Exclusive Kasabian interview

Words: Henry Yates - Pictures: Jude Edginton

The kitchen of Kasabian’s Buckinghamshire farmhouse is already buzzing and it’s only 10am – an early start by rock’n’roll standards. A tour manager jabs at his laptop. A housekeeper takes orders and trades banter. Still in boxer shorts, guitarist Serge Pizzorno butters toast, while notoriously vocal frontman Tom Meighan competes with the racket of a smoothie maker. And ShortList? We keep our head down and try not to provoke the pit bull on the window ledge.

An hour later, the band is ready for business. Striding down the lane to the bluebell field where our photographer is waiting, Meighan, Pizzorno, bassist Chris Edwards and drummer Ian Matthews are relaxed but have a point to prove. It’s a long way from the Leicester club circuit to the top table of British indie, and while most agree the band’s swaggering ascent is deserved, others dismiss 2004’s Kasabian and 2006’s Empire as mere mash-ups of every lad-rock outfit from the Rolling Stones to Oasis. This summer, they hope third album West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum will end the debate, as Serge and Tom explain…

The album name is a bit of a mouthful…
Serge Pizzorno: It was a real asylum, from back in the 18th century. But the album ain’t nothing about the place. The idea of madness was what attracted me. There’s a fine line between genius and madness. It only takes a twig to snap and you’re gone, y’know?
Tom Meighan: We wanted to come back with something mind-boggling. We never make it easy on ourselves. I like the dangerous side of this band. We’re f*cking rebels – our music and everything about us. I still believe we’re semi-underground. I think we’re the coolest underground band out there.
SP: You wouldn’t choose a f*cking album title like that if you wanted to sell records. We’re doing it for the f*cking love and the art, not just to join the club.

Did you ever consider giving the album away free like Coldplay are about to do?
TM: Well, they can afford to, can’t they? No. Not in a million years. Do you go to a toy shop, pick up a Scalextric and say, “Is this free?” Do you go into a bank and ask for free money? How do you want people to feel when they listen to it?
SP: This album is like being in a f*cking boxing match. It batters your head around. It’s a lot of information. It’s a real headspin as a piece of music. But it’s uplifting. It drags you out of your f*cking seat and makes you do something. It’s in your face and confrontational. It gives you those ups and downs, that euphoric rush.