on second thought

Nick Rhodes Looks Back on a Life of Reluctant Rock Stardom

By

Photographed by Eric Johnson

Styled by Dara Allen

October 29, 2021

Nick Rhodes with his 1985 “Interview” Cover.

When the 59-year-old keyboardist, songwriter, and producer appeared on the cover of this magazine in 1985, his band Duran Duran was everywhere, dominating dance-floors with their pioneering synth-pop, and at the vanguard of the MTV revolution that was sweeping the music world. Here, he revisits (and revises) some of the things he said to John Duka back then.

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“I certainly never feel that glamour is a mistake. I should rectify that immediately. What I was getting at is that many people, particularly early on in our career, were viewing us as being slightly more superficial because we were interested in fashion, design, and cinema. And so, people, particularly the more male-dominated rock media of that time, didn’t take us as seriously, musically speaking.

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“In that period, when it was the infancy of music videos and more of a blank canvas, we seized the opportunity to try and do something creative. It was easier to find new ideas back then. Now, people tend to rely on technology more, which I’m not against. In fact, our most recent video for a song called ‘Invisible’ was the first video ever made by an A.I. called Huxley.”
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“Interestingly, because we use Pro Tools to make our records, I see the musical notation in different forms on the screen. It isn’t your standard clefs and bars. I’ve learned how to read that quite well, and it’s been helpful, specifically with things like the Astronomia project that I did during lockdown, which was entirely instrumental. But of course, I use my ear for absolutely everything.”
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“I still have difficulties with that. I don’t suppose it’s an accusation. I was once called the world’s first metrosexual, which I wasn’t quite sure what to think about at the time, but I took it as a compliment, because if it moved things for men into a more gentle and graceful area, then that’s okay.”
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“It was gloriously flamboyant and innocent. It was very young people not being afraid to express themselves in different ways, and to fantasize and enjoy the company of other people who were looking to find their way in the world. In the ’90s, they closed the door on the ’80s and threw away the key. In hindsight, it was rather harsh, be- cause the ’80s brought extraordinary things to the arts.”

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“Some people had different journeys, but I certainly stick by everything I said then, because it’s such a waste of life. I could never do the amount of things that I try to do creatively if I didn’t have a clear head and know which day I was waking up on. I’m not anti-anything. People must always do what they want. But for me, it was something that I tried early on and recognized very quickly that it wasn’t for me.”
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“The premise remains the same. If we can make people smile or dance, that’s great. It’s as valuable as somebody listening to the lyrics and relating to them on a much more profound level. The new album Future Past certainly has several dance-floor songs, but it also has a lot more introspective, darker lyrics that are about relationships. That’s really what Duran Duran is about. Connecting with people.”
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“Playing the actual shows is always a real joy. The traveling and scheduling can be quite grueling, but when we do tours now, we try to make them as sensibly scheduled and balanced as possible. Earlier on, the chaos of what we were doing was really intense, and I’m sure that’s what I was referring to. But anybody who’s been on a lengthy tour knows that it’s very disruptive to your life.”
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“Whilst my opinion is almost the same, it’s definitely softened towards The Boss. It’s still not my thing, but I’d certainly want to say now how much I appreciate him as an artist who has done remarkably well and brought a lot of happiness to a lot of people. No artist who works hard to do that should ever be criticized by another artist, as far as I’m concerned.”
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“That one has played out. Michael Jackson had an incredible influence over many people and was virtually responsible for the creation of new genres. It’s difficult now, because his work is often overshadowed by the accusations about his private life. And so it’s very hard to keep a fair perspective on him.”
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“I certainly listened to The Smiths albums a lot more after that point. Morrissey is a controversial character, but he’s a national treasure. We were often referred to as being the polar opposite to The Smiths, but I don’t see it like that. Lyrically, they were coming from a different place, but I feel ironically that a lot of Morrissey’s references were exactly the same as ours.”

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“I absolutely, 100 percent stick with that statement.”

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“Many people have stuck with us, but we’ve also picked up several different generations along the way. Now, with the way that people listen to music with streaming services and YouTube, I think it’s become much more mixed, because a 16-year-old kid, instead of only liking the things that are new, might have on their playlists some Duran Duran and some Prince and some hip-hop. It’s a much wider palette.”

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“The internet has given artists a global platform, but that doesn’t make being heard easy. The internet is populated with an infinite amount of people whose voices want to be heard. Of course, some things rise up. Billie Eilish is a great example. But for every Billie Eilish, there are half-a-million others who couldn’t find their way through. It’s difficult being an artist now. Record labels tend to not take on young talent and develop them over a series of albums. Instead, they’re looking at reality TV and see- ing if they can snare one of the people who have an instant, built-in audience. That’s a real shame because artists still need to be developed and they need time to find what their real voices are.”

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Hair: Ayumi Yamamoto using Shu Uemura

Makeup: Allie Smith using Dior at Bridge Artists

Set Design: Cooper Vasquez at Frank Reps

Photo Production: Monika Martinez

Production: Taylor Brown at The Morrison Group

Photography Assistant: Elianel Clinton

Fashion Assistant: Fernando Cerezo and Nicolas Negron

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