Meeting Martin Kemp….

The original line up of Tony Hadley, Steve Norman, John Keeble and brothers, Martin & Gary Kemp, will be heading to Dubai in May for what promises to be a very special evening of two full length concerts featuring both Spandau Ballet and Rod Stewart.

Amsterdam, as the band prepare for this, their first concert in Dubai.  What an easy chap to chat to….

Dubai

Jane : We’re really looking forward to seeing you guys in Dubai

Martin: Thanks, we’re looking forward to coming.  I’ve never been to Dubai before so will be interesting to see.

Jane : Will you get a little time to look around or is straight on to the next place?

Martin: No actually, this is the last stop on the tour so a good time to take a break. Looks like a good place for a holiday…

Jane : So you’re getting to the end of the tour, you’re in Amsterdam now.  Where else have you been?

Martin : Touring Britain.  It’s been really good.  I mean, we haven’t performed together as a band for twenty years. We had no idea what to expect.  Normally a band would tour on the back of an album or have some measure of how it’s going to go but for us this was really just a case of dipping a toe in the water.

Jane : And its gone well ?

Martin : It’s been fantastic, yeh.  We’re playing to bigger audiences than we have played in the bands history!  It’s an amazing thing.  You know, the 80’s were great times for us and it’s like reliving it again, night after night. The audiences have been great.

Jane : And for the audience too… the 80’s were good times. We were young! Its music that transports you back…

Martin : Yeh, that’s right.  It’s the same for us.

Jane : So who’s in the audience this time round.  Is it all old fans, or a mix ?

Martin : Seems to be a real mix.  Good to be attracting new fans of course, and we have a real rapport with the original fans.  They know all the songs!

Jane : It must be nice having your kids see the band this time round.

Martin: Yeh, that’s been good although it’s a challenge to keep them out of the Green Room (laughs). We’ll be on stage but you know, they 17 & 21….  more interested in the free drink and socialising back stage than watching Dad perform! (laughs) 

Jane : The big fall out at the end of the 80’s has been well-documented.  You were a long time getting back together but here you are.  Is that all behind you ?

Martin : Yeh well, bands fall out for one of three reasons : money, women or drugs. We chose the best one – money. It’s a replaceable thing.  We’ve got over it.  Had it been something emotional like falling out over a woman….

Jane : … like Fleetwood Mac.

Martin : Yeh…. well then, its a lot harder.

Jane : And getting back together, is that all good now ?

Martin : Yeh.. its all good. The time was right.  You’ve got to remember we got together when we were kids. I mean, this was a school band.  My brother and his mates were 14, 15 when this started. I joined at 16. We grew up together. We had a lot of fun, great times, but twelve years down the line of being on top, you run out of space in your life.  We all needed a break.

Jane : And you went back to acting.

Martin : Yes that was really my first love.  I was lucky enough to grow up in Islington opposite a drama school. Well it was more like an after school club. I used to go a couple of nights week.  You see, I was the shyest little boy…. the kind of kid who would just stay next to my mum and not look at anyone, not meet anyone’s eye.  So my mum put me into drama school to get over my shyness, and I loved it.  At that time any local tv or film producers wanting young cockney kids would come along to our school so I did loads of work as a youngster… The Tomorrow People…

Jane : ….Jackanory

Martin : (laughs) Yes Jackanory.

Jane : You split your time between London and LA in the 90’s

Martin : We were living in LA but you know what brought us back? We got caught up in the Rodney King riots and it just wasn’t safe to be there any more.  I mean, Hayley was three and we weren’t happy staying there.

Jane : Ah, I was going to ask you about how you managed the kids’ school as part of expat life but you didn’t have to deal with that.

Martin : No, Hayley was 3 when we left and my son wasn’t born, so when we were there it was easy to travel.

Jane : So this concert, are you going to be in the old kit ?

Martin : (laughs) er…no

Jane : Hey, don’t knock it, it was great at the time!

Martin : Oh I know. I mean, at the time for us it was the coolest thing. It was a great movement and we’re proud to have been there.  You remember, at that time, there were The Mods, lead by The Who, The Rockers following The Stones and The New Romantics represented by Spandau Ballet. It’s a tremendous thing to have been there, to have been at the lead of a movement like that.

Jane :  Surely its due a revival?

Martin : Yeh! Both of my kids think it was pretty cool and you know, they feel they’ve missed out on something. There isn’t anything like that for kids today. They don’t seem to follow movements in the same way.  We rebelled against our parents through our style, through our music, through our clothes.  What do they have? Computers. They set themselves apart from the older generation through technology, through Facebook, through computer games, but there’s no real option for group identity in the way that we had.

Jane : So, is this a one-off tour, just a temporary thing, the band getting back together?

Martin : No this is it now.  When we got back together there was a real feeling of, “it’s now or never”.  Start talking about it in five years time it would have been too late.  So, that’s it; we’re back. It’s permanent. 

Spandau Ballet & Rod Stewart are playing The Dubai 7evens Stadium on May 7th. For more information see www.aegliveme.com, www.SpandauBalletDubai.com, and www.RodStewartDubai.com.