"I Don’t Feel Like I’m Doing A Very Sensible Interview Here At All"

A bizarre fact that you may not know about Spandau Ballet’s Kemp brothers is that Gary was born with one kidney, while his younger brother Martin has three. Did guitarist Gary Kemp have to watch his alcohol and drug intake given that he was born with one functioning kidney? “Oh my god, are we on the radio?” No, this is an interview for a print publication. “My god, do I have to watch it? I don’t take drugs. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just into fitness, that’s all.” What about back in the day? “Sorry, this is a really bad start to an interview, can we start again?”

When asked about Spandau Ballet Vs Duran Duran, Kemp contributes, “It’s really not important, you know; we made music, they made music… It was fun that there was that going on – I mean, in the same way that there was The Beatles and The Stones, and Blur and Oasis – but it didn’t really affect us. You know, I’m sure you’ve seen the film [Soul Boys Of The Western World] as part of your research or have you just been researching my kidney [laughs]? We did a fun thing on TV where we had a competition with each other on Pop Quiz, but that was all fun. But it wasn’t true; I’m sure Spandau fans bought Duran Duran records and vice versa.”

“This is a really bad start to an interview, can we start again?"

If you attended Spandau Ballet shows back in the day, you’ll be well aware of the amount of soft toys that would be flung onto the stage during any given show. What happens to all of those? “Oh my god, why are you asking me questions about something that went on 30 years ago that I have no memory – I mean, how am I gonna remember what happened to cuddly toys 30 years ago? I’m sorry; I don’t feel like I’m doing a very sensible interview here at all. Is this for a tabloid, I take it?” No, it’s for a street press publication. “What happened to cuddly toys? I have no idea. I’m sure they went to a local children’s hospital.”

Although Kemp maintains he’s proud of all Spandau Ballet songs, he singles out Through The Barricades as “a great tune”. “I’m proud of the band’s legacy and the songs have remained, you know, they’ve not dated – well, not all of them… When we get up on stage we have a hard choice deciding what not to play.”

On whether his band has written any new material lately, Kemp says, “Well it’s on our new album, on The Story album; we have three new songs produced by Trevor Horn. You didn’t know that?” Just thought they might have worked on some new songs since. “Since? No, no, we’re on the road right now. So we’ve been on the road now since January and those songs just came out just before Christmas so, no, we haven’t had any time to record.” But some bands work on new material while on tour. “No, no, no,” Kemp stresses. “No, we’ve not done any new songs because we’re on the road and we can’t record while we’re on the road, unless we have some time off and we haven’t had any time off.”

"I didn’t think I’d ever see ourselves live again, you know?" 

As a music fan, it was very exciting to watch the charity supergroup Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? video; seeing all those stars assembled in the one studio. It must have been a really special session from a musician’s perspective as well, was it? “Yeah, yeah, no that was a great thing to do,” Kemp acknowledges. “I mean, to be part of that was – you know, it was an important record and I think it changed the way people think about rock music as far as trying to change things from within. Live Aid was a much bigger event and probably more exciting to be part of. You know, it gave power to the people and, rather than just having to put a tick in a box every four years, you got a chance to do something that the government didn’t necessarily want to do. So I think that was a powerful moment and I think people haven’t looked back since.”

There are a lot of words devoted to Live Aid in Freddie Mercury: The Definitive Biography, particularly relating to Queen’s explosive performance. “Yeah, I mean it changed Queen’s career,” Kemp recalls. “You know, Queen’s career was slightly over and then Live Aid changed everything, and it did that for some acts who were more acts in the ‘70s – it really helped them.”

Back in 1999, three members of Spandau Ballet – singer Tony Hadley, drummer John Keeble and saxophonist/percussionist Steve Norman – unsuccessfully sued Kemp, the band’s chief songwriter, for a share of the publishing royalties. When Kemp looks back on the court case, does he feel like it could’ve been better handled? “I don’t know what you mean.” How do you feel about that time now, upon reflection? “Um, I don’t know what you’re after. Um, I mean we all hated it. Of course we did. And whether it could be ‘better handled’? I really don’t know what that means. I think we all handled it as well as all of us individually could, or thought was right, at the time.”

"We have three new songs produced by Trevor Horn. You didn’t know that?”

Kemp was involved in the creation of Soul Boys Of The Western World, Spandau Ballet’s documentary, “right from the very beginning” and, as such, “kinda knew what was in it” before he sat down to watch it. What he didn’t know in advance, however, was “what other people had said in their interviews”. “That was quite revealing and interesting,” he opines. “I think it shows that the band have really come together and are really  focused on our future, and feel comfortable with each other, and can sit and watch a film about our friendship falling apart. Because I think that really feels like the past – what we went through – and it’s been resolved, and I think we’re very proud of that, you know? And I think when we were out five years ago, that was really just putting our toe in the water and just feeling what it’s like to be back onstage together again. This [tour], this is the best show we’ve ever done musically. This is most relaxed, you know, everyone is respecting each other, the audience are responding because of that. And so I think watching that film was probably more uncomfortable in some ways, you know? But it gave us strength to be able to deal with it.” 

On re-forming after a 20-year hiatus, Kemp admits, “We did wait a long time. I didn’t think I’d ever see ourselves live again, you know? It took five years to get the band back together, but we’re being creative, we’ve made new stuff, we’re proving that we can – we’re one of the best live bands in the world. Our reviews have been great all over the world, we got five-star reviews in the UK and, you know, we do a good show, and that’s what we’re really about. That’s what we’ve always been about and I kind of felt that the legacy was really on record only, and I think we never really got it together on record as well as we do onstage. Although, saying that. I think the three new songs we did with Trevor Horn probably capture the energy of the band more than we’ve ever been recorded. That was definitely part of the motivation.”