14 MusicWeek 15.06.12 INTERVIEWKAISER CHIEFS
www.musicweek.com
HAIL TO THE CHIEFS
With their singles collection, Souvenir, having entered the Top 20 of the Official UK Album Chart, it’s as good as time as any to catch up with (and pay tribute to) the Kaiser Chiefs – one of Great Britain’s most successful and likeable indie guitar bands of recent years
TALENT BY DAVE ROBERTS
Who or what inspired you to form a band? Ricky Wilson: If you go way, way back, it’s usually stuff you see on TV or in films. Seeing Michael J Fox doing Johnny B Good in Back To The Future was a seminal moment. Then after that, when you’re a bit older and you
start going out to see bands and everyone else is going mental, having a really good time, and all you’re thinking is you want to be up on stage doing what they’re doing, not just worshipping them.
Was there a particular band or night that had that affect on you? Simon Rix: When you’re 11 I think it’s the same for everyone, it’s people like Hendrix and The Beatles that start you dreaming about being in a band. But then, when we were about 16 we were very lucky, Oasis and the whole Britpop thing started so guitar bands were cool. Also, not that it’s all about getting girls, but suddenly being in a band was cool. Ricky: You join a band and instantly transform from being ‘the skinny kid’ to ‘the skinny indie kid’, and you suddenly become attractive.
What did you learn about the machinations of the business once you were in the belly of the beast? Did anything in particular surprise or disappoint you?
Ricky: I’m very disappointed in the spelling mistakes record labels make. That’s it, really: spelling.
Interesting. In what context? Ricky: Artwork and emails mainly. They still spell our name wrong. Simon:They spelt it wrong on our website. I was upset about that. I thought that would be a minimum requirement. Ricky: Also, and I’m not saying we’re old hands or
“When we came into the business you kind of think everyone knows what they’re doing, but sometimes you get a little glimmer that no one knows what they’re doing and they’re actually
frightened of losing their job so no one’s actually doing anything, just in case.” RICKY WILSON
anything, but when you first come into the business, you kind of think everybody knows what they’re doing, but sometimes you get a little glimmer that no one knows what they’re doing, and actually they’re all frightened of losing their job so no one’s actually doing anything, just in case. Simon: I guess we’ve learned more about the processes. Like, when you’re 17 you think that playing festivals is glamorous, being on TV is
glamorous, making videos is glamorous. I’m thinking Wham, Duran Duran – glamour. Well, making videos is mainly about early mornings. Ricky: I used to get really annoyed when I’d watch Popworld or whatever and they’d be on the set of a Sugababes video and they’d be moaning, going ‘it’s just a lot of hanging about’. And then you’re there, and guess what, it’s just a lot of hanging about.
The cliché complaint is that when you get into the industry you’re disappointed because the execs aren’t as passionate about music as you are, and that it’s about spreadsheets and budgets. Ricky: But sometimes that can be a good thing. I mean it’s great to have people who are passionate and want to risk their house and everything, but you also want people who know what they’re doing and know how to get your stuff in front of the public. Then it’s up to the public. They’re the ones you really want to be passionate.
Who’s the best record exec you’ve worked with? Simon: I’m going to name someone we don’t work with anymore – so I don’t have to pick just one person we still work with – and that’s James Dewer, who signed our publishing deal when we were Pava (the band before Kaiser Chiefs) and basically came up with the name Kaiser Chiefs. Ricky: Jim Chancellor at Fiction’s been great. And James Sandom’s been a good manager, mainly because he’s a bit of a bastard. It’s great to have a
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56