Ricky Wilson, lead singer of Kaiser Chiefs, tells Alice Cairns why he’s still living the dream after 18 years
Danny North
How many people can truly claim to love their job after 18 years? Ricky Wilson, lead singer of Kaiser Chiefs, is one of the lucky few who can. His enthusiasm for his job is disarming, bubbling with the sort of giddy gratitude that one might expect to fade with time.
“It’s always been my dream, which is weird – very few people have their first dream work out for them,” he tells me. “I’ve never really wanted to do anything else. There are moments of madness, of course, when you want to throw your toys out of the pram and give it all up, but I’ve always remembered how lucky I am to be living my dream – it’s like a one in a billion chance!”
The music of Kaiser Chiefs, whose European summer tour brings them to Windsor Racecourse in August, needs little introduction. Who hasn’t hit the dance floor to the strains of I Predict a Riot, Ruby or Everyday I Love You Less and Less? Ricky himself is a consummate crowd surfer with an athletic stage presence, but he’s also remarkably down-to-earth.
“The last 20 years have been just dicking about really,” he says. “It’s like playing – they do call it ‘playing music’, after all.”
Self-aggrandizement, one senses, figures little in the motivation of this particular Kaiser Chief. Nor, however, is it simply a sense of fun that has kept the band going since its formation, initially as Parva, back in 2000.
“I know exactly why we’ve lasted so long,” reveals Ricky. “It’s the fear of having to do anything else! None of us would cope in the real world, so we have to keep making music. And luckily we’ve managed to get ourselves into a position where they keep letting us do it.”
Not that life is without its pitfalls.
“The most stressful thing is that people think you have no reason to be stressed. They think you write a song at breakfast and it’s number one by lunchtime, but of course it’s nothing like that.”
Then there is the delicate balance between fan expectation and the need to break new ground.
“We’ve changed a lot over the years. Sometimes people don’t like it when you change, but you have to ignore that. People either want you to make your first album every time or they want you to do something wildly different, and you can’t make both lots happy. You just have to keep making wildly different albums and hope that the people who liked your first one come along for the ride. Thankfully, in our case, they have!”
And it isn’t just the music that’s changed. Ricky is well aware that he’s a very different person now from the young Leeds lad who started out on the road to indie rock success all those years ago. Yet the shift has been gradual.
“Obviously, when I do interviews, people want to hear about the lightning bolt moments; the events that define change in my personality and character. But all these things happen in very small increments. It’s only later in life that you notice that you can order sandwiches in over 40 languages, or that you have a place in Tokyo where you can get toast and marmite at four in the morning. That’s when you realize that you’re a real, changed person; that there are no lightning bolts after all.”
Changed man or not, Ricky still loves performing those exuberant early hits. He is connected to them, he says, “by pride and memories”. Yet the show must go on and Kaiser Chiefs are currently at work on their seventh studio album. Their songwriting method is unorthodox.
“It usually just starts with the band playing,” says Ricky. “I don’t want to sound too spiritual about it, but I kind of go into this weird trance where I just start singing stuff, and if anyone looks up at any point, I know I’ve done something good.”
It is, however, a process punctuated by touring. Fortunately Ricky has come to appreciate the nomadic lifestyle.
“It probably makes me love home even more – the fact that I travel so much gives me a really nice perspective on things. In the early days, I don’t think I embraced travel as much as I should have done. I always tried to create a little home from home, wherever I was, and didn’t really explore. Now I do, and that makes it a lot more fun. I’ve got a luggage fetish too, which definitely helps!”
And going on tour means live performance – something that never fails to excite the band’s vocal chief.
“Even when I feel like I just don’t want to do it tonight – I’m miserable, or I just want to go back to my room – the moment I’m on stage all that just melts away.”
Does he have a favourite song to perform?
“Very much so! There’s one we do called Oh My God that’s my favourite – not only because I really love it, but because for the past few years we’ve always played it last in the set.
“That’s not to say that I’m desperate for the end of the gig. But it’s like running a race: you conserve your energy and then, at the end, you kind of expend it all. So for me, that is the song that I give everything to, and after which I know that someone will have to scrape me off the floor. No matter what the gig’s been like, at the end of that song I’m always a mess.”
I ask Ricky about his relationship with his four bandmates: Andy White, the group’s guitarist, keyboardist Nick Baines, bassist Simon Rix and drummer (since 2013) Vijay Mistry.
“Well, it’s very odd; there’s nothing quite like it,” he tells me. “We’re not really friends and we’re not really brothers, but more like something in between. We understand each other very well, to the point where we’re willing to put up with a lot more from each other than you would from friends.”
Not that they’re immune from the clashes and feuds that have been the downfall of many a band.
“A lot of bands split up because things get in the way – money, ego, power – and, of course, that sort of stuff does bother us too. But we fought for this dream for so long: why would we stop fighting for it now that we’ve got it? The battle to keep something is just as hard, if not harder, than the fight to get it in the first place.”
Ricky pauses, the flow of inspiration momentarily stilled.
“Wow, that was a good answer!” he says.
Could Ricky have made it as a solo performer?
“Definitely! I’d have loved it. Going solo would have been so much easier.”
Again he pauses while I stutter in polite surprise.
“No, I’m joking, I’m joking,” he laughs. “I’m in awe of those who can do it, but we’re five flaky people who rely on each other a lot. The sum of our parts makes for something that, surprisingly, is actually not flaky at all.
“People look at our band, see me stood out the front or answering questions on TV, and they probably think I’m the leader. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. It changes, but at the moment I’d probably say that Simon is the leader.”
One thing’s for certain: Ricky is still in love with life as a rock star, determined to make the most of every opportunity.
“For a long time I’d say ‘no’ to things because, you know, I was scared, or I thought they were uncool, or I was worried about what people would think. But the older I get, the more I just think: ‘F*ck it!’ Sorry for swearing, but all these things are good. They make life so much better.”
Kaiser Chiefs will be performing at Windsor Racecourse on August 25; windsor-racecourse.co.uk
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