And now here they are, Nick and Sue on Chatterbox.
When the stars talk, they talk to Nick and Sue.
Hi there and welcome back to the Chatterbox Redux
podcast. My name's Nick and I'm being joined
by Johnny Taylor of The Horn. And now on Chatterbox
UK, we're just lucky enough to welcome Johnny
Taylor from The Horn. Johnny, welcome. How are
you? Nick, thanks very much for having me on
Chatterbox. I'm very well, thank you. It's great
to meet you at last. It's been a pretty good
year, really, isn't it? We got like, we go back
to August with, what's the score, I think? Let's
become an anthem already for you. Sounds quite
exciting. Right. and also another band back in
the day and I'm pretty sure that they supported
the Boomtown Rants then and they were called
Friends of Gavin, kind of punk scene going on
all around Nick. I know that he even I think
rented out his flat to Nick Jones of The Clash
at the time so he was yeah kind of I think hobnobbing
with some of the fun punk scene in London and
our label, our lovely label Autonomy who were
based here in in Tullyard in Kings Cross. I know
that I think Nick and they put their heads together.
So the lovely Richard, shout out to Richard at
Autonomy, our manager, and the one of the light
heads of the label. I think it was down to him
and his contacts. So him and Nick kind of put
their heads together and sort of thought, are
there any UK tours happening this year? And yeah,
we amazingly were accepted by the Boomtown Rats.
So I think that was sort of big moment especially
for Nick because he he was very your namesake
because he was very much um You know for him
I think even even my mum when she found out she
was like well I was singing I don't like Mondays
in the 70s and So for her is quite surreal that
I'm sort of sharing stage Bob Geldof. Yeah, it's
a real pleasure a real privilege. Yeah, I Remember
buying rat trap and I don't like Mondays when
they're in the charts first time around. So yeah
that the backing vocals in the horn. And I'm
seeing him later on in his studio that he runs,
because he's an audio engineer, is in Baker Street
on a sort of lovely Harry Potter -esque cobbled
street called Chagford Street, just very close
to the Charlotte Holmes Museum. So it's a sort
of fun area that people like to visit. And he
and I had founded a band called Montreal back
in the day. And we were, because he lived in
Brixton on Montreal Road. And we played quite
a few gigs and we toured around Europe, Germany,
Holland, and then Italy. And Nick, this guy,
met Danny through a friend in Central London
and heard that Danny had a music studio. And
then Danny, during lockdown, said, do you fancy
doing a session singing job? So initially it
was just studio work. And it kind of then was
a studio to stage situation. Nick was writing
songs in the 80s. And so he's a little bit older
than us, but still young at heart. And so it
was very much like a time capsule. He wrote a
song called Passion, which never, I think, got
recorded in any studio in the 80s. But he then
brought it to us and we recorded it. That was
our first single. So that was it would have been
yet 2020 2021 kind of time yeah and then we were
suddenly on the road supporting these amazing
people so we don't know how that happened that's
brilliant love it yeah uh okay so um get yourself
so your own gigs i mean how are you finding them
and is it a bit surreal that you step out on
stage and there you are and you got your audience
there and seeing their reactions yeah that's
a really good question because i think basically
we um have done because mentioning Brighton earlier,
we played the Great Escape Festival, played Rossy
Bar, which is on the High Street. You might know
that one. It's a very, very adorable little bar
with a gorgeous little music venue in the basement.
And I really like, I love Brighton. I always
say I can't find a bad boozer in Brighton. I
still haven't found one. They're all amazing.
They've all got something to offer, haven't they?
So we, that was one of our first shows and then
we supported Star Sailor, which was insane. I
remember actually the day we played London, we
played in Sheppard's Bush, played the Empire,
the O2 Empire. And that was the same day that
the Queen died. And so very surreal for us, as
you say, just like sort of stepping out on stage
and when you're a support act with these bigger
bands, you get kind of like a ready made the
right but it's an amazing experience for me as
a front man because I kind of get to chat to
that many people at once and kind of read the
room and try and understand how everyone's feeling
and that can be tricky when it's two or three
thousand people so it's sort of you have to kind
of end up asking is everyone feeling okay and
you know like do you want to sing along that
that that Is it an alter ego you step into as
Johnny Taylor the singer or is it? Do your two
the two sides Johnny Taylor or merge into one
and it's just the same person? Wow, what a question
That's that's possibly the best question I've
ever been asked as a performer and When I was
little my dear father threw me on stage in the
Minak theater, this woman, Rune Kade, built a
cliff out of, built a theater out of a cliff
side with her gardener blew up the cliff with
dynamite. And she loved theater so much that
she made it whole Greek amphitheater style. And
even if the play is terrible, you can just stare
out to see and watch the dolphins, because backdrop
is the ocean. So I learned at a very young age
to be a different person on stage, to be, to
do various roles and to just jump in. So. When
I then jump on stage to do songs that I've written,
which is more me, I'd say it is a mixture. It's
a mixture of someone who has... We all present
a certain version of ourselves to everyone, and
I'd hazard a guess to say that we're all fractionally
different each time we have a conversation with
someone, even if it's with our family or friends
or whatever. terms of an audience I'd say there
is a sort of survival mode that one kind of goes
into and my I think my sort of subconscious is
sort of telling me entertain them you know you've
got to entertain these people when you're on
stage and as my dear old man put me on stage
at such a young age in front of about 750 on
this cliff face it was bizarre I think I learnt
at a fairly young age that I've just got to be
on and be loud as well. So I think the alter
ego is louder and surprises me with some jokes
that I never thought I had inside of me. It's
extraordinary what a human brain is capable of
when they're suddenly faced with lots of people.
And it sort of forces you into that performance
mode. So yeah, I definitely would say there's
an alter ego that kicks in there, yeah. I can
understand that, with live radio as well I guess,
it's very similar for us. We didn't prefer live
to recorded any days, it's incredible. And it
doesn't matter if it goes wrong, you just get
yourself out of it. Exactly. It's less likely
to go wrong if you're live actually, it's quite
incredible. Yeah, yes, yes. Let's talk about
what's the score. Now this is from your new album
coming out in spring 2026. I'll talk about this
one briefly first before something you forgot.
Now it's been described, what's the score has
been described as an anthem. So is it you guys
decided it should be an anthem or is it like
guys you sung it to and they sing it back to
you and it's the crowd have made it an anthem?
That's a really good question. I love these questions.
I don't that the uh last month which was fun
which was with um uh some lovely lovely lovely
sports people and um it came from nick me and
danny boat all three of us being arsenal fans
so we kind of it was there's a football theme
um i have no idea who called it an anthem it
might have been our manager richard um yeah i
think um i think it's definitely an anthem it's
a shame to not play it live. We've got some other
bangers, so I'm really happy with the set that
we've got, but I know that some of the band are
sad that we can't play that one. OK, let's move
on to something you forgot. Brand new release
from you guys. That's also coming from your new
album in spring 2026. Tell us about something
you forgot. Yes, thank you for asking about that,
Nick. Yeah, so we're going to go into Abbey Road
and finish off the album. This month, which would
be great and something you forgot is definitely
sort of up there with one of our kind of favorite
singles and it was actually written by me and
Danny and I was in his studio in Baker Street
and Danny plays lead guitar and he's the sings
backing vocals as well. He's also an audio engineer.
He trained up in Liverpool at Lepe, same as one
of the Beatles and so he basically He and I weren't
expecting to write a song that day. We just sort
of sat around and sort of thought okay this is
this is sounding good which playing guitar and
We'd had a rather for your morning listeners.
I'll keep it light, but we'd had a rather heavy
night in Peckham and so the first verse is about
that and I remember actually distinctly remember
Dropping a pint of beer on a bouncer's shoe while
maintaining full eye contact with him It wasn't
the best night for him, but I did help him clean
up. And apparently I did give the DJ a peck on
the cheek. So yeah, that's where the first verse
comes from. It's a true story. Nick came in with
his story about Soho in the second verse. So
yeah, it is fun to sing that song on stage when
it's come from a real story. So it's not fictional.
It's a true story. So yeah. that the Okay, I've
got to ask this as well. I don't mind if it's
a youth certificate or ex -certificate, how did
the band get its name The Horn? I get asked this
more often than you can imagine. Yes, I'm actually
sat in Tullyard in Kings Cross, this is where
our label is based, and I remember in the studio
in Baker Street, Nick coming downstairs and just
going, it's The Horn! I've no idea where that
came from, whether that was a French horn or
Peter Cook Dudley Moore sketch or one of those
situations. I remember coming up to Tile Yard
and seeing Richard, our manager, and he was sort
of sat cross -legged in a swivel chair, turned
around and went, are you really going to call
it the horn? the end of the the that's one big
gig, Yeah, we've really, really guessed about
that. I'm slightly confused as to whether it
will be seated or standing. It usually is standing
there, I think. So it may well be our only standing
gig. But yeah, we're very excited about that
because it's just such an epic. I've played up
in Rock Ness in Inverness before, but I've never
played in Glasgow. and uh i'm just really excited
yeah the idea of playing with bob geldof in in
glasgow barrowlands is just uh iconic yeah we're
just we're over the moon about that one in particular
not only that don't forget barrowlands does come
in its own serial killer bible john hit out there
in the late 60s so it's got his own serial killer
i've never caught him but seriously look up if
you don't know the story look up bible john and
he killed uh murdered three young ladies in glasgow
in the late 60s and he picked them all barrowlands
all three wow that the that the the the I must
tell you as well, Sue, my partner and myself,
we also do a live show called Hit or Miss. We're
actually just doing the finals at the moment.
Season four starts first weekend of November.
We will put both the singles we talked about
in season four between November and middle of
December. They both go out then. And what happens,
the audience get a chance to vote either by e
-votes or in real time in a chat room where they
think it's going to be hit or miss. So we give
it some air on Hit or Miss as well. We are on
Instagram and we are the horn band is our handle
as you would expect it to be spelt that's the
Brilliant stuff. All right, that's fantastic.
Well, you can tell that I've really enjoyed the
interview. It's been a fantastic meeting you
at last and every success you've got we talked
about. And yeah, two things. Look up Bible John
and the second thing is, you know, let's have
a chat again a little bit down the line so we
can see how it all works out for you guys. It
would be my pleasure, all the best to your lovely
partner Sue, I'm so in awe of the radio station
you've created and all the best with it and it's
a real pleasure and an honor to be on it, so
thank you. Likewise, great pleasure meeting you.
Anyway, all the best, take care mate, bye bye.
Cheers Nick, bye bye. This edition of the Chatterbox
Redux podcast was presented by me, Nick. I thank
my special guest today who was Johnny Taylor
of The Horn. All inquiries please to nickelbum
at myyahoo .com Alternatively, you could write
to us or send press releases or whatever you
like in the post to pobox26 the old Observer
Building, Telford Road, St. Leonard's -on -Sea,
East Sussex, England, TN389LZ. We thank you for
your company and look forward to welcoming you
again next time when our special guest will be
Philip Wright of Paper Lace. Take care for now.
Bye bye.