Part One:
Zane Lowe This is BBC Radio 1, my name is Zane Lowe, I represent Auckland, New Zealand and right now we have Sergio and Chris from a band called Kasabian and they represent Leicester.
Chris Karloff Easy, man.
Serge Pizzorno Yeah, Leicester, Leicester, get it right.
ZL How does the story begin for Kasabian, gentlemen?
SP Just old mates from school, you know. It’s like our proper band start, not musicians, we’re just friends. Well, none of us wanted to work, so that’s the next best thing. Yeah, cool. It’s a cool band.
ZL Easily the best job in the world.
CK Yeah, of course.
ZL So it’s safe to say then that rather than, kind of, form some calculated plan to take over the world, it really was just a case of you and your mates wanting to hang out, an excuse to hang out more than anything when you started.
SP Definitely. I mean, that kind of comes later when you realise you might be able to take over the world sort of thing.
ZL When just one day you wake up in the morning and you’re having your cereal, it just dawns on you, the world domination could in fact be yours.
SP That’s exactly right.
ZL How long did that take before you realised you could play your instruments in the songs, which were flowing quicker and better?
SP About a week, I reckon.
ZL See, that’s the kind of humble magnificence I’m looking for in this band. You lived together in a farmhouse, true?
CK True.
SP That’s the truth. We went to a party, and this guy who was at the party lived on a farm and he invited us to stay, so we thought it was a good idea because if we’d have stayed in Leicester we’d have just got loads of mates around.
ZL Dicking about, not getting anything done.
SP Yeah, exactly. So we were like 30 miles away from anywhere.
ZL You know, you have made a solid statement of intent by deciding to live together, you know? This is like a gang, isn’t it now?
SP Definitely. We’ve become telepathic living together so long now.
CK Big time.
SP Luckily we’ve not had any fights either, which is good.
ZL Yeah, that’s rare.
SP I know, it is rare.
ZL Describe the living arrangement with you guys out there. I mean, how big is this farmhouse and you know, you all got a bedroom and you got like stereo and studio and so what you got out there?
CK We’ve got like, we’ve got a studio and then we’ve got a bedroom and that’s it so we all have to share the bedroom unfortunately.
ZL What happens when you bring the girls back to the farmhouse? I mean, is this, you know?
SP Just take it in turns, y’know? We’ve got a little bell, you know like they have on the reception at hotels, like, DING.
ZL Oh you guys, I tell you, eh? It’s a good look. Who needs a mattress when you’ve got your own studio? Kasabian, the fruits of this lack of labour or this enjoyment out in this farmhouse in Leicester. You’re going to get some now. First track we played from you guys, One Fresh Meat on Radio One. I want to hear it live and I’m sure other people do too. It’s called Processed Beats. So give us some, then.
Part Two:
Zane Lowe Man, solid live session of new music from Kasabian. Processed Beats.
Unknown They’re different than the originals around that.
ZL Yeah, strong, absolutely, you know. Utilising the whole live music format to take the musical song structure to a whole different platform, I think. I saw them last night playing at a neighborhood in West London as part of a different live music thing and it was great, wasn’t it? Oh, excellent. More live music coming up from Kasabian plus more chat in a minute
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ZL Atomic bursts of guitar and razor-sharp shards of electro-noise. Words courtesy of Rick Martin. That’s right, there’s a critic out there called Rick Martin. Thrilling, jerky, electronic rock from Camilla Pia. And this is my favorite one from Stephen Jalbert at the Times; “Impressive.” Aside from those quotes, we have Kasabian, or we have one half of the band, talking to us right now with the other half, nurse their instruments and readying themselves for more rock action.
When people talk about your band at this stage, anyway, they are throwing in names, you know, obvious comparisons like Oasis, Primals, Coopers. I’m sure you’re not complaining, because I like all those bands. But, you know, you’ve got to forge your own path, right? I suppose it’s important at some point to try and leave this behind.
Serge Pizzorno They have to throw you in somewhere, you know, so… Because obviously you’ve never heard of us. They’ve always put you in these categories. I think we’ve got, as far as the Primals and Oasis, we’ve got that same, the same ideals. Musically, I don’t think we sound anything like them, but we’ve got those, those ideals that they bring to the table, that kind of confidence, you know.
ZL What was the drink of choice out there when you were making this record?
Chris Karloff We’d drink absinthe.
SP Absinthe.
ZL Right, going in nice and light, gentlemen. What was the food of choice?
SP Bird’s eye.
CK Yeah.
ZL Boy, it’s a glamorous life, this rock stardom, isn’t it? Absinthe and bird’s eye, the breakfast of champions. What was the game of choice? I’m sure you guys had your PlayStation. You couldn’t afford to eat or drink anything apart from bad alcohol, but you had a PlayStation, right?
CK Darts, mate, darts.
SP We have a board.
ZL Old school, old school. Reason is Treason is one of the singles that you’ve released so far off this record. By the way, what is this debut album called, gentlemen?
SP No idea.
CK I’m not sure yet.
ZL Okay, well you should pick one of those. This is Kasabian live on Radio 1. Tracks called Reason is Treason.
Part Three:
Zane Lowe Ooh, putting their music where their mouth is. Kasabian, they’re talking good talk, and they’re walking a good walk from Maida Vegas tonight. Live music, it’s Reason is Treason. That’s been a single we’ve played Processed Beat that was a single… And hopefully coming up real soon, we’ve got the brand new single live from Maida Vegas as well.
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ZL Alright we’ve got Chris and we’ve got, what’s your full name Serge?
Serge Pizzorno Sergio Lorenzo Pizzorno.
ZL Oh it’s a good look isn’t it, you know, you’re blessed, the minute you’re born. The minute your parents give birth to you, and dub you that one, you’re in good stead.
SP That’s a lucky name.
ZL The band is called Kasabian, they’re down at Maida Vegas right now. We have one more slice of live music coming up, forthcoming new single from their as-yet-untitled debut album. You’ve tasted the road so far with Chikinki recently and you did a stint with the Cooper Temple Clause. Does it suit you, being on the road as a band?
Chris Karloff Love it mate yeah, big time.
SP It’s definitely the place to be.
ZL You said this album took quite a long time in different spurts to do. I mean, what kind of percentage overall, do you think, you know, did you get on the record? Did you have a lot of excess material?
CK Yeah
SP I’d say probably 50% didn’t make it. It’s been saved.
ZL B-sides and rarities.
SP Yeah
CK Second album man. Touch wood.
SP We got another three you see, so we’re saving them for the next one.
ZL You guys man, you’re already planning retirement.
SP Of course we are, man. That’s why we’re doing it.
ZL I suppose having lived together, patience on the road must be fairly easy, you know what I mean for you guys as well? Not too much trouble or does the trouble spark once you get on the van?
CK No, no problems at all.
SP It’s just quiet, man.
ZL Someone’s got to be trouble. Tom?
SP Tom is trouble.
ZL I’ve heard Tom’s got a bit of rock star quality about him. There must be some kind of diva behaviour going on there.
SP He’s the rock star, he’s the ultimate. But he knows when to stop, you know? He just does it at other people.
ZL Yeah, he does right now. You wait till you’ve got six months under your belt, there’ll be no stopping him. When’s this album due out? Kasabian. As-yet-untitled, when’s it out?
SP May.
CK In May.
ZL You better get your thinking caps on and come up with the title then.
SP I know mate.
ZL Alright, answers on a postcard. [email protected]. Gentlemen, it’s been a pleasure talking to you.
CK Cheers.
ZL And we’ve enjoyed listening to your music. You’re going to end with a new single track called Club Foot. We don’t really need to know the inspiration behind this one. Let us have it.