Kaiser Chiefs im Interview

Hi Peanut, how are you?
Thanks, I'm fine. I'm in Paris right now, we're in the middle of our European tour.

First of all, how did you get your nickname?
Well, we had to draw a picture of ourselves at school. We were about 10 years old and my head in that picture looked like a peanut. I haven't got rid of my nickname ever since.

Are you enjoying the tour?
Oh yes, absolutely. It's been a long time since we did a full European tour, it's the first tour in a long time. After that, we'll embark on a UK tour and then it's Australia. It's quite cool because on the last tour the album wasn't out, so it's good to go back when everyone knows the songs.

What are you doing when you're having a day off?
Not much. In January, everyone's getting a cold so we try not to catch a cold. And when we have time, we explore new cities. Luxembourg and Brussels for example, they were very nice. What else? Sometimes we go to the bars and drink.

Do you prefer arena shows, club shows or festivals?
It depends on the time of the year. Right now, we're enjoying the arena shows, the big venues. But after that, we're looking forward to the festivals because it's warm and there's a big crowd. We remember the show in St. Gallen. It was a very warm and sunny day and Arcade Fire played on the same day so we got to see them.

You had a huge hit with "Ruby". Did you expect that?
We knew that it was a big song. We played it to our friends and everyone was saying that it was big, especially the chorus. And we knew what to expect in the UK, however, we didn't know how it would be around the world.

Was it harder to write new songs after that?
Not really. We tried to write a good feeling record with "Off With Their Heads". We didn't try to make "Ruby 2". And I would say that we managed to make another good album. It's real good kind of danceable and catchy. It sounds like we're having a good time and that's what we wanted.

What bands do influence you?
There are lots of big British bands, but in general I would say that we're influenced by David Bowie, The Who, The Kinks and The Beach Boys. We really like bands that are not writing singles but try to make albums with small journeys. That's what we try too. We don't like bad pop songs. I won't name any bands.

What can we expect from your live shows?
Well, you'll see the Kaiser Chiefs having a good time and playing the greatest hits from three albums. We have a lot to choose right now so it's big fun to play the setlist at the moment. It's a quite powerful set.

Any plans to play Swiss festivals this summer?
I don't know the exact dates but yes, we'll be playing some festivals this summer. You'll know more in a few weeks.

Peanut, thanks for the interview.
Thank you.

Die Kaiser Chiefs spielen am 6. Februar 2009 im Volkshaus in Zürich. Tickets gibt es hier.

Das Album "Off With Their Heads" ist am 17. Oktober 2008 bei Universal Music erschienen.