HI ROB, you and co-director Steve Read have been screening the documentary at cinemas around Britain over the past couple of weeks – what's the reaction been like?
It's been really good. We spent quite a long time making this film and we had a fairly strong Gary Numan fanbase wanting to know all about it right from the beginning.
When we premiered it at SXSW in Texas back in March, we immediately had lots of people getting in touch asking when it was coming out in the UK and if there was going to be a DVD – so it's great to finally get it out there. The Numan fans are really liking it and also people who didn't really know who Gary was before they saw it have told us that they subsequently went out and bought his music afterwards.
Neither of you were big fans of Gary's music prior to making the film. Did that help or hinder the process?
Well, I think it's a bit dangerous to go and try and make films about people who are your idols and how brilliant their music is. When we first met Gary, we quickly realised he was actually a really interesting person with a great story – and, ultimately, that's what you want from a documentary: to be able to get inside somebody's head to understand how they work and for them to be really candid about the highs and lows they've gone through in life.
Gary was willing to do that in spades. We ended up going on holiday with him and all sorts of things. I think we were hugely lucky to be trusted as much as we were to capture his story and be able to tell it in as intimate a way as we did.
The film captures Gary just as he's in the process of moving his family to California and trying to make Splinter, his first album for a number of years. Were you aware that he had these big plans before you started filming?
We knew that emigrating was something he was trying to do, in the same way as we knew he was trying to make the album – but nobody really knew what was actually going to happen. I think we started filming around September 2012 and it was fairly soon after that their visas got sorted. Then in early 2013 we joined them in America to do the US filming.
So it was great for us to be able to film that stuff as it was happening, and the same with the process of writing the album. As much as the spine of the film is us following him going back into the studio for the first time in seven years, what was really interesting was the fact it was such a personal album.
He definitely opens his heart to you in the interviews about both the songwriting and his struggles with depression and his own parents over the past few years which also kind of fed into the songs.
Yeah, we were there at a time where he was kind of figuring out how to really verbalise the stuff he was writing about – normally that happens once the album has come out and you've had time to process what you're doing. There are bits during the interviews where you can definitely see Gary considering for the first time what the album he's in the process of writing means and how important it is to him on a personal level.
As he says in the film, a couple of those songs were the first ones he'd written in years that genuinely made a difference to how he lived his life – which is a pretty significant statement for any artist to make. Gary doesn't say anything unless he means it and the way his honesty comes across on camera gave us a really good insight into how he works and operates.
Gary's superfan-turned-wife Gemma and their children Raven, Persia and Echo all feature prominently in the film. Were you surprised to have such access to his family unit as well and the gigs and studio sessions?
Ultimately, I don't like to think of the film as a music documentary – it's really a love story. We realised that once it became apparent how integral Gemma was to Gary's story, which also features this whole support network of people who love him. Everyone in the film, from his UK management at the time to producer Ade Fenton, were all a very intimate part of his world.
We wanted to stay in that bubble as much as possible – which is partly why we didn't interview any celebrity fans (though Gary's triumphant guest appearance at a Nine Inch Nails show in London does feature), because it would have been a 'showbiz' distraction. The film always felt very special because it was about this small intimate group of people all working together for the good of Gary's life and career.
Has Gary seen the film and what does he think of it?
There's bits of it I think Gary really likes and bits of it that he finds somewhat uncomfortable, given his openness to us. But he's given us his blessing, which was a brave decision given how candid he was. I hope that we've done that honesty justice, really.
Is there anything you filmed that didn't make the final cut which might yet see the light of day?
Well, we did manage to track down his collection of jumpsuits. There's one scene with a really lovely explanation of where all the 'Numan mementos' are – it always felt like that would make a really nice 'DVD extra', so that's where you'll find it!
:: Gary Numan: Android in La La Land is showing tonight at QFT Belfast at 6.30pm, followed by a Q&A with Rob Alexander. Book online at QueensFilmTheatre.com.
