Nick interview with Red Ronnie

On 19th April 2021, Nick was interviewed by Red Ronnie and various (mostly Italian) fans for over two hours on Facebook live. This is a highly edited transcript, taken from 15 minutes into the interview. Not included here - ramblings about the origins of the chair he was sitting on (pictured), some stuff about clothes and the very extensive 'get to the point' questions from excited fans.

Big news: lead song (can we call it a 'single'?) called Invisible to be released in May! This fits with the teased release schedule from Katy last week ("between Roger and John's birthdays").

Obviously this is very exciting and presumably / hopefully signals the start of the album launch.

as for the album:

It will have different a sound [within the album] due to the [three] different producers, but they all work together... The album will be cohesive... The sound varies: electronic dance music, a ballad, more rock-based tracks.

Nick went on to talk about the guitars saying, "Graham Coxon is a more experimental guitarist."

Asked about an Anthology release:

We want to do an anthology album, but i don't know if it will be for the 40th [anniversary]. We have so much stuff.

[He said he'd been going through the archives and found lots of stuff].

[For example] we have retrieved the original drives from Astronaut - there's enough for a a whole other album... It's a massive task but workable. I don't want to put out scraps - I want to put out gems.

Moving on to other snippets of thoughts / observations:

In the 80s you had to carve out your own space. When DD were lucky enough to be in the charts there was U2, The Smiths, Madonna, The Cure, all amazing artists with their own unique sound. we wanted to stand out - a lot of stuff (now) sounds generic with the same sound.

[returning to this theme later]: people like to see videos of small animals being brushed, but more people have found music. Upcoming musicians should have been taken better care of (with their online music). it's difficult to break through as it's difficult to find that one gem. it can happen (Billie Eilish). she's an extraordinary artist.

On his sense of fashion: I'm always looking for a particular outfit. it says a lot about you and the way you are. Fashion / style means a lot to me. I like the 40s into the 50s which was an elegant period for women's fashion. I don't have a lot of time for sports wear

On Ben Incubi - new expensive 'book': Latin is a beautiful yet mystical language. It was appealing to me to bring this language to life and make a new product with it. The entire book is in Latin (with translations). Nefer sang the song "rather well actually". This was the first single released in centuries in Latin. It is based on a fictitious 1970s Italian horror movie that never got made. I figured out the plot in my head of this descent into madness.

On the relative importance of music / presentation: Music is the most important thing, but then you need to decide how to present it - video, album cover, the typeface on the album. those things make us react and feel something.

On Astronomia: On Arcadia I had more latitude to experiment with soundscapes and there are similarities with Astronomia. this record is like a diary over the past year. The first one is the shock of what happened [Covid]. Without lyrics there are cryptic things in the titles. Astronomia will have 52 videos which is very ambitious to do in one year.

On photos he takes at the end of gigs - will he make a book?: The photos of the audience get put on the website. it's fun for me to go to the front at the end to see everybody. It would be fun to put them in a book, but I'm not sure who else apart from those in it who would want to see it

Playing Ibiza festival: We hope we will still play in Ibiza. We wait with the rest of the world and hope - there was the recent show in Spain with 5000 people and they are testing how that went. I think Ibiza has a chance of going ahead.

Do you have any contact with Warren? I love Warren, no contact for 18 months. I don't know what he's up to at the moment, but I only wish him well.

(re the coyly named 'sexy websites'): He's an unusual human being. whatever you've heard it's 10 times more than what you think and that's what makes him an amazing artist.

Following lots of comments about how Duran Duran music has saved lives: Music marks periods in our lives. it's something we all have in coming, whatever the music we all like. we've been very lucky to have our loyal fans stay with us. it's always uplifting to hear how or why they got involved in the first place. There's usual an emotional connection that is similar. an emotional electricity - which is what most musicians strive for.

Re 80s excess: Nick: we tried to keep ourselves grounded, but John and Andy had troubles at different times with substance abuse.

Social media: I'm not on FB or Twitter because if I engaged on these sites I'd lose a large chunk of my real life. if you live your life through the internet and answering things and can't leave our phone alone for 5 mins, you have a different type of existence. it's a life choice.

Re Covid and how it might affect musical inspiration: it wouldn't surprise me if someone comes along and produces something to move music in a different way. radio music feels pretty stagnant. we need new ideas and people who aren't afraid to do something good.

_____________________________________

Cherry Lipstick publications: print and digital download fanzines from 1993 to 2021 available now from the CL Store at www.cherrylipstick.co.uk/shop

AND: Coming soon - the 38th Cherry Lipstick print fanzine, out June 2021!