Gary Numan Quotes

Songwriting is something that's very daunting until you have your first successful song, I think.

I bought these pink sticker things... and I would write things on them, and I wrote, 'I will write an international smash,' and shortly after, it was when we did 'Monster,' and it was an international smash.

If you can write a catchy melody and a song that captures people around the world, what better thing to do? Other than 'Let Her Go,' I haven't managed to do that. And that's fine by me.

I wrote a song for Icona Pop which boosted my confidence quite a lot.

I call it a process of elimination. You're nurturing ideas, and that takes time. What happens is there's so many, what I say, 'great ideas.' What you have to do is try to consolidate them and put them into one song, and then your song becomes eight minutes long.

I wrote 'Don't Stop' just like I wrote 'Pumped Up Kicks' - I didn't try to make either a hit. I just wanted to write a song I liked.

If you're thinking about making a hit song, and you think I want everybody in the world to love it, then you kind of make it up, and you do it.

I'm out here living my dream. People are listening to my music.

A song like 'Shooting Star' - the thought process behind writing that song was that I looked around and thought, 'Wow, there's a lot of people dying at that time in the music business.'

Well after 'Fast Car' was so huge, everyone was asking me, 'What's the next song?' At the time I just had ideas I was working on, but it was very clear I needed to finish another song ASAP, and that's how 'Perfect Strangers' came about.

I don't sit down to write a number one hit. I'm not that good at my job - I don't know how to do that.

Working with Timbaland, he gives me insight; he throws me different ways to approach the beat, and those extra tips go a long way. I know that he's worked with some of the greats, so it's just motivation. I feel inspired when we're in the booth together.

For songs to be big, I don't think there's a certain formula to it.

You start to compete with yourself when your catalog gets bigger and bigger... I mean, everybody wants the next 'Bless the Broken Road,' but you don't write those every day, so it's difficult.

The end game is always a hit song.

I guess if I'd have more of a producer attitude, maybe I'd sell more records. But I'm basically a songwriter.

I'm kind of a little allergic to that whole, 'Let's go to L.A. and write a bunch of hits.'

I did a song in eight minutes. I thought everybody could write songs that fast. But working with a lot of them, they don't.

When you finish a song, your first thought is going to be, 'Is this song a hit?' I hate that we think that way, because it kind of takes a little bit of the meaning out of the songs that are being written, but you're definitely going to think, 'Can this song be put on the radio?'

I don't really take time off between records; it's a compulsion for me.

The only way to have longevity is to have good songs.

I was truly honored to work with legendary DJ and producer DJ Premier. I still can't believe I have a track with Premier; it really is one of the best songs I've written in a long time.

Rap isn't that time-consuming for me, compared to an ordinary artist. I do not stay in the studio all day.

When I wrote 'Let Her Go,' it's not like I was doing anything different. I was just writing a song as I would any other day of the year; it just so happened that this one resonated with people.

I probably take about a month to write a song, depending on how much time I can dedicate to it, and it depends on how many hours a day there are and how many days in a week and weeks in a month.