Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor departed the band for the second time in 2006 while the group was working on the ‘Reportage’ album. Although the album never got released, there is renewed excitement that this ‘lost’ Duran record might be unveiled soon. As one chapter closed for Andy Taylor, another opportunity arose for Dominic ‘Dom’ Brown, an English session guitarist and solo musician.
Dom's first official involvement with the band was substituting for ailing Andy Taylor at a live performance in late 2004, after which he joined full-time in 2006. Despite never being an 'official' member of Duran Duran, Dom co-wrote 13 of the 15 songs on the critically acclaimed 2011 album ‘All You Need is Now’ produced by Mark Ronson, as well as four tracks on the beloved 2015 album ‘Paper Gods.’ Additionally, he has released four solo albums and leads the band Uncovered – The Electric Rock Experience, which includes Duran’s backing vocalist Anna Ross.
The band is currently experiencing its best period of success since the mid-1980s, and ahead of significant summer performances across the UK, Ireland, and Europe with Nile Rodgers, CLASH caught up with Dom at his recording studios in southwest London, as he recently marked 20 years with the group. We discussed his early experiences with Duran Duran, his audition in front of Liam Gallagher (and Liam's mother), performing at Madison Square Garden, and the late, great David Lynch.
I was interested in how fans initially reacted to Dom stepping in after Andy's departure. Overall, the transition seemed to have gone smoothly. “I was mostly met with very positive feedback right from the start. The band was supportive, and I remember Wendy [Laister] from management mentioning that the fans had embraced me and were pleased. I'm sure there were some die-hard Andy fans who were less thrilled, but that's just how it goes, isn’t it? There is definitely pressure involved when you’re stepping in for or replacing a key band member; it can be tricky."
Regarding his early influences, Dom’s exposure to rock classics came from an unexpected source. Brown shares, “I fell in love with music before I ever got a guitar, back when I was around eleven years old. This dates back to my primary school days in Exeter. I had a PE teacher who was somewhat of a hippie. He played music from Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and especially Pink Floyd. At the start of lessons, he would play records for us to warm up to. He played ‘Welcome to the Machine’ by Pink Floyd, and I was completely captivated; it blew my mind. I realized there was something special about it, even though it wasn’t particularly guitar-centric.”
With all this classic rock influence, Dom wouldn’t have thought much about Duran Duran at all. In fact, he had no idea that the Taylors in the band were not related. “I assumed they were brothers, or at the very least related,” he laughs. “I did listen to [Duran] because my sisters were fans, so it was always playing in the background. I was very aware of their music. I think among the bands of that era, Duran had more guitars than groups like Spandau [Ballet]. As a kid, seeing those MTV videos was pretty wild. I certainly recognized their prominence and legacy. When I first received that call, I thought, yeah, let me consider this for three seconds. It was a significant moment for me, truly a life-changing event, and it’s hard to believe it has been my main gig for over 20 years now.”
Over the years, Dom has developed a strong rapport and friendship with Duran's bass player John Taylor and drummer Roger Taylor, leading to the potential for a future side project with the three of them. “I’m constantly recording ideas on my phone, and I've been collaborating with John and Roger on some concepts. It’s a slow-moving process. It could eventually turn into an album, but I have no idea when we’ll finally wrap it up.”
“Every time we perform, we have a warm-up space where the three of us jam. If we come up with something really catchy, I’ll record it on my phone. Then we listen to it back and flesh out the ideas we like. This is how we’ve been building it; it’s like fun backstage recordings.”
Before he joined Duran, Dom honed his skills with various bands across diverse genres. One notable opportunity was with Appleton, the duo formed by sisters Nicole and Natalie during an All Saints hiatus. In 2003, Nicole was dating Liam Gallagher, who took on the role of verifying potential guitarists for Appleton, one of whom was Dom.
He recollects, “Liam was literally sitting on a couch with his mum, Peggy, about eight
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Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor departed from the band for the second time in 2006 while the group was working on the 'Reportage' album. The album was never released.