Then Rob rang me the next day, whch is unusual because even now he doesn't ring me very often. He went, no, I'm not having this, I want you all to come up to me house tonight - there's things I want to say that'll help us all move forward. So the following night we had the: "You said I was fat in 1991.. one of them. We got to the end of it and we all said it would be good to do something, like a one-off single. We even talked about having a different name for it. because Take That were very much back a s a four piece... I couldn't see it still, something wasn't right. And sure enough, we didn't hear from Rob for four or five months, none of us, not an email or nothing. I knew it was between me and Rob this thing. He went off and made his Video Killed The Radio Star album.

I was renting a house last summer in LA - I was there about two months, about six weeks in I thought I couldn't be there al that time and not see Rob. So I sent him an email... invited him over, said I'd got a piano, let's write. Heard nothing back for another week. I'm thinking, fucking hell I'm going home soon. Out of the blue another email, I'm coming over tomorrow. Shit, here we go. So I got a little tune going in the studio we could work on. Anyway, he didn't show. We'd waited in all day, three kids, the wife...

Well I got an email at five o'clock: Sorry I didn't make it, been ill and had to go to the doctor's. i'm coming tomorrow. Me wife went, I'm not waiting in. By the time her and the kids had gone out and come back, he still hadn't turned up. About two hours on the doorbell goes and in comes Rob with about five dogs, Aida was with him and a couple of other friends. We started chatting by the pool and then I said, hey Rob, com and listen to this. And that was pretty much it. We wrote a song, it came out really quick. I made him some coffee, he drank it and he was gone. Just before he went to bed I clicked on me email and there were all the lyrics, all tidied up and beautifully finished. I went into the studio, sang them into a compuer and emailed them off to him. Within abou 10 minutes got another email: Sounds brilliant, hall we do it again tomorrow? So I aid yes but I'd come to him with all my gear. We had a long night and did three or four things. I sat down and said to him, I'm going home next week - what is this? What are we doing here? And he said, that's it now, we've done it - I want to work with the lads. I knew he had to exercise that little thing of working together, because we'd never written together before, we'd never really done anything creatively in the '90s.

Q: Had you ever spoken properly before?
Gary Barlow: No. I never talked to Rob seriously in the '90s because he was the jester of the band. Although we should have done because he was a valid member, but he didn't help himself. He was never interested in all th busness that surrounded the band, always made a joke. Never took anything seriously. I was funny writing with him becuase I saw how seriously he took his music It made me feel good, because I'm serious about it too. That writing session was quite amazing I thought, because even though we were singing into a small mic, the way he was singing was great - someone who was reallly good at what they did. I was respecting him and he was respecting me. All the time I was thinking I'd got to get him in with the lads, becuase if it went as well were going to be rocking. It all came together with the band after that."

Q: You seem polar opposites?
Gary: "Right, we are, kind of."

Q: Would it be right to say there was an impression that you were more of a big brother or a boss?
Gary: "Erm, definitely the big brother. And I guess a bit of the boss as well. It's funny, because if you were to follow us around for the week, there's so much of that still there. Even though there's never a point where I go, right! We're doing this... it's like I kind of still lead the trail."

Q: Robbie's huge success, you must have been envious when he was having a pop at you every opportunity?
Gary: "Oh, I was so envious. Fucking right I was. The funny things was and the thing I've learned from having Rob back in my life as much as he is now, is that I wasn't envious of him. That's the one thing I've worked out. It was more that I just love being in this industry. I love days like today - doing a photo shoot, we've been driven here in nice cars. It's a nice life. And it's fucking temporary - no one has it for ever unless you're incredibly lucky. That's what I missed. he was getting all the stuff I wanted - audiences every night, anticipation before his records. I hated it when he had a pop at me and stuff, but it didn't keep me awake at night. I was longing to get back into the industry, that's what I wanted and missed so much. It's why I felt so bad - it was just snatched away off me. It hadn't even happened gradually - overnight it was just: It's not yours anymore."

Q: What was your lowest point?
Gary: "Later on, I think. When you're not on a label anymore there's lots of things that disappear from your life, like a big group of people always calling you. The thing I noticed in the first year was how few phone calls I'd get in a day. About three years on, after I'd been dropped, that was probably the lowest point. I'd put all me weight on. I'd begun to accept that I wouldn't be doing all of this again in me life. Things like that, never, ever at any point felt like, but one day I'll get back there. I'd completely given up any hope."

Q: What perspective does that give you given the comeback has been so huge?
Gary: "Well... you know what, I don't think it' one thing with Take That. our manager taught us the first time round to always be nice to everyone. I feel like we got to the end of the reign in the '90s and we had been nice to everyone. It's unbelievable now how many of those people are now the heads of Radio 1 and the president of Sony Records. And everyone we've bumped into has been glad to see us. They're all like, well done. That was big bit. But I also think we came back at the point where our audience were ready to relive their teenage years. The timing was good. And then, the main point, I think we came back with good music. That's usually at the heart of success... and yeah, we do look better. We don't bother trying now that's the key."

Q: So a perfectly run comeback so far, now there's an unprediactble element of what happens next?
Gary: "Yeah. Ah, it's great. Everyone talks about the difficult second album... I think it's the third one. Because with the second, people want more of what they've just had but with the third you've got to turn left or right, or at least give something else. For our career as Take That, this has been bloody perfect timing. it's meant we get a license to sound different. no one's expecting ti to sound like the last Take That album. We've gone in a more electronic direction... it feels like a big leap for us. I think it's took Rob for us to do that; he's efinitely made us all up our game. where I'd normally do two weeks' prep before a writing session for the band, I did about two months this time. I was keen to get it right and take a direction in."

Q: Whose idea was the Shame video?
Gary: "That was one of the songs we wrote at my house last summer. I think that was the beginning of it all. Very early on we took it to Trevor Horn, he's produced it. And he said, yeah I might put a horse on the front of it and you could do a video like Brokeback Mountain. We liked that!"

Q: Lots of man love?
Gary: "Oh yes! You know what... videos are really fuckin' hard. it;s like what do you do? We just wanted to make it funny... He's got big pecs hasn't he Rob? I felt like they could have stretched us a bit in that video, made it look a little more flattering than it does. But it was a dead easy shoot. And all these little bits have been nice for me, becuase I've got to work with Rob on me own. It's been good to get time together."

Q: What do the two fo you talk/laugh about now?
Gary: "All sorts. I stay at Rob's house now when I go out to LA and I have a great time, I really do. God, we talk about all sorts of things. He's made on reality telly so he only ever wants to talk about BIg Brother. And we listen to music a lot together. I like discovering bands and stuff... And he plays me weird Norwegian house records which have one chord in them."

Q: What's the plan now?
Gary: "The idea is we tour next Summer. I think that would be it - what a great concert. We could do our four-piece stuff Rob could do a solo thing and we could come together at the end. I think that's a good ticket..."

Q: Where would you like this to end up?
Gary: "I'd like it to be something that we could come back to whenever we want. Almost like a side project. Because I think Rob is a solo artist and we've always said to him from the start that we know he's not here forever. Let's keep it interesting. Because I must say, after those two records we've made, the thought of going in and doing another (shugs)... It just solved all that Rob coming back. It made it interesting."

Q: Do you have any fears about it?
Gary: "No, I don't. I feel really, really confident about it. I think it's going to be massive, I really do. It's going to be the 20th anniversary it should be."

Q: At the press conference to announce the first split - you said you'd done it to be able to come back in 5, 10 years?
Gary: "No, I definitely never saw this coming."

Q: What's the best bit about it all?
Gary: "The touring's the bit I love. If there's one downside to the touring it's that because we play such big places - it sounds like a really crap complaint this - we only do like 24 nights. To me you're getting into it by the end. I'd like to do a bit more, mix it up. The opening night, the excitement... I love it. It's nice that our kids have got to see some of it too. My older ones (10 and 8) love it... theyre really aware of playing the new video and things like that."

Q: What do they make of Uncle Rob?
Gary: "Oh my son loves Rob because he gives him footballs and he gave him a pair of David Beckham's boots the other week. I mean, he's like, this is the best thing that's ever happened to you dad, knowing this guy."

Q: Still operating on his own time clock then?
Gary: "He is. And for some reason you just get swept along with it aswell. You start operating on Robbie time. I guess that's just years of being a solo artist."

Q: So, you can't be called a boyband after this album?
Gary: "Yeah, I'm quite flattered by it these days. We're all nearly 40 - I'm all for keeping it!"

Q: How do you think people will perceive the reunion?
Gary: "My only concern was... I thought it was a great idea... It is a great idea to come back after all this time. I just wanted to make sure that the music is absolutely fantastic. And I do think we've got a great record and a great shot of selling it until next Christmas. It sounds like a group of guys excited to be in the studio together. I don't think there's enough events in music anymore and this is an event."
http://news.qthemusic.com/2010/11/q293_take_that_-_gary_barlow_i.html