|
|||
|
Kaiser
Chiefs' Peanut Flashback  Official
Site |
Last year they traveled to many countries, including Japan, Australia and South America. Peanut was especially excited about last year's tour arrangements as he had, "never been outside Europe.”
October was spent in London and then it was off to Australia during November to open for the Foo Fighters. He described waiting around in airports and having jetlag as the most difficult aspects of traveling, "Sometimes that jetlag will hit you an hour after you're on stage and you're like... then all of the sudden you're like whooaaa. But that's what we do."
To help make traveling as stress free as possible, Peanut always packed everything, “I more or less take home with me wherever I go – my computer, my iPod, my clothes, my shoes, everything. That way I know wherever I go I have everything I need."
Upon his return, he could not wait to go to the place he feels most secure, "My home in Leeds, which ironically that's the place the London bombers came from. It's the people I know really, the shops, the bars, the streets I know... ah... Leeds is still my home and I'll always feel safest in my house."
He went on to say about the bombings, "The first thing was obviously shock you know, and a helpless feeling almost, you know. We were actually not there at the time when it was happening. And of course there was this feeling of: I should be home. I should be helping all these people there get through it. If there was any way we could have helped we would have helped, yea. I imagine we feel quite the same as the people who suffered from 9/11; quite the same thing actually. Kind of a feeling that I wanted to be there and to help show these people that we're not going to have this shite, this is our country. At the same time we were all worried about how our friends and family were."
On a lighter note, Peanut talked about some of their more memorable shows in 2005, "To be part of the global Live 8 event was like wow. This will be the event of my generation. It's just amazing. You know, this is something we can say for the rest of our lives, that we were part of Live 8. It's an honour, and it's a good thing because at least all of the people who watched the event all over the world, at least they're aware of the issues and it shows how easy it is for people to change things together as well."
Another event that struck a cord in 2005 was the Lollapalooza festival, "It was cool, it was really good... Actually... it wasn't cool it was bloody hot. It was great. The crowd was really cool. We played at like 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock in the afternoon. We got a few people up on stage to sing "Oh My God." They all started singing the song and the crowd got into it. And you hear all these 'whoooaaaas.' It was really cool."
Even though both events were quite memorable in his mind, he still prefers smaller, more intimate shows, "They are so different, you know. Regular gigs are great. It's great. You're playing to 1000 or so people and it's a smallish room so it's not as large as an outdoor festival. Of course when you're playing an outdoor festival it's really great to look around and just see people everywhere, but I think it's not quite as good as a smaller gig. A smaller gig is much more intimate and you got your fans around you screaming and singing."
Despite the constant touring and recording over the years, Peanut still has to keep himself really busy before a show, lest he get too nervous. Nerves aside, the Kaiser Chiefs were actually selected as a nominee in the Mercury awards in 2005 and he thought, "It was great. It was nice to be nominated. It's the first award we've been nominated for since Employment came out. It's nice to get a little recognition."
As our time wrapped up, I had to ask about the hat. "It just happened when I wore a hat that I became identifiable by the hats, and it just so happens that hats are a piece of clothing that I like to wear, so why not," he laughed.
© 2003 All Rights Reserved, ACED Magazine