Gary Numan

"Praying To The Aliens (An Autobiography)" by Gary Numan with Steve Malins   Published by Andre Deutsch Ltd ISBN 0 2339 9205 7

Chapter 3

Tubeway Days, 1974-78

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"My Dad's parents paid for the band to demo three songs. 'That's Too Bad', 'Oh, Didn't I Say' and one other whose name escapes me, at the cheapest studio we could find, Spaceward in Cambridge, on 16 October 1977. It was all punky material because I mistakenly thought that record contracts flowed like water for that kind of music. I soon found out that it wasn't quite that easy. We made up some cassettes and a friend of the band's took it around to lots of record companies but everyone turned us down, absolutely everyone. One man actually threw the tape out of the door and told him to fuck off."

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We went back into Spaceward on 7 March for three days to record some more demos, the week I turned 20. I loved the place, it had all started there. It was a little homebuilt 16-track studio and the people there were very helpful and enthusiastic. Bob had left, so my uncle Jess was back helping out on drums. Most of the songs were from our live set, but I was writing so much stuff at this point that I had stronger material almost immediateley so I wasn't keen on releasing any of it. None of these recordings were released until years afterwards, when Beggars pulled them out of a dusty cupboard somewhere and released them as an album called The Plan."

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"Later that month I went back into Spaceward with Paul and Jess to do our first album for Beggars. It was not going to be a punk album as such, but it was still very much guitar, bass and drums. It's a difficult thing to explain but I had sounds in my head. More than that, I had a picture, an image, a feeling almost of how I wanted to go, but I hadn't come close to realising it with the band. It was so vague, I couldn't put it into words yet it was there nonetheless. When I arrived at the studio the previous band had left behind a Mini-Moog synthesiser and so I asked if I could have a go before it was collected by the hire company. I had never seen a real synth before and, to be honest, had never really thought about them very much. Although I liked some electronic music I still associated it mainly with pompous supergroups, like Yes and ELP. To me they conjured up visions of disgusting, self-indulgent solos that went on for half an hour. Pressing that first key changed my life. Luckily for me it had been left on a heavy setting, which produced the most powerful, ground-shaking sound I had ever heard. I realised immediatelythat this was what I had been looking for. It had the power I had been in search of and when I played my simple guitar riffs on it it sounded like nothing else I had ever heard. If it had been pre-set on a horrible, tinny, bleep sound I probably wouldn't have given it a second thought. It was one of those pivotal moments when luck shines down upon you, and you are awake enough to recognise it. For me it was a real eurika moment in my life. as i've said there was some electronic music I liked, I had a few Kraftwerk albums, but they had a clinical fell to them that didn't fit with my musical direction. I'd liked some of Brian Eno's music, but again it was a long way from where I wanted to be. I've still got some old Eno albums actually, but I do think he crawls up his own backside at times. He's extremely clever at putting sounds together, a very talented man, but I think you can go into a studio and do something creative without having to use those bizarre motivation techniques he seems so fond of. Just go in and write some bloddy songs, mate. I love writing music, I don't need to be psyched into it. Just open up your mind and see what comes out. Eno had also worked with Ultravox, who had been closer to where I wanted to be, musically. I was a big fan of the band but it hadn't been raw enough or heavy enough to make me see what synthesisers could do for me and my music. My desire for a more powerful sound had stopped me from seeing the potential that the synth had. Until now.

I did what I could but I wasn't really happ with the results of those sessions and I was eager to get back in and add more electronic sounds to the songs. I had also started writing yet more new songs on an old piano that my mum had bought me for £20 as a late birthday present. From the outset these songs were written with the synth in mind. I couldn't play the piano, I had no idea what any of the notes were called, but did the best I could to come up with material that I hoped would breathe life when I converted it onto the synth. Beggars cautiously allowed me back into Spaceward on 23 August to do extra work on the album. This time, I was allowed to hire a Mini-Moog for the entire session, and when I returned to their offices, I was an electronic act. Beggars were less than pleased to begin with, especially Nick, but they began to come around."

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