gary numan — new york dolls
Machine Man Long before Daft Punk narrated the challenges of living life as an android, Gary Numan asked the world ‘Are Friends Electric?’ way back in 1979. Numan is widely credited as the pioneer of the electronica genre with his use of synthesisers, fed through guitar effect pedals, creating his trademark metallic sound. To celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of his groundbreaking release, The Pleasure Principle, Numan will return to Australia this month to play the album in its entirety. Gary Numan caught up with GEORGINA BIBLE on the eve of his visit. Gary Numan’s fascination with dystopian science fiction, exploring themes of depersonalisation and alienation, made him an instant hit when tracks like ‘Cars’, ‘Metal’ and ‘Are Friends Electric?’ first hit the airwaves in the late 70s and early 80s. Numan’s exploration into the world of Minimoog synthesisers and Polymoog keyboards would pave the way for the synth-pop acts that were to follow, such as Depeche Mode and The Human League. However, his synth anthems still serve as an inspiration to a multitude of rock n’ roll royalty today, with names like Dave Grohl, Beck and Trent Reznor citing Numan as a major influence. Numan’s back catalogue is impressive with more than 20 albums under his belt. But it’s his earlier offerings, including The Pleasure Principle, which define a moment in music history. You have a loyal legion of ‘Numanoids’ here in Australia who are elated at the prospect of hearing The Pleasure Principal in its entirety. How has the tour been
is laziness to stop work before midnight. I have read Reznor wants to record with you. Is there anything in the pipeline? Not as yet. Trent has been busy with several projects over the past year or so, including the soundtrack to The Social Network. But right now, my wife and I are trying to sort out our green card applications. It’s more likely to happen with Reznor if we are living near LA.
received so far? It was only ever going to be one show, so for it to become this life-consuming adventure is just brilliant. We did a big tour of the USA and Mexico late last year and the response was fantastic.
Have you and your wife thought about moving to Australia? Yes (laughs), but the States is better work-wise. We had an amazing time the last time we toured Australia in 2009. That tour would have to be in my top three. The crowds were fantastic. I came away thinking that Australians are so positive. Somehow, I had this belief that Australians did not like English people.
What has it been like introducing your music to a new generation? I think we might have picked up a few new fans along the way. There has been an even mix of ages at the shows — people that were around when the album was first released as well as younger people who might have first heard of us from working with people like Trent Reznor.
Can fans expect to hear other tracks aside from those on The Pleasure Principle on this tour of Australia? Yes they can. There will be a few surprises in there, and not just tracks off Replicas and Telekon. But I’m not going to tell you what they are. People will have to come along to one of the concerts and see.
It’s icons like Trent Reznor and Dave Grohl who said your music has been a major influence. How do you feel about being held in high esteem by such music legends? It is rather flattering really. But one of the best outcomes is that I got to perform with Nine Inch Nails. Trent Reznor is an inspiration as a musician, he is so driven. He thinks it
Gary Numan will be performing at the Enmore Theatre, Sydney, on Friday May 13.
How did Dancing Backward in High Heels come about? david Johansen Well, first can I say this is positively Orwellian… We got a phone call from our management and they said ‘you guys have to make a record now’. So then we busily got to work, at least Syl did. And then came up with some really beautiful melodies and arrangements. Then we went into the studio in Newcastle, England, and started recording them. After
magic that way. You’re just going to re-create your demo. SS On our past record we did it kind of live. This particular record started off from the demos, and that was like our track number one, and everything else was sort of layered on top of it. We really made magic that way. We had an incredible producer (Jason Hill) who really understood what was to be. He could sort of hear the tracks finished in his head. DJ We made the drums sound like cardboard boxes, which is the sound I like. [Syl starts cracking up] SS We tweak the piano until it starts sounding like a guitar, then we know we’re ready. DJ Get the saxophone sounding like an automobile. SS Exactly. Like David said, cardboard boxes was the inspiration for this album.
There are few bands that have influenced a whole era of musicians, but the New York Dolls are one of them. Founding members David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain talk about their just-released fifth album, Dancing Backward in High Heels, their third since reuniting in 2004.
Dolls in High Heels three weeks of intensive, creative working, we came out with this masterpiece.
easy — when it’s easy, it’s fun, not premeditated.
Has the songwriting process remained the same throughout your career? Or did it change at all for the new record? Sylvain Sylvain We don’t hold ourselves to any particular way to do it — it’s always open. And creativeness is just a flowing thing. We’re not trying to put borders on ourselves. What gives us a headache, we kind of put aside. We like
Obviously you guys write songs together, what’s that process like? Do you throw ideas back and forth? SS Yeah, you know we really don’t have a set pattern, we do the creative thing; we try to stay clean to any sort of premeditated thing, set by the audience or ourselves. We just kind of keep the creative process open and we usually don’t have anything ready
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mag azine issue #058 — May 2011
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until we go to the studio. We tell our managers and record companies ‘oh man, we are so ready’, but we’re usually not. It’s so much better this way, you just create and it’s not like ‘show me the demos’, you know? So, sometimes it pays to not be ready? DJ The studio is like another element that takes you with it, so whatever’s happening you start following that, and if you don’t follow that, and you stick to what you planned out, you’re never going to find
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Who are some of the artists that inspired you when you first started? DJ When we were kids we liked soul music like Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding, and we liked girl group music and doo-wop music, and we liked British invasion music… SS [interjects] …rockabilly... We threw it all together, and that was when it was all about stadium rock, and rock songs twenty minutes long. We thought the industry was really mundane at that time, and said, ‘Hey! Let’s put on a show [pause]… but where are we going to get a curtain? Well, I think my mum has one… DJ But where are we going to get a dress? Wait… I think your mum has that, too. Dancing Backward in High Heels is out now through Universal Music.
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