Duran Duran's John Taylor: Collaborating is important - people struggle to listen to one artist

Duran Duran’s John Taylor has said collaborating with other artists is important as people now struggle to listen to an hour of music by one singer.

Taylor, 55 – who collaborated with musicians including Nile Rogers and Mark Ronson on the band’s latest album, Paper Gods – says EDM and hip-hop sparked the trend, with listeners now wanting more variety.

“Occasionally you’ll look at the charts and go ‘Oh my God they’re all features’ that’s what EDM and hip hop has done,” he told the Standard Online. “Bands are self-contained cults they don’t need anybody they just need electricity. But I felt there was a change in the culture – nobody can listen to an hour of music with one singer anymore, they need variety.”

Taylor also spoke about the lack of distinguished style among today’s artists, something he described as “boring”.

He said: “In the 70s everything went out from the centre and you had to be unique. Not only did you have to be an extraordinary distinguished song writer, but you had to have distinguished style or nobody noticed you. But now everybody wants to look good in a tux. It’s kind of boring actually. When [David] Bowie sort out Kansai Yamamoto nobody had heard of Yamamoto and he came and he toured Britain in this crazy f*****g s**t which was just shocking.”

He continued: “Kanye is the only guy out there that says anything with his style. He’s a very interesting artist. I think he’s owned the last decade really.”

Duran Duran will kick off their UK tour on Friday in support of their 11th studio album. To mark the tour, the band’s photographer Denis O’Regan has released his limited-edition, Duran Duran book, 'Careless Memories’ which documents the North American and Japanese legs of the band’s record-breaking Sing Blue Silver tour in 1984.

O’Regan said of the tour: “Every night there were 20-30,000 people and you want to show people the side of it they’ll never get to see. It might only be someone sitting around in a dressing room but I want to capture that.”

Taylor said performing has always been his "primary function" and that gigging in the UK is “like going to see family”.

When asked if Duran Duran will stand the test of time like the Rolling Stones, he replied: “The Stones do set the pace. Every year you’re like ‘please please retire so we can all retire’. But it’s a very addictive game and while there is an audience that is interested in seeing you and while you still think you’ve got something to say, why not?

“I feel that retiring from the gig everything would fall apart. I’d become Marlon Brando. I wouldn’t leave the room.”

Denis O'Regan has partnered with Sanderson, London to launch a pop up shop stocking his new, limited-edition, Duran Duran book 'Careless Memories' – priced from £250. The shop at Sanderson opens today and closes on December 11.