Post by andre005 on May 8, 2008 21:47:45 GMT -5
Duran Duran
By Thomas Matich
May 6, 2008, 11:28
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Duran Duran
Careless Memories
There’s a family video of me at about two-years-old dancing in my crib to Duran Duran’s “The Reflex.” Since then, I’ve become quite the fan and really wish I could’ve been old enough to be a screaming girl at a Duran show in their heyday. The fashion-forward, new romantic heartbeats began 30-years ago in Birmingham, England and went on to sell over 85 million records with classic synth-pop singles like “Rio,” “Hungry Like the Wolf” and the only James Bond theme to be a No. 1 single: “A View to a Kill.” Although they’ve seen members come and go over the years, Duran’s original lineup is back (sans Andy Taylor) as they’re touring their twelfth release, Red Carpet Massacre, where they hooked up with Timbaland and Timberlake for a future-retro fusion. Real Detroit caught up with keyboardist Nick Rhodes for some nostalgia.
You’ve been in Duran Duran since the beginning and have stuck through the hard times, how come?
A necessity, I think. The thing is, when I was about 14-years-old, I decided that I wanted to be either in a band or to make films, and since I wanted to write them and direct [movies], I figured that being in a band was probably a better choice 'cause when you’re at that age, you don’t know so much about life. But I did know an awful lot about music and exactly what I wanted to do, so I was 16 when I formed the band with John and we never knew whether we were ever going to have a successful record or play to a lot of people or if it would all be over a week later. Here we are three decades later, still making Duran Duran records and playing shows, but the reason it always suited me is it enables us to do a lot of different things — obviously the writing and recording and production side of it, and then there’s the live shows, which involves putting together the set, the look of the tour, designing the tour brochure, the merchandise.
What have you learned from all the years in Duran Duran?
We’ve had a pretty extraordinary ride. Duran Duran’s albums are like our diaries. We’ve traveled around the world, played a lot of shows, met some incredible people and I think we have learned to continually work on our craft of songwriting and live performance. When you’re around for a while, you don’t get worse at what you’re doing, you get better.
You chose music, but film has always played a strong role in the band along with themes like women, adventure and animals …
We’ve always thought very cinematically. We didn’t wanna think like other bands. We grew up with glam-rock and punk-rock and they were very stylish looks and there was no way that Duran Duran was going on stage with jeans and T-shirts, it needed to be something special.
What were you thinking when you first heard Bowie and Roxy Music?
The first album I ever bought was The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust when I was ten. It was a real epiphany, I thought it was the greatest thing I ever heard, it was magical, you wanted to be in that world. My parents used to listen to The Beatles and I loved those songs but Bowie and Roxy were so off the tangent that it brought surrealism into the music.
I read in the early days you befriended Andy Warhol.
When I first came to New York, I was 17-18, the record label PR girl asked, “Well, is there anything you wanna do when you’re here in New York?” Being a cocky kid from Birmingham, I said, “Yeah, I wanna go up the Empire State Building and meet Andy Warhol,” and the next morning she called me and said, “We’re going to The Factory to have lunch with Andy.” I knew
everything about the whole scene, all the movies, The Velvet Underground, just about every painting he’d done through the ‘60s and ‘70s. I got along great with him and we became friends.
Did he ever offer any advice?
He came to all of our shows. Occasionally he would say things and he wanted to do a video actually. He was always very excited about things, he just wanted to be around, he’d come to the studio and sit on the couch and take pictures, we had birthday parties in New York and he always came along, he was really terrific. I think you have to be careful sometimes when you meet someone you admire because it’s often a letdown, but with Andy it wasn’t.
Obviously, the ‘80s are back, but you guys were there for the real thing, how does it feel now?
The ‘80s thing is almost inevitable, we had the ‘70s thing before that and it usually goes in cycles. I don’t know what we're gonna do when we get to the ‘90s, we might have to jump a decade. But the ‘80s, for fashion and style, was pretty extraordinary. It really was hugely creative and in the ‘80s everybody wanted to stand out, which was a good thing — individualism, something different. In the ‘90s, people all just wanted the same pair of trainers and the same pair of jeans, which I find just so dull.
Duran always pushed the envelope with music videos in the MTV era, but now they don’t even play videos …
I don’t think I’ve honestly seen MTV at all for over ten years. I lost interest in it completely when they ceased to become a music channel and they started game shows. I don’t really think they’re that relevant to music anymore, I think iTunes are much more relevant. I think it’s a shame that there isn’t something that’s cool and edgy that plays a lot of new videos and exciting music. I look to the Internet and satellite radio; that’s the future, the people to be able to choose what they want to listen to.
Last question, favorite Bond movie?
Goldfinger. | RDW
Duran Duran • 5/15 • Masonic Temple
By Thomas Matich
May 6, 2008, 11:28
Email this article
Printer friendly page
Duran Duran
Careless Memories
There’s a family video of me at about two-years-old dancing in my crib to Duran Duran’s “The Reflex.” Since then, I’ve become quite the fan and really wish I could’ve been old enough to be a screaming girl at a Duran show in their heyday. The fashion-forward, new romantic heartbeats began 30-years ago in Birmingham, England and went on to sell over 85 million records with classic synth-pop singles like “Rio,” “Hungry Like the Wolf” and the only James Bond theme to be a No. 1 single: “A View to a Kill.” Although they’ve seen members come and go over the years, Duran’s original lineup is back (sans Andy Taylor) as they’re touring their twelfth release, Red Carpet Massacre, where they hooked up with Timbaland and Timberlake for a future-retro fusion. Real Detroit caught up with keyboardist Nick Rhodes for some nostalgia.
You’ve been in Duran Duran since the beginning and have stuck through the hard times, how come?
A necessity, I think. The thing is, when I was about 14-years-old, I decided that I wanted to be either in a band or to make films, and since I wanted to write them and direct [movies], I figured that being in a band was probably a better choice 'cause when you’re at that age, you don’t know so much about life. But I did know an awful lot about music and exactly what I wanted to do, so I was 16 when I formed the band with John and we never knew whether we were ever going to have a successful record or play to a lot of people or if it would all be over a week later. Here we are three decades later, still making Duran Duran records and playing shows, but the reason it always suited me is it enables us to do a lot of different things — obviously the writing and recording and production side of it, and then there’s the live shows, which involves putting together the set, the look of the tour, designing the tour brochure, the merchandise.
What have you learned from all the years in Duran Duran?
We’ve had a pretty extraordinary ride. Duran Duran’s albums are like our diaries. We’ve traveled around the world, played a lot of shows, met some incredible people and I think we have learned to continually work on our craft of songwriting and live performance. When you’re around for a while, you don’t get worse at what you’re doing, you get better.
You chose music, but film has always played a strong role in the band along with themes like women, adventure and animals …
We’ve always thought very cinematically. We didn’t wanna think like other bands. We grew up with glam-rock and punk-rock and they were very stylish looks and there was no way that Duran Duran was going on stage with jeans and T-shirts, it needed to be something special.
What were you thinking when you first heard Bowie and Roxy Music?
The first album I ever bought was The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust when I was ten. It was a real epiphany, I thought it was the greatest thing I ever heard, it was magical, you wanted to be in that world. My parents used to listen to The Beatles and I loved those songs but Bowie and Roxy were so off the tangent that it brought surrealism into the music.
I read in the early days you befriended Andy Warhol.
When I first came to New York, I was 17-18, the record label PR girl asked, “Well, is there anything you wanna do when you’re here in New York?” Being a cocky kid from Birmingham, I said, “Yeah, I wanna go up the Empire State Building and meet Andy Warhol,” and the next morning she called me and said, “We’re going to The Factory to have lunch with Andy.” I knew
everything about the whole scene, all the movies, The Velvet Underground, just about every painting he’d done through the ‘60s and ‘70s. I got along great with him and we became friends.
Did he ever offer any advice?
He came to all of our shows. Occasionally he would say things and he wanted to do a video actually. He was always very excited about things, he just wanted to be around, he’d come to the studio and sit on the couch and take pictures, we had birthday parties in New York and he always came along, he was really terrific. I think you have to be careful sometimes when you meet someone you admire because it’s often a letdown, but with Andy it wasn’t.
Obviously, the ‘80s are back, but you guys were there for the real thing, how does it feel now?
The ‘80s thing is almost inevitable, we had the ‘70s thing before that and it usually goes in cycles. I don’t know what we're gonna do when we get to the ‘90s, we might have to jump a decade. But the ‘80s, for fashion and style, was pretty extraordinary. It really was hugely creative and in the ‘80s everybody wanted to stand out, which was a good thing — individualism, something different. In the ‘90s, people all just wanted the same pair of trainers and the same pair of jeans, which I find just so dull.
Duran always pushed the envelope with music videos in the MTV era, but now they don’t even play videos …
I don’t think I’ve honestly seen MTV at all for over ten years. I lost interest in it completely when they ceased to become a music channel and they started game shows. I don’t really think they’re that relevant to music anymore, I think iTunes are much more relevant. I think it’s a shame that there isn’t something that’s cool and edgy that plays a lot of new videos and exciting music. I look to the Internet and satellite radio; that’s the future, the people to be able to choose what they want to listen to.
Last question, favorite Bond movie?
Goldfinger. | RDW
Duran Duran • 5/15 • Masonic Temple