Q+A TREVOR HORN
AS A MEMBER OF DIRE STRAITS LEGACY, THE ICONIC PRODUCER IS KEEPING HIS BASS-PLAYING CHOPS IN SHAPE AS HE CELEBRATES THE BACK CATALOGUE OF MARK KNOPFLER’S GLOBE-CONQUERING BAND
IAN WADE
As the man boasting an impressive CV of hits with the likes of ABC, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Rod Stewart, Seal, Pet Shop Boys, Propaganda and Belle & Sebastian to name just a handful, Trevor Horn is one of the most acclaimed and hugely influential producers in the history of pop. In recent years, though, he’s been stepping out from behind the mixing desk to perform with his Trevor Horn Band and also hooked up with Dire Straits Legacy. Further shows with DSL are planned throughout 2022. We caught up with Trevor to find out what he’s playing at…
How did you get involved with Dire Straits Legacy?
Simply because one of the main guitar players in it is Phil Palmer, and Phil plays on my records quite a lot. A few years back, he said to me, “We don’t have a bass player for the next tour. I don’t suppose you fancy doing it?” And, you know, I guess I was looking for something. I was doing a bass course at the time at the Berklee College Of Music. The problem is when you’re a producer and then you have a band, like I have a band, you don’t get to play a lot. So I was trying to keep my bass playing in shape. When I asked Phil, “Who’s on the drums?” he said, “Steve Ferrone” – Steve’s one of my favourite drummers so I immediately knew with him onboard that it would be really good. That’s what got me into it. I’m just doing it for the playing, you know, not for anything else.