Ricky Wilson, Kaiser Chiefs (Photo: Andy Crossland for Live4ever Media)
Kaiser Chiefs bandmates Ricky Wilson and Simon Rix have been discussing the songwriting void created in the band following the departure of drummer Nick Hodgson towards the end of 2012.
“Last year was the year Ricky and I became closest – we were locked in a studio for a few months so that was important, creatively,” Rix tells The Guardian.
“But it was also the first time we really talked and were honest with each other. When we wrote music before, Nick would be the centre point. He made a lot of the decisions regarding songs, lyrics, ideas. We needed to learn to trust each other without him there, go back to the old days, sit in a pub and discuss how we wanted this next album to sound.”
Kaiser Chiefs release their new album ‘Education, Education, Education & War’ at the end of next month, and frontman Wilson has again admitted his main motivation behind accepting an invitation to join the judging panel of BBC’s The Voice was to get his band’s music back in the wider public consciousness.
“I wanted to be a judge on The Voice to get our new stuff out there to as many people as possible, because it has been a while,” he says.