Kaiser Chiefs

This article covers the British band. For the South African football club, see Kaizer Chiefs .

Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs at the 2013 Greenville Festival
General information
origin	Leeds , England
Genre (s)	Indie rock , new wave
founding	2003
Website	www.kaiserchiefs.co.uk
Current occupation
Lead vocals , percussion	Ricky Wilson
Electric guitar	Andrew "Whitey" White
Electric bass	Simon Rix
Keyboard	Nick "Peanut" Baines
Drums	Vijay Mistry (since 2013)
former members
Drums, backing vocals	Nick Hodgson (until 2012)

Kaiser Chiefs at the 2013 Greenville Festival

Kaiser Chiefs in Munich , 2005

Kaiser Chiefs is a British rock band . It was early 2003 in Leeds , and it began from the garage rock - band Parva forth. The name of the band is based on the former club of the Leeds United player Lucas Radebe , the Kaizer Chiefs from Johannesburg .

history

The beginnings of Parva

The original members of today's Kaiser Chiefs are Nick Hodgson (born October 20, 1977), Nick "Peanut" Baines (born March 21, 1978) and Simon Rix (born October 18, 1977), who together formed a high school band. But Nick quickly realized that the group was missing a suitable lead singer. A boy from the neighborhood introduced him to his school friend Ricky (born January 17, 1978). When the left-handed guitarist Andrew "Whitey" White (born August 28, 1974) later joined the troupe, the band was complete.

They gave themselves the name Runston Parva , which was later shortened to Parva . The young band had their first appearance in 1997 as opening act in the Duchess Of York in Leeds. But the big breakthrough did not materialize at first. Hodgson later recalled in an interview with Steve Lamacq that at a concert in Lincoln one of the spectators even fell asleep during their performance. During the band members' student days, music was inevitably just a hobby for the time being, limited to occasional appearances in small local clubs.

After college, Ricky survived financially as an art teacher, Peanut worked in a pub and repaired computers, Simon lived on rental income, Nick worked alongside the band as a DJ and Whitey was employed in various offices through a temporary employment agency. The money that the band members earned during this time they invested in new equipment and worked on new songs in every free minute that came up. Since Peanut's uncle worked as a producer, the young band had the opportunity to produce free demo tapes which they sent to radio stations, record companies and music critics. To make a name for themselves in the Leeds music scene and to expand their audience, they established their own club in the city called Pigs .

In 2000 the first supposed success: the band received a record deal with the indie label Mantra and in 2002 recorded their first studio album called 22 within six months . But the upswing did not last long, because shortly afterwards Mantra went broke. But instead of giving up, the band used the setback to completely rethink their concept. The band later jokingly said in an interview that they had changed everything except their faces. Recent public appearance Parvas completed the five with a cover of Survivor -Klassikers Eye of the Tiger .

The founding of the Kaiser Chiefs

After the end of Parvas , the band said goodbye to their 1990s garage rock style and went back to their northern English roots. So they created their own style. The goal back then, as Nick Hodgson later recalled in an interview, was to be the opposite of everything that was considered "trendy" in the indie scene at the time. The first Kaiser Chiefs song the band wrote in 2003 was Modern Way . The first single the band released on the Drowned In Sound label was Oh My God , in a version the band recorded in Nick's bedroom.

First the indie record company B-Unique , then the major label Universal Music noticed the Kaiser Chiefs and signed them. The first album Employment was produced by Stephen Street in 2004 within a few weeks. The singer Ricky later explained the fast recording of the songs as follows: " We just went in and bashed them out, pressed play and record at the same time ." The band's big breakthrough came in autumn 2004 with the single I Predict a Riot , with which they reached the British single charts. Their participation in the NME tour in 2004 helped them to become known in the UK. Together with other newcomers at the time such as The Killers , Bloc Party and Futureheads , they toured all over Great Britain. Due to the great success that the bands on this tour had, they were later known in the British indie rock scene as the legendary "Class of 2004". In February 2005, the Kaiser Chiefs released their debut single Oh My God a second time and entered the top ten in their home country. Employment was released in March 2005 and received high critical acclaim. That same year the Chiefs also released a DVD titled Enjoyment , which depicts the band's history in a humorous way.

Highlights of the band's history

The second album, Yours Truly, Angry Mob , was also produced by Stephen Street in 2006 and went on sale on February 23, 2007. The band made their breakthrough in Germany with the piece Ruby . The single slowly climbed to eleventh place in the German single charts. In 2007 producer Mark Ronson covered the Kaiser Chiefs song Oh My God with the then newcomer Lily Allen . The band was enthusiastic and even appeared in the accompanying music video. Mark Ronson and Lily Allen became good friends of the band. In 2008 Allen sang a guest part on the song Never Miss a Beat on the album Off with Their Heads co-produced by Mark Ronson .

On October 17, 2008, the Kaiser Chiefs' third studio album, Off with Their Heads, was released . That same year they played the biggest concert of their careers when they performed in front of 35,000 spectators at Elland Road Stadium in Leeds. This is the home of their favorite football team, Leeds United FC.

In 2008 the British rapper Sway took on a guest part on her album Off with Their Heads . In the same year they performed with the British girl group Girls Aloud and sang a medley from I Predict a Riot and the Girls Aloud song Sound of the Underground with them .

In 2009 Ruby and Never Miss a Beat were part of the official soundtrack for Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 .

The Kaiser Chiefs quickly made a name for themselves as a popular live band due to their energetic performances. They played all the big festivals, including the Glastonbury Festival (UK), Werchter (B), Lollapalooza (US) and Rock am Ring (D). They were also always happy to serve as the opening act. They played in the opening act for the Foo Fighters on their US tour in 2005 and as the opening act for Green Day on their European tour in 2013. In July 2009 Kaiser Chiefs appeared as the opening act for three U2 concerts as part of the 360 ° tour: in Paris on July 11th and 12th, 2009 and Dublin on July 25th, 2009.

In 2010 most of the band moved to London. Nick Hodgson opened his own recording studio Chewdio , in which other artists recorded pieces in addition to the Kaiser Chiefs ( The Future Is Medieval ). Hodgson devoted himself increasingly to his production activities. In addition to the Kaiser Chiefs album The Future Is Medieval , which he co-produced, he also worked as a songwriter and producer for the album All You Need Is Now of Duran Duran .

A physical version of the fourth studio album The Future Is Medieval with twelve tracks was released on June 27, 2011 , after fans were able to put together their own download version with 10 tracks from June 3 , 2011 . For £ 7.50 you could create your “own” album from 20 pieces, of which a one-minute sample could be heard. It was also possible to fall back on versions of previous customers, whereby the respective creator of the version was refunded one pound.

In 2012, they performed a cover of The Who’s Pinball Wizard at the closing ceremony of the Summer Olympics in London . In the same year they released the compilation Souvenir: The Singles 2004–2012 , which contained all singles released up to then and two new songs.

From November 2012, the singer Ricky Wilson in Jeff Wayne's high-level busy playing musical version of The War of the Worlds , The War of the Worlds - The New Generation , the role of "Artilleryman". In January 2013 the cast stopped in Germany on their tour of Europe.

On December 4, 2012 Nick Hodgson announced his departure from the band in order to be able to devote himself more intensively to work on the two record labels Chewing Gum Records and Birthday Records as well as his new band Albert Albert . Until then, Hodgson was considered the main songwriter of the Kaiser Chiefs and the main force behind the group. The remaining four band members then initially decided not to replace Hodgson with a full-time member, but instead to continue as a quartet. For the 2013 tour, they hired Club Smith drummer Vijay Mistry, who has since supported the band on a permanent basis and has since been recognized as a new member - also by the fans.

In March 2014 the fifth studio album Education, Education, Education & War was released . This was largely financed by the band itself. In order to raise the necessary capital, the Chiefs decided, among other things, to work in a commercial for an online service of the British financial company Barclays . Ricky Wilson also made himself available at the beginning of 2014 alongside Kylie Minogue , Tom Jones and Will.i.am ( Black Eyed Peas ) as a coach for the British edition of the TV talent show The Voice . On the talk show Lorraine , he let it be known that not all band members agreed with this step. But the risk paid off. Education, Education, Education & War was released the week before the show's finale and made it straight to # 1 on the UK album charts. Keyboardist Peanut: “ When Nick left us and was of the opinion that the Kaiser Chiefs were finished, we noticed that exactly the opposite was the case, that we wanted to go on and fight. And you can hear this passion, this anger, this aggression, this energy and this love. We want to do what we do - we want the Kaiser Chiefs. Nobody can take that away from us. It's a shame we didn't realize it until Nick left us. "

style

The music style of the Kaiser Chiefs moves between indie rock and garage rock and is influenced by bands like The Beach Boys , Super Furry Animals , The Kinks , XTC , Beta Band , Blur , Supergrass , 10cc , Small Faces , Dexys Midnight Runners and Madness . They are reluctant to commit themselves to certain influences, as keyboardist Nick "Peanut" Baines announced in an interview on February 3, 2007. He particularly pointed out that they got a lot of inspiration from British bands they grew up with, but each song sounds different. The Kaiser Chiefs are friends with the band Franz Ferdinand .

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2005	Employment	DE55 (4 weeks) DE	-	-	UK2 × 6 Six-fold platinum (101 weeks)UK	US86 (7 weeks) US	First published: March 7, 2005
2007	Yours Truly, Angry Mob	DE6 (22 weeks) DE	AT5 gold (18 weeks)AT	CH11 (26 weeks) CH	UK1 × 2 Double platinum (80 weeks)UK	US45 (6 weeks) US	First published: February 26, 2007
2008	Off with their heads	DE29 (2 weeks) DE	AT25 (3 weeks) AT	CH19 (4 weeks) CH	UK2 gold (17 weeks)UK	US55 (2 weeks) US	First published: October 20, 2008
2011	The Future Is Medieval	-	-	CH83 (2 weeks) CH	UK10 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: June 3, 2011
2014	Education, Education, Education & War	DE39 (1 week) DE	-	CH76 (1 week) CH	UK1 gold (21 weeks)UK	-	First published: March 31, 2014
2016	Stay together	-	-	CH88 (1 week) CH	UK4 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: October 7, 2016
2019	Duck	-	-	CH40 (1 week) CH	UK3 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: July 26, 2019

More albums

year	title	Remarks
2012	Start the Revolution Without Me	First published: March 6, 2012 (US only)

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2012	Souvenir: The Singles 2004–2012	-	-	-	UK19th gold (5 weeks)UK	-	First published: June 4, 2012

EPs

year	title	Remarks
2005	Lap of Honor	First published: January 18, 2005

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2004	Oh My God Employment	-	-	-	UK6th silver (25 weeks)UK	-	First published: May 17, 2004
	I Predict a Riot Employment	DE79 (2 weeks) DE	-	-	UK22nd platinum (6 weeks)UK	-	First published: November 1, 2004
2005	Everyday I Love You Less and Less Employment	-	-	-	UK10 silver (34 weeks)UK	-	First published: May 16, 2005
	Sink That Ship • I Predict a Riot Employment	-	-	-	UK9 (41 weeks) UK	-	First published: August 22, 2005
	Modern Way Employment	-	-	-	UK11 (15 weeks) UK	-	First published: November 7, 2005
2007	Ruby Yours Truly, Angry Mob	DE11 (28 weeks) DE	AT14 (28 weeks) AT	CH13 (36 weeks) CH	UK1 platinum (43 weeks)UK	-	First published: February 5, 2007
	Everything Is Average Nowadays Yours Truly, Angry Mob	DE99 (1 week) DE	-	-	UK19 (7 weeks) UK	-	First published: May 21, 2007
	The Angry Mob Yours Truly, Angry Mob	-	-	-	UK22 (8 weeks) UK	-	First published: August 20, 2007
2008	Never Miss a Beat Off with Their Heads	DE76 (4 weeks) DE	AT65 (2 weeks) AT	-	UK5 silver (12 weeks)UK	-	First published: October 6, 2008
2014	Coming Home Education, Education, Education & War	DE80 (1 week) DE	-	-	UK31 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: February 13, 2014

More singles

• 2005: You Can Have It All
• 2007: Love's Not a Competition (But I'm Winning)
• 2008: Good Days Bad Days
• 2011: Little Shocks
• 2011: Man on Mars
• 2011: Kinda Girl You Are
• 2012: On the Run
• 2012: Listen to Your Head
• 2014: Bows & Arrows
• 2014: Meanwhile Up in Heaven
• 2014: Ruffians on Parade
• 2014: My Life
• 2015: Falling Awake
• 2016: Parachute
• 2016: Hole in My Soul
• 2016: We Stay Together
• 2019: Record Collection

Awards

• On February 18, 2005, the Kaiser Chiefs received the Philip Hall Radar Award from the British music magazine NME .
• On February 15, 2006, they won the BRIT Awards for Best British Band , Best British Rock Group and Best British Live Act .
• In 2008 the Kaiser Chiefs won the British Q Awards for Best Live Act. In 2011 they were recognized for the innovative album release by The Future Is Medieval .

social commitment

• In 2005 the Kaiser Chiefs opened Bob Geldof's international charity concert Live8 in Philadelphia.
• In 2010 Ricky Wilson took part in the “Movember” campaign, which supports prostate cancer research. Wilson stood over a mustache for the month of November and raised funds for the initiative.
• After Nick Hodgson's father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's , Ricky Wilson ran the 2011 London Marathon to raise funds for the British Alzheimer's Foundation. However, it collapsed after 3 hours 20 minutes and 38.6 kilometers due to hypoglycaemia. However, he did not let this incident get him down and ran the remaining kilometers of the marathon five days later.
• In the same year the Kaiser Chiefs took part in the clean-up after the riots in London . They were surprised when, as a result of the incidents, sales of their 2004 single, I Predict a Riot, rose significantly in Great Britain. The British rapper Plan B addresses the riots in his song Ill Manors . He also refers to the band, but not to I Predict a Riot , but specifically to Never Miss a Beat .
• The cover image for the single compilation Souvenir was designed by the British artist Sarah Graham. In September 2013, the original painting was auctioned for £ 10,250 in aid of the Letchworth GC charity Garden House Hospice (GHH) .

Others

In 2007, Ricky Wilson took on the role of guest presenter for an edition of the British pop TV quiz show Never Mind The Buzzcocks . Despite great praise for his moderation skills, he ruled out a second career in television. The situation was different with the singer's trips into the film business: Wilson played an extra role in the movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part I. In the scene where Harry, Hermione and Ron come out of the elevator in the Ministry of Magic, he is standing to the right of the elevator and is talking to another "Ministry employee". As early as 2009, he played a small speaking role in the film St. Trinian's alongside Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding . The Legend of Fritton's Gold .

literature

• Seamus Craic: Kaiser Chiefs . 1st edition. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, July 2006, ISBN 3-89602-718-2 .

swell

1. ↑ BBC Introducing Masterclass. Steve Lamacq in conversation with Kaiser Chiefs [1] , last accessed April 13, 2014
2. ^ Kaiser Chiefs interview with The Culture Show, 2005
3. ^ Carling Interview [2] , last accessed on April 13, 2014
4. ↑ BBC Introducing Masterclass. Steve Lamacq in conversation with Kaiser Chiefs [3] , last accessed April 13, 2014
5. ↑ BBC Introducing Masterclass. Steve Lamacq in conversation with Kaiser Chiefs [4] , last accessed April 13, 2014
6. ^ Popworld Interview Ricky Wilson [5] , last accessed on April 13, 2014
7. ↑ BBC Introducing Masterclass. Steve Lamacq in conversation with Kaiser Chiefs [6] , last accessed April 13, 2014
8. ↑ Kaiser Chiefs in an interview with GoTV, 2007 [7] , last accessed on April 13, 2014
9. ↑ BBC Introducing Masterclass. Steve Lamacq in conversation with Kaiser Chiefs [8] , last accessed April 13, 2014
10. ↑ Interview with Mania.tv 2005
11. ↑ NME article of November 16, 2004 [9] , last accessed on April 13, 2014
12. ↑ NME article of May 24, 2008 [10] , last accessed on April 13, 2014
13. ^ Youtube: Kaiser Chiefs perform with Girls Aloud [11] , last accessed on April 13, 2014
14. ↑ soundtracks-mp3.blogspot.com ( Memento from October 28, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
15. ^ Kaiser Chiefs and Foo Fighters form supergroup, NME, October 21, 2005 [12] , last accessed on April 13, 2014
16. ^ Green Day confirm Kaiser Chiefs, All Time Low support. BBC, October 22, 2012 [13] , last accessed April 13, 2014
17. ↑ Opening act for U2's 360 ° tour
18. ^ Kaiser Chiefs collaborate with Duran Duran. NME, March 24, 2009 [14] , last accessed April 13, 2014
19. ↑ nme.com
20. ↑ [15]
21. ↑ [16]
22. ↑ nme.com
23. ↑ kaiserchiefs.com ( Memento of the original from March 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
24. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VKlm78FG3o ( Memento from October 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
25. ↑ [17]
26. ↑ [18]
27. ↑ The Rebirth of the Kaiser Chiefs. NTV, April 4, 2014 [19] , last accessed on April 13, 2014
28. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
29. ↑ ^{a b} Awards for Music Sales: AT UK
30. ^ Kaiser Chiefs win Best Live Act. Powerlinead, October 6, 2008 [20] , last accessed April 13, 2014
31. ↑ Q Award 2011 winners. Mirror, October 24, 2011 [21] , last accessed April 13, 2014
32. ↑ Live 8 series of images from Rolling Stone magazine [22] , last accessed on April 13, 2014
33. ^ Movember Homepage [23] , last accessed on April 13, 2014
34. ^ Ricky Wilson finishes London Marathon, digitalspy.co.uk [24] , last accessed on April 13, 2014
35. ^ Kaiser Chiefs help in London riot clean-ups. BBC Radio1, August 9, 2011 [25] , last accessed April 13, 2014
36. ↑ www.thecomet.net [26] , last accessed on April 13, 2014
37. ↑ Youtube: Ricky guest hosting Never Mind The Buzzcocks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaVwT7Lq660 ( Memento from December 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) , last accessed on April 13, 2014
38. ↑ Interview with GoTV, 2007 [27] , last accessed on April 13, 2014
39. ↑ Kaiser Chiefs' Ricky Wilson lands role in the 'Harry Potter' movie. NME, April 9, 2010 [28] , last accessed April 13, 2014
40. ^ Ricky Wilson lands role in new St. Trinian's movie. Gigwise.com, August 12, 2009 [29] , last accessed April 13, 2014
41. ↑ Youtube: Scene from St Trinian's. The legend of Fritton's Gold [30] , last accessed April 13, 2014

Web links

Commons : Kaiser Chiefs  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the Kaiser Chiefs (English)
• Official German website of the Kaiser Chiefs
• Video, radio interview and pictures of the Kaiser Chiefs on sputnik.de
• Kaiser Chiefs at laut.de
• Interview with Simon Rix at :: exit.music :: Switzerland
• Interview from February 3, 2007 on skipmag.de