All my early parenting was done over a fax machine
I LOVE music – I write a lot of songs when I’m at home, and play piano and guitar. I also wrote a book during lockdown with Shirlie that came out recently, and I’m working on another.
My job is all stops and starts – you’re full on or full off – so you need a way to keep your brain working in the meantime.
When I’m writing, I don’t think, ‘This is for the shops in 2022’, I write because I love it and it’s for me.
Even if no one reads it, I’m happy.
NOT stage fright exactly, but everybody gets nerves. If I haven’t acted for a while, I can feel my heart beating faster than it should.
I’ve never had stage fright to the point that you can’t go on, I just get a bit of adrenaline until I’m used to it again. But the more you do it, the more the nerves disappear. entertainment household now, and I’ve learnt a lot from Shirlie lie too. My daughter runs a production company and we talk about entertainment all the time.
I WOULDN’T even regard d it as my journey, it’s a shared ared journey.
We’ve been together over 40 years, so I don’t think there’s much I could have done without her.
I think when you’re together that long you become one person, and I’m as proud of Shirlie when she achieves something as I am of myself.
I’m sure she would say the same.
NO MATTER how cool you are or what you’ve done in your life, you will always be the embarrassing dad at some point.
Secretly, I like to live up to it, because it’s all part of the fun of being a dad. I’m very proud of Harley and Roman, not because of what they’ve achieved but who they are.
They’re really nice people, and every now and then they need to be embarrassed.
M MY MAIN advice would b be to listen. Listening is just as important as teaching, and you can learn a lot from your children. Don’t just s shut it down if you d disagree with your kid, bec because their side of the argum argument is important to them. Sometimes they might be right.
WHEN I was away with the band, it was difficult. All my early parenthood was done over a fax machine, as we didn’t have mobiles in those days.
I used to send Harley puzzles and jokes and drawings to keep in touch.
More recently, I’ve found that going away can sometimes be a good thing, because it makes everybody appreciate you when you come back.
Absence can make the heart grow stronger.
I LOVED it, and it was an incredible way to grow up. I was 17 when I started, and on my 18th birthday I signed our first record contract.
We spent 10 years at the top of our game – probably one of the biggest bands in the world. I will always be thankful for what Spandau Ballet gave me.
PROBABLY being involved in Live Aid in 1985, on that sunny afternoon in July. Most things become historic in retrospect, and that was the only time I knew something was going to be historic, even while I was doing it.
Two billion people watched that show. It would take some going to beat that.
IT’S advice I give to a lot of young kids, and to Roman and Harley when they were growing up. Breathe in the good moments, because when you’re younger you’re in such a rush that you can miss the really good bits.
When Spandau started, we wanted to play to 3,000 people in the Hammersmith Odeon. But by the time we got there, all we wanted to do was play to 10,000 people at Wembley. Stand back, and take the time to enjoy your successes.