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.