W L INTERVIEW
AN INTERVIEW WITH DURAN DURAN
40 years after their debut album hit the charts , those gods of new wave Duran Duran , have just released their latest album ‘ Future Past ’.
Since those heydays of the early 80 ’ s , they have sold more than 100 million records containing some of the most recognisable tunes around such as ‘ Rio ’, ‘ Notorious ’, ‘ A View to a Kill ’ and ‘ Girls on Film ’ to name but a few . They are among the world ' s best-selling music artists including 30 top 40 singles in the UK .
We got to find out some of the band ’ s thoughts on how these songs and their success came about .
The new album is a fantastic mix of the Duran Duran sound . How did you find that John ?
When we met Simon ( Le Bon ) for the first time , Roger , Nick and I had already been playing together , and we ' d sort of figured out what the band sound was , what the architecture of it was going to be , and so you know Simon brought his melody and lyrics , and it worked .
Do you start with the melody or the lyrics ?
I think the lyrics have got to fit the music . I always think that music tells a story and what I ' ve got to try and do is catch that story and turn it into something that makes sense .
How did you create that drama and that energy in some of your most famous songs like ‘ A View to a Kill ’ or ‘ Wild Boys ’?
At the time for Duran Duran , it was in this moment in music which had all the energy of punk but with a groove too . I think it goes back to those first moments of what is now called post-punk , playing with the rhythm .
It ' s a given really with our music that it ' s going to have some kind of a groove , something you can dance to . One of the ongoing conversations we have in the studio is what ' s the difference between punk and new wave ? And the answer usually is you can dance to new wave .
Simon - can you still sing those songs in the original keys when you ' re performing them ? do to yourself ? You ’ re making a rod for your own back .” I love the guy ; he says the funniest things . The best things .
How did the pandemic affect the writing of the album ?
We took a nine-month interval on this album , which we ' ve never done before . It ’ s something we would never choose to do , but you know , COVID created a lockdown situation , so we put the project on hold , and everybody went home .
We didn ' t really have much contact with each other during that period . Then when we came back together , it was all about what had happened to us all and how it had affected us . There ' s a lot on this album about intimacy , we ' ve gone into those issues more than probably any album we ' ve written before . And I think a lot of that comes from the COVID experience .
You ’ ve got such an amazing catalogue of work . There ’ s a certain chemistry isn ’ t there ?
We ' ve all been moved to tears , time and time and time again by music . Long before I was a musician , I was touched by the emotional power of music . I think that that ' s our practice essentially , you know , to get that emotion out .
We ' re all very emotional guys , you know . Honest we are .
Would you say songwriting still holds a magical quality for you ?
There ' s two ways of looking at it . You could be sitting there thinking this is really good music we ' re making here , right ? That ' s one way , but then there ' s the other way , which is the emotional way , which is where you just love the music you ' re making . It ' s not a question of whether it ' s good or it ' s bad .
If it ' s having an emotional effect on you , that ' s the magic . The magic is when you do something , and you hear your colleagues doing stuff musically that sends shivers down your spine , and that still happens . After 40 years , I ' m still getting that buzz when I listen to the songs we make .
Duran Duran are about to start a new tour and tickets are available now .
No ‘ Wild Boys ’ is definitely sung lower nowadays . I remember Bono said to me once , he goes , “ Simon , what are you trying to wirrallife . com 23