Gary Kemp Quotes

My father had inklings of my cultural aspirations. He would take me to the library, things like that. But he wasn't one of those dads who had read George Orwell and was a member of the Communist party. We had no books at home.

- Gary Kemp

Punk was sort of an angry stance against things that had happened just before, against the pop of glam rock, against progressive rock. Music had become very staid and it was about the playing and people obsessed. Eric Clapton was God and we needed an enema within the art form, and punk did do that.

- Gary Kemp

In the '80s the band was 24/7. You were only as good as what you were producing at any given moment. Now my family is more important. I also think having the shock of your mum and dad dying humbles you slightly.

- Gary Kemp

My brother Martin is two years younger than me. There has never been any competition between us - clearly he was the good-looking one; he was also very sporty, and I am not a football player.

- Gary Kemp

I think my younger self would be more amazed to know I was doing an interview for 'The Spectator.'

- Gary Kemp

Don't see the point in reading ghost-written autobiographies, even though some of these published lives may fascinate me. The 'ghost' is always present, manipulating an interview into first-person singular text, and it feels like I'm reading a lie.

- Gary Kemp

We were on the cover of Women's Wear Daily, which was hardly rock 'n' roll, but it pleased me.

- Gary Kemp

We never had books at home, but my dad, seeing how keen I was to read, took me to Islington Library when I was about eight and we pulled out two - a Biggles and a science fiction novel. I never got the ace fighter pilot but fell in love with all things to do with the future and space. Isaac Asimov soon became my guiding star.

- Gary Kemp

The thought of going on tour with people like Toyah Wilcox is just appalling. I'm certainly not tempted.

- Gary Kemp

I certainly wasn't a fan of Thatcher's politics. People liked to label us as children of Thatcher. What nonsense. The real children of Thatcher came in the 1990s, and had no interest in politics. The Oasis, Britpop scene.

- Gary Kemp

I keep my house tidy, because then I can think clearly. I feel the same about myself. Presenting yourself well is a working-class thing - my dad was a printer, but he wore a tie most days. The ungroomed look belongs more to the middle classes.

- Gary Kemp

For 24 hours a day, for 10 years, all I thought about was being in a band. That's all I did. I had no other social life. I don't want my life to be like that now. I've spent the past 10 years having a real life as well. But Spandau Ballet is such a difficult shadow to outrun.

- Gary Kemp

I love England. I don't really like places when they're too hot. It's my Celtic blood.

- Gary Kemp

I've been through Hell with some of the members of my old band, and Hell is highly stressful.

- Gary Kemp

My instinct is to be very controlling.

- Gary Kemp

I think sometimes my controlling instincts came out of a fear of other people.

- Gary Kemp

Your life is the same wherever you go.

- Gary Kemp

It's a shame because we experienced probably the greatest thing - in art, in pop - we'll ever do. And it would be good to sit around and talk about it.

- Gary Kemp

Kevin Costner told me that 'True' was his and his wife's song. I'm not sure if that's a good thing because they split up soon after.

- Gary Kemp

I am a person who holds the aesthetic high. I have suits made in Savile Row.

- Gary Kemp

I have a terrible fear of travel. Just before we go, I start to panic and tell my wife I don't want to go. It's ridiculous. But actually it's only when it's somewhere I've not been to before.

- Gary Kemp

I detest that saying 'Everything happens for a reason'; it's nonsense.

- Gary Kemp

Songwriting helps me sort out my personal problems. With acting, you're just a tool for someone's ideas.

- Gary Kemp

Pop music should be about young people.

- Gary Kemp

I'm an atheist. I don't 'believe' at all.

- Gary Kemp

I think I tried to control situations within my first marriage and I wasn't the easiest person to live with.

- Gary Kemp

I am a metrosexual and into male grooming - I moisturise, I exfoliate.

- Gary Kemp

I've always thought that actors wanted to be pop musicians and pop musicians wanted to be actors.

- Gary Kemp

It's always an honour doing anything for your country.

- Gary Kemp

Maybe I've got to admit that what I did here was enough. I can make some more films. Maybe I'll direct a film. Maybe I'll have my musical put on stage. But nothing, really, to be absolutely honest, competes with making a very successful pop band for 10 years of my life.

- Gary Kemp