“It's a rare case of perfect communion between sound and vision”

"Out of my Mind" is probably one of the best songs of the second Duran Duran era, the 90s. The deep haunting base line and minimalistic tones are great accompaniment to the beautiful lyrics and vocal track, a perfect blend of electronics and beats that creates a fine masterpiece. Probably one of the band's best ballads of modern times and surely one the most underrated Duran Duran songs ever.

It's a song that I believe deserved more recognition. Today, on the 20th anniversary of the single release, duranasty.com pays tribute to this little gem and it does it in it's typical way, both, musically and visually... yes, visually because the video for Out Of My Mind is a piece of art... it's almost impossible to separete the song and the video. It's a rare case of perfect communion between the two things: sound and vision, if you like in the same way as Rio! You can't think of that song without seeing the image of the guys wearing their Antony Price pastel suits on the boat... likewise you can't listen to Out of My Mind without seeing the amazing goth imaginary that the video creates around the music. It's not just a case that the backcover of Medazzaland [album released in 1997 featuring Out Of My Mind], has a scribbled, roughly painted, version of the beautiful Nagel's Rio illustration.

It's a fact: on May 12th 1997 Duran Duran released something that was in complete contrast to their usual image, like dark colors against pastel colors.

This beautiful piece of art has a special place in my heart, I think the song deserves more recognition, so I would like to light a candle and bring some light to Out Of My Mind in the hope that the song, after a long absence from the band's live performaces make its glorious return in one of the band future concerts.

Release date: May 12th 97

"Out Of My Mind" is 28th single by Duran Duran. The song was released as a single from the soundtrack to the 1997 Val Kilmer film The Saint in late March 1997. The song received remixes by Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne, they produced various remixes of the song including the notable Perfecto Mix.

During the development of Medazzaland, "Out Of My Mind" was written by Simon Le Bon as the last of a trilogy of songs for his late friend David Miles [the others being "Do You Believe in Shame?" and "Ordinary World"].

Simon has described it as a "modern ghost story" and about "being haunted from the inside". the lyrics speaks about someone who is traumatized by a person in their past and is trying to push this person out of their mind but as hard as they try, the memory is still there in "the back of their mind".

After the album was complete, Capitol Records shopped around certain tracks to Hollywood movie studios, hoping to get a Duran Duran song attached to one of the year's summer blockbusters. In January, Paramount Pictures showed interest in including "Out Of My Mind" on the soundtrack album for The Saint.

In March 1997, the soundtrack was released internationally on Virgin Records. The single for "Out Of My Mind" was released in May.

The release marks the first time a Duran Duran release [single or album] had been released on an imprint other than EMI/Parlophone [or Capitol/EMI for North America]. Virgin was also a division of EMI at the time.

The video was filmed by director Dean Karr in February, at the historic Krumlov Castle in the city of Ceský Krumlov, in the Czech Republic. It featured many special effects, including the use of sophisticated prosthetic makeup to age singer Simon Le Bon over the course of the video.

The single peaked at #21 on UK Singles Chart in May, and at #14 in Italy.

The Saint: Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 1997 movie The Saint.

The soundtrack features prominent musical artists from the late 1990s, including Duran Duran, Sneaker Pimps, Orbital, Moby, Fluke, Luscious Jackson, The Chemical Brothers, Underworld, Daft Punk, David Bowie, Superior, Dreadzone, Duncan Sheik, and Everything but the Girl. The album also includes an updated version of the theme music from the 1960s television series.

Released 25 March 1997
Genre Electronica, Alternative
Label Virgin

Singles from The Saint [soundtrack]
"The Saint Theme" April 7th 1997
"Out Of My Mind" May 12th 1997

“With the Perfecto Mix, we left the interpretation in very
safe hands (Paul Oakenfold) and
we were all delighted with that mix in particular.
We only ever put out mixes which we feel
have captured something special using
elements of the original song.”

Nick Rhodes on the magistral
Out Of My Mind Perfecto Mix

The soundtrack album of The Saint was released in March 1997. The Orbital’s title track was the first single off the album, then Out Of My Mind released on May 12th. The release date in the UK was a Monday. This was simply the best release day due to selling as much copies as possible for the entry on the charts next Saturday.


B-sides, bonus tracks and remixes

"Out Of My Mind" featured the two b-sides "Sinner or Saint" [written specifically for the movie] and "Silva Halo", an album track from Medazzaland.

There were a multitude of remixes done for the track, mostly by the Perfecto crew [Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne].

Duran Duran in this release are:
Nick Rhodes - keyboards
Simon Le Bon - vocals
Warren Cuccurullo - guitar, bass

Credits
Dave DiCenso - live drums
Talvin Singh - tabla and santoor
Wes Wehmiller - bass guitar
Dave DiCenso - drums
Drums – Anthony J. Resta
Engineer – Silva*, Ben Hillier
Engineer, Programmed By – Mark Tinley
Mixed By – Anthony J. Resta, Bob St. John
Producer – TV Mania
Remix – Paul Oakenfold, Steve Osborn

Other appearances
Aside from the single, "Out Of My Mind" has also appeared on:

Albums:

Medazzaland
The Saint: Music From the Motion Picture Soundtrack

Remixes

A1 Out Of My Mind (Perfecto Mix) 5:51
A2 Out Of My Mind (Perfecto Instrumental) 5:47
B1 Out Of My Mind (Perfecto Dub 1) 6:41
B2 Out Of My Mind (Perfecto Dub 2) 6:25

Credits

Phonographic Copyright (p) – Capitol Records, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Virgin Records Ltd.
Published By – Private Parts Music
Published By – Skintrade Music Ltd

On the right Simon and Yasmin Le Bon attend the
Premiere of 'The Saint' at the Empire, Leicester Square, London.

Nick Rhodes talks about The Saint film and soundtrack | 1997

The Saint got a bit of a savaging by the critics. What did you think?
It’s not the kind of movie I would normally choose to go to see. I‘m not big on action movies. But there are elements that are really cool - Val Kilmer has all these different disguises, Elisabeth Shue looks very beautiful in it and it definitely has its moments. It’s got a great soundtrack, that‘s for sure.

The album is really good. Our song is over the end titles... even if it is when people are leaving. It’s a very contemporary soundtrack, with Sneaker Pimps and the Chemical Brothers and Everything But the Girl.

Duran Duran and Bowie are the oldest artists on the soundtrack.
Yeah, it made us feel better when David was on it because we could say there was someone older than us on the album.

“It made us feel better when David [Bowie] was on it because we could say there was someone
older than us on the album.”

Nick Rhodes on The Saint soundtrack album

“Raw and unfineshed, almost naïve”

Out Of My Mind [and Medazzaland] is known for its interesting cover art.
An artist by the name of Andrew Day was responsible for creating the paintings and most of the visuals for the album.
Duran Duran originally wanted to have a photograph taken by Andrew featured on the cover, but they stuck with the finished results of the paintings because they came out so much better.

Simon professed to have discovered Andrew at an art college in London. He introduced him to Nick and Warren as they viewed his creations. They were impressed with what they saw, especially Warren, who recruited Andrew to produce more artwork for his solo albums. Warren was also impressed with the fact that Andrew succeeded under pressure since this was his first corporate project.

Andrew Day defined his work on the Medazzaland releases as “raw and unfineshed, almost naive. It was like the band were questioning 'who is Duran Duran nowadays?' and were exposing themselves musically speaking, as they had never done before”. [quote from Beautiful Colors Book]

Andrew attended the Central St. Martins School of Design in the UK between 1993 and 1996, gaining a BA Honours degree in graphic design, illustration and photography. His career has included being the owner of design company Kukusi between 1996-08, Head of Design at EMI Music between 2000-07 and Head of Design at Parlophone Records / EMI Records between 2000-07.

Since graduating from Central St. Martins, Andrew was scooped up by pop group ‘Duran Duran’ to create the album artwork for ‘Meddazzaland’, and in 2000, their album, ‘Pop Trash’. The relationship developed, and Andrew found himself making a tour film, creating their websites and handling Duran Duran’s visual image from 1996 through to 2003. It’s a relationship he keeps alive to this day, working on numerous digital and side projects for the band.

“This song is part of the trilogy of ghost songs I wrote, in Out Of My Mind I finally free myself of the guilt and sadness that has come to haunt me in it’s place”

‘Ordinary World’ is the song which is part of the trilogy of ghost songs I wrote; the others being ‘Do you Believe in Shame?’ and ‘Out of My Mind’.

Do you Believe in Shame and Ordinary World both refer to the pointlessly tragic death of a very dear friend some years back. It’s a story about me and my one-time closest friend David Miles who died in tragic circumstances 13 years ago. It takes the form of a promise to that there is always a home in my heart for whatever spirit there is of him.

In Do You Believe in Shame? I yearn to host whatever spirit there is left of my dead friend; in Out Of My Mind I finally free myself of the guilt and sadness that has come to haunt me in it’s place.

Out Of My Mind Live - Greatest and Latest and Overnight Sensation Tours | The song featured in all Duran Duran 1998/99 concerts. In some shows Simon introduced the performance lighting a candle on stage... These photographs were taken during their Overnight Sensation show in Dublin back in December 1999. Duran Duran kept performing the song until 2001. In the latter phase the band chose to play the darker and more rock-oriented Perfecto version rather than the album version.

We really hope the song makes a comeback in one of the coming shows as it represents perfectly the obscure and darker side late 90s phase of the band.

“Simon Le Bon’s voice is the thing that makes the band sound like Duran Duran.”

When John left Duran Duran, Simon pondered the loss and claimed that he would not get sentimental about the situation. Though the remaining members of the band worried about their success following the departure of their founder, they enjoyed the fact that they got to experiment with their sound.

The further incorporation of electronics in their music allowed them to add in their own drums and bass without the band having to play the instruments. Medazzaland wasn't intended to be solely classified as an electronic work, even though Duran Duran’s consistency changed.

Simon stated that he was glad the band took longer to make and release Medazzaland because they got to put more thought into their work. Since Thank You failed to generate very much success, Duran Duran knew they had to do better on their next album. This sewed as a goal and helped them focus on a more positive outcome.

“We changed the whole album again at the beginning of the year,
reminds Warren, moreover we didn't like anymore some of the very early songs. 1997 was about to come,
and we had an album that didn't sound good for 1997!”

Warren Cuccurullo, Zillo magazine 1997

In 1997 John Taylor was still trying to come to terms with the break—up of his family and his experience with addiction and alcoholism, It was no surprise when he officially announced that he was leaving Duran Duran on 19 January 1997.

“I certainly didn’t think of myself as an addict.
I just thought I was being cool.
John Taylor

He revealed that as a last throw of the dice, he’d suggested a reunion tour featuring all the members of the ‘classic line—up’ and Warren Cuccurullo.
However, when this idea was rejected by Andy Taylor, he couldn’t see a way forward: ‘At times it didn’t feel like Duran Duran any more. I think Nick and I were in denial, perhaps Simon wasn’t.’

Le Bon still sounded emotional about John Taylor’s decision when he stated in 1998: ‘I kind of guessed John would leave but I really miss him.
I wish he hadn’t got himself into the personal mess he got himself into.’

However, Nick kept his composure on the surface at least: ‘We were sad to see him go but at the same time we’ve never been afraid of change. I don’t think his heart was in it any more, really, and I’ve never been one to stop progress. It’s like one of those rockets that takes off and then you lose the one bit and then the next bit and then you move on.
John leaving has became part of the evolution of the band. To be honest, he wasn’t around much after 1992, so we kind of got used to him not being there.’

Simon Le Bon’s voice is the thing that makes the band sound like Duran Duran.

After rejecting the idea of changing the band’s name on the basis that Simon Le Bon’s voice is the thing that makes them sound like Duran Duran, the three remaining members pulled together in a way that they hadn’t done for years. According to Rhodes, ‘We had a heart-to-heart about what we had between us, what was really good out of what we’d created over the previous couple of years and how we were going to move forward. I suppose it was a catalyst.’

Le Bon adds, ‘When John left we listened back to what we’d done and to be really, really honest with ourselves, it just wasn’t good enough. It’s as simple as that.’ Compared to the previous two years, their new burst of creativity — six songs in four months — was of a revelation, especially as it was all sounding like the dream pop Rhodes had been fantasizing about for years.

The first taster for the new album came ouut in March 1997 when ‘Out of My Mind’ appeared on The Saint. Featuring Talvin Singh and santoor, this moody, rhythmic ballad has a strikingly melodramatic chorus [check out the fantastic mix by Paul Oakenfold] and a more left-field, atmospheric sound.

Lirically there are echoes of ‘Do You Believe in Shame? and "Ordinary World" as Le Bon sings: ‘Got to get you out of my mind but I can't escape from the feeling/ as I try to leave the memory behind what's left to believe in?’

The accompanying video was filmed in Prague by Dean Karr [responsible for Marilyn Manson’s perverse Sweet Dreams’promo] and features Le Bon as a bizzarre, decaying man, achieved after more than five hours of makeup.

Combined with the song, it repositioned Duran Duran as a more alternative act after the maturity of ‘Ordinary World’ and their tribute to their musical influences on ‘Thank You’. Two months later ‘Out of My Mind’ came out as a single in the UK, peaking at number twenty-one and then dropping out of the Top Forty the following week.

Medazzaland is the most experimental album of Duran Duran's career, swarming with special effects, sci-fi atmospheres, weird guitar sonics and treated vocals. Rhodes patently enjoyed himself as he went back to his old analogue texturing and even rebought a Wasp, but the synthesizers are only one element of this off—beat, mildly hallucinogenic album which has layer upon layer of abstract sounds. They also used a lot of studio trickery.

“Medazzaland is a return to that dark, primal, lush, savage jungle of Rhodes' imagination, and probably, is the band's finest Cuccurullo-era album by far.
Warren Cuccurullo is at his finest here, Zappa would be proud of the wandering, sometimes atonal.
This is art, and art hurts, art cuts,
art makes you bruise and bleed and feel.”

Andrew Day comments on his commissioned painting, Illustration and music packaging for Duran Duran:
“First job straight from college. Voted worst ever Duran Duran cover by fans. I had no idea. Still don’t.”

“Warren did some work with a violinist called Shankar
and he recommended Talvin Singh
who ended up playing on “Out Of My Mind.”

Nick Rhodes

“Mister Tinley, simply Master of the Universe;
The man who makes machines “Rock” and life a little more pleasing for the masses!
Nicholas.”

Mark was interviewed by Salvo on the making of Out Of My Mind on March 15th, 2017

Mark, you have been working extensively with Duran Duran over 90s and 00s, there was no studio session happening if you weren't there. I'm sure you have lots of Duran stories to tell, but in this specific occasion we'd like to hear about the period between 1995 and 1997, when you worked on the Medazzaland sessions.

duranasty.com: The band started the sessions at Metropolis in Summer 1995, then you moved at Privacy studio, did the move change the studio dynamics?

Mark Tinley: We started the sessions in January 1995 in Warren's house. Technically I programmed the drum tracks in Scotland prior to that. I created a set of drum loops which could run at any tempo, in the K2000 sequencer and sampler.I initially thought I would program the loops and leave the band to it. I figured they would write the songs, then we would record them later. What happened instead, was that I very quickly became a part of the writing process.
I set up a system in Warren's house, based on Macintosh Pro Tools 2.0 software which gave us four digital audio tracks that I could edit. In essence we moved to Metropolis for 11 days, then continued in Warren's house.

“I think Nick and I share the perverse notion of bringing a slightly sinister edge to what is essentially pop. Notice that when you listen to one of the records we worked on together, you are never quite sure when you stand emotionally when the song is done.”

Mark Tinley

We'd like to like to hear about the recording of "Out Of My Mind" in particular. Do you remember when the band came up with the song? Was the fruit of the early sessions [with John still in the band] or something that came up towards the end of the recordings?

Mark: I vaguely remember this song had another title originally. It may have been called "Before I die"? It is almost certainly something Warren came up with.

Simon Le Bon and Warren both commissioned a local guitar maker called Tom Mates to make them the most incredible acoustic guitars. I remember they had a very clean very unique sound. Tom doesn't finish his guitars with lacquer and they have a really pure tone.
Both Simon and Warren were coming up with clever, pretty songs using these guitars.

The song Michael of course is another example. I think we recorded this at the session in Metropolis. Talvin certainly played his part on this on 16th August 1995. The nice thing about Pro Tools is that it time stamps everything and I have the original version of this song.

The song features some interesting sounds brought in by Talvin Singh who played Tabla and Santoor, can you remember how the band and you approached the recording of these unusual instruments?

Mark: I already knew Talvin because he played on some of my brother Adamski's stuff. I think we went quite late into the night, getting the vibe right. In my opinion, a simple approach works best when recording something unusual. Get clarity in the space, use a nice microphone. Capture the nuances wartz and all rather than close mike and lose character.

For me, it had to be something I can sample, cut up, edit etc so it can't be all over a dozen tracks with loads of mikes. It had to be something I could throw into an Akai or chuck in Pro Tools and cut up. Remember I only had four tracks so any edits were limited to quad at best, more likely mono.

Dave Di Censo is responsible for the drums on Out Of My Mind, did he join the band it in the studio to record it or it was just a commissioned work done separately?

Mark: We recorded Steve Alexander originally.
Dave is a Boston guy brought in by Anthony Resta and Bob St John much later in the process at the mix stage. Ask him. [Ed. Done]

What a creative Trio! | I took this photo back in November 1996, during the Medazzaland recording sessions, in Battersea, London. The picture shows from left, a very young Andrew Day [his trousers smudged with paint] Nick Rhodes and Mark Tinely. They were returning from the short lunch break they used to have during the long recording and creative sessions as Warren's Pricacy studios. Andrew probably created some of the Medazzaland illustrations at Warren's. That studio was a real artistic workroom, where sound and vision literally merged.

Mark on working without John Taylor | “It worked fine, between our synth bass parts and Warrens excellent bass playing it was fine... but I really love JT's bass playing a lot, and I enjoyed hanging out with him. I got caught in the middle of that whole mess... very awkward for me.” [from and old interview released on Nuno's fansite]

“I have been trying to persuade Nick to release
an album of the keyboard parts on their own.
Nick is very arty and a strong visionary. I am autistic
so also a visual thinker but very pedantic and technical.”

Mark Tinley

Warren is responsible for the amazing bass on this track [so amplified in the Perfecto Mix by Oakenfold remix], any comment on this?

Mark: Warren is fucking awesome. It rocks. Paul [Oakenfold] also a lovely guy, also someone from my previous life in acid house and a huge name in the original club scene that spawned in Ibiza.

Speaking of the perfecto mix, where did you take the sound at the beginning of the song? Is that a carillon?

Mark: One of the sounds was an accident which happened because the battery in my Boss flanger was dead. I plugged it in [luckily I was recording] and it made this incredible sound, so we used it in different ways on a few things on Medazzaland.

I do remember Nick writing lists of sounds he wanted you to create/research, do you still have any of these lists? We'd love to see one!

I do still have these lists. I also have a lot of the sounds.

“If the lyric tells a story then so should the sound. Stimulating the imagination with sound scapes is as important as the visual images that a poetic lyric brings to mind.”

Mark Tinley

Was it difficult to send the audio files via ISDN to Anthony J. Resta in USA to get them mixed? In other words, was technology a limitation back in the days? Mark: Technology wasn't just a limitation, it was a black art. Computers took a lot of setting up and it was incredibly frustrating being on the bleeding edge of this kind of technology. In the end a lot of it had to go on tape because it simply wasn't workable. The worst part perhaps is that things that weren't on tape are lost. I say lost, but try finding a working Pro Tools 2.0 machine to load up the parts. I have all the data but it is a problem. Reconstructing the TV-Mania stuff for example meant sourcing all sorts of old machines. Finding working ones gets harder and harder. Everything was stored on DAT tape and it doesn't have great indexing.

Looking back, 20 years on, how do you judge your work on Out Of My Mind? Were you happy with the final result?

Mark: I have been trying to persuade Nick to release an album of the keyboard parts on their own.
It is probably the best thing I have done for Duran. Only matched in intricacy perhaps with the work Nick and I did on the Dandy Warhols. I enjoy taking an entire day to find a handful of sounds that only appear once on a single beat in an entire three minute song.

If the lyric tells a story then so should the sound. Stimulating the imagination with sound scapes is as important as the visual images that a poetic lyric brings to mind. Try watching a scene from a film with no music and you will see that the emotional content of music is all about how we use sound.

I think Nick and I share the perverse notion of bringing a slightly sinister edge to what is essentially pop. Notice that when you listen to one of the records we worked on together, you are never quite sure when you stand emotionally when the song is done.

Nick is very arty and a strong visionary. I am autistic so also a visual tinker but very pedantic and technical.

Above a picture of Privacy studio back in the early 90s, on the right Nick Rhodes and Madeline Farley attend The Saint premiere at Samuel Goldwyn Theatre, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, on April 3, 1997.

“It is probably the best thing I have done for Duran. Only matched in intricacy perhaps with the work Nick and I did on the Dandy Warhols. I enjoy taking an entire day to find a handful of sounds that only appear once on a single beat in an entire three minute song.”

Mark Tinley

I made all the tempos on the album add up to nine using Hebrew numerology. Oh and I guess I should come clean, there is a whole load of subliminal stuff in there too. I was listening to hypnosis tapes to help with panic attacks at the time.

Despite the odd ball eccentricity of the whole thing, there are some significant healing modalities hidden between the tracks that can promote good health and well being ... especially if you listen with headphones.

Anything that comes to mind about that specific period of work with Duran Duran that you'd like to share and we didn't ask?

Mark: Despite being recorded in Warren's living room, everything about this record is a performance. The initial sessions were done with the band wearing headphones and playing together in that space.
Later, Nick would play one of the synths and I would sit on the floor with a rats nest of wires and just about every effect we had plugged in changing the sound as Nick played. Not just the studio rack gear either, I mean old guitar pedals [including one which I made in a clear container with a piece of wet string as the processor] and broken radios - very organic - of the moment - a melding of minds and noise perhaps?

A funny one, whatever happened to the black painted doll that ended up being photographed for the cover of the cd-single?

I think one of the road crew bit its head off!

More about Mark Tinely's work with Duran Duran

Mark Ty-Wharton [born Mark Tinley; 18 March 1963] is a British music technologist, informal logician and public speaker who specialises in presentations using sound art. He is best known for his work as a guitarist, programmer, sound engineer and record producer with Adamski, Duran Duran, TV Mania, Gary Numan, Glenn Gregory, The Dandy Warhols and others.

In 1993, Tinley was introduced to Duran Duran by Rob Ferguson, hired as a keyboard programmer, and soon became an integral part of their songwriting and production team, working intimately with keyboardist Nick Rhodes. "[Rhodes will] say 'I like this sound, but can you make it like this?' So when we first started he went through all the sounds on all the keyboards and decided what sounds worked for various songs, then asked me to modify those that weren't quite right. And sometimes he'll just describe a sound and I'll sit down and make it for him." Their workhorse keyboard is the Kurzweil K2000, along with numerous other technological gadgets.

Mark Tinley is…
an exponential interventionist, iridescent existentialist and,
extra special experimentalist.
Nick Rhodes

Tinley helped to set up the home studio which came to be known as "Privacy" in the living room of guitarist Warren Cuccurullo which is where the band recorded their 1993 smash The Wedding Album. He also toured with the band, helping to prepare and maintain the complex synthesizer set-ups used by Rhodes during live shows.

“In a bizarre twist of events, I found myself on the set of Top Of The Pops with a Kurzweil K2000 and Nick Rhodes.
I had never seen either of them before.
The K2000 turned out to be easy to use and Nick easy to get along with and spent the next eighteen months on a world tour. After that, I became Duran Duran's resident guy, which was nice. I recorded several albums with them over the course of fifteen years.”

Tinley continued working on Duran Duran's subsequent albums Thank You [1995], Medazzaland [1997], Pop Trash [2000], and Astronaut [2004]. He also produced The Dandy Warhols with Rhodes, and created the TV Mania project with Rhodes and Cuccurullo.

Tell us about your music, yourself and your music?

My music is sound. I love sound and have been totally obsessed with it since I was a small boy. I drove everyone nuts by dismantling everything and just wanted to explore. How does it work? and why? I got into bands in my teens and could hear things others couldn't. Warren Cuccurullo jokes that my ears are made of tin... I hear aeroplanes and traffic phasing, I notice the musical pitch of the fridge, I hear the overlay of the universe and notice the detail. I am diagnosed with a form of autism and I have hyper acute hearing. If the devil is in the detail, then I am possessed.

I have been in every kind of band and written every kind of music you can imagine, from acid house through punk to zen chants, though not necessarily in that order chronologically. I play the guitar but one night I turned up at a friend's house to get stoned and he showed me a Roland SH101. Six hours later I took it home with me and haven't played the guitar much since.

Tell us about your work with Duran Duran.

It was one of those Law Of Attraction things. I had this revelation one day that I needed to work in production. It was not that I don't make a good front man, I am actually pretty good at being on stage, for me it is much easier than socialising. What sets me aside from your average performer is my mind. Once you have gotten over the fear of standing in front of people, there isn't much to do with your mind other than worry about how you look. I wanted to get my neurons dirty by giving them something deep to think about. I wanted to get stuck into solving production problems and I actually wanted to get paid.

Anthony was interviewed by Salvo on the making of Out Of My Mind/Medazzaland on March 25th, 2017

duranasty.com | When and how did your collaboration with Duran Duran start?

Ajax: My collaboration started in 1994, Warren heard a cassette tape of my performance art record as my ajax Ray O'Vaque he wanted me to take a crack at adding my "sci-fi mambo" treatment to "White Lines" and "911 is a Joke".

The Medazzaland album took two years, we'd like to hear about the recording of "Out Of My Mind" in particular, do you remember if the band came up with the track at the beginning or at the end of the Medazzaland sessions?

Ajax: All the songs were evolving over to long period of time. Many of them were almost completely redone or had only some of the original versions.

Did you join the band it in the studio in London to record this one and the rest of the Medazzaland album or you just did all your programming/drums and production work in the USA?

Ajax: We started off working in Boston then ended up going to London several times so the answer is both really.

Was technology a limitation back in the days? I remember Warren commenting on sending the audio files to you in USA via ISDN to get them mixed, etc... he said it was a nightmare, especially with Midnight Sun.

Ajax: We had a bunch of mono compatibility issues and some of the tracks were included with DOLBY SR improperly, sometimes what I was sending was not what they were hearing which was frightening right ;)

“Many of the songs were almost completely redone or had only some of the original versions.” AJR

Out Of My Mind features some cool sounds brought in by Talvin Singh who played Tabla and Santoor, a very exotic choice. Can you remember recording and mixing those unusual instruments?

Ajax: This must've been done early on because I was not around for that, however I did end up making loops of some of those parts.

“Warren, always creates magic with any instrument he touches”

Dave Di Censo is responsible for the drums on Out Of My Mind, according to the band's sound engineer, Mark Tinley, it was your idea to change the drums previously recorded with Steve Alexander.

Ajax: The song had evolved a lot, the original drums didn't seem to quite suit the new direction, on many of the songs I added my own drums, but the feel I wanted could only be Davey Di Censo, he is a true drumming god with incredible poise and feel.
What you hear on the record is his first warm up take. He came in and said are you guys ready to start? We said "Dave that was incredible, you're done!"

Warren is responsible for the amazing bass on this track [so amplified in the Perfecto Mix by Oakenfold], any comment on that?

Ajax: Warren, always creates magic with any instrument he touches.

Looking back, 20 years on, how do you judge your work on Out Of My Mind? Were you happy with the final result?

Ajax: We're very proud of that record. it has a very artistic fearless spirit. We received some amazing reviews. I would love to do something like that with them again! Special times.

Anything that comes to mind about that specific period of work with Duran that you'd like to share and we didn't ask?

Ajax: They were extremely kind to me and Bob St. John. They gave me a chance when I was virtually unheard of. I will forever be grateful to them for that wonderful opportunity.

From the Amoeba 'What's In My Bag?' interview: Roger: ”Just looking at this cover, one of the amazing things about the 70s was the covers, there was so much mystic in this record; somehow we lost the mystic sourrounding the artists and the records, you know everything is accessible everything is tweeted, everything is online, but this not even got picture of the band or anything."

Nick: that cover as obscure as it is... we did the video in the late 90s for a song called 'Out Of My Mind' and the video director, for some reasons decided that he wanted Simon to play that carachter for one part, so Simon winding around on top of the stairway with a bundle of branches on his back, with lots of prosthetic on...

Led Zeppelin IV Album Cover

Arguably Led Zeppelin’s greatest album was Led Zeppelin IV, with hits like “Stairway to Heaven” and “Black Dog”, this album found both commercial and critical success. The album still ranks with the best selling albums of all time and can be found on almost any greatest albums of all times list.

The cover of the album shows a black-framed picture of an elderly man carrying a bundle of branches on his back which is hanging from a wall with floral wallpaper that is peeling off. In itself the imagery on this cover does not appear that significant; however, the lack of any text added to the albums mystical appeal.

According to Page in a 2010 interview with the Times, “The cover was supposed to be something that was for other people to savour rather than for me to actually spell everything out, which would make the whole thing rather disappointing on that level of your own personal adventure into the music.” With its Tolkien-esque lyrics and ancient symbols on the album’s inner sleeve, the cover served to amplify the mystic of the entire album causing fans to hunt for hidden meanings for years to come.

From Dean Karr's orginal treatment

“Simon is seen as an old Peasant type in his mid seventies.
Hunched over as a Quasimodoesque figure,
he bears enormous weight on back as he carries
a monstrous bundle of sticks on his back [think Zeppelin IV].
He sings to playback as the old man.
He walks up a rugged cobblestone street.”

LOCATION CESKY KRUMLOV Feb 1997

Below you can read a faithful transcription of the original treatment written by Dean Karr.
The script features also scenes that weren't filmed.

This video will have the visual feel of the "Amadeus"-era time period.

My goal is to convey a timelessness; to transcend today's current stylistic fashion trends by juxtaposing Duran Duran within the context of a classic, romantic musical situation. The key aspect of our surrealistic imagery will be our use of many incredible locations in and around Prague, an eye for detail in wardrobe, and my use of a number of very personal film manipulation techniques; hopefully, to create the most visually rewarding clip I've done to date.

The first shot opens the video in the Strahov Monastery, bathed in warm light. We are in the ancient Library in Prague. The walls and ceilings are delicate and ornate. Simon, Warren and Nick fade in [literally] from thin air at the back of the room. They are wearing neo-classical costumes, [ruffled sleeves, ornate jackets, short pants, high socks, buckled shoes, etc...] re-oriented to suit my special look.
To us they appear translucent, as we can see through them. They begin floating towards our locked down camera, their feet seeming to hover above the ground.
Think of spirits and ghosts-levitating, as Simon begins to give forth the first verse of the vocal performance. The ghosts will also be filmed floating down the tight aisles of books in the library.

Nick will be seen wearing an hoop skirt— as he bends down to lift up the bottom of the skirt towards our frame, dozens of birds will fly out. The initial shot of the three band members will be filmed at the St. Charles Bridge in old Prague, during the first light of the day, the statues could be covered in snow.

Our next shot finds us looking over Nick's shoulder in an old castle bathroom, and as he closes the mirror on the medicine cabinet exposing his front side, he is wearing a smoking jacket. Behind him stands a bald women with the hemispheres of the brain drawn of her head. The fonts describing each section are scripted in old Latin.

We then cut to a second insert repeating the same shot, this time Nick has undergone a transformation, his face has melted,like the wax which collects at the base of a candle, and he is screaming. The woman has vanished. The first insert of Nick in this makeup locked in anintimate kiss with the woman as she pushes her perfectly manicured fingers into the waxy flesh would be most haunting. Nick will sing backup in mirror seen clear, and then in full makeup.

Insert shot of Warren facing camera. A profiled woman leans whispering to his ear. She pulls away, as we dolly right, centering Warren, he simultaneously rotates left, to a profile. Black fluid begns coming out of his ear, running down his neck and onto his wardrobe. Behind Warren is a textural wall with peeled wallpaper. There is a candelabra behind instead of candles, there is dramatically pulsing flame emitting from each candle holder.

Additional performance of Simon solo will find him juxtapoef out of the neo-classical garb and into something else. He is seen as an old Peasant type in his mid seventies. Hunched over as a Quasimodoesque figure, he bears enormous weight on back as he carries a monstrous bundle of sticks on his back [think Zeppelin IV]. He sings to playback as the old man. He walks up a rugged cobblestone street.

Narrative of oil paintings that appear in the proper Renaissance style, one inhales smoke, another one's hand comes alive and crushes an egg, another on sweats. We will dolly down all 3 as if we are in a gallery.

Slow motion inserts of a woman wearing an antique corset in the royal hedged gardens. She is ballroom dancing with a muzzled bear standing on his hind legs. 15-20 extras circle around her in amusement. Her make-up is skewered and bizarre.

We will shoot 2 days of ”B-Roll" footage in ancient small towns outside of the Prague, creating visual poetry wherever we go. This will be done before our days of principal photography and provide amazing footage to inter-cut into the final video.

In Prague we will capture all the timeless romantic mysticism that the offers. I know the city well. The video will combine textural photo animation, solarized color film stock and saturated 35mm to create a visual portrait consistent with the high standards of quality Duran Duran fans are used to. Our final edit will most effectively have the viewer feeling "out of your mind".

Warren Cuccurullo, Los Angeles, August 2016

Back in August our correspondent Faby met Warren in Los Angeles. I asked her if she could get an autograph on a 'Out Of My Mind' picture for this project. Warren signed the picture and was cool enough to answer a question for our website...

Faby: Warren, tell me something on the Out Of My Mind video shooting for Salvo.

Warren: Well, I would just say thanks God we are not in Machu Picchu! No really, yeah, this was the alternative to Machu Picchu where I refused to go...

When we saw the treatment, John Taylor* really wanted to go Machu Picchu, and first of all, one of the things you have to do to get to Machu Picchu is get in a fucking helicopter to get up there, all right? Which I wasn't gonna do!

And then, as I look through the treatment written by the director we had to get into swamps and stuff and stand in there, you know? Just like stand in this water, and I´m thinking:

“What shots do I have to get to protect me from this fucking water? You know... helicopters, swamps... forget it!”

So we changed venues and we wound up in Prague, or Ceský Krumlov to be exact... and that was it! It was fucking freazing! You know, but that's what happens when you´re hanging out in a castle... yeah, it was freezing!

* we suppose the band read different treatments for the video when John was still in the band.

Screaming Mad George was interviewed by Salvo on his work as prosthetic artist on the Out Of My Mind video on April 2nd, 2017.

duranasty.com: First of all, how did you get involved in the making of the video for "Out Of My Mind"? Were you familiar with the music of Duran Duran?

Screeming Mad George: I have known them since new wave started. but I didn't know their new stuff.
I Had been a good friend with Dean Karr [Director], I had been working for all most every video since Marilyn Manson's "Sweet Dreams" so naturally he wanted me to do special make up for this video.

Tell us about your work as prosthetic artist in that video: where did you take inspiration for the prosthetic masks that Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes wore?

For Simon, It simply a very aged man. I have designed and sculpted aged version of Simon.
For Nick, Dean wanted melting man. So I designed some melting wax like head.

“It took about 4 hours to apply the make up to Simon, but when comes with taking the prosthetic off, somehow the glue was sticking to his face unusually, so took a long time to peel the prosthetics off from his face and more time to rub off the glue from his face.
It resulted him with strong facial skin irritation.”

Did you cast the face molds in LA or Prague?

There wasn't a time for them to do the face cast [their schedule was very tight] so I used other person's head cast.

Tell us about the amazing old man mask that Simon Le Bon wore, was it a long session? How many hours it took to get the make-up finished? Was Simon cool and patient with all the stuff you had to apply on his face?

I think it took about 4 hours. He was cool while applying the make up, but when comes with taking the prosthetic off, somehow the glue was sticking to his face unusually, so took along time to peel the prosthetics off from his face and more time to rub off the glue from his face. It resulted him with strong facial skin irritation.
The problem occurred was next day. He had his clean face shoot but he said his face was red and he won't be able to shoot!
But production stuff, Dean and everyone tried to convince him to be OK. Finally he came out for shoot.

Were you also responsible for the make-up of all the models taking part in the video?

My responsibility on the model's make-up is only on the bald girl who came out from big chest and kissed Nick Rhodes... I did with some characters and line drawings on her... Other models were done by the beauty make-up artist.

One of the scenes of the video that we love is when Warren Cuccurullo has some black liquid pouring down his ear... it looks so natural... how did you manage to do that effect, was it real or a computer generated effect?

There were no computer graphics at that time. These practical effects were my speciality. This is how how that effects were done:

Screaming Mad George was responsible for the make up on the bald girl who came out from big chest and kissed Nick Rhodes...
He drow some characters and line drawings on her head and body

“We waited for Dean's “Action” order, then squeezed the syringe!
Rest is history”

“To make the fabulous Melting Wax Mask that Nick wore in the video
I used a material called "Hot Pour Vinyl", the vinyl elastomer that comes as the liquid at first, then heat up to high temperature to become very gelly like material, continues to heat to become thick soupy consistence. Then it's ready to pour into mold.”

Toward the end of the video, in the kissing scene, Nick Rhodes wears something allover is head and face, something that seems flabby, almost liquid, what is that?

That material was called "Hot Pour Vinyl", the vinyl elastomer that comes as the liquid at first, then heat up to high temperature to become very gelly like material, continues to heat to become thick soupy consistence. Then it's ready to pour into mold.

Did you keep those masks after your removed them? They would made some great pieces of Duran-memorabilia!

Nicks Mask I don't remember. Simon's old man prosthetics were destroyed when we removed them from his face.
For ear gag, I might have taken it back to the shop but it got lost.

How was working in the historic Krumlov Castle in Ceský Krumlov?

Very cool! Loved the location, would love to come back to shoot some other films.

Did you get along well with the band? Did you ever meet them again after that 1997 experience in the Czech Republic?

I think we got along well.
Well, Simon was pissed off at me for the prosthetic incident. I didn't have any contact with the band after this promotional video.

Any special memories or funny stories you'd like to share about your work in that video or in general about your stay in Ceský Krumlov?

Dean's video had greatly inspired me artistically, I always have fun and this video was no exception!
I just loved Ceský Krumlov, it's just beautiful.

Were you happy with the final results of your work? Did you like the video?
I Loved the video! I was very happy to be part of the creation of such an amazing video!

The Out Of My Mind video is rich of stylistic tricks: shots are over/double exposed, speeded up/slowed down and filled with visual noise. All stuff that refelects a visual trend born a couple of years earlier, in 1995 in fact Karr used similar shooting and stylistic techniques on Marilyn Manson’s “Sweet Dreams”. Karr surely developed a new goth and dark trend in pop music's videos.

The video is a ghost story featuring some amazing imagery, full of little details that we keep discovering every time we watch it, a real piece of art on its own. The video features different characters: ancient Simon, Nick in drag, Warren as a lord contemplating dead animals, Simon the prisoner, then in the library, the amazing zombie-ladies and so on... It's as a beautiful, eye-catching, evocative, sometimes indecipherable ghost story, 20 years on this video is still fascinating and keep capturing our immagination. The whole figurative and literal ghost theme, the out of my mind analogy, is greatly represented with a lot of visual metaphors.

Dean Karr was interviewed by Salvo on his work as Director of the Out Of My Mind video on March 7th, 2017.

duranasty.com: How did your collaboration with Duran Duran begin?

Dean: Nancy Berry, who ran Virgin Records in Los Angeles brought me in to direct the music video project.

Did you ever meet them before the Out Of My Mind video shooting? Did you like their work?

Dean: I had always been a fan since the first album, but had never met them before.

Out Of My Mind video seems the antithesis of the Rio video. Did the band had a concept for the video or it was all your idea?

Dean: Virgin sent me the track and lyrics to conceptualize a treatment for the video. I usually take the mood of the song and the lyrics into heavy consideration before choosing a location and flavor for a music video.

According to our files the video was shot on February 11, 12 and 13, 1997. You spent 3 days in the Czech Republic... who came up with the idea of shooting the video in the historic Krumlov Castle in Ceský Krumlov?

Dean: That is correct! At this period of my life Czech Republic was my favorite place to shoot in the entire world! We had previously done music videos for Ozzy Osbourne and Filter in Prague and wanted to find a new location with the same Old World feel, so we went to Cesky Krumlov which was incredible and very cold!

Any particular memory, problems or funny anecdote on your stay there with the crew or the shooting in general?

Dean: I remember Warren needing a whole room to set his weights up in! There was lots of "funny business" going on around this job!

Duran are known as one of the bands who has invested a lot in videos, Wild Boys is still considered one of the most expensive music videos of its era.
Hiring the castle, getting the theatrical stage outfits, the use of sophisticated prosthetic makeup to age Le Bon, the local models and all the unusual objects used on the set... was it an expensive production?

Dean: It was not an overly expensive video to make, most expensive parts would have been travel costs and renting the castle. My long time prosthetic artist Screaming Mad George made the prosthetics for Simon.

I can't remember if the initial face mold was cast in L.A. or Prague. The extras were amazing in this video and they did not cost a lot of money, nor did their fabulous wardrobe.
I think I dressed most characters in drag. I believe you have some photographs I'd taken of all the extras trying their costumes on?

Yes, I do. They will be published along with the interview, Dean [pics below]

The picture on the left is a drawing over Simons photo as the aged Simon design. It was made by Screaming Mad George. He says "it end up very different though".

“That is one of my fave scenes I thought up for Nick.
He looked so cool and that dress had so much room inside of it that I dreamt of seeing
a dozen birds fly out from under it!
Came out beyond my expectations!.”

It looks like you used the stop-motion technic to get that sequence of old Simon staggering under the weight of his heavy bundle of sticks... Can you tell us about all the shooting technics and post-production used in this video?

Dean: All of the scenes that look like watercolors are separate photographs which I developed in the darkroom adding texture to each and then animating to bring the scene to life!
It's a ton of work but nothing else looks like it! We also used an ancient "Motion Control" computer camera to shoot the ghost-like sequences in the library. It was a lot of waiting around, I hate motion control and would never use it again!

Did you get a stylist to design the amazing, gloomy, goth and glamorous look the band had in this video?

Dean: We had alot of previous contacts locally in Prague from so many other shoots. I hugely decide what the characters and band wear in all of my projects and spend hands on hours shopping in the costume shops with my stylists!

One of the highlights of the video is Nick in full female drag, raising his skirts and scaring pigeons. Tell us the story about that scene.

Dean: That is one of my fave scenes I thought up for Nick. He looked so cool and that dress had so much room inside of it that I dreamt of seeing a dozen birds fly out from under it! Came out beyond my expectations!

The black-and-white footage seems inspired by some early twentieth century horror film, did you actually got inspiration by anything from that period?

Dean: EXACTLY! Good eye.

Were you and the band pleased with final result on the video? It's the 20th anniversary since the song [and the video] were released. What do you think and feel about it 20 years on?
Anything you would have done differently?

Dean: It was a great video for it's time, but yes I always look back on these videos and they seem to represent a period of my past life. Whether it's Marilyn Manson "Sweet Dreams" or so many others. I have grown so much as a film Director, many of these projects look like early works.

Did you get along well with the Duran guys during your stay at Ceský Krumlov? Did you and the band have fun doing the video? Any personal memory of Simon, Nick and Warren of that period that you'd like to share with us?

Dean: The band and I got along very well! We did a lot of additional photography of Simon at his flat in London. I think you own a couple of those photos! It didn't get used in the video though.

Simon and Dean Karr in London during the additional photography session. The photo session hasn't been released. In this page you can see a couple of shots that Dean is kindly showing to the fans.

Did your ever cross path with Duran Duran or worked with them again after that experience? If so, can you tell us about it?

Years later I directed a commercial for Trident gum with Duran Duran and DJ Steve Aoki in New York City.

Nick and Simon are always warm and friendly to me, we laughed about stories from Prague in New York! I brought them some gift photos from the video shoot, they looked great years later!

What's your current project and what's in the future for Dean Karr?

Dean: We just completed a music video for the rock band KORN, called "Rotting in Vain" and it was just nominated for an Grammy Award! It came out sooooo good.

More about Dean Karr

When speaking of Director/Photographer Dean Karr, the one thing that people seem to agree about is that he is a true original.Mr. Karr’s prolific creative work has brought him to the forefront of his craft, with visuals that reveal a highly tuned sense of style, fashion, art, and narrative storytelling.A native of Seattle, Washington, Karr received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Washington State University. Moving to Los Angeles he attend the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. He went on to capture in photographs the reality of the extraordinary characters that he encountered in the depths of Los Angeles. His painterly technique was highly original, the images shockingly beautiful - an important new visual artist burst upon the scene.While honing is photographic skills, he grew fascinated by the possibilities of moving images. The promise of his early work led to Karr being asked to direct Marilyn Manson’s "Sweet Dreams." The resulting piece drew immediate and broad commercial attention, and served to propel both Manson and Karr into the forefront of the visual rock world. He was immediately in demand to work with other top artists. Dean Karr’s photography continues to received international recognition. He keeps working on commercials, videos and photography. Check out his website to see a special online retrospective of his work and for print sales.

Warren songwriting | Warren Machu Pichu | Mark Tinley | Anthony J. Resta | The Saint | Medazzaland Era |

Formats | Simon's song triology | Dean Karr | Screaming Mad George | Treatment | Andrew Day