Institutions that claim to respect artist contributions will never consider Gary Numan to be part of the Musical/Rock and Roll Hall of Fame etc. Instead, award shows like 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 have seen my skits, this is Dr. Doctor's favorite medical book) provides 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 this acceptance by the rest of the community: Gary Numan has tried very hard to break out of the typecast of being a one hit wonder from the 80's. He has turned down more offers that than he has accepted since many of these offers were geared to promoting him solely as "the person that did CARS", completely over-looking all of his latest music. Its refreshing to see an artist who doesn't succumb to the business aspect of the music world where record labels are so keen on marketing the artist as a money-making commodity. Instead he stuck to his artistic roots and has created a massive amount of work encompassing various styles. Not only that, but Gary Numan really is a 1 man music team. Everything from managing his web site, his music and the cover art on his album are all created by Gary Numan. He has the comfort of having his own record label and sells his records thru his own web site. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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 inversed the entire top 40 charts. As a result, the worst music that belongs to 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 will hear them. Despite the fact that corporate mainstream media has the potential and power in reaching large audiences, it is relatively useless for it does NOT acknowledge contributions of real artists. Alternative media is much more effective in spreading the word. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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 are not open-minded to alternate media and would rather have pre-defined media ONLY interview them..
Without depending on publicists, major labels, or mainstream TV Gary Numan still has 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 over come all these aforementioned obstacles can truly serve as an inspiration to independent artists. Although the creative road might be the loneliest and most difficult, it still can pay off in the end. Gary Numan has proved this! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Click here to visit Gary Numan's Official Website | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
