AS A pioneer of commercial electronic music, Gary Numan has paved the way for many of his contemporaries.

However, this doesn’t mean the 60-year-old is going to let everyone else have all the fun.

With a new record and on an extensive world tour, Numan will be making his first ever appearance in Basingstoke at the Anvil on Friday.

“We’ve already played about 82 shows around the world with the new Savage album,” he said.

“We have at least another 50 or so to go and I’m not sure we’ll even be finished then. We’ve played small venues, big venues, festivals, anything and everything really.

“We have orchestral shows in November where our show at the Royal Albert Hall has already sold out, so it’s been a very diverse series of tours, really enjoyable.”

His new record Savage (Songs From A Broken World) went straight in at number two in the UK charts.

Even though the record has received critical acclaim, Numan confesses he doesn't keep a keen eye on what is happening in the music world.

He added: "I just do what I do, write when I can, release things when they’re ready.

"It’s certainly not part of any strategy to capitalise on the ebb and flow of electronic music. I actually listen to music very rarely strangely enough and I definitely don’t try to keep a tab on what’s going on with anyone else, or the business in general."

The record centres around a theme of the impact of climate change on our planet.

The songwriter added: “I’ve slowly been writing a novel set in a future world that has been decimated by global warming and the violent life and struggles of the people that remain. A life made even more difficult by the re-emergence of a long-forgotten religion.

"The new album it’s essentially a Sci Fi story borrowed from a novel I’ve been working on for a few years. It’s set in a future earth devastated by global warming and largely driven by the ignorance and stupidity of Donald Trump.

"Without Trump I doubt I would have written an entire album based on a possible outcome of global warming but, the more stupid things he said, the more I wanted to describe the world that we might end up with."

When the Cars singer shot to fame in the 1970s, he had a bit of a reputation of being someone who was quite aloof.

However, in recent years the London born artist has been very open about his personal life, whether that be his struggles with depression or what it is like being someone in the limelight living with Asperger’s.

“My previous album was called Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind) and was entirely devoted to writing about my own battle with depression,” added Numan.

"I do have social interaction issues, and they were noticeably worse back in the early days. I’ve been able to learn how to interact better as I’ve grown older, and so I seem less stand offish and friendlier now, but it’s more a learned behaviour than a natural one.

"I still find the majority of social situations awkward and uncomfortable but I’m better able to fake it now than I used to be."

With his world tour expected to run until mid-December you wouldn’t blame the composer from having a break, but he doesn’t seem to want to show any signs of slowing down.

Numan added: “I love the way the industry is now. Not perfect by any means, but full of opportunity for people that are able to grasp the ever changing technologies, both in terms of social media, recording, marketing and many other areas.

"It’s a very exciting time. Challenging certainly, and arguably as hard as it ever was to succeed, but we have options we didn’t have a few years ago. You are no longer limited to that elusive make or break big record deal for one thing."

Gary Numan will be coming to the Anvil on Friday, 20 July. Tickets are limited. For more information go to anvilarts.org.uk.