Raquel: I have to start out by saying that you were the sole reason I got into synthesizer music of all genres. I wrote an article about you in our first issue and then two weeks after we went to press, I heard that you were recording again. It's strange being back in Philly since I was a music director for my college radio station when the rave scene was huge. I interviewed the Utah Saints back then, do you know them?
Gary: No.
R: They did "Something Good", remixes for Annie Lennox, and they played with the Shamen.
G: What happened to them (the Shamen)? They were massive in the UK.
R: Nothing, although I heard that Mr. C is still recording, mixing, DJing, etc. EMF were also massive and just fell off. They covered your songs recently. Also on Random was Jesus Jones. I don't know what happened to them. They were great.
G: I LOVE them! I went to see them last year. They really know what they are, doing. Plus Mike Edwards looks great. They should have been the next big thing, really! Their last album came out and didn't do much, which is such a shame. Especially when you find a band that's good, skillful and individual. Record companies try to make it bland so that they can sell it. If only they had a little more bollocks to just take something and throw it back. The public aren't as stupid as they believe; they can get into something a bit more creative. It doesn't have to be Spice Girls.
R: What's your take on them?
G: Well, if they are making a lot of people happy, which they are, then I'll be the last person to say anything. But it's a shame that it gets so much attention at the expense of some other entertainers and that's what I get mad about. You have radio one and other stations only paying attention to them. When they have a single come out, they get the support; airplay is arguably between ten to twelve times a day. Massive! Everyone hears it. Then you think, why can't they put them on seven times a day and it would still be massive, and everybody would still get to hear it more than enough, but you would have enough room to sample other bands or artists. Maybe play some things that aren't quite as bland as that and see the peoples' reactions. It's the responsibility of the radio stations to broaden what people listen to.
R: Well, I just read an article about pirate radio stations in London that are popping up; the idea is there. That's why we created our publication because there are so many magazines that are cookie cutters of themselves. You need to have different takes on things. Did you do a video for any of your new tracks on Exile?
G: Yes. We tried to create a decent video to promote the album. I hadn't done a video in quite some time so piecing one together that coincided with the look of the record was important.

R: Actually, let's talk about your first video, "Cars." When you were on the set, did you have any idea of how influential your look, sound, and everything that came from that video would be for future generations like Beck and Marilyn Manson and people who have said that you are one of their main influences?
G: Oh no! Not at all. It's a funny thing when you go into a studio to work on a record or to make a video, or whatever. The last thing you're thinking about is if you'll be influential. You just go in and try to do the best you can. What you're really worried about is if it's as good as anyone else's at the moment. You are forever looking around at what other people are doing to see if the quality of what you're doing, be it production or performance, is good enough and to be absolutely honest about it. I have always been, in my opinion, surrounded by people who do it better than I do. When I first started, I would look at people like Ultravox and I thought they were MUCH better than me. I'm always sort of there. I'm not saying that I'm crap, but I was always, since whatever year I've been in from 1978-1998, been aware that there are other people around me who are better, which is cool because it's good to look at them, to learn from (them) constantly. Those people that have actually changed are good because there are so many bands that have fallen by the wayside and aren't around anymore. I've always looked around. It seems bizarre to me that, at the moment, I seem to be getting so much credibility for being so influential when really I can point them to someone else that they really should have been listening to. Because, if you listen to me, I was listening to them and they were really doing it properly. But, I am very happy and proud of this. I do feel slightly awkward, but I'm keeping that quiet, really. (A billowing laugh ensues)

R: That's funny that you say that. I'm going to pick on you for just a minute. I read your book, Praying to the Aliens. Now, would you say that your awkwardness comes from the fact that you are coming back after all these years, or the fact that everyone is giving you a lot of credit? Personally speaking, as a fan, you have been very influential. Have you gotten over a lot of the stage fright that you used to encounter when you first started out or do you still have those nerves?
G: No, I don't have any fears whatsoever. It's one of the things that comes from being around for twenty years as opposed to twenty minutes. Being one of the older people and not one of the younger people. When I first started, I went on stage in Glasgow for my first tour and I had never been on that sort of a stage before and didn't know what I was doing. I would get halfway through a song and think, "Oh, I haven't moved my arms for a bit, I should do something!" Then the press would get on me and say that I was wooden on stage, and I would get all hurt and offended, but they were quite right. Absolutely wooden on stage, and it's taken me a while to relax and build up a repertoire with things you do instinctively rather than say "Oh, I should lift my arm up to there, and that would be appropriate." Not do it mechanically. Where before I felt the last place I should be is on stage, now I feel very comfortable there. Everything that's gone wrong can go wrong. I've had really good crowds and really shit crowds, as well as complete power failures. I've fallen over and all the things that you get worried you're going to do, and it's never as bad as you think it's going to be. When it happens, you just get on with it. The only thing that can happen now is that I get shot (Ed note: I knock on some available wood for good luck). Someone threw something at me once and it came far too late for me to do anything about it, so it just stuck me in the face.
R: Where was this?
G: In Australia. You can't see it because of the lights. It just missed my eye, I think it was a pen. It was a long time ago, though. I love everything about touring now. The traveling, being away, seeing different places and meeting different people. I love all the aspects of it, where as before I disliked almost every aspect of it. But, I've been like this for a long time. It's not as if "By year twenty, I'll find myself." I changed about ten years ago.
R: What caused the turnaround?
G: Just the experience, doing it and going through some of those things I dreaded which made me feel nervous in the first place. There is no doubt about it: the more time you spend on stage, the more normal it feels. It's not as if you lose the excitement, but you relax. You don't feel so self-conscious. It's very easy to walk out on stage where everyone is staring at you and fell really self-conscious if you are not that naturally-inclined. But, there comes a time when you do it so much that you find yourself standing there and doing what you're doing. You just get into what you're doing and that's when it's really cool. It's a sign that you are relaxed.

R: Do you feed off of the audience? You've played all over the world, so are different audiences' reactions different in each country? How does it help you on stage?
G: It's actually been a long time since I toured all over, so it's a bit of a distant memory. I was also deep in my awkward period then, so I probably wasn't noticing that much. Certainly, these days I definitely feed off their enthusiasm without a doubt. Even when the lights go out, you feel the reactions. When you walk on, you feed off of that. Personally, I find it makes me work that much harder. If I'm getting to the end of the set and it's still not really picking up the way I want, then I occasionally get irritated and say, "Bollocks!"