Gary Numan - Dotmusic.com Live Chat Transcript March 2, 2001 Welcome to the dotmusic chat with Mystery Guest dotmusic: Welcome to our second mystery webchat. Our mystery guest has arrived and we're now going to slowly unmask him/her. Neil from Sidcup asks: is it a he or a she? Mystery: I'm a he. pure from exile asks: were you a punk? Mystery: Briefly. chris from IOW asks: howe many number one singles have you had Mystery: Two. james from Sydney asks: are you a solo artist or part of a group? Mystery: Solo artist. Gazza from somewhere else asks: do you or did you wear a lot of makeup? Mystery: Yeah. tim from preston asks: can you descrive a typical stage outfit Mystery: Something black. Anything black really. simon from St Albans asks: have any of your early hits been sampled on later hits Mystery: Yes, several. Lucy May from Nottingham asks: Did you expect the reaction you got when you performed with Eminem at the Grammys? Mystery: I'm not gay. David Velarde from Dallas, Texas USA asks: Is it the Beatles? Mystery: No. Andy Taylor from Merseyside asks: Have you ever seen the film The Wicker Man? Mystery: No. shelly from NY asks: Hi! You ever fly a plane by any chance? Mystery: Yeah, still do. brittinea campbell from prince albert,saskatchewan asks: i so dont know who you are but how old are you? Mystery: I'm forty three next Thursday. Andy Taylor from Merseyside asks: Have you ever heard the music of Frank Zappa and his album Civilization Phaze III? Mystery: No. Mystery: Forty three, not one hundred and forty-three. Alison from London asks: Have you got long hair? Mystery: No. steve from dover asks: What do you think of artists like Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson? Mystery: Love them. They're two of my favourite bands. anonymous from nowhere asks: Are you Gary Numan? Mystery: Yes. dotmusic: Yes, Gary Numan is our mystery webchat guest. He'll now answer your questions. jasonn cullum from southampton asks: A lot of fans still like to collect gary`s cassettes so why has he stopped making them ? Gary: It's not my decision, it's a record company decision and I believe it's to do with the fact that they sell so few it's not really worthwhile. Mark from Tettenhall, West Midlands asks: You sometimes appear as though you wish to disassociate yourself from your past. To have written Cars, which is now considered a classic, must make you feel proud though? Gary: The problem is you sometimes get tv opportunities when you have a new album out and the only song they want you to play is "Cars" so in that sense, it does get in the way sometimes. I am proud of it, but it gets in the way sometimes. Dennis W from Winsford, Cheshire asks: We the fans loved the live shows, how did you enjoy the tour? Gary: The tour was great. The attendance was better than I'd expected. The new material went down as well as the old, which was very encouraging. The band, I thought looked great, performed better than ever. The interaction between me and the band was the.. Gary: best it'd ever been. malc from stirling asks: any plans for any more live albums? Gary: Eager Records have a number of unreleased live albums which they keep saying they're going to release later in the year, but it's always the next year. So at the moment, they're saying it again for later this year. But whether it happens, it's hard to.. Gary: say. I think they have four or five and now they're just sitting there. I would like a live album out of the current touring band and current touring material, but again, it's not my decision. Brian Lyons from Greenford asks: Gary, with your avid interest in aircraft, have you ever considered doing a theme album based on this ? Gary: No. I fly airplanes mainly to take a break from music. I wrote a song called "My Centurian" about a plane crash I was in because it was a very traumatic experience. Other than that, I don't see any connection. Richard at NUMANME from UK asks: I don’t know if you have noticed Gary a lot of young people in the crowds of this tour why do you think this is? Gary: I think the new album has had excellent reviews in magazines that normally don't cover me at all. Things like Kerrang, Metal Hammer and so on. That must have helped. And I think the music itself has become more relevant than some of the other stuff... Gary: I've done. And also, bands like Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Fear Factory and Foo Fighters have all done covers and I think that's helped. Gary: I think the covers are probably the biggest thing. There are fans of other people who are finding out about me and now a lot of people think I'm a new act. They're disappointed when they find out I'm middle-aged. Tom from Edinburgh asks: What was your most enjoyable top of the pops peformance ? Gary: First one at number one which was '79. To be doing Top of the Pops with a number one single, it doesn't get any better. And even when we didn't it the second time with a number one single, you can't quite capture the dream come true feeling of the... Gary: first one. You've dreamed about it your whole life. All the things that go towards it, and there you are, you're standing there and you've done it. To actually be there and be number one and to know that in a thousand years, they can never take it... Gary: away from you. It's something quite special. Joshua Blanc from Canada asks: Is there a reason you played no songs from Exile or Sacrifice during your regular setlist on the UK tour? Gary: Lack of time really. I wanted to make sure I did things from the new album, which I think is my strongest album. I also wanted to make sure I did the major songs people wanted to hear like "Cars" and "Our Friends Electric." And I wanted to make sure I. Gary: did the songs by the people we mentioned like Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails and that didn't leave much time. It's particularly difficult because people want to hear old stuff. My hands are tied really. Sim from Melbourne Australia asks: Im guessing this is Gary Numan correct? If so, how did you come about recording the song Cars with Fear Factory & are you happy with the result? Gary: I'm very happy with the result, I really like it. My own version live now is very much more like the Fear Factory than my original. I had a phone call from Fear Factory saying they were going to do it as a cover anyway and would I be interested in... Gary: doing a guest vocal on it. It was a little bit scary. On one hand, I have this paranoia about "Cars" and doing the same song year after year. On the other hand, Fear Factory could introduce me to a new generation of people. So that was the gamble... Gary: and it paid off. They're really cool. I've become a big fan through knowing them. I was flattered that a band that heavy wanted to do one of my songs. It was only after I worked with them that I got to know they're music more. Andy from London asks: As a musician, how do you feel about Napster and other websites that allow people to share their MP3 files? Gary: I don't like the idea of people being able to get hold of music for free because it's my living. On the other hand, I think reaction to Napster has been massively over the top. Justin Bantock from Mansfield asks: If your pop carear didnt take off would you have considered becoming a professional pilot, flying for the likes of British Airways? Gary: No, I would have tried to become a racing driver. I always wanted something, even if it wasn't music, that was exciting and very fulfilling and there were very few things that did that and catered to my personality. An airline pilot doesn't quite.... Gary: A fighter pilot would but I didn't want to be in the military. It actually makes me sick. Richard Gray from Leicester asks: Do you expect any guest apperances on the US tour? Gary: It would be nice. Last time we had Marilyn Manson and Wayne Hussey from the Mission come onstage. We had Trent Reznor and several other people. It would be very very cool if they did. It's an open invitation to anyone that has some connection to me... Gary: to come. There are no plans yet, but it's an open invitation. paul ayres from LOndon asks: Do you get recognised a lot when you're out and about? Gary: Most of the time now. Not in the late '80's, it was all fading away quite badly. In recent years, it's more the way it used to be, which is good. It doensn't stop me from doing things. When I first became famous, I was a bit of a hermit, but now I... Gary: don't let it stop me. When you first become successful or famous, there's a lot of resentment and jealousy. It makes going out a lot of times quite frightening and dangerous even. When you've been famous for a long time, that resentment has gone and... Gary: people only know of you as someone famous and it's a much more pleasant experience. It's not dangerous at all. Alison from London asks: hey Gary, do you watch Popstars and what do you think of Hear'Say? Gary: No, I didn't watch popstars. To me, Popstars is actually saying to the public, "You will buy any old shit and just to prove it, we will manufacture a band before your eyes that are shit, and you will buy it." And they probably will. It's a shining... Gary: example of everything that's wrong with pop music. Joshua Blanc from Canada asks: Hi Gary :) Are we any nearer to seeing a single and perhaps a promo video? Gary: There has been a twelve inch vinyl single of the song called "Listen to My Voice," which was sent to clubs recently. I may make a video of a song called "Rip." Whether it's a single or not and without record company approval because they don't want to.. Gary: make a video of anything. Stan ( Prisonmoon ) King from Newport News, Virginia asks: I understand that you plan on starting up NUMA records again in the near future... do you feel that NUMA records will be different then before as far as promotion...If so..why ? Gary: If I do start a label again and it's a big if, it probably won't be called Numa Records. If it does happen, it will be a very different animal to what I tried before. At the moment, it's very much a back burner project. Dennis W from Winsford, Cheshire asks: You've mentioned a few times now the possibility of working with Billy Corgan. Is this nearer becoming a reality? Gary: It's more to do with when Billy's available. The last two times I've met Billy Corgan, he said he wanted to co-write with me and even suggested putting a band together. I'm happy to work with him. I have a lot of respect for him, but he's the big... Gary: I'm not, so I keep in touch but wait for him to be free. alison from nottingham asks: What will you be doing on your birthday - have a happy one by the way Gary: Thanks very much. Probably be in the studio actually, working on stuff for the next album. andy from portsmouth asks: what dop you think of the modern electronica - do you feel like a godfather of that Gary: I actually don't know much about it. I don't even know what bands are considered to be part of the electronica thing. I guess if what I read is true, than I have something to do with it if you go back far enough, but I'm more interested in industrial... Gary: music than electronica. arthur from Cardiff asks: What did you think of the Armand Van Helden record which sampled cars Gary: It was good, but I'm not really a big fan of dance music. I was very flattered that he did it. Mark Hubbard from Indiana, USA asks: Is there a chance for more than the current 15 dates in the US tour? Gary: It's possible. I certainly hope so. However, the American record label are suggesting a second American tour later this year, so it may be we play venues on that tour that we weren't able to do on the tour that's going to happen in April. harry from at home asks: Have you met Marilyn Manson - what do you think of the shock tactics the band uses to market the mnusic Gary: I don't think the tactics used by Marilyn Manson are particularly shocking. I think it's impressive promotion. The live show I saw of his in London recently was brilliant and if his tactics create that kind of enthusiasm and that large an audience... Gary: maybe we could all learn from it. We need people like Marilyn Manson and that was of presenting things to balance the blandness of modern pop music. paul white from brighton asks: any festival dates planned or booked ? Gary: Nothing confirmed yet. I'm hoping to get Reading with Marilyn Manson, but that's still a wish at the moment rather than anything definite. Richard Gray from Leicester asks: Is Gemma still a huge fan of the music? Gary: (Jemma says) Yes, I am. mike from beirut asks: what do u think about the way the 80's sound is being revisited by a lot of artists? Gary: I'm not a big fan of nostalgia. I genuinely don't believe that looking backwards is a good way of moving forwards. However, people like Fear Factory and Nine Inch Nails looking back at my earlier stuff has helped me. Personally, I have no interest in.. Gary: revisiting my own material again. I'm more interested in writing new things. dotmusic: We have time for a couple more. andy from portsmouth asks: if you had to pick one memory from your career so far - what stands out as the pinnacle for you Gary: First record ever released, first number one single, first album we ever made, first album gets number one, first time headlining an arena, first time on the cover of a major magazine. All these things stand out. Pulling up outside from a chip chop... Gary: with Roger Taylor from Queen in an Aston Martin and in the chip shop was the man who stole my girlfriend when I was a teenager. Revenge is sweet. Gary: In fact, he wasn't in the chip shop. He'd just been turned away from the nightclub next door. It was just the perfect timing. Gary: Thanks very much for your time and interest. Speak to you soon. dotmusic: Thanks a lot to Gary for coming in. Stay tuned for more webchats including more mystery guests coming soon to dotmusic!