Duran Duran's John Taylor: 'Our songs from the eighties are the iconic ones. We don't own them, they're part of culture'

When members of a band have been performing - both together and separately - for well over four decades, it's hard not to focus a conversation on the past. Speaking to John Taylor of Duran Duran, however, reveals that, for them, as for many musicians, the energy to create and perform does not wane as retirement age approaches.

"There's just something really, really exciting about putting on a rock show. There just is, you know," says Taylor in an interview with SUR in English by video call - albeit with a technical hitch that frustratingly for this interviewer (and long-time fan) loses the video part - prior to the legendary British band's concert at the Starlite festival in Marbella next month.

Duran Duran fans are promised a "journey" on 9 July. "You're going to hear so many things from the last 40 years. If you love pop music, you're going to be triggered," says the bass guitarist, who will appear on the Nagüeles quarry stage with frontman Simon Le Bon, drummer Roger Taylor and keyboard player Nick Rhodes. The fifth member of the original lineup, Andy Taylor, is fighting prostate cancer.

For John Taylor, performing live is vital: "an opportunity to connect with so many people".

"It's instant gratification. You know that if you do a good job, people are going to get really excited," he says.

"When I was a teenager back in Birmingham and I started going to shows, there was just nothing like it when the lights would go down and suddenly all the focus of attention was on the musicians on the stage and the lighting. That was something I wanted to do."

And that is clearly not something that wears off with time. "That feeling stays the same. You may have noticed, people who do what I do don't retire easily. How many times has Elton retired? How many times has Macca retired? They just miss it; there's nothing like it."

Duran Duran have released 16 studio albums, as well as numerous live recordings. Nearly half of their albums were made this century, however it is their songs from the earlier years that are still the ones that spring to our minds when we think of Duran Duran.

"We were lucky to break into the 90s with Ordinary World and Come Undone, which I think are probably our most important songs. They're certainly among the most loved," says Taylor.

"Of course, the songs from the 80s are the iconic ones. It's very hard to compete with a song like Girls on Film or Hungry Like the Wolf. We don't own those songs. They're part of culture and they're bigger than just songs. It's like the Rolling Stones and Satisfaction. You just can't play a show and not play those songs."

Nevertheless Taylor stresses that their concerts cover both old and new: "It doesn't feel like we're taking the audience time travelling back to the early 80s and staying there for two hours. That's not the kind of show that this is.

"People following the band appreciate that we have continued to work, that we continue to put out new music," he adds.

So when it comes to writing these new songs, do Duran Duran still work together creating music as a team as they always used to?

"That's how we've always worked," explains Taylor. "We just tend to get in a room and throw ideas around and the best idea wins."

Being a band like Queen where individuals bring in more finished ideas, Taylor explains, "just wasn't our thing"; instead they've always been "democratic".

"I think when you go out on stage and you lay out your wares - 'hey, this is what we've been doing for the last 40 years' - every one of us feels a sense of ownership in the songs. And I think it's important for all of us that we feel that."

It also has its practical side: "We split the booty four ways and I think that's helped us stay together. There hasn't been imbalance in earnings, which can upset other bands."

When Duran Duran burst onto the music scene more than 40 years ago, what they, like most artists, brought was more than just sound. Their New Romantic image, complete with frills, make-up and gallons of hairspray, and their pioneering music videos completed the package that garnered fans wherever they went.

"I think that so many acts that break through suddenly and phenomenally appeal to a big audience have got something special about the way they present themselves. Look at the big stars that are happening right now, the Sabrina Carpenters and the Taylor Swifts; they've all got fantastic images. It's hard to imagine them looking dull and dowdy," says Taylor.

"We came up at a time where image was super important. I think that when I was a teenager, probably the two most important artists to me were Bowie and the Sex Pistols, and both of those artists had exceptional images. The clothes that they wore were amazing. We still look back at the Pistols and go, oh, my God, look at that, and Bowie had incredible clothes being made, incredible hairstyles, incredible makeup. And then you listen to the music and you're like, yeah, the music's not bad either," he laughs.

The bassist admits that when he was growing up he "really wanted to connect with artists". Little did he imagine as a schoolboy that he would soon be an artist connecting with thousands of young people.

In the eighties the faces of all five members of Duran Duran were on the bedroom walls of teenagers, mainly girls, throughout the UK and the rest of the world. The band were heartthrobs. Was that their intention? "Careful what you pray for," laughs Taylor.

"I think we went quite aggressively towards the mostly female teen market when our first couple of records came out," he explains. "You're looking for an audience, and we just really clicked with that whole world. And suddenly, girls' magazines like Jackie and My Guy just wanted lots and lots of Duran Duran. For a few years, I don't think anybody could hear a note that they played on stage," he recalls.

While he admits it was all "incredibly good fun", Taylor explains that the key is not to settle for merely playing to that audience.

"You've got to play past that audience. The Beatles proved that they could do that. They could have been so easily written off as a teeny pop band that just were fun for a couple of years. But they really worked hard on their art, you know. And they grew past it. They constantly challenged their audience, which is what Bowie did as well. I was a signed up member of the David Bowie fan club. And every time he put an album out, I was like, 'Oh, my God, what is this? I can't get my head around that.' He kept growing and changing through the 70s. That's what we've always tried to do. We don't just sit back and go, 'We're good, we're done. Let's just play the 80s hits for the rest of our lives.' We don't do that."

During the conversation with SUR in English Taylor mentions David Bowie and the Sex Pistols especially as his early influences. Of today's music he mentions SZA on her album, SOS, "thinking how much I appreciated the way that the music was put together". He admits, though, that his 'go-tos' are still 70s disco.

"I love funky music played by funky men and women. I'm generally inspired mostly by people that are using their muscles and their bodies to make the sound rather than clicking on computers. It just speaks to me."

Taylor admits that when Duran Duran were starting out in the eighties they were "not listening to anybody", so if he were able to time travel and give the young Duran Duran some advice - for example "Take it easy, you've got all the time in the world" - it would have fallen on deaf ears.

What Taylor considers to be most important for an artist, however, is to "stay close to your instrument".

"We've learned that we never go very long without getting onto a stage - about three months. That's the thing that brings us together and reminds us what it is that we do and why it works," he explains.

For that reason Duran Duran continue to make music. For their latest project they have got back together with producer Nile Rodgers, whom they've worked with several times over the years, to produce a new song that will be coming out very soon.

"It's a message of love for these trying times that we find ourselves in," explains Taylor.