Post by Tin on Oct 2, 2021 22:47:47 GMT -5
Original version: www.lavoz.com.ar/vos/musica/entrevista-a-john-taylor-de-duran-duran-nunca-imaginamos-que-esto-duraria-tanto/
Translated version:
The bassist talks about "Future Past", the British band's new album, and how the group cultivated longevity and validity.
Duran Duran's current situation is particularly hectic. It is that the British band counts the days for a new album entitled Future Past (comes out on the 22nd of this month) and has released four songs out of a total of 12.
It is the 15th of a discography always firm, elegant and dignified, and of a trajectory of 40 years that rarely remained in off side in relation to the new trends.
At this point it should be noted that Duran Duran did not age well because, simply, he did not age. Considered new romantic in the early '80s, its expressive brilliance naturally in tune with the dance music of this time, just as it did during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.
So, we are witnessing a present time of Future Past... Everything seems to make sense.
In addition to the advances, the feeling of anxiety around the new of the British band is aggravated by the staff involved: Erol Alkan (producer), Giorgio Moroder (legendary figure who comes to throw magic powders), Tove Lo (Swedish popstar who contributes and takes class), Graham Coxon (guitarist of Blur who officiates as composer), Mike Garson (Bowie pianist who adds layers) and Mark Ronson (precise producer who returns kindness for so many teachings).
And another proof that the expectation is through the roof is that John Taylor, the bassist of Duran Duran who is characterized by his groove solvency, by his slaps and by his facha, is available, from Los Angeles and via Zoom.
On camera he looks vital, as if "the turbocharged flu" (as he described the passage of the coronavirus through his body) had not tickled him.
"After playing and working together for so long, we really appreciate what 'being together' and 'staying together' can really mean," says Taylor, as much a part of Duran Duran as his bandmates Simon LeBon (vocals), Nick Rhodes (keyboards) and Roger Taylor (drummer).
"Future Past" is a title compatible with Duran Duran, a band that goes beyond fashions and trends.
Yes, we have always had an element in the sound... Something that refers to science fiction... There's an obsession with science fiction in this band. In fact, we take the name from a film of the genre(Barbarella,by Roger Vadim). And by generating music from an organic approach of bass, drums and guitar, we come to the retrofuturistic and a correct approach for each era.
And how did that title come about?
"It was a day that we made some new songs heard from some young London photographers we were working with. One of them said "This is like Future Past." When we heard him, we asked him if that expression had come from that moment. He said yes and we immediately thought it was a great title. Until then, we had thought about the titles of the songs, but not of the album. With that expression revealed, Simon considered it so powerful that he was forced to compose a new song called so. I think there's an autobiographical and strange thread running through this album, which wasn't always present on the most recent records. There really is a need to mark where we come from, to recognize what we inherited from Giorgio Moroder, from David Bowie. This is just thank you, thank you and thank you. In Future Past we achieve fresh and exciting music, but it has a lot of what inspired us historically.
"That's why we assume that the inclusion of Giorgio Moroder was very special. How much did it influence you?
"It was a big influence. I put you in context, we were punks from Birmingham who wanted to play and who, due to different circumstances, ended up receiving two influences that nobody received: disco music from New York and European techno. From a fairly young age, Nick and I pursued that Moroder sound to make it central to Duran Duran's proposal. In the Future Past sessions we talked to Giorgio about it and he was excited. Almost on the same level as us for having it. On most of the record, we struggled to reinvent the sound. But that didn't happen with Giorgio's songs, because in them we knew very well what we wanted. We were not trying to force anything but concretizing a Duran Duran meets Giorgio Moroder. He plugged in his keyboards, ran his sequences and everything flowed. It was a beautiful and inspiring experience.
His contributor puzzle suggests a master plan behind Future Past. But Taylor says it all came naturally. Graham Coxon, for example, joined by chance: Erol Alkan, the producer, is a neighbor of Blur's guitarist and suggested adding him.
"Graham is almost from day one... That's how this project began, in a natural and organic way. And Erol's approach to recording was very 'old school' even though he comes from electronics."
"Probably, we care more about these issues now than we did on our first albums. Everything Graham contributed is interesting and exciting. It gave us the feeling that we are facing something very good," he adds.
John Taylor argues that while the guests brought magic and new dimensions, the conceptual character of the songs was finished by Simon LeBon with his lyrics. "Simon says 'this song sounds in a way that invites me to talk about this' and revelations like that make us say 'wow, he's right,'" he says.
"Either way, in a million years I would have imagined collaborating with Chai (Japanese punk girl band) or Mike Garson... We had things on the radar and we caught them," he adds in relation to future Past'sforeign contribution.
"We said that Duran Duran is in tune with the times. Now, did they ever feel bewildered or out of context?
"Oh, God... All the time, all the time. The first time it happened was around 1985. You know, two of the guys left (he's referring to drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Andy Taylor) and we had to slow down. And we did Notorious (1986)... And suddenly we realized how and why we got there.
What do you mean by that, specifically?
Well, before Notorious we were at the center of everything. We left the UK between 1979 and 1980, had success all over the world, took underground music and made it mainstream. It was amazing to explode on such a pop level, but the truth is that we got burned. And with Notorious there were three of us, we were in the studio and Nile Rodgers helped us find a new sound, rediscover ourselves. But we put the album out and the audience wasn't there anymore. It was like, "Oh my God, they're all gone." Then, you suddenly realize that you are not in the center but, because of the artistic weight of what you did, you consider a long-term career. Anyway, none of us who remain in the band today dreamed of it even remotely. We never thought this would last that long.
While Taylor's response gives the feeling of an uninterrupted timeline with Duran Duran, the truth is that he was prone to forming super groups in periods of inactivity of his mother project. One was The Power Station in 1985 (with Andy Taylor, singer Robert Palmer and chic's base) and another Neurotic Outsiders 10 years later (with Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols and Matt Sorum and Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses).
"In this profession, the challenge is dealing with challenges, you know? That's why we've all made music in other situations and with other musicians. I left the band for a while, but I never stopped making music. We only have this, which is faith in music... And faith in your core bandmates when you're in tune with them. When we were young everyone doesn't look great; with the passage of time that gets complicated," he observes about his slips.
In the '80s, Duran Duran appealed to the music video to exalt his image and his music. Although the band was considered revolutionary, it was also noted as frivolous or fashionable. Were you bothered by that underestimation?
"Definitely. Because in the beginning I thought we would be an ideal underground project for the readers of (the musical weekly) NME: a bit intellectual, a bit surreal. And suddenly we had thousands of children screaming for us around the world. We just didn't know that music combined with a visual story was going to generate this situation. It was a little frustrating to think "Why don't we like the enemy for liking the * Smash Hits!?" And it was because there was a whole new medium... It was that, a new media moment that freed everyone from that post-punk thing. One minute Joy Division mattered and the next minute, for this reason I explain, no longer. It was exciting. We are emerging from postpunk in some way, but we witness (and star) that moment of "stop dramas, let's spread the rhythm".
Translated version:
The bassist talks about "Future Past", the British band's new album, and how the group cultivated longevity and validity.
Duran Duran's current situation is particularly hectic. It is that the British band counts the days for a new album entitled Future Past (comes out on the 22nd of this month) and has released four songs out of a total of 12.
It is the 15th of a discography always firm, elegant and dignified, and of a trajectory of 40 years that rarely remained in off side in relation to the new trends.
At this point it should be noted that Duran Duran did not age well because, simply, he did not age. Considered new romantic in the early '80s, its expressive brilliance naturally in tune with the dance music of this time, just as it did during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.
So, we are witnessing a present time of Future Past... Everything seems to make sense.
In addition to the advances, the feeling of anxiety around the new of the British band is aggravated by the staff involved: Erol Alkan (producer), Giorgio Moroder (legendary figure who comes to throw magic powders), Tove Lo (Swedish popstar who contributes and takes class), Graham Coxon (guitarist of Blur who officiates as composer), Mike Garson (Bowie pianist who adds layers) and Mark Ronson (precise producer who returns kindness for so many teachings).
And another proof that the expectation is through the roof is that John Taylor, the bassist of Duran Duran who is characterized by his groove solvency, by his slaps and by his facha, is available, from Los Angeles and via Zoom.
On camera he looks vital, as if "the turbocharged flu" (as he described the passage of the coronavirus through his body) had not tickled him.
"After playing and working together for so long, we really appreciate what 'being together' and 'staying together' can really mean," says Taylor, as much a part of Duran Duran as his bandmates Simon LeBon (vocals), Nick Rhodes (keyboards) and Roger Taylor (drummer).
"Future Past" is a title compatible with Duran Duran, a band that goes beyond fashions and trends.
Yes, we have always had an element in the sound... Something that refers to science fiction... There's an obsession with science fiction in this band. In fact, we take the name from a film of the genre(Barbarella,by Roger Vadim). And by generating music from an organic approach of bass, drums and guitar, we come to the retrofuturistic and a correct approach for each era.
And how did that title come about?
"It was a day that we made some new songs heard from some young London photographers we were working with. One of them said "This is like Future Past." When we heard him, we asked him if that expression had come from that moment. He said yes and we immediately thought it was a great title. Until then, we had thought about the titles of the songs, but not of the album. With that expression revealed, Simon considered it so powerful that he was forced to compose a new song called so. I think there's an autobiographical and strange thread running through this album, which wasn't always present on the most recent records. There really is a need to mark where we come from, to recognize what we inherited from Giorgio Moroder, from David Bowie. This is just thank you, thank you and thank you. In Future Past we achieve fresh and exciting music, but it has a lot of what inspired us historically.
"That's why we assume that the inclusion of Giorgio Moroder was very special. How much did it influence you?
"It was a big influence. I put you in context, we were punks from Birmingham who wanted to play and who, due to different circumstances, ended up receiving two influences that nobody received: disco music from New York and European techno. From a fairly young age, Nick and I pursued that Moroder sound to make it central to Duran Duran's proposal. In the Future Past sessions we talked to Giorgio about it and he was excited. Almost on the same level as us for having it. On most of the record, we struggled to reinvent the sound. But that didn't happen with Giorgio's songs, because in them we knew very well what we wanted. We were not trying to force anything but concretizing a Duran Duran meets Giorgio Moroder. He plugged in his keyboards, ran his sequences and everything flowed. It was a beautiful and inspiring experience.
His contributor puzzle suggests a master plan behind Future Past. But Taylor says it all came naturally. Graham Coxon, for example, joined by chance: Erol Alkan, the producer, is a neighbor of Blur's guitarist and suggested adding him.
"Graham is almost from day one... That's how this project began, in a natural and organic way. And Erol's approach to recording was very 'old school' even though he comes from electronics."
"Probably, we care more about these issues now than we did on our first albums. Everything Graham contributed is interesting and exciting. It gave us the feeling that we are facing something very good," he adds.
John Taylor argues that while the guests brought magic and new dimensions, the conceptual character of the songs was finished by Simon LeBon with his lyrics. "Simon says 'this song sounds in a way that invites me to talk about this' and revelations like that make us say 'wow, he's right,'" he says.
"Either way, in a million years I would have imagined collaborating with Chai (Japanese punk girl band) or Mike Garson... We had things on the radar and we caught them," he adds in relation to future Past'sforeign contribution.
"We said that Duran Duran is in tune with the times. Now, did they ever feel bewildered or out of context?
"Oh, God... All the time, all the time. The first time it happened was around 1985. You know, two of the guys left (he's referring to drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Andy Taylor) and we had to slow down. And we did Notorious (1986)... And suddenly we realized how and why we got there.
What do you mean by that, specifically?
Well, before Notorious we were at the center of everything. We left the UK between 1979 and 1980, had success all over the world, took underground music and made it mainstream. It was amazing to explode on such a pop level, but the truth is that we got burned. And with Notorious there were three of us, we were in the studio and Nile Rodgers helped us find a new sound, rediscover ourselves. But we put the album out and the audience wasn't there anymore. It was like, "Oh my God, they're all gone." Then, you suddenly realize that you are not in the center but, because of the artistic weight of what you did, you consider a long-term career. Anyway, none of us who remain in the band today dreamed of it even remotely. We never thought this would last that long.
While Taylor's response gives the feeling of an uninterrupted timeline with Duran Duran, the truth is that he was prone to forming super groups in periods of inactivity of his mother project. One was The Power Station in 1985 (with Andy Taylor, singer Robert Palmer and chic's base) and another Neurotic Outsiders 10 years later (with Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols and Matt Sorum and Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses).
"In this profession, the challenge is dealing with challenges, you know? That's why we've all made music in other situations and with other musicians. I left the band for a while, but I never stopped making music. We only have this, which is faith in music... And faith in your core bandmates when you're in tune with them. When we were young everyone doesn't look great; with the passage of time that gets complicated," he observes about his slips.
In the '80s, Duran Duran appealed to the music video to exalt his image and his music. Although the band was considered revolutionary, it was also noted as frivolous or fashionable. Were you bothered by that underestimation?
"Definitely. Because in the beginning I thought we would be an ideal underground project for the readers of (the musical weekly) NME: a bit intellectual, a bit surreal. And suddenly we had thousands of children screaming for us around the world. We just didn't know that music combined with a visual story was going to generate this situation. It was a little frustrating to think "Why don't we like the enemy for liking the * Smash Hits!?" And it was because there was a whole new medium... It was that, a new media moment that freed everyone from that post-punk thing. One minute Joy Division mattered and the next minute, for this reason I explain, no longer. It was exciting. We are emerging from postpunk in some way, but we witness (and star) that moment of "stop dramas, let's spread the rhythm".