style was more important than our actual looks. There were plenty of way better looking guys around in bands or in magazines, but we had a style to us and of course we thought it was all about our mu- sic. We played in clubs for the first year of our existence, right up until the beginning of 1981. We start- ed in May 1980 and didn’t real- ly go mainstream until the end of that year, so we thought of our- selves as a club band. When the musical success and the hit records started happening in early 1981, we thought it was because of the music. I think to a certain extent it was the music, but then we start- ed to notice that there was a very strong contingent of young females at our concerts, so the penny start- ed to drop that perhaps we were al- so appealing on a level that wasn’t just our music.” You once kind of joking- ly said that the band had at least 20 comebacks. And each time the albums and singles ended up at the top of the charts. What is the secret of Duran Duran’s success? “The big secret is that we love music, we love being in a band to- gether, we like each other as peo- ple, we hang out, have fun, make each other laugh and make great music together. The other thing, and I think the most important thing, is that we split all the mon- ey equally. There’s no one person who earns more than anybody else in the band.” Your latest album, Fu- ture Past, is proof that the band is still very much alive, more than 40 years later, and you are already preparing a new project for the end of 2023. What kind of music interests you today? “I’m interested in all kinds of music. I’ve got a radio show that goes out on Sirius XM in the United States, it’s a digital radio platform and my show is called “Whoosh!”. I do it every week and I create the
playlist myself and play the kind of music I like. I love modern ex- perimental music, but it’s got to have passion, it’s got to rock. I like bands like Snapped Ankles and Dry Cleaning, and also artists like Paw- Paw Rod and Fever Ray, and I’ll mix that with something older like Ethi- opian Jazz from the ‘70s. So, I like a lot of different music and the ra- dio show has really opened up my ears. Funny enough, I started this musical journey many years ago, when a very dear friend of mine, Vuk Vidor, gave me a mixtape that he’d made called “Earphones” and it had some great pieces of music on it like Elbow’s “Fugitive Motel”. I still have that mixtape”. You tour constantly and will be performing two concerts this May at the O2 Arena in London. Do you intend to perform in Serbia again and what were your impressions from the concerts you per- formed here? “I fully intend to come back to Serbia, as do the rest of the band, but we don’t know when yet. Things like this take time to organise. We had an amazing time when we played the Exit Festival in Novi Sad. It’s a wonderful crowd of music lovers and, as a band, that’s what you really want: people who really want to hear the music and have a good time. It was a rocking
night, so we’re looking forward to the next time we do it”. You mentioned your friend Vuk Vidor. You already at- tended the opening of one of his exhibitions in 2019, and in May we will have the privilege of discover- ing his new works through four exhibitions titled ‘Four Play’. Are you com- ing? “Well, I would love to be there, but I have to check my schedule and make sure that it’s open for me to travel. I think I might already be in America on the first leg of our U.S. tour by then.” You’ve been to Belgrade several times. What has left a particular impres- sion on you? “Belgrade is a wonderful town with great people, and it is people that make a place great. I’ve been to the bars and to the clubs and the restaurants, and I’ve been up to the fortress and the park, but the one experience that stays with me more than any other was a riv- er trip that we took on a hot, sun- ny day. We went all the way down the Sava, looking at the people and the riverside houses, and I went for a swim. It was wonderful, a day that I will remember for the rest of my life.” You also love the Adriat- ic coast. Do you still enjoy sailing (even though sail- ing almost cost you your life)? “You know about the acci- dent that happened to our sail- boat “Drum” in the 1980s. I’ve had plenty of time to get over that, to be honest with you, so I’ll sail every chance I get. It’s just a great thing to be on a boat and it’s something I’ll always do. Sailing up and down the Adriatic coast has been one of my favourite trips ever and some- thing I always look forward to.” How about flying? Have you had the opportunity to fly with Air Serbia? “Not yet, but it’s bound to
Sajmon le Bon sa svojim dobrim prijateljem Vukom Vidorom Simon Le Bon with his good friend Vuk Vidor
happen!”
Interview » Intervju | 33
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