Gary Numan: Dont play one of my songs at my funeral | Life and style
The Q&ALife and style This article is more than 6 years oldInterviewGary Numan: ‘Don’t play one of my songs at my funeral’
This article is more than 6 years oldRosanna GreenstreetThe musician on family, living in LA and why he last criedBorn Gary Webb in west London, Numan 59, formed the band Tubeway Army in the late 70s. In 1979, he released his first electronic album Replicas, then a second called The Pleasure Principle, and had hit singles with Are “Friends” Electric? and Cars. His latest album is Savage. He will perform at Standon Calling festival on 30 July. He is married with three children and lives in Los Angeles.
When were you happiest?
Now. I enjoy what I do for a living, the children are here and I am still happily married after 25 years.
What is your greatest fear?
Getting a horrible disease. Every tiny headache or twinge in my back is death knocking.
What is your earliest memory?
I was three or four and sitting with my mum in an old van that had broken down near Staines. I remember my dad walking away with a can (we’d run out of petrol) and seeing him disappear into the fog and feeling frightened.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
I moan a lot.
What was your most embarrassing moment?
Losing my virginity on a boat, at the end of someone’s garden on the Thames when I was 14 or 15. My incompetence compared with my level of previous bragging was staggering.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I am 5ft 8in and three quarters. I wish I was taller.
What makes you unhappy?
The kids fighting in the car: Raven is 13, Persia 11 and Echo 10.
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My wife. I’m lost without her.
Who would play you in the film of your life?
I would like it to be Brad Pitt, but it would probably be Danny Dyer.
What is your most treasured possession?
My Gibson Les Paul guitar. It’s been on every tour I have done.
What is your most unappealing habit?
I chew the knuckle on the first finger on my right hand when I am thinking.
What is the worst thing anyone’s said to you?
Our first pregnancy ended when the baby died before it was born. A fan wrote to me to say they were glad, as maybe now I’d write more music.
What do you owe your parents?
Everything. My mum and dad paid for my first studio recordings and bought me a little PA system with their entire life savings. My dad also managed me for 35 years.
Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?
Leonidas the Spartan king.
If you could go back in time, where would you go?
When dinosaurs were still around.
When did you last cry, and why?
Yesterday, when Gemma, my wife, played me The End Of Suffering by Thich Nhat Hanh when we were driving into Hollywood.
What is the closest you’ve come to death?
I was an air display pilot for 15 years, and watched most of my friends die in crashes. When the children came along, I got out of it.
What song would you like played at your funeral?
Not one of mine.
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Someone told me I needed to learn how to lie. That was good advice: if you’re an open book, which I am, it can be used against you.
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