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Kaiser Chiefs

On the eve of the release of debut single 'Oh My God', we spoke to Ricky and Nick about Leeds, and Brian May's sandwiches..

Posted 1st March 2006, 3:52pm in Interviews, by Karis Ferguson
Kaiser Chiefs "He said 'let's go on a fishing trip!'. That was going to be in real life, but then it turned out just to be virtual."

It seems fitting that on this freezing April afternoon we're sitting on a boat in the middle of Leeds city centre with Kaiser Chiefs' drummer Nick Hodgson to our left and vocalist Ricky Wilson to our right. After all, they didn't get to go on a real boat for the video for their debut single 'Oh My God'.

"We were thinking of how to make the video, we didn't know about the animation company at this point, and we were thinking about what we could do very quickly," Nick explains. "We decided that what would be very far away from home, lonely and horrible, would be to be fishermen working on a fisherman's boat."

"My worst fear is very deep water as well," Ricky Wilson offers. "You know when you're diving and you're down at the bottom, when you go 'right, I'm gonna go back up to the top now' and it's further than you thought! 'What on earth am I gonna do!' Then you take a breath underwater..."

Let's point out one thing before we carry on: these two guys love to talk. One minute you're discussing Amoxicillin and the next you're dissecting the attraction to Tom from Keane. While other bands are keen to discuss their influences and tour bus routines, Kaiser Chiefs are here to provide readers with a laugh. If you haven't heard debut single 'Oh My God' by now then there's no hope - it's the kick up the arse that British music needed, with a euphoric blend of Blur, Super Furry Animals and even Dexy's induced pop combining to create one hell of a fix.

Nick: I remember recording it, because we did it all in a room in my flat.
Ricky: The recording studio room.
Nick: We were mixing 'Oh My God' and Ricky was at one side going 'Oh it doesn't have to be perfect, it's not going to be a single'. It was only a demo, and then it turned out to be a world wide smash. You know, number ones.
Ricky: But I always said 'it doesn't have to perfect, it's not going to be a single' just in case.
Have you re-recorded it? Or are you just releasing that?
Nick: We're releasing the demo. We went to Abbey Road and we mastered it there which was such good fun.
Ricky: It wasn't as amazing as we wanted it to be, but it was good.
So would you re-record it again if you had the chance?
Nick: Yeah, with Stephen Street for the album. We did a gig with the Ordinary Boys the other day, they were very nice, and they've been working with Stephen Street...
Ricky: It's nothing definite, but that would be good.

The Leeds music scene at the moment is pretty popular, do you feel like that's helped you?
Nick: Yeah, I do actually.

Do you reckon if you were from another city you'd have had the same reaction?
Nick: Well, I don't know, because Leeds has always been regarded as, before about a year ago, a terrible place for music. All the bands that have ever come out of Leeds weren't from Leeds and they were all goths! Apart from Soft Cell. Chumbawumba.
Ricky: Gang of Four, Nirvana...apart from them!
Nick: They're all goths. So I think it's very helpful. I once spoke to this man who works in the 'record industry' and he said that on his desk he had something like fifteen cds and eleven of them were from Leeds bands. He was in London.
Ricky: It shows, doesn't it. And we hope that this will help the Leeds scene aswell!
Nick: Do we?!
Ricky: Yeah!
Nick: I don't think we'll help anyone.
Ricky: We're too busy helping ourselves!
Nick: You don't just fucking start helping!
Ricky: 'Come on guys! Come on!'

Which bands do you think will be next to break?
Nick: I like The Cribs, I like the 10,000 Things, there's plenty of them.

Who would you invite out to tour with you?
Ricky: If we can get to that point.
Nick: At the moment we're quite low on the rung and some of them are higher than us, so...
Ricky: They could do with helping us!

You've signed with Drowned In Sound...
Nick: It's only a single! We were having this single deal in place with somebody else and it was all going ahead but they just pulled out.
Ricky: So we thought we might aswell release the single and the first person who asked us.. we did it!
Nick: No! I e-mailed them. I just said 'do you want to put out the single?' and they said 'yes, when do you wanna do it?'
Ricky: We said January. They said February. We said March...

So are you hoping to sign to someone else?
Nick: Yeah! We need to!
Ricky: We need the dough. We need a cash injection.
Nick: Everything's falling apart in our rehearshal room. We need someone nice to take care of us. Well, not take care of us 'cause they can't do that, but to give us enough money to take us on tour or put us on tour.
Ricky: My Bentley's got problems with it's differentials, so I need to sort that out. Car fans...
Nick: We've all got jobs, we need to hire vans and stay overnight and everything. That's why we need a cash injection.
Ricky: It's not all about the money. (long pause) It's all about the money!
Nick: No it's not...but it does help
Ricky: It makes it very difficult to do things that you want to do, not having enough money to go anywhere
Nick: I don't want to dwell on that though!
Ricky: ...as he starts crying.

Why should people go and see you live on tour?
Nick: A selfish reason would be we that like it when there's lots of people there because it's much more fun and we're much better, bouncing off those smiles.
And why should people buy the single? How would you review it?
Nick: So that they can propel us to the top 40! Right, well, it's 3 minutes 48 seconds. It starts off with this brilliant drum fill and then it goes to this brilliant bass bit and a brilliant guitar bit. Then you've got the piano and the tune's really good. Then, I like this bit, it's the tender moment, the bridge before the chorus, 'and it don't matter to me,' that's the sad bit. Then 'Oh My God!' is the triumphant bit which gets you and then there's the guitar solo which makes you think!
Ricky: We want people to think!
Nick: If you're listening in close to your speakers you can hear me speaking at the very end, and I say 'Why do you always bloody look at me like that?'. It's Peanut.
How does he look at you?
Nick: He couldn't hear the track! So we were going 'never been this far away from home', and he was just looking at me because it doesn't sound right when you listen to it like that on its own. He did it every time we did it. I give it 5!
Ricky: Out of what?
Nick: 5!
Ricky: Yeah, I think I'll give it 5.

If you could play anywhere, where would it be?
Ricky: Joseph's Well.
Nick: It wouldn't be anywhere massive or in a far off place, I want to be somewhere where I've been before in my life and seen a band.
Ricky: Can it be for a TV show? T4.
Nick: The Met in Leeds with a sold-out crowd of all people that really like us.

It might be like the crowd at Keane
Ricky: Were they really really rabid?
Nick: I heard today that they started screaming at first then by the middle they're yawning...

They did scream at the beginning which was odd
Nick: I find them very sexless.
Ricky: Nick likes a bit of sex in his rock.
Nick: I like the singles and I think they're good, but if I had to listen to the album that would be awful. You know they play Metallica and AC/DC to all the guys in Iraq?
Ricky: If you had to listen to the Keane album day in, day out
Nick: It'd be worse.

Who writes the Chiefs' songs?
Ricky: I'm always writing stuff for Nick. Cheques, sick notes, fake prescriptions for valium.
Nick: Me! I write something at home, usually a song...
Ricky: Then he brings it to me and asks for a bit of stardust. It works out like that.
Nick: The rest of the guys, we bash it out. Everyone starts vibing off it, and that's official, especially Vibes 3000, followed by Heavens Scent and then Metal Steve will add some keys
Ricky: And then it's just up to me to add a killer lyric!

Nick, would you sing on a Kaiser Chiefs song, like you did with Parva?
Nick: I do anyway, but not lead vocals. All of our songs have got about 18 layers of vocals on which makes it sound instantly accessible. I might do one day. I'll be like Noel Gallagher.
Ricky: What would I do on stage? What will I be doing?
Nick: Just mouthing off.
Ricky: I'll just nip off! I think I'd probably be a bit proud. I'd be looking at you going 'awww'!
Nick: Maybe you could drum!
Ricky: I'll drum! I'm getting quite good at drumming.
Nick: And I could come round the front and sing a song.
Ricky: So it'd be out of tune with a simple beat in the background and that'd be it.

Did you learn anything from your mistakes with Parva?
Nick: We learned a lot. Loads. Everything we learnt. Precisely? Just to do the opposite! We've learnt everything about everything. About how to write songs, how to mis-trust everybody, loads of things.

Whose idea was it to just change and start again?
Ricky: I think that was my idea! No, it was everyone.
Nick: We were just fed up! Well, we weren't fed up - we were positive, strong and powerful.

If you could have written any song...
Nick: At the moment it would be 'Teenage Kicks'. Because I think if you had that in your arsenal of songs it'd be brilliant.

Would you have been offended when Busted covered it?
Nick: Well let's just say that they cover 'Oh My God' right? Let's imagine that. I think that would be amazing! I wouldn't want them to get higher in the charts than us. I wouldn't want them to do it as a single, that'd be awful. I wouldn't even want them to record it.
Ricky: If they set it on their 'Best of' as one of the tracks.
Nick: What I would say is 'please don't record it'! I don't know why, I just have a feeling about that. But then if they did it live that'd be hilarious. As long as I got to meet them. They're all my favourite! Charlie. Charlie Drake. Charlie, Whiskers...
Ricky: Are you talking about Busted?
Nick: Yeah, what are their names?
Ricky: Matt, Charlie, James!
Nick: Which one's which?
Ricky: James is the grinch.

What do you think about bands like McFly?
Ricky: Have you seen the other one at all? V, they toured with Busted. They're a new 'rocky boyband'.
Nick: I think it's crap. I think Busted are good. I think they've got some good songs and apparently they write them all now and everything - that's the insider word!
Ricky: You know like McFly and V, I don't like the fact that you don't hear anything about them and then suddenly they're on cd:uk doing documentaries about them 6 months before they've released a single. They do all this thing like they're already famous!
Nick: Like on the Saturday Show they'll be going around McFly's house and I'm looking, and I'm going 'I don't know who Mcfly are'! At this point they'd never had a single out.

Whose house would you want to see?
Nick: Probably The Cribs! No, Adam Ant's would be weird, especially now. Whose house? Brian May? I bet he's got a telescope in the attic and his Mum shouts at him 'Brian, come on! Come down from there! Haven't you seen enough stars tonight?'
Ricky: 'Are you peeking over at number 32 again?'
Nick: And he'll say 'No Mum!'. And she'll go 'Come on! There's a sandwich down here with your name on it'. He'll come downstairs and there'll be a sandwich without his name on it, and he'll go 'Mum, what happened here?' and she'll say 'I had to get you down here somehow'...
Ricky: I think I'd like to see Pete Libertines'. I would like to see how bad it is.
Nick: I'd like to see Keane's! Imagine that!
Ricky: Imagine that! Imagine Chris from Reuben's house! Or My Red Cell! Or Inme!
Nick: Yeah, I'd like to see Inme's house. I'd like to see all the sordid things they have. That band is awful isn't it? Paul Heaton's, I bet that'd be nice! 'Can I put the heating on Paul?'
Ricky: I bet he's fed up of that now though. 'The heating's on!'
Nick: Paul McCartney's? It'd be good to see what memorobilia he's got.
Ricky: Paul McCartney can make new stuff all the time though can't he? Just signs stuff.
Nick: Yeah, that's an official Beatles coaster!
Ricky: Some Beatles wooden leg...
Nick: 'I need that!'
Ricky: He bought one for Christmas but it was just a stocking filler.
Nick: And that's true, 'cause his main present was something off Bidup TV.
Ricky: A 3 gear mountain bike.

What would happen if a TV crew wanted to look around your house?
Nick: I'd hate it. It'd be hilarious, sometimes, but then again...when I'm trying to do anything, like tidy up...
Ricky: Tidy up?!
Nick: I like tidying up! You can see the fridge. Cook a salad.
Ricky: Prepare a leg of fish.
Nick: Wash.

Would they find out anything interesting?
Nick: It'd be frightening.
Ricky: I'd be trying to hide my money, they'd see where it was.
Nick: Coming out of all the drawers.
Ricky: No, I hide my money behind a picture in my, oh!

What do you think will be your next single?
Nick: 'I Predict A Riot'. We've done a demo of it. When we drive, me and Nick from 'Rebellious Jukebox' DJ at the Cockpit every Friday night, we drive past 'Majestyk'
Ricky: I go past in a taxi aswell
Nick: And it's absolutely disgusting.
Ricky: It's all about people in town that are drunk fighting you.
Nick: Last Friday I saw a group of boys, about 3 on one side of the road and 3 on the other, and they were converging, swinging planks at each other!
Ricky: Last night we saw them fighting over a taxi didn't we?
Nick: Yeah yeah, just fighting!
Ricky: Walking around with their fists in the air!
Nick: One just came up right, and he didn't even know what was going on...
Ricky: He just saw some people arguing and was like 'what's going on here then'! It's hilarious.

Who are you going to thank when you make your album?
Nick: I would like to thank Stephen Street for production duties on tracks 2, 4, 9, 8 and 11.
Ricky: It's all us really Nick.
Nick: Yeah it is, it's just me and him.

'Oh My God' is out today, Monday 17th May. Make sure you pick up a copy or four. The band are also embarking on tour this week, supporting The Ordinary Boys.

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