May 12, 2021

Sostrin Client Spotlight - Gary Numan

Listening to his parents’ record collection as a child, Gary Numan wasn’t always sure that he wanted to be a musician. As he grew older, however, he became more certain of his future: “A music career seemed to offer the most exciting kind of life—certainly more interesting than the career choices being presented to me at school,” he posits, “so I decided to make music my life.”
 
Once Mr. Numan discovered songwriting, he knew he had picked the right career.  He explains: “Writing songs became a need more than anything – A way of releasing fears and tensions in a way that created something new and worthwhile, rather than being destructive.”
 
Described by Rolling Stone as a “New Wave legend,” Mr. Numan first rose to success in his hometown of London, England, as the front man of the band Tubeway Army.  He released two albums with the band, one of which included the hit song “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” that in 1979 made Mr. Numan the first Briton to have a No. 1 synth-pop single.
 
Mr. Numan has since released more than a dozen albums and his songs have been sampled and referenced by countless other artists, including Tears for Fears, Nine Inch Nails, Dr. Dre, Timbaland, and Basement Jaxx.  In 2017, he received an Ivor Novello Award in recognition of his work inspiring and encouraging the creativity of other artists. Mr. Numan has toured the world regularly and has the stories to prove it, including a memorable encounter with legendary U.K. rock band Queen while in Tokyo.
 
Touring has always been a major part of Mr. Numan’s career as a musician. Because of the pandemic, however, he has not been able to tour as planned.  Still, he’s kept busy, recently publishing (R)evolution, an autobiography and memoir that The Guardian described as an “entertaining and often poignant life story.”  He is also preparing to release his 18th solo album entitled Intruder later this month, and is already working on another record.
 
“I’m very lucky in that I have a studio at home,” he explains, “So continuing working on music wasn’t a problem.”

Today, Mr. Numan lives in California with his wife Gemma, who has encouraged him since they met in 1992, as well as their children. Mr. Numan and his family settled in Los Angeles drawn by the opportunity to produce film music.  He also describes “a climate that gives you more opportunities to live every day as fully as possible” and “the friendliness of California and its people” as key reasons for his desire to live in L.A.
 
Mr. Numan and his wife became U.S. citizens last year, and Sostrin Immigration had the privilege of working with Mr. Numan on this process.  We are honored to have been a part of this brilliant musician’s career and story and look forward to listening to Intruder soon!