What do you know about Gary Numan? If you're 14 and under, you might a) be under the impression he was an additional member of the Sugababes or - if your musical intellect stretches beyond teeniePOP! - b) you'll smugly drop in that Freak Like Me features a sample from one of your dad's old records by some guy whose name slipped your mind.

If you've already fought your way through adolescence, the words 'Cars', '80s' and 'electronic' will spring to mind, and you might even wonder what Mr. Numan is doing with himself these days. Fear not, Numan is still at large. His latest single, Crazier, hit the shops and Top Twenty just the other week. Which is why he has been summoned to hang around a stuffy PR office on one of the hottest days of the year. The temperature and humidity conditions resemble those of a packed gerbil tank, not even a big fan, carefully positioned by Numan, can change that. Seemingly unfazed by the heat, Maestro Numan is sipping a glass of water, looking like he has just returned from a pleasant day's shopping. There is no scary make-up, the jet-black hairdye has worn off and the black 'armour' outfits have been replaced with jeans and a camouflage print T-shirt.

It being only a few days before the new single is released, surely, he must have an overwhelming desire to publicise this upcoming event. Or so you thought. 'I don't think there's anything about it which people couldn't live without. I do highly disposable and easily replaced things. And if my songs weren't around, someone else's are just as good if not better. But I like it [the new single]. Because it comes in the 25th year anniversary, I thought it would be a nice thing to have to mark that event passing. Apart from that, there is nothing of value that I think people must have it'. In terms of his own musical output, Numan likes to think of himself as a very modest man indeed. Or at least he's pretty damn convincing in saying so.

Contrary to thoughts on his own records, Numan turns out to be an obsessive music boffin when it comes to the records of other people. Weirdly enough - and especially if 'Cars' is the only thing you've ever associated with Numan -, his preferences lie on the heavier side of things: 'I just bought the new Marylin Manson album, The Deftones one, the Linkin Park one and Methods Of Mayhem, Tommy Lee's, Pamela Anderson's ex-husband's band. And there's a single by One Minute Silence I really like and some Scandinavian band, I cant remember the bloody name! Damn, I need to buy the record today!', he enthuses. Well, he's 45 and he's listening to Linkin Park. So what?

Numan doesn't just listen to music, he uses it. Uses it to learn, that is. Twenty-four hours a day, it seems. Almost overly keen to share this experience, he launches into a little talk: 'The thing is, the world is full of really clever people making music, and it's really arrogant of someone like me to think that I've got all the answers, and that the way I do it is the best way to do it. So the only way I really get to progress, apart from learning from my own mistakes which is a good way of doing it, is just by listening to what everyone else is doing. Every time a record comes out, there will be something on it, that I haven't thought of. A sound I haven't thought of, a way of using a sound I haven't thought of, a structure ... anything. The only way you're going to get access to that is if you just listen to it all. For me, it's not just the pleasure of listening to what people do, it's like going to school everyday. When I'm listening, I'm learning' And it's not just music! I'm always doing courses. I've just done two courses on navigation on a boat. Fucking nerdy shit, but I love all that. I'm very boring to be around.'

Insane as the above may sound, Numan is certainly no nutcase, for there are perfectly reasonable explanations for his doings: 'I love learning. Every time I learn something I feel better. I had a really weird time at school. When I first started to notice that I had a behavioural problem [he suffers from Asperger's syndrome] that the other kids didn't have, they sent me to psychologist and stuff. I sort of goes back to then, really. I got to grammar school and then it really started to kick in, badly, I got expelled from grammar school, got expelled from college, my schooling ended up being a disaster. I didn't even take any exams, let alone fail any. So I came out with nothing, I have no qualifications whatsoever, academic ones, anyway. I think that kind of sits on my shoulder a bit. So I've made it my life ambition to just learn and get as qualified as possible. And I still like it, I'm 45 now and it doesn't seem to be slowing down at all. I got like 25 different flying qualifications, totally useless really, but it proves u can learn if you have to. But I want to learn now, I'm enjoying it, which I didn't do when I was at school.'

That'd be that one sorted then. In great detail. But will there ever be an end to this manic learning curve of his? Looking somewhere between startled and puzzled, Numan has a long think before giving a very careful answer: 'I can't imagine it at the moment, but it's hard to imagine how your life's going to change isn't it? I'm probably going on about this too much, but there's a thing called Asperger's syndrome, which I have. It is like an inability to interact socially, which I had really quite badly at times. You just have a tendency to obsess about certain things. Now, I think I'm enthusiastic, but other people say I'm obsessed. It just seems to be what I'm like. But I do have this sort of dream about retiring to Cornwall one day and not doing anything. Quite novel, but that would be nice.'

Julia Vergho