Pop Quiz: John Taylor of Duran Duran

Pop Quiz: John Taylor of Duran Duran

Aidin Vaziri | When we called bassist John Taylor, 44, to talk about Duran Duran's reunion album, "Astronaut," he was sound asleep. So we woke him up. Having already made us wait 17 years for the original lineup to get back together, another five minutes was just too much to bear. During his time away from the yacht-loving British group, Taylor moved to Los Angeles, got a divorce, completed rehab, played the Viper Room and got married. Roughly in that order.



John Taylor of Duran Duran
Q: Is it hard doing all this work without a platter of cocaine in your face?
A: Oh, no. It's perfectly fine. It's more fun, actually. I'm definitely a lot more present, just really getting a kick out of it. It's like old friends reunited, traveling the world and making music. How bad can that be?
Q: What made getting back together with people you used to hate seem like a good idea?
A: I don't know. The music is leading us. Nothing's changed. Nobody had discovered Jesus or anything. We've all come back essentially being the same raw material that we were before. But we didn't have to think too much about it, really. It happened naturally.
Q: And you all lived together?
A: We did in the beginning.
Q: Please tell me that was like an episode of "The Monkees."