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| .: FEBRUARY - MARCH 2005 | |
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John Taylor is pretty mellow these days but he wasn't always. Back in 1984, the then 23-year-old bassist for English pop gods Duran Duran was racing around North America from gig to gig, interview to interview, photoshoot to photoshoot, high on youthful enthusiasm and substances less than legal. The pretty quintet was touring a hit album (Seven and the Ragged Tiger) and single ('Union of the Snake'), and was determined to duplicate the worldwide successes of their previous albums (1981's Duran Duran, 1982's Rio) in North America. They did... beyond imagination. The aftermath is well documented. Model girlfriends. A dodgy James Bond theme. A crap Live Aid performance. Side projects. Yachting accidents. Line-up changes. Spotty solo careers. Declining album sales. Cocaine. Public Enemy covers. Tribute albums. Warm nostalgia. And then... the reunion. In 2001, the original line-up - singer Simon Le Bon, guitarist Andy Taylor, keyboardist Nick Rhodes, bassist Taylor and drummer Roger Taylor - come to their senses and announce their reformation. New material is written in the south of France. Of course. Sold-out gigs in Japan and Vegas follow, as do lifetime achievement awards. The new album progresses in London between gigs and parties. Then, last October, Astronaut is released to middling reviews but first week American sales of 54,000 units and a #17 placement on the Billboard album charts: a decent showing. Now it's 2005 and the world tour includes forty dates over ten weeks in North America, five of them in Canada. Giorgio Armani is supplying some of the wardrobe, and middle-aged Duranies across Canada wait patiently. Access spoke to John Taylor in early January. The reunited Duran Duran toured a lot prior to recording Astronaut. Did the live work help you prepare for the studio? Yeah, yeah. Without a doubt. To me, the live performances are the driving force. We did do some writing before we did any shows. So as soon as we started playing again together, we had a couple of new songs in the show. And, of course, we're touring these newly written tunes into a set of standards. So it's very clear what you're trying to live up to. How difficult is it to balance your set lists between fan favourites and new tracks? I suppose it's a little bit like trying to feed your children. You're taking a little bit of sugar out of their diet and you hope they're not really going to notice. Because for us to stay excited and engaged in the process, it has to be like this. You start your North American tour soon. How do you think this one will compare to 1984's Seven and the Ragged Tiger jaunt? We were pretty out of control at that point. We didn't know if we were coming or going. We were hanging on for dear life. We're a lot more in control now. You're going to see five very well-grounded, very cool individuals on stage. Back in '84, it would have been five completely out-of-their-minds kids just trying to hold on to their lives. You've been candid about your past cocaine addiction. Is it easier to tour high than sober? It's so different. There's an energy you have when you're young, and you're indestructible. We've all done it. In your twenties, you can party, you can hang. As you get older, you start having to make choices. Do we go out tonight or do we get up with the kids in the morning? You just can't do it. By the time you get to forty, you just can't live the way that you were living when you were twenty. And that's not exclusive to rock stars, that's just Homo sapiens. I understand Giorgio Armani has designed clothes for this tour. What effect does a good suit have on your performance? For me, it's crucial because I want to feel sexy and cool and comfortable. It's not quite as important as knowing that the instrument is set up right [but] it's definitely part of it. You'd say the same thing to an athlete, wouldn't you? You wouldn't expect a football player to walk out on the field in long trousers. You played a lot of big sold-out shows prior to signing with a record deal. Did that live success help prove to labels that you still had an audience? Absolutely. Because we were driving ourselves nuts trying to get a major label deal. And they were all like 'oh, we don't know. Don't you know the music business is in a real mess at the moment?' There was so much cynicism and fear, and, yeah, we just had to go out and do it. And, ultimately, that's how it happens. People go out there, they make music, they turn people on. And if an A&R man's lucky, he'll be there to see it happen, sign the band or the artist, make a record with them, and put it out. But the work's already been done. I mean, you either connect with an audience or you don't - and we always have. Canada always turns out for Duran Duran. Any stand-out memories - good or bad - of touring this country? All good, really. We've always had a good time there, particularly Toronto. It was one of the first North American cities that really warmed to the band. We've had so many great shows there. And it's going to be nice to go to Calgary where we haven't been since the '84 tour. Vancouver's a trip. That's a beautiful city. It's great to go there. And the new album has connected with the Canadian audience. You feel like people are with us and they want to grow with us. If you had the chance, would you want to relive the chaos of 1984? No, no way. That was fun then but what we're doing now is right for now. |
.: ALSO IN THIS ISSUE |
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BRIEF ENCOUNTERS STUFF BODY LANGUAGE MOVIE PREVIEWS ACCESSORIES CONCERT CALENDAR TECHNOLOGY SOUNDTRAX REWIND/REPLAY
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