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- 15 60 75 turn 40
15 60 75 The Numbers Band is celebrating its 40th anniversary Saturday night with a concert at the Kent Stage. Our friend Matt Wardlaw at Addicted to Vinyl had a nice long chat with frontman Robert Kidney about the group's history. Enjoy.
When you look back at 40 years of The Numbers Band, what comes to mind?
It’s overwhelming. I think that the main thing that I think about more than anything else is that it this point, I feel I’m receiving what I wished [we would have received] from the very beginning. It just took 40 years. People really get what we’re about. I waited a long time for that.
Why do you think it took so long to get the proper attention/respect that you were looking for?
I couldn’t really tell you. I don’t really know. All of the bands that you know that are young are competing with each other. And all those bands that we were competing with have fallen away so we stand alone. We’re not competing with anyone anymore. We are what we are — there’s no age group thing going on here. I think that the fans that have stuck with us over these years, they understand what we’re about. No one is coming expecting something that isn’t going to happen. We were in the middle of pop music — we’re not a popular music band.
The Numbers Band definitely emerged at an interesting time for music — your band was definitely going against the grain.Well put. I knew you were smart. [laughs]
Talking about the 35th anniversary show over the weekend, you mentioned to me that you didn't think that there would be a 40th anniversary show. Why?
It’s kind of obvious. I’m not a real self-promoter. I just make the art that we make and the music that we make for the people and let things kind of happen. When the band turned 35, a big bell rang and I just thought, “God, 35 years is a huge amount of time and in a bigger sense, I don’t know how much longer the band is going to be able to hold together.” So I took it upon myself to organize this show that we did five years ago and I didn’t see any way that we’d ever get to 40. I didn’t think it was possible. But now looking at it and you’re asking me about it, I can’t put it into words. I don’t know.
