The pop legends are back with a new album – and joined us to answer your questions on Tuesday 8 September. Here’s what Roger and John Taylor had to say about extraterrestrial life, avoiding trolls and admiring Get Lucky
The webchat is now over. Thanks very much for all of your questions, and to John and Roger for joining us!
J: It's been a real pleasure. Thanks for the questions. It's been enlightening.
R: Great questions, thank you to everyone. And don't forget Paper Gods is out on Friday!
J: And thanks to the Guardian for providing a forum.
BiggusDickus asks:
How did you get Girls on Film past the censors?
R: I'm not sure it completely did - we had to make a version for Top of the Pops. I think when kids got it in their Christmas stocking with the fully uncensored version, the problems started...
Skoobysnax asks:
How much impact did drugs have on your lifestyle in the 80s and what effect, if any, do you feel it had on the music?
J: Certain drugs can intensify the experience in a positive way, for a while. Certain drugs detract from the experience. I remember more of that. Sober today, like it that way. Music feels good.
R: I think from the 60s there's been this thing that drugs are beneficial for creativity, but I'm not sure that's true - they tend to make everything sound great, whether that's true or not.
Swally asks:
I read Mr Le Bon dismissing Matter of Feeling recently as a failure - it’s always been a favourite of mine. Do you ever revisit obscure old tracks?
J: He didn't mean that at all. We're both very fond of that song. What he was referring to was that it was one of the few times when we have literally tried to rewrite an earlier hit, in the case of Matter of Feeling it was Save A Prayer. And in that sense, as it wasn't a hit, not even a single, it was a failure.
Neutralpaddy asks:
Do you think Beethoven would have bought a concert ticket to hear you?
J: Hadn't he lost his hearing by the early 80s?
R: Doesn't stop people from coming to our gigs.
J: He must have been such a musical snob... hard to imagine.
Aboleth asks:
Recently Piers Morgan wrote about Jeremy Clarkson:
“...we attended a lavish birthday party in Venice recently where we ‘danced’ together to a live set from Duran Duran, both punching the air to The Wild Boys and Notorious.”
This sounds like a wonderful life most of us can only dream of. Whose birthday was it?
J: Wonderful life for Jeremy and Piers. We were working.
GiorgioRome asks:
Did you ever consider collaborating with David Bowie for a track or album?
J: We would have loved that. It was fun to tour with him in '85, get to know him a little.
R: He's a lovely man. He's like the grandfather of cool, isn't it? Such an influence.
Tankerton asks:
When did you last go out drinking in Broad St, Birmingham?
R: You're asking the wrong two guys here.
J: 1984?
R: I think so, that would be about right.
Diana da Cruz asks:
How was the most difficult and easy song to be written by the band throughout creative process?
J: You Kill Me With Silence took a day.
R: Whereas something like Danceaphobia took maybe two years. But we knew there was a gem in there, and we kept working... you've got to give credit to Nick here, who kept saying let's have another go in the end. It's an outstanding song on the album, it was really worth it.
Caffeinejunkie asks:
Do you look back at any phase of Duran and think ‘what the hell was I/we thinking’?
R: No.
Diana da Cruz asks:
You had a record company in the past, so do you intend to produce new artists in the future?
J: It would be nice. I can't imagine anything beyond the world of Paper Gods right now. But who knows.
Batfunk asks:
Moseley or Kings Heath?
R: Moseley, because it was the home of the Fighting Cocks, home to some of my first performances in Birmingham. Part of my heart will always be in Moseley.
J: Moseley was the bohemia of the Midlands! Got to be Moseley. All hash and afghans.
Jens Friis-Pedersen asks:
In your recent interviews, you’ve been talking about the balance of maintaining your “brand” on one hand and embracing a contemporary sound on the other. I also read that you originally set out to fuse Chic (funk and disco) with Sex Pistols (punk) when you started the band, which seemed to be the original musical dna or trademark of the band. In the new songs I’ve heard so far, it sounds to me like you’ve shifted the balance towards EDM, and further away from the punk edge, with the possible exception of the title song. Could you please elaborate on what you now consider to be the “Duran Duran brand” in musical terms?
J: Funnily enough, the Sex Pistols/Chic quote came up in an interview last week, and Nick was very quick to add: and Giorgio Moroder. The techno sound in early Duran has actually proved to be the most flexible and durable aspect of the sound. It actually allows us to refresh continually. Bass drums, guitars, are a little more 20th century, and harder to "make new". I guess also, less has been done with synthesizers – there have been so many great guitar players and drummers yet not so many synthesists or electronic musicians.
Deano Swift asks:
Were the singles Quiet Life and Life in Tokyo by the band JAPAN the blueprint for the early Duran sound? Would you still like to work with Giorgio Moroder?
J: Absolutely. Quiet Life was a massive influence. And I think an understated masterpiece. We're seeing Giorgio tonight actually, at the GQ awards. Maybe we can make a date...
Paula Thornton asks:
Why no music videos this time around? I think this is a first for you guys!
R: We're making a video for Pressure Off right now, so yes there will be videos.
Deano Swift asks:
Is Simon le Bon influenced by Elvis Presley?
J: Elvis influenced everybody that came after him.
Furq asks:
Do you imagine producing albums well into the future? The industry is obviously moving away from the format. Also, Paper Gods covers many genres - classic DD pop, disco stompers, darker synth stuff. Occurred to me that it might be better to produce themed EPs?
J: It's our conditioning. We produce albums, that's what we do. As we get older, it's clearer that they take longer. I don't ever see a time where the band will quit.
R: We're an album band and we always will be. We grew up in that period when it was an album-led industry, and I can't remember being that interested in singles as a kid - I was really into albums which were whole pieces of work. I got more into singles when punk came along, but generally we're an album band for sure.
Mirella Stivani asks:
Which band would Duran Duran like to share the stage with someday?
J: We never shared a bill with the Stones. Opening for the Stones was a trial, almost everybody did it at some point.
R: The Beatles.
We're playing at the iHeart festival in Las Vegas, sharing a stage with Kanye. That's cool. And The Who.
Reine Amodeo asks:
What is the most enjoyable way to read fan feedback on your songs? Do you read YouTube comments or fan blogs?
J: It's been really cool as we have been streaming songs from the new album one by one, for the first time, this time around, and every few days getting feedback from fans on the latest song to be streamed.
R: You have to be a little careful with that stuff on YouTube comments though, because for every four good comments there's one bad one saying "This album sucks!" I tend to keep away from it.
J: Yeah, you have to stay away from the online feedback a bit. The trolls. Another Ben Hudson line is: Learn to love the haters.
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