The Horn are Jonny Taylor (voice, guitar), Danny Monk (guitars, programming), Nick True (bass), Ed Cox (keyboards) and Alex Moorse (drums) but it hasn’t always been like this: several moments ago, songwriter and erstwhile Friends Of Gavin bassist Nick True – to the uninitiated, F.O.G. were an acclaimed, north London five-piece who toured the UK with REM at the end of the last century, and ended up never releasing an album – recruited multi-instrumentalist Danny Monk to see what magic might occur. Monk, a Sound Technology graduate from Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (founded by Paul McCartney) had a studio in Baker Street and much production/recording experience throughout the USA (including the Village studio in West Hollywood), and It’s his eclectic chutzpah that gives the Horn its mid-Atlantic appeal.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Hey The Horn, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What first got you into music?
Alex: The first album I ever bought, Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water by Limp Bizkit.
Nick: Well the first music that was mine not my family or friends was David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane, I quickly got into songs not artists or genres from Frank Sinatra’s ‘It Was A Very Good Year’ to The Clash’s ‘Rudie Can’t Fail’ and everything in between.
Ed: I had been given a keyboard and started to play the cantata ‘Carmina Burana’ by ear, followed quickly by ‘In Da Club’ by 50 Cent. I then started listening and buying tapes followed by CDs.
Danny: I was rubbish at football, so had to find another way to try and impress people.
Jonny: When I was 15 I joined a band called the Social Club. Girls seem to like it more than anything else I tried.
How do you balance your time in the studio with other commitments such as a part-time job, family, admin?
Jonny: I tutor acting and English to Russian and German students and usually rehearse on the weekends.
Danny: Fortunately (or perhaps not), my life is just one long studio session.
Nick: I’m in the studio or rehearsal studio every Sunday, funnily enough because of that our music management thought we should call the band ‘Month of Sundays’.
Alex: Stay organised.
Ed: Finely!
Your latest song is 'Passion'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
Nick: I first wrote this in the late 1980s and brought it to the studio, we worked on the 2nd verse while we were doing the vocals. I like that kind of pressure as it sometimes just comes, the guys then made it so brilliant. I’m super proud of the song which is all of ours now, it's The Horn sound but at the same time to me it's a time capsule!
Alex: He brought it to Danny and Jonny then I wrote the drum part separately. I don't remember anything unusual about recording it but I know when Jonny made the music video, the car he was filming in broke down mid-shoot.
Danny: Passion came about from two things - Nick’s general angst in the 80s and my religious
love of New York guitar bands (not mentioning any names).
Jonny: We recorded it really quickly as a guide track. Afterwards we realised that was it.
What is one message you would give to your fans?
Jonny: Don’t let anyone bring you down.
Alex: Stay horny.
Nick: Come and see what everyone’s talking about.
Danny: Why not?
What would you be doing right now, if it wasn’t for your music career?
Danny: Something a lot more boring.
Nick: Dreaming of living in St Tropez in the Summer and Miami Beach in the Winter!
Ed: Probably working on a film set in a production capacity.
Jonny: Scientist/Chef.
Alex: I'd like to be an entrepreneur.
How do you know when a work is finished?
Alex: Nick says "I don't like it.... I love it!"
Ed: When Nick’s happy!
Nick: When Danny says so!!
Danny: I’m ready to show it to someone.
Jonny: When I smile at the end of the track.
Can you write what was your best performance in your career? How do you remember it?
Nick: With my old band playing a gig in Rotterdam supporting a New York band called The Fleshtones the whole place went mental... And then with The Horn our first gig in Brighton at The Great Escape Festival.
Danny: A house in Germany. I remember it because it was the most packed gig I’ve ever done and it had about 8 people in the room.
Jonny: I would say on tour in Venice. First show was to 400 dancing Italians. It was energetic.
Alex: Playing a packed out gig in Venice on our first night there on tour. Crowd was wild.
Do you have a mentor or coach?
Nick: My daughters!
Jonny: My fiancée.
Danny: Just my many, many mistakes.
Who is your favourite musician?
Alex: Stevie Wonder.
Jonny: Bowie or Stevie Wonder.
Danny: Guitarists who don’t play solos.
Nick: That’s a hard one, Jonny won’t like me saying Alex Turner, hmm so I will go for Miles Davis
Ed: Jerry Lee Lewis.
What are your plans for the future?
Ed: To do some touring and get some big live shows under our belts.
Danny: To write a better song than my last.
Jonny: Try to stay alive and cook people great food.
Alex: Headline Glastonbury.
Nick: I have a dream for The Horn to play at the Hollywood Bowl, well why not dream big?