On this page we would like to concentrate on Gary's musical work, if you are interested in his acting career please turn to Movies ...

By the time Spandau Ballet was finished Gary was a bit fed up with the music business and put his guitar aside to follow a career in acting. He saw a new way to express himself artisticly. But already while filming the Bodyguard it dawned on him that he, as a failry new name in the business, was not in full control of his artistic skills. There was always a director, a sriptwriter, a producer (and perhaps also a bigger co-star) who were more powerful and therefore could follow their own visions of what the film should look like. So by the time he was filming 'Magic Hunter' he took his guitar with him on the set and started to write music again. Also more than once Gary has stated in interviews that he writes the best songs when he's miserable ... well, at that point of his life there was enough chaos in his private life to make him feel miserable and with it creative. So in 1994, when he went into the studio to record his first solo album, he had rediscovered music.

For his first solo album Gary left the beaten tracks of mainstream pop and tried to combine Irish folk music elements with traditional English popmusic. A logical consequence is that he used a lot of 'exotic' instruments and he invited many guest musicians to create different vibes for different tracks. The result was a beautiful album called 'Little Bruises' that was released in 1995.

Before the album there was a single release in the summer, unfortunately not the best timing as 'An Inexperienced Man' can't be called a classic summer song. So chart-wise it didn't do all that well, but there were several good reviews (forget those critics who read 'ex-Spandau Ballet' and just exercise their prejudice). During the summer of 1995 Gary was busy promoting his album in Ireland, the UK and Italy ... by autumn then he had put a brilliant band together and went on tour ...
It's not surprising that his songs were best received in Ireland where people completely understand his music. It was a true pleasure to see Gary on a stage again, especially surrounded by such excellent musicians.
For all the details about the album and single releases please turn to Discography.

In mid 1996 Gary teamed up with Shane Connaughton (writer and Oscar nominee for 'My Left Foot') and Guy Pratt (bass player who used to play for Pink Floyd) to write a musical for the stage based on the relationship between the poet W.B. Yeats and the aristocratic revolutionary Maud Gonne told against the backdrop of the 1916 Irish uprising. Gary especially enjoyes the fact that this project combines literature, music and drama which IS a completely new challenge for him and as far removed from chart orientated popmusic as one can imagine!

Still working on the other production Gary also did a second project for the stage. It's based on a musical piece called 'The Bedbug' written by Mayokovky and Shostocovich in Russia during the 1920s. It's a political satire and Gary adapted it together with Guy Pratt and the playwrite Snoo Wilson.
A first public workshop performance took place on May 31st 2003 at The Drill Hall in London. There were more performances of it during the Shell Connections 2004 tour that supports youth theatre. For more information about dates, places and venues check out the News page.

Furthermore Mr Kemp has produced a CD with British singer Frances Ruffelle, using just piano, harp, cello and tablas. It's a beautiful piece of work with 11 well chosen tracks that come along with a bit of a melancholic and gloomy vibe, but if you love a great voice supported by a fantastic acoustic instrumentation, then you will enjoy the album just as much as we did. Our special favourites are 'Moving On Time' and 'Summer Of Love' ... the album is definitely worth checking out, especially if you enjoy theatrically flavoured music! It's available since summer 1998 on the independant Dress Circle label. Unfortunately you won't find it in normal record shops, but you can purchase it via Dress Circle:

Dress Circle
57-59 Monmouth Street, Upper St Martin's Lane, London, Wc2H 9DG, UK
tel: +44-171-2402227 or +44-171-8368279
fax: +44-171-3798540
email: info@dresscircle.co.uk
http://www.dresscircle.co.uk

Frances RuffelleDRESSCD 005

The cost for the CD is £12.99 plus p&p (UK £1.40, Europe £2.00, USA/Canada £2.50, rest of the world £3.00)

Jacob Young - Jacob Young

S-Curve/Artemis Records
751078-2
buy it here as import
buy it here directly in the US

In between all of these activities Gary still finds the time to do some demos for a second solo album once in a while, even though this is not his main priority at the moment. He rather works for other artists, so he writes songs for Sony Music and Polydor.

It seems that Gary definitely enjoys doing music again, perhaps in different formats as in the past but we're sure he's doing great in whatever genre he choses to explore.