Issue 43 - University of Surrey's Student Union

28 MUSIC
The Stag | 6 th March 2012 music@thestagsurrey.co.uk
Music
Kaiser Chiefs take G Live by storm!
By Sophia Field, Music Editor
Kaiser Chiefs’ performance at
Guildford’s very own G Live well
and truly proved that even after
four albums, their fans still love
them and they have certainly still
got it. The boys set a high standard
being the first big music concert
G Live has held by enthralling
the crowd with songs from their
newest album ‘The Future is
Medieval’ as well as playing the
old classics which everyone was
waiting eagerly to hear. Front man
Ricky was full of energy and the
band really proved that they are
not going anywhere yet. Before
the gig I was lucky enough to talk
to Keyboard player Nick Baines, or
as he is more commonly known,
Peanut.
The Stag: How has the tour been
going so far?
Peanut: Yeah, all great. We’ve done
three days, North Wales, Reading
and Southend, so quite varied
places.
TS: Do you miss the home
comforts when you’re on tour?
P: Erm, you get quite a lot of home
comforts on tour really. Yeah, I
mean you miss home, but I wouldn’t
rather be at home.
TS: Tell us about the way you
released your album last year.
P: Well, we didn’t have any press
or publicity about this album,
we didn’t want to have to do the
world tour of what is coming up
on the record… we were bored of
sitting in a room talking about and
describing everything, we wanted
people to hear it without all that. So
basically, we made a unique system
online where we let our fans make
their own records out of twenty
songs. We knew it would be twenty
so that gave us a big writing target,
self-imposed pressure to write
twenty brilliant songs. There was
no room for end of album tracks/b
sides, we wanted them all to stand
up on their own.
TS: Would you say it was
successful?
P: Yeah, we spent nearly a year
planning it, working it out and
trying to keep it a secret. It was
hard but nobody knew what was
coming. We had a couple of deals
with newspapers and that so they
would do an article on it that
morning. Went really well I think
and was really good for us as a
band.
TS: You have established your
own record label. What prompted
that?
P: It’s nothing quite so glamorous.
It operates out of a studio in a
basement. The management office
where Nick has his studio is also
Chewing Gum Records. Basically
we wanted to be able to see a band
we like, who aren’t signed and put
out their record. Chewing Gum
Records’ third release is actually
going to be sold on our tour, we got
all the songs involved in The Future
is Medieval and a couple of others
and we’ve made a double vinyl.
Four sides of vinyl and 23 songs,
looks really good. Vinyl has come
back in a retro and collectable way.
So we’ve made only 500 of these
records and labelled each one. It’s
quite cool to do little things like
that when you’re established.
TS: What is the first thing you
guys do when you get back from
a gig?
P: If I’m going home after tour, I
usually steal some milk and bread
from the tour bus, because I know
I’ll have nothing to eat. When
we come offstage, we just end up
sitting in a room chatting. Probably
eating a ham and cheese sandwich.
Cup of tea. Rock and Roll. Haha!
TS: Do you guys still get nervous?
P: I suppose a nervous anxiety and
excitement… more at festivals,
because it’s light and you can see
everyone. You don’t feel any less
capable; it’s just a desire to not fail
the audience. The gigs after all they
are not just for the bands, they are
for the punters. We don’t want the
fans to ever be disappointed.
TS: As a band that have worked
your way up, what do you think
of shows like The X Factor?
P: Nothing to do with us. It’s
showbiz and it’s steered in a
certain direction. I don’t mind it
being on TV, I just hope the kids
picking up drums and guitar and
piano don’t genuinely think that is
the way to be successful. It’s selling
false dreams. They go up there on a
public platform and get laughed up
and that’s what I don’t like.
TS: What about the people who
win? Is there room for them in
the industry?
P: Problem is, the public like to
see people who have earned their
success. It’s all misguided. Send
them round the country on a tour
in a transit van and see how many
of them last…
TS: What new artists are you a
fan of?
P: A band called White Denim,
they sound quite old though, like
keyboards and guitars and synth
solos and stuff. . . I mostly end up
buying old stuff to be honest.
TS: Who inspires you?
P: I think if you listen to our songs,
you know they are pop songs, I
mean we play them in a rock and
roll way but they are pop. They are
catchy brilliant songs. It’s hard not
to be inspired by a band like Queen.
If you look at their songs they are
whacky and diverse but they are all
these diverse amazing songs that
are played all around the world.
Their music managed to progress
whilst still keeping that appeal.
The Beach Boys too, the detail in
the music, the songs are beautiful
obviously but the way they’re put
together, you couldn’t get a better
pairing between the songs and the
style.
TS: What do you think has been
the biggest moment of your
career so far?
P: Things like… playing at Elland
Road. It was a big thing because
nobody had really played gigs
there; we had to battle quite hard
to make it work. Having a number
one album and single was pretty
amazing too, it will be historical
thing, people remember that stuff.
Kaiser Trivia!
Out of the band, who is the…
…Best cook?
Not Nick. Ricky probably thinks he is… it would have
to be between Ricky and Whitey I’d say.
…Most athletic?
Well Ricky does a lot of running, he’s got fit lately,
but I reckon Nick would still give him a run for his
money, fancies himself as a bit of a football.
...The laziest?
I reckon that is between me and whitey. In terms
of sleeping in, that is me, hands down. I can lose a
whole day nearly.
“There is two kinds of music, the good and
bad. I play the good kind.” – Louis Armstrong