It’s that time again! Today I listened to the October edition of the Katy Kafé with the birthday boy this month – none other than Simon Le Bon. I took notes, shook my head several times, and came up with some highlights to share.
Now for the disclaimer: this is not going to be even remotely close to word-for-word. I picked out what *I* wanted to comment on and share, and if you’re looking for something a little more inclusive, I strongly recommend getting your membership to DDM.
VENICE: The band went to Venice last week for a private party – it was actually the party of Simon’s friend and it sounds as though a good time was had by all. I guess if you’ve got to play a private gig, I can think of worse places to have to play. If you follow Dom on Twitter or Facebook, you can see a photo from the water “taxi” that took him from the airport to the hotel. Yes, I can definitely think of worse places to have to go for work.
NILE: Katy asked Simon about working with Nile on the album. Simon said that Nile seemed very happy to reconnect with Duran Duran, and that the process of working with Nile is very easy. Nile loves music and he stays current. Given Nile’s current popularity, I would say that the band was lucky to have him work on the album. The man is incredibly busy!!
Simon also said that currently, it appears that Nile and Mark are on two or three tracks for DD14, and that he hopes that they “make it onto the album”. Between these tracks and the potential of what John Frusciante worked on, I have absolutely no sense of what the finished product will sound like, and I’m sure I’m not alone.
MR. HUDSON: He has been the main drive with the album and has become a good friend of Simon’s, helping him with “getting the lyrics right”. Mr. Hudson (Ben) is currently working with Spike Stent to mix the album. (Rhonda asks, does this mean it’s really finished being written and recorded?!)
which leads to….
WHEN WILL THE ALBUM BE READY?: Simon begins with this song and dance about how he’s a great writer, lyricist, etc…but he’s not a businessman, he doesn’t manage his own career, and so therefore he hasn’t a “fucking clue” when this album will be done. He says that HE thinks it should be ready in a month, but that he’s also the optimist. They still have to find a label, and labels want a six month lead time. (Six months?!? This waiting thing is just going to go on and on, isn’t it??) Then he goes on to say that he has been going around playing the album for anyone who will listen. (That’s funny, I don’t remember anyone asking ME….) Katy mentions that she wants to listen, and that launches Simon into a short discussion of how nobody gets sent roughs anymore. “No digital files”. It’s too risky. Yeah, you know why it’s risky?? Because fans are productive and downright sneaky. We get hold of things and the next thing you know, everyone in the community has it. Anyone remember Astronaut??
THE BIRTHDAY: Simon will be 56 this year, for those who have lost count. There was a lot of talk about cake and some innuendo about the shape of the tiers of the cake…but if you want that, you can go listen to the file yourself. I just shook my head and willed the topic to change. Simon is going to spend the day with his dad, which he does every year, since they share a birthday,
FASHION ROCKS: Simon said this was a fun show and that he met Gene Simmons, who declared (more than once) that Simon would be popular with the guys in jail. Good to know….
FORMULA-ONE FAN EVENT IN AUSTIN: For those who only read our blog for the Kafés, the band is playing November 1st at the ACL/Formula-One FanFest in Austin, Texas. They play at the Moody Theater in Austin, which is an intimate venue, and it should be a fantastic show as long as you’re comfortable parting with the $325-575 per ticket price. Simon made sure to say that this is the only public show for 2014. (unless of course you want to go see them at Dell World…which is STILL kind of a public performance, even though the show is at an industry trade event. The general public, like you and I, can purchase tickets, so check out the details on the blog link above.)
LASTLY: Check out the October 2014 Vanity Fair if you haven’t already. Simon has a photo spread from the deck of the boat we know from “Rio” (Eilean) and an article in the magazine.
Til next time!
-R
I thought Nile was producing & polishing (for lack of better word) whole album no? Just couple of tracks damn, will it be out before June 2015? Thanks Rhonda
From what Simon said – it appears that no, Nile only worked on 2 or 3 tracks. I may have misunderstood or misinterpreted what he was saying, but Simon said that they still weren’t sure on what tracks were going to make the final album, and that he hoped that they (meaning Nile and Mark) would make the final listing, which surprised me. I guess I figured that of course they’d be included in the final cut – like it was already a given. (goes to show you how much *I* know!! It’s a good thing I just write a blog.) -R
Oh, I forgot to answer about when the album would be out. Simon said that labels want a six-month lead time (that is a LONG time!!), so let’s pretend for the sake of argument that they were signed, well…today. That means the album would be out in April at the absolute earliest. However, that’s unlikely given that Simon seemed to indicate they hadn’t even found a label yet (or maybe they’re still negotiating, who knows?), so I think you probably have to figure June timeframe and maybe even later. Time will tell. 🙂 -R
Thanks Rhonda. Do you think they want a label only for distribution or the whole 360 degree deal coz its a bit late for that don’t you think? I wish Nile influenced his label to take DD but I don’t know how close are they or what’s the protocol. Also they need an aggressive manager like Guy Oseary, Jordan Feldstein who are real go-getters & can steer them in the right direction with right folks at the right time. Cousin Wendy & Magus have been highly ineffective, since she took over their stock has been in a free fall. You can make umpteen comebacks in your 20s & 30s but it doesn’t work in 50s & 60s for anyone. Simon says he ain’t a businessman, he’s right what he needs is a streetsmart savvy aggressive young manager who can take care of business side of things so that the band can totally focus on creative side & not worry about how to pay the studio, producers, engineer etc etc bills.
Duran’s best records are those where they didn’t take so much time but went with it instinctively & the results were brilliant. Time lag is a serious momentum killer in a cutthroat music industry in such an unforgiving environment. Hope it all works out for them, sorry for the rambling too much. Thanks for hearing.
Good question. I have no idea what they’re looking for, but I have to say that at least from the way it sounded, they were looking for the whole deal. I must be completely honest: I have very little experience in management other than doing online promotion, and so I don’t know what the pros and cons of getting a full deal or just going for distribution might be, and I’m really not well-versed enough in being a manager to know what makes a good one or a poor one…although I will say that in MY experience, being willing to accept help from unconventional sources and being innovative is a step in the right direction. Whether that’s happening here or not, I’ll let others decide. However, from what I’ve read and seen on my own though, I think basically that it takes a lot of effort and work to try and do everything yourself without a record deal, and perhaps the band just does not have that kind of time or energy at this point in their career??
I agree with you that the band should be able to focus on the creative end. It seems pretty counterproductive to try and worry about the business end on top of it all, and when Simon said that he wasn’t a businessman, I took that to mean that he wasn’t really even getting involved on that end of it, and I kind of think he was trying to avoid guessing when the album would be out, too. That said, any band can have a hit I suppose; but you’re right – it’s much harder in your 50’s and 60’s. One just can’t DO as much in the late 50’s as in their 20’s. Nobody wants to see any of them fall so ill that they can’t keep going. I only have to point to the end of the last tour as case in point.
I also agree that their best records happened when they didn’t overthink it all and just let the music point them in the right direction. I’m as concerned as anyone else that they could easily fall into the trap of trying to create a hit, and as a result the album won’t have that cohesive feel. That said, I haven’t heard a single note, and I really want to be as open-minded as possible about this album. We’ve waited too long to even begin to write it off before we hear it. It could very well be that taking their time with it really made it work, I just don’t know. You are right though, and I feel the band has fallen victim to time lag and momentum loss many, many times over the course of their career – but in this case, I’m just not sure that’s really what has happened. Their tour ended early due to Nick’s illness, and while yes, it will likely be at least two and a half years in between tours (if not three), I tend to think that if the music is good, it won’t end up mattering. As you said yourself, this isn’t a band in their 20s, and if we assume that because of that, it’s very difficult to make a real chart worthy comeback – it won’t matter that they took extra time if the music is worth the wait. I am excited to get my hands on the music and do our bit to get the word out for them as much as we’re allowed and/or encouraged.
-R
Agreed & consigned, it’s said that insanity is doing same thing again & again & expecting different results – that said why not go the whole enchilada, fire the entire current team & bring in someone new. Infuse fresh energy with younger blood Duran have got nothing to lose now. Thanks for well thought out response though.
You’re welcome! Thanks for commenting! -R