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Around the World and Back: An interview with Kaiser Chief's Simon Rix

Kaiser Chiefs became a sensation in England in 2004-05 on the strength of their debut album, Employment, anchored by sassy mod-rock singles like "I Predict a Riot." Along with Franz Ferdinand, they were among the New Wave-inspired bands that successfully hopped the pond and found success in America as well.

But with success came backlash, and some of the bloggers and British magazines that helped lift them to prominence were primed to skewer their sophomore album, Yours Truly, Angry Mob (due March 27th). For now, though, the Kaisers are getting the last laugh, as both Angry Mob and lead single "Ruby" have hit #1 on the UK charts.

Bassist Simon Rix recently chatted with ARTISTdirect about the pressure of following Employment, the perks of being in a rock band, and the reasons the band almost didn't release "Ruby" as their first single.

I know that the label took great precaution to avoid leaks on the internet, but I saw that even the release of "Ruby" still got pushed up a week—was that because of a leak?

Well, it got played on the radio, and it's only the download date that was pushed forward a week. I don't know, really… We're very into knowing everything about what's going on and having control over it, but occasionally you have to bow to the fact that someone else knows best—otherwise I'd be in a shop selling my own record.

Was it obvious right away that "Ruby" would be the lead single?

We didn't know. We were all really sure that "Ruby" was one of the standout tracks; it's obviously a single and it's a great pop song. But we were slightly worried because this album has got a little more substance to it, and "Ruby" is the most pop song—it's not a throwaway, but it's the one with the least kind of story to tell about it. We wondered if we should go with something more intellectual first, and then bang "Ruby" out later in the campaign to prove that we could still write a good pop tune. But we talked to a lot of managers and radio people and everyone else was like, "It's got to be ‘Ruby.'"

And it's been doing well.

Yeah, definitely in England it's everywhere. We thought it was a good single for America, too.

When you talk about having more substance on the new album, are you talking about social commentary in particular?

There's a song called "Everything Is Average Nowadays" and the title track is called "Angry Mob." Both of those songs get into social commentary a bit—not telling people what to do, but saying what we see. So when we're doing interviews and someone says, "What's ‘Angry Mob' about?" there's a story about it, and I can tell you what I think about it. With "Ruby," it's kind of a semi-love song that's still a bit sarcastic—and there isn't really anyone called Ruby, it's just a word we liked. There isn't a lot to tell about it; it's just a pop tune with some quirky bits. Musically, it's a great song. Lyrically, it's not that deep.

It must be fun to play in concert.

Definitely. Everyone can sing it. It's pretty easy. (laughs)

What kind of a role does [producer] Stephen Street play in the studio?

Well, the main thing we like about Stephen Street is that he makes us sound good. Also, although he had a little creative input on this record about little developments, he leaves us alone and lets us write our own songs. I wouldn't like a producer who tells you how to write a song. There's one band I know who just jams in the studio and their producer cuts together what they've done and makes it into songs. We spend a lot of time writing the songs before we get to the studio.

When Employment came out, you guys would say in interviews that you were just writing about what you knew—trying to make inroads in the business, working shitty jobs in the meantime, that sort of thing. I imagine that gets harder now that your daily existence is something that most people can't relate to.

Yeah. Although the album is influenced by being on the road and going to other countries and that kind of thing, we definitely didn't want it to be about hanging around on planes and that kind of crap. I think people can still relate to all the songs. We're still pretty down-to-earth as a band. Also, on the last album, the social commentary was about, yeah, having a shitty job or something we'd seen in Leeds. This time, the social commentary is maybe a bit more about the world.

Do you feel rested? Or do you feel like you've been going nonstop?

Well, we had a lot of time off. I have a good job. This year, we did some festivals and a couple of tours in Europe and Japan, but, for the most part, we were in Leeds, writing. So I was sleeping in my own bed, seeing my girlfriend, seeing my friends, hanging out and going to the pub—doing stuff I like doing. We'd go to a rehearsal room three times a week for about four hours. To be honest, even when we're away… occasionally, when you're on your ninth flight of the week, you get a bit pissed off and think you'd rather be doing something else. But generally it's pretty decent.

Did you feel the follow-up pressure? Not just because of the press, but because the label was expecting big things, and I'm sure you had high expectations within the band.

Yeah, we've got a pretty good view of what we're capable of doing, and we strive to get better and better, so we put pressure on ourselves to continue to be a good band. The last thing we want is to release a second album and have people be like "Ah, I told ya! I told ya it was a fluke!" In England, we're on an indie, so it's only like two guys who run the label, and they're pretty cool about it. They'd come to Leeds to see us and listen to the songs, and they'd generally just let us get on with it. When we got to the stage when we were like "We're ready," they came and listened and said "Yeah, we think you're ready," and we went and recorded them.

And your first U.K. tour for the new album sold out in three minutes.

We could have sold out quicker, but we used this ticket place and kind of melted their server.

Why not book bigger venues?

Well, we toured Employment a lot and played those songs a lot of times. It's not that we don't like those songs, but we want to move on and play new songs. We thought if we went back down to smaller venues—and some of them are still like 5,000 [capacity]—but if you're playing in stadiums, which we can do in England, and play nine new songs and six old songs, people won't enjoy it as much as intimate affair. We always want everyone to have a good time at our gigs. Hopefully the album goes well throughout the year and we can get back to bigger venues and it will be easier because everyone will know the songs.

One potential problem when a bigger band books smaller venues is that the tickets can be snatched up, even more so than usual, by ticket brokers who know they can do a hefty markup.

Yeah, I don't like it—that's a shame. The day we were releasing the tickets, even as we were still selling them, they were turning up on eBay. Later on in the day they were like 75 quid [about $145]. But it's weird, too, because people complain about how expensive ticket prices are, but people are still willing to pay it. If no one paid, then bands would start having empty rooms, and maybe there would be more of an effort to do something about it.

They're doing a thing in England where, when you get your ticket, you've gotta sign up and send a photo, so your ticket has got your picture on it. But that makes tickets more expensive, too. Another thing is that I don't mind if someone buys four tickets, but two of their friends drop out, so they sell those tickets and make a little bit of profit. I kind of think that's OK, but I don't really like it when people make a living out of it.

Are there still pockets around the world where you'd like to make a bigger impact?

Everywhere, really. We did okay last time in America; I think if you told me a couple years ago that we'd be as big as we are in America, I'd be very pleased—but we'd like to be bigger. Kaiser Chiefs are one of the five biggest bands in England, which is great, and we'd like to be somewhere up there everywhere, really. We've not been to South America at all, there are lots of places in Europe and Asia, too. It's a difficult task, but we'd like to do what we've done in England everywhere.

- Adam McKibbin
3.20.07

The Kaiser Chiefs new album,Yours Truly, Angry Mob, is now available in the ARTISTdirect store.