GARY NUMAN

The legendary synth and doom rocker on accidents

On becoming a synth pioneer

“I didn’t know it at the time, but I suppose I was trying to combine that electronic thing with the spikiness of punk.

“And, as luck would have it, there was a Minimoog in the studio where I was working on an album of punky, guitar-based songs. I plugged it in and played a note. My God, what a wonderful sound!

“We’re now in an era where everyone is familiar with the synthesiser, but back in 1977 and 1978, they were still something of a rarity. They were almost like a novelty instrument that people used for making funny noises. To actually have one in my hands and to be able to feel the power of that sound was… well, it changed my life.

“My first thought was, ‘What if I transfer my basic guitar riffs to the Minimoog?’ Instead of going, ‘chug-chug’ with barre chords, I played ‘dum-dum’ on the Moog. It sounded fucking brilliant! Completely by accident, I found what I was looking for.”

And thank God it wasn’t a clarinet

“The thing about being a songwriter is that it’s a fairly common ability. Look around you and look on the internet; songwriters are ten a penny.

And a lot of them are great, great songwriters who will never get a chance to bring their music to a wider public.

“The only thing that distinguishes me from them is luck. Luck that I found that Moog. Thank God it wasn’t a clarinet that somebody had left in the studio!

“There have been good and bad things said about the impact the internet has had on music, but all I can say is that it’s allowed me to carry on making music. Yes, the internet and social media has created a certain state of flux, but that will settle down. Or maybe it won’t.

“Maybe flux will be the new normal. Constant reinvention; constant change. But what’s wrong with that? How ridiculous would it be to still be making music with the same setup I had 30 years ago? You can’t keep looking to the past – music has to keep moving forward.”