Gary Kemp, life beyond Spandau Ballet

They were the champions of the so-called New Romantics forty-something years ago, but the spotlight and the (mostly female) sighs were mainly directed at their singer, a tall, suited dandy with a deep voice and seductive appearance who went by the name of Tony Hadley . However, the great creative genius behind the legendary Spandau Ballet was also Londoner Gary Kemp , the blond guy who played guitar on the right of the stage and the author of practically the entire repertoire that made the quintet popular: Gold , True , Communication , To Cut a Long Story Short , Paint Me Down and a long list of unforgettable titles among those who were kids in the eighties and today are reduced to the disdainful status of boomers . Kemp has just turned 65, but, far from retiring, he has surprised everyone with a beautiful solo album, the third in his discography under his own name. It's titled This Destination and delves into the mysteries of life and the dark sides of adulthood, but its author, in a telephone conversation, is clear: "I'm writing my best compositions now, regardless of the fact that only songs conceived when you're in your twenties usually succeed."

Gary James Kemp is still surprised, not without a certain resignation, that outside the United Kingdom, he's only recognized for those years of youthful effervescence. In his own country, he's a relatively popular film and theater actor (at 13, he already starred in a major feature film in those parts, Hide and Seek ), a member of the Pink Floyd tribute band Saucerful of Secrets (alongside the honorees' original drummer, Nick Mason), and hosts and directs a successful podcast of in-depth interviews with great musicians, Rock on Tours. "I've been told more than once that I should focus on one thing, to be more committed to my writing and my music," he acknowledges, "but I've always enjoyed experimenting with different art forms. In fact, the theater I've performed for the last decade in London's West End is among the greatest sources of satisfaction in my entire life."

Today, however, it's time to talk about music, given the evident desire for vindication that permeates This Destination . Kemp isn't a canonical singer or one with a powerful voice, but he sounds relatable, seasoned by maturity, and, above all, believable. "As you get older, there are more compelling reasons to write honest and truthful songs, because with age, you accumulate stories of pain and failure," he emphasizes. "In the Spandau years, we didn't yet have the vast experiences to write about real issues. Now, however, I tend to reflect a lot on mortality, on how to accept the evidence that there's much less road ahead than the one you leave behind."

In that sense, "I Know Where I'm Going" may be the most stark and emotional track in her entire catalog. "I imagined myself on the edge of a cliff, looking toward an island and taking a boat that would take me there. Once there, I could climb up to its lighthouse and send little signals home. It all began as a fantastical story, a folk- inspired song meant to convey peace and tranquility. Only later did I realize that it might also be an allegory about death..."

I Know… is a slow, ethereal song that will never go viral, but Gary Kemp is convinced that This Destination , the title track from this new album, would have been a hit single if it had been featured on True (1983) or Parade (1984), his former group's most successful LPs. Still, he says he doesn't miss that trappings. "People loved us because we were young, good-looking, played well, and were on the crest of a wave, but now I don't have to write with Tony Hadley's voice or Steve Norman's sax in mind, I just have to express my own feelings and ideas," he emphasizes.

A guaranteed future

As a father of young children and teenagers, he remains optimistic about the sonic future that awaits the new generations. “The other day, when I came home, my 15-year-old son was playing Can't Buy A Thrill by Steely Dan and What's Going On by Marvin Gaye. He and his brothers have introduced me to West Coast rap , from Tyler the Creator to Kendrick Lamar , artists who have been doing very intelligent things for many years.” Therefore, he pauses to emphasize: “No, our children's generation isn't just listening to Taylor Swift or Dua Lipa . In fact, listens to historic bands like Spandau Ballet are growing every month on Spotify.”

It's no surprise, then, that Steely Dan records feature in the family collection, because the sophisticated and elegant duo of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker are among the most obvious influences on the new album ("No, you're not the first to notice!" Kemp admits with a smile). Gary feels like a creative child of the seventies, a fact reinforced by the experience of playing early Pink Floyd songs with Nick Mason's A Saucerful of Secrets. "Syd Barrett was only an indirect inspiration, because I was introduced to See Emily Play through David Bowie's cover, and everything Bowie did has influenced me. Add to that 10cc, Wings, Queen , Genesis, and, of course, the black music of the Isley Brothers and Chic. That's how I record all my influences."

Having already spilled the beans, we asked our interviewee for a foolproof formula for interviewing pop music greats, as he himself does in the company of Guy Pratt ( David Gilmour 's bassist) for the successive episodes of Rock on Tours. "We do a lot of research on our guests, but we never create a questionnaire or a script," he reveals. "The key is for everything to unfold not as an interview, but as a conspiratorial conversation. From there, great little situations emerge, like when David Crosby confessed to us his fear that Covid would keep him from the stage forever, or when Mick Fleetwood was moved to tears at the thought that the five members of Fleetwood Mac would never perform together again."

—That must have been a great moment.

—The highlight was hearing thousands of people singing "Gold" by Spandau Ballet at Arsenal's stadium, my lifelong team. If you look at my Instagram profile, you'll find a video of my son belting out "Gold " after our team's victory. That was my proudest moment in life…