Gary Numan is performing songs from three of his ground-breaking early albums, Replicas, The Pleasure Principle and Telekon, at Newcastle’s O2 Academy on Sunday September 18. Mick Burgess talked to him

What made you decide to build your show around these three records?

The three albums are all from the very start of my career. These are the albums that helped launch electronic music into the mainstream – they were all number one albums – and shaped much of what came later. My last album Splinter had the best reviews I’ve ever had and was the best-selling Numan album since 1981, so it made sense to revisit where it all started. I will have a new album out next year so I’m mostly locked away in a studio writing at the moment. This tour gives me an excuse to get out again.

Were there any songs from those albums that you haven`t performed in years that you've had to figure out how to play again?

Most of them. When we started to rehearse them for a residency in Los Angeles last year it was shocking how little of it I could remember.

Have you found that revisiting those albums again you’ve unearthed a couple of songs you like more now than you did when you originally released the record?

I very rarely listen to my newer stuff, the older stuff not at all, so my memories of it are faded at best. I was pleasantly surprised to discover during rehearsals how unusual it all was. Much of the song structures are odd to say the least, but the sounds are cool and I came away from it feeling rather proud of myself. I’ve spent years trying to distance myself from my back catalogue and then I found out that it was pretty good after all.

What sort of direction can we expect from your new music?

I expect it to be heavier, darker and even more aggressive. But there’s a long way to go still so you never know.

Can you reveal any song titles yet?

I have two with finished lyrics. One is called Bed Of Thorns, the other is called If I Said.

You’ve involved your fans while making the new album. Why is that?

I wanted them to witness the making of the album every step of the way, all the ups and the downs, the good days and bad, the stresses and tantrums, the despair and the euphoria. They get to be a fly on the wall of what has, up until now, been a very secretive process.

You came to prominence with Are Friends Electric? Did you realise at the time that you were at the forefront of something totally new and ground-breaking?

I was aware that it was a very new kind of music, yes. My only concern was to be a part of it. I believed electronic music was going to change everything. Having the first electronic number one single and album was an added bonus.

You've been cited as an influence on a wide variety of artists over the years – from Prince to Lady Gaga, Jack White to Kanye West; Beck to Queens Of The Stone Age; Foo Fighters to Nine Inch Nails and Armand Van Helden to Marilyn Manson. Has it surprised you that your influence has spread so far?

It did to begin with, but it’s been going on for years now so I’m slowly getting used to it. It’s very flattering though. I have been covered, sampled, mentioned and rewarded by such a wide range of very cool artists it’s sometimes hard to take in. Some of these people are amazingly gifted songwriters and performers themselves so to have so many of them saying great things about me is amazing.

You qualified as a pilot in the early 1980s after a fascination with flying as a child. Do you still get to fly much?

Not these days. I was an aerobatic air display pilot for many years. I loved it. But, almost everyone I knew in that world was killed in crashes over the years. It’s a very dangerous hobby and when the children came along I decided to get out. It’s too reckless a thing to do when you have a young family. I do miss it badly though.

  • Tickets for the Newcastle O2 show are available by calling the box office on 08444-772-000 or visit ticketweb.co.uk
  • The day after his Newcastle appearance, on Monday, September 19, Tyneside Cinema, in Pilgrim Street, will be showing Gary Numan Android In La La Land, a new film about the musician by Steve Read and Rob Alexander

It documents Numan’s move to Los Angeles with wife Gemma and daughters Raven, Persia and Echo. It reveals how he fell in love with his biggest fan who helped turn his life around following depression and near bankruptcy.

With exclusive access to Numan and his family, it explores the many contradictions and misconceptions about the man and reveals that behind the mask he is human after all.

Accompanying the screening, from 6pm, is a director’s Q&A. To book and for more information call (0191) 227 5500 or visit www.tynesidecinema.co.uk