London, UK · synth-pop · industrial

Gary Numan

1 upcoming festival

The man who made synthesisers sound alien, then spent his second act making them sound industrial — 'Cars' to Nine Inch Nails gravity, one career.

Gary Numan came out of the British punk scene with the band Tubeway Army before turning to synthesisers, scoring UK number ones with "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars" at the end of the 1970s. His early records paired cold, mechanical keyboard textures with detached vocals and science-fiction imagery, and were widely imitated across new wave and synth-pop.

After a period out of fashion, Numan rebuilt his sound around industrial rock in the 1990s and 2000s, with darker production and heavier guitars. He has been repeatedly cited as an influence by Trent Reznor, Marilyn Manson and numerous electronic producers, and has continued releasing albums and touring, now performing his older material within that harsher framework.

synth-popindustrial