Watch Duran Duran, Nile Rodgers’ Behind-the-Scenes ‘Paper Gods’ Clip
Duran Duran made a behind-the-scenes video for Live Nation TV that takes viewers into the studio as they create their 14th album, Paper Gods.
The album’s genesis began in 2013, as Simon Le Bon details in the five-minute clip. “It’s been a long project, it seems like a long project, but on the other hand it’s probably faster than the last one,” he says. “Two years from beginning to finish is about right.”
The bandmates discuss how they approach making an album, explaining that unlike fashion, they strive to make the music resonate beyond a season, focus on it “feeling natural” and “jam and play until there’s hours and hours of music.”
They also address what has changed over their more than three-decade-long career, emphasizing that there’s “more trust and confidence” now, and the members have “mutual respect” with no “ego clashing.”
The footage also features contributors and others that worked on the album, such as Lindsay Lohan, Ben Hudson, aka Mr Hudson, and Mark Ronson, who says Duran Duran was “a seminal band for me when I was a kid.” The band credits Ronson as being integral to their latest collaboration with Nile Rodgers, who also makes an appearance in the video. The band also comments on how it had been many years since the group and Rodgers played live together in a studio.
“It makes it feel to me like I’m back with my band in a way,” Rodgers says in the video. “All the guys in my original band, Chic, have all passed away. So I feel like Duran Duran is my second band.”
Duran Duran are embarking on a North American tour, which kicks off March 28th in Durham, NC. Chic and Nile Rodgers will join Duran Duran on the road for several of the dates.