You have to love it when big dreams get realized on small thinkers. This is the story of the Kaiser Chiefs. The Kaiser Chiefs started off as a group of 5 chums in the city of Leeds, England in the summer of 2003. They did not have lofty ambitions however, their ultimate goal was to make it to perform at the hometown festival. No, these 5 chaps did not want to hit England with another storm of English crooners, they were headed for the Leeds Festival with a hot Indie-pop sound if it was the last thing they did.
The story begins the same way most rock band stories begin. A group of friends that played some music together in high school got together to realize the great British dream of the Leeds Festival. In 2003 the band was comprised of Ricky Wilson on lead vocals, Simon Rix on bass, Andrew “Whitey” White on guitar, Nick Hodgson on Drums and vocals, and Nick “Peanut” Baines on keyboards.
The standard ‘dues paying’ was accomplished through the recording and practicing that took place in the bedroom of Nick Hodgson. Influences for the band at this time were The Beach Boys, Dexys Midnight Runners, Blur, Super Furry Animals, Madness, and The Kinks, No broken sweat was required to achieve the Leeds Festival dream, it was on to bigger and better things.
Knowing they had struggled through high school trying to fit in, they sang about what rang truest to their hearts – being broke and not fitting in. Seemingly, many Brits related to this and the hot Indie - pop sound of the Kaiser Chiefs, and their first single “Oh My God” was a self-financed, limited release on the Indie Label Drowned in Sound. This hit number 66 on the UK charts despite its limited status.
The second hit “I Predict a Riot” came off another Indie label, B-Unique, and went right to the UK’s top 20 almost overnight. At this point, they started to realize their fame with appearances on David Letterman and the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. By 2005, the NME Awards Tour picked the Kaiser Chiefs as their opener, a gig that had previously launched Coldplay and Franz Ferdinand to unprecedented success.
Within 18 months the Kaiser Chiefs had blown away the singles charts in the UK and played in global venues such as Moscow. By the time they hit the United States, three major labels were vying for their John Hancocks, with Universal Records beating everyone to the bottom line crunch. Up until this big break, the Kaiser Chiefs had consistently recorded every one of their demos and releases in Nick’s bedroom.
Their debut album Employment was produced by Stephen Street, known for his work with The Smiths, Blur, and The Cranberries. This album went far and above the expectations of Universal Records, fans, and critics. The UK charts kept the Kaiser Chiefs in the top 10 for long enough to get them recognition as best-selling artists in 2005. Raving reviews from publications such as The Rolling Stone, The Big Issue, The Guardian, and Stateside came pouring in. Radio latched on to this print success giving them coveted “overplayed” status, and leaving their album in the Top 40 for eighteen months straight. It did not take long for Employment to hit double platinum.
2005 marked the beginning of some road work for the Kaiser Chiefs. They became legendary for their jam-packed energy highs of 75 minute long shows, which quickly ranked them a nomination for Best British Live Act. With this, they received an invitation to perform for the 20th anniversary of Bob Geldoff’s LiveAid in Philadelphia. Alongside other performers such as rock icon Stevie Wonder, they had their performance sent via satellite to the global network of LiveAid venues. This was their first mass world-wide exposure for the Kaiser Chiefs.
Their next single “Modern Way” sealed the deal for the Kaiser Chief’s position in the Indie-pop genre and they took the opening slot for the NME Brats tour with The Killers, The Futureheads, and the Bloc Party. Exactly one year later they had sold more than a million records in the UK and three million worldwide and were known as the band to beat having played in the UK’s largest gigs – Millennium Square, London’s Ally Pally, and their home town Leeds Festival.
And being the band to beat was the theme of their next success. For the Kaiser Chiefs this came with the 2006 Brit Awards, a show where they not only opened but took home three of their five nominated categories. Here the Kaiser Chiefs again humbly noted the extent of their talent as they overcame bands in their categories such as Oasis, Franz Ferdinand, Coldplay, and Gorillaz for the awards of Best British Group, Best British Live Act, and Best British Rock Act. The NME followed this with the elite Ivor Novello Award, which positioned them alongside the greatest songwriters of the world.
European travels were next on the list for the Kaiser Chiefs who spent this time testing out a series of 22 tracks that comprised their next album Yours Truly, Angry Mob. By now, the Kaiser Chiefs had come full circle, as these tracks had been developed, rehearsed, and written in Leeds, the place where it all started. But there is plenty more where that came from, these lads have only just begun.