Ahead of their Surrey show this month, Kaiser Chiefs’ Ricky Wilson and Simon Rix tune up with Rosanna Greenstreet
Bands come and go, but the indie rockers, Kaiser Chiefs, have been a firm favourite since their formation in Leeds in 2003. Fronted by the irrepressible Ricky Wilson, who has a parallel career as a coach on the BBC show The Voice, the band has achieved two number one albums, sold a whopping six million records worldwide and won three BRIT awards.
Now, on August 6, the band is coming to Sandown Park Racecourse for the first time, for what promises to be a fun-packed evening of racing and music. Having already done one gig at York Racecourse, Ricky can’t wait.
“It’s like a wedding, because you’ve got guys with their ties around their heads going mental,” he says. “I really enjoy it, it’s a different vibe to anything else we’ve done. It’s like a festival with good toilet facilities and a dress code!”
The evening begins with six races and culminates in the musical entertainment. Kaiser Chiefs are sure to play old favourites like I Predict a Riot and Ruby, as well as the more recent hit Coming Home from their latest album Education, Education, Education and War.
“We want everyone to have the night of their lives,” says Ricky. “I want them to go away thinking that’s the best gig they’ve ever seen.”
The band comprises Ricky on vocals, bassist Simon Rix, guitarist Andrew White, keyboardist Nick Baines and, since 2013, Vijay Mistry on drums – original drummer and founder member Nick Hodgson quit at the end of 2012.
That year had begun on a high with 20 dates in the United Kingdom, followed by a North American tour. Later the band released its first compilation album, Souvenir: The Singles 2004-2012, and performed at the Olympics Closing Ceremony.
Just four months later, however, on December 4, Nick revealed via Twitter that he was leaving to concentrate on other projects. As he was the main songwriter, this was a considerable blow and the four remaining Chiefs found it hard to carry on.
“We didn’t know whether we could do it, you know. I’ve never written a song without Nick being in the room,” says Ricky.
“I always felt we had the talent and that we would do it,” adds Simon. “We just had to work out how. It’s like when a football team has a star player like Ronaldo, but then he gets injured, or he can’t play, and the team play amazingly without him. Everyone steps up and fills the gap, because that’s how life works.
“I think Nick leaving gave us a new sense of motivation and new energy. When we first started the band, we were all desperate to get signed or play a certain venue – like Brixton Academy or Glastonbury. We did lots and lots of things in our career and we got complacent. And then, suddenly, we had to decide positively that we wanted to carry on. We had to write better songs. It made us hungry again.”
“You forget how hard you worked in the first place,” reflects Ricky. “Nostalgia makes it feel like it was all luck – right place, right time. You forget the van journeys and all the gigs, and the fact that we didn’t give up when there was no promise of anything.
“So why would we give up now, when we’ve already got a name that people know and albums that people love, and when it’s just a matter of pushing it over the edge? Instead, we started working as hard as we did at the beginning and not just taking it for granted.”
Thus resolved, in 2013 the band began songwriting in earnest. Education, Education, Education and War was released last year, went to number one in the Official Albums Chart and was nominated for a Q Award.
Determined not to rest on their laurels, the guys have now begun work on their next album – the first song, Falling Awake, was released earlier this year.
“It’s weird,” says Ricky, “but being nominated for a Q Award means more than winning one eight years ago, as we felt like we put a lot more into making the record. We felt closer to it.”
This year Ricky triumphed for the first time on The Voice, with his protégé Stevie McCrorie. His fellow coaches are the huge stars Tom Jones, Will.i.am and Rita Ora. Is he tempted to ask them to collaborate with his band?
“I’m not going to ask Will.i.am to remix a record, or Rita to appear on Falling Awake,” he insists. “Collaborations are not very us. We like the unit we’ve got. It worked for a long time, and even though we had a hiccup when Nick left, we pulled it back together.”
And before Kaiser Chiefs take to the stage at Sandown, will they execute a pre-performance ritual?
“Yeah, we’re all very superstitious,” says Ricky. “We usually have a disco before we go on.”
A disco?
“Nothing crazy,” explains Simon. “We just like to be on our own – just the band, no strangers. You know, play some music, get pumped.”
“It’s like a school disco!” laughs Ricky. “No girls!”
Check out Sandown Racecourse online for details and future events
See the Kaiser Chiefs website for future tour details and musical releases
