Jeff is all about that BASS with Duran Duran's John Taylor

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You've got the Eighties Show podcast.I'm Jeff Stevens, a lifelong Duran Durand
fan since the very early eighties andso excited to be chatting with bass player
John Taylor. Hey Jeff, HeyJohn Taylor. How are you? Man?
Very well, thanks excellent, niceto talk to you, and very
excited about the future. Past Tourtwenty twenty three. You guys are going

(00:20):
to be covering the United States thissummer, and we're very glad to have
you back out there. Man,Yeah, we are too. I mean,
if we're doing this one in twoblocks of dates, we're doing a
run across the country that starts actuallyin a week time at the end of
May, and then we're doing anotherrun that runs from the end of August
into September. Yeah, I lovethat, and uh, you know that's

(00:43):
kind of nice you you have thesummer off. I actually saw you last
year at the Wonderbus Festival in Columbus, Ohio, and you guys were just
I mean that that was a funwhen you did Is that kind of what
you did? Most of last yearwas kind of some festivals here and there.
We did. We did a bunchof arenas around the US, like

(01:03):
a fairly short, short run ofarenas, which is kind of what has
encouraged us to do what we're doingthis year, because it was just so
damned successful. Ye surprises, Butwe did a lot of festivals in Europe.
We do more festivals than we've everdone before. You know, we
found it's taken a while to sortof evolve into you know, there wasn't

(01:26):
a lot of festival business back inthe day, but we've sort of grown
into it. So now we lookforward to doing festivals, you know,
because you get to play to peoplethat you wouldn't wouldn't normally see the band,
you know. But I also butyou know, I love it when
the show's ours too, you know, people are just coming to seek to
around your end. Yes, well, I've had the chance to see you

(01:46):
guys, probably eight or ten timesover the years, back starting in the
late eighties and right up to lastlast August. I think when you were
at Wonderbus. And one thing I'veI've noticed, I've I've always enjoyed seeing
you guys live an energetic, powerfulshow with all those hits, and you
guys always put surprises in there,which I love. But as I saw

(02:07):
you guys. Just last year,you guys just seem to have this like
renewed energy and fun. You seemlike you were really really having a good
time. Yeah, we definitely arehaving a good time. And you know,
I'm not quite sure why. Iguess, you know, I mean,
we feel good about our legacy.We have a great relationship with each

(02:30):
other, and you know, wekind of inspire each other. We kind
of push each other and each otheron. I think that each band member,
individually, you know, wants tobe the best that he can be.
None of us are sort of like, you know, none of us
are sorting because you can be retired, you know, mentally, and you're
still kind of doing it right.But I think that all the guys in

(02:52):
Duran are still really banging on thedoor. You know, it's important to
really deliver. You know, nobodywants to dial it in. You know,
we just take it too seriously.Yeah, and that's you could actually
see that just being somebody out inthe crowd, you could tell that that
it's not just like Okay, it'sthe go collect our money tour. You
know that you guys, you guysare putting the heart and soul of Duran

(03:15):
Duran out there every time you goout there, and I think that's awesome
because, believe me, we've allbeen to shows where it looks like they're
just phoning it in, like yousaid, and you guys were definitely not
one of them, and you neverhave been. Hey man, I mean,
I just I'm just glad that Istill can. Yeah, you know,
I mean, I mean, whoknows, you know, who knows
what's around the corner. You know, you might get to it, you
might get something might happen, andyou know, and the opportunity might might

(03:38):
get taken away from it. SoI think, you know, while we
still have, you know, whilewe still have the opportunity to get out
and really rock, you know,and really blow people away, I think
we're going to take that opportunity becauseit might not be there next year.
You know, you just don't know, right, very very very good point.
We're talking to John Taylor, bassguitarist and founding member of Duran.
Duran so happy that you got therecognition last year for the Rock and Roll

(04:00):
Hall of Fame. That had tofeel pretty good. It did. It
did feel good. I mean it'slike I think most people that get into
music like like us guys. Youknow, we're kind of outsiders as kids,
you know, so you know whenyou when when you find yourself in
this celebrated sort of collective of otheroutsiders like Eminem and Dolly Carton and Rhythmics,

(04:24):
you know, it feels kind ofgreat. Yeah, it's like a
one freak at or another here weare. I love it. That was
so great though. That's that's avery very good point. Well, John,
I love your style of bass,whether it's Rio or the Reflex or
girls on film. I mean,all the songs you've done are just amazing.

(04:46):
I love your style of playing bass. Did you always want to be
a bass player? Thank you?I mean I hadn't really planned on being
a bass player, you know.I mean I hadn't really planned on being
a musician. I mean, justlike punk rock came along, you know,
Sexistals put that first record out atthe end of nineteen seventy six,
and I'm like, I got andI had to play guitar. I wanted

(05:06):
to be a part of this,this incredible movement that was happening in in
Great Britain at the end of theseventies of punk rock thing, and every
kid I knew just wanted to geton the butt, and none of us
could play, and I just thought, well, it's got to be guitar,
you know. And I had acouple of years of thought of playing

(05:26):
a sort of sort of fumbling guitar. But then I met Roger, and
Roger was the first real musician thatI'd ever played with him, and we
didn't have a bass player at thetime, but there was a bassline around
the practice space and I just pickedit up and started jamming with him,
and I just it just felt sonatural, and I thought, this is

(05:47):
it, this is my instrument.But you know, more than that,
it was like we're a rhythm section. Yeah, And it just felt really
great that we were going to buildsomething together. And Nick was going to
work with his electronic sounds and hewas to fire these sounds at us and
we were going to play along withthem, and we were going to build
something, you know, kind ofdifferent from what was happening, certainly in

(06:08):
our hometown. Nobody was making noiseslike we were making at that time in
our hometown. We just built him, you know. I was thinking about
about style, you know, andhow I think stuck for me, you
know, style is super important.You know, I'm more interested in style
than I am virtuosity, really,and I think in a way that like,

(06:29):
if you're not a virtuoso, likeI've never I don't, I've never
read music. I'm not a virtuoso, but I'm forced by my limitations to
develop a style. And I thinkthat's what you know, musicians that maybe
you know, aren't dexterous enough toplay jazz or you know, to go
to a session and just do whateverthey're asked to play, or playing a

(06:53):
classical ensemble, you've kind of gotto work up a style. Style's really
important. But then I think,you know, like young people particularly love
style. Yeah, you know,if they didn't love style, they'd be
listening to Pick and Mozart instead ofHarry style. I mean, it's like
styles where Tiley swear, it's thatyou know. So yeah, so what

(07:13):
you're listening to, what you werehearing was was a style. Well,
it's a style that that we obviouslyloved, then we love it now.
And my last question, John,I could talk to you for hours,
but did you ever think when youguys started hammering around making making some noise
there in the late seventies, thatin twenty twenty three you would be selling

(07:35):
out arenas all over the world,still incredibly relevant, and you're probably playing
and sounding better than you ever have. Well, you know, I really
I would love to say that Idid back then, but I really really
did not. And I'm grateful tomy parents in a way because they definitely

(07:58):
did not still any kind of likecareer plan into me where I needed to
be thinking about, you know,retirement and a sort of a long term
plan. I had no long termplan whatsoever. But and you know,
it's this music thing. It hadn'tmet me. I don't know what I

(08:20):
would have done, you know,but this is it, you know,
and this is great, you know, and this is what I was meant
to do, and it's what allof us were meant to do. And
we're bloody grateful that we are doingit and that we're still doing it and
people still want to come and seehis play. Well, we'll be out
there seeing you this summer, John, So nice to talk to you again
and can't wait to see Duran Duranon the road with the Future past two
or twenty twenty three. John Taylor, have a great win and we'll see

(08:43):
you on the road my friend.Thank you, thank you, appreciated,