I love a good music documentary and Gary Numan: Android In La La Land is one that you cannot afford to miss if you are a fan of this genre of film.
Gary Numan: Android In La La Land
Directed by Steve Read & Rob Alexander, the movie explores the life and career of Gary Numan in a film that's about music, madness, love, loss, and second chances.
Gary Numan: Android In La La Land isn't released until the end of August but the brand new trailer for the film has been released. Take a look:
Leafy Waldron, England... Somewhere between Eastbourne and Royal Tunbridge Wells. Inside a 1920s six-bedroom house painted fuchsia pink and pillar-box red, the unmistakable silhouette of a singular and quite peculiar British rock star and music-making pioneer is bent double in black denim, painstakingly packing away synthesizers and flying suits -- souvenirs of more than 30 years in the music business. Everything goes into a large aluminium flight case.
On its side, a label boldly reads: 'G.A.R.Y. N.U.M.A.N.' The Godfather of electronic pop music is moving home -- lock, stock, and apparel -- to embark on a one-way trip to crack America, break into Hollywood and return to the studio for the first time in nearly a decade.
With him go wife Gemma, daughters Raven, Persia and Echo, and filmmakers Rob Alexander and Steve Read. Numan took the sound of early electro and fused it with the strong images of his onstage alter-egos to invent something unique. Seemingly coming from nowhere and topping the charts with songs about the merits of being an android and the solitude of car interiors, he took the planet by storm.
He went on to perform in front of adoring fans worldwide, sell millions of records and carve out an impressive career. What's even more impressive is that he achieved all this with Asperger's syndrome - only recently diagnosed. It's hardly synonymous with the pop star's perceived need for unparalleled self-belief and ability to perform to and interact with others.
In fact, life for Numan has been far from easy. At a time when the general public knew or cared little about the Asperger's, the media world wasn't kind. He was labelled a freak, one paper going as far as to declare that his parents should have been prevented from giving birth.
Depression, anxiety and near bankruptcy followed, while his die-hard followers never deserted him a long period in the wilderness followed. Then he fell in love with his biggest fan, and married her...
Since meeting Gemma, there has been a resurgence in Numan's career. A Numan fan herself from childhood she convinced him to get back into the studio and back on the stage. Critically acclaimed albums, a new-found love for touring and an ever younger growing fanbase has developed as a result, and is documented as filming has progressed.
Gary Numan: Android In La La Land us released 26th August.