Hi,
This question is for John Taylor. First off, I saw you guys recently at Madison Square Garden. AMAZING show...everybody sounded great, it was really cool to see Mark Ronson come up and play, and I especially loved "Tiger Tiger" and "The Reflex." Okay, I guess this is kind of vague, but here goes. JT, I've really gotten into playing bass and began seriously playing about six months ago. (I was right in front of you at the show and it was really inspiring!) I've been playing along to all the Duran Duran songs, especially the ones off "Rio" and "Seven And The Ragged Tiger." I play for at least two hours every day...I'm in a few different bands and we rehearse at least once a week for 2-3 hours. In short, I play a lot. I feel like I'm picking it up very fast, since I started out on guitar and already had that knowledge. I guess what I'm asking is, how the **** did you get so good so fast??! Did you take formal lessons at any point? What sorts of music did you study the most, how often did you play...I know everyone's different, but you are one of my favorite bassists and well, I'm just really impressed and hope to follow in your footsteps someday. What's your secret? You can be cryptic if you want! Any tips?
-Annie

"In the beginning I was playing every chance I got, and not by myself. For me it's a much stronger experience to be playing with other musicians- for a bassist, a drummer ideally- even better than that is to be IN FRONT OF AN AUDIENCE. Trust me, that's when your playing starts improving FAST. Like the Nike Ad says, "just do it!" JT"