Archive: Kings of Leon 2007

After a short sabbatical to record their third album, those good ole boys from Tennessee, Kings of Leon, are back with their own unique Southern take on indie-blues- arty-rock noodlings. Marc Sallis caught up with the band the day after a hard night on the town celebrating their first gig in London of 2007.

Photos by Rachel Bevis
Words by Marc Sallis

It’s the afternoon after the night before and I’m the first interview of the day for Kings of Leon as they wake from their slumber at their fancy Park Lane hotel. As they enter the room the hangovers from the previous night’s after show party are more than evident with sunglasses covering most of the evidence from the carnage that ensued as the band high-five each other as they share stories of their adventures.

After ordering up some high-class room service burgers, steak sandwiches and beers to cure their hangovers we sit down and start the interview with the three brothers, one cousin quartet from Tennessee.



On the first listen to their new album, ‘Because of the Times’, it’s evident the band have absorbed some new-wave influences that have given their sound an added dimension. Standout track ‘Charmer’ is reminiscent of some of The Pixies better work, but was this ‘new sound’ a cheap trick at keeping up with the competition or just a natural progression for the band?

Bassist, Jared Followill is the first of the Followill clan to take up the mantle: “We’ve always listened to that kinda music but all this stuff is just starting to come out of us now. We’d gotten bored with other avenues that we’d taken and wanted to do other things and just spat it out.”

The two-minute songs are also on the wane as the new album’s opener, ‘Knocked Up’, clocks in at a whopping 7 minutes 10 seconds. But this wasn’t an intentional epic, but more of something that developed on a whim, as drummer Nathan explains:

“The recorder was just running, it was suppose to be a 3-minute song. We were just playing to fade out the track and the producer ran in and said ‘Keep it going’. When you listen to the record you can hear the door slamming after he walks back out of the studio to pick everything up and we just kept on going.”



But front man Caleb admits that it was always their intention to have a few more longer songs on the album: “We always wanted to have a longer song. We were just sick of having a set list with 40 songs on it just to play an hour set because they’re all just a minute long! It really builds and we said it was either gonna be the first song of the last song and everyone would have put it as the last song so we felt like it sounded like a train starting to go so we thought it was a good start."

While I didn’t have to waste valuable words introducing you to the band, due to their success over the last five years in the UK, Kings of Leon are still struggling to repeat their success in their homeland. This is something they hope to change with the release of their new album.

“It’d be nice to spend a few more months at home and be able to tour there more,” ponders Jared. “It feels good to play the country where you’re from instead of playing Bosnia and Croatia and all these countries in the far reaches of Europe. We love our fans in Bosnia though, in case they’re reading!” Yes, I’m sure we have lots of readers in Bosnia, so “Merhaba” to all our Bosnian readers out there!

Caleb even freely admits that Kings of Leon could be seen as a ‘UK band’: “We’re a UK band because this is where it happened first and for a long time it was the only place it was happening. We don’t like having to go home and tell people what we’re doing and convince them we’re big. I’d like my Mom to be able to pickup the paper and read about it.”

But before you get out your hankies and shed a tear for poor old Kings of Leon, they’re not quite playing shacks in the middle of no where back in the US, as Nathan is proud to point out.



“We’re at that point now where we can play for 2,000 or 3,000 kids anywhere in the world. But there’s bands in America that play to 8,000 to 10,000 people a night back home but can’t sell out Madam Jo Jos when they try to break outside of the States. So they’re turning around to us and asking ‘How do you crack the UK?’, ‘How do you crack Europe?’ and we’re like ‘How the fuck do you crack America?’.”

And it appears that Caleb has the answer for them and everyone else out there trying to make it in a band.

“Our advise to them is, you have to look great, sound great, you have to be skinny, you have to have a story, you have to be well hung, it’s true, and you have to go out and have sex every night and let everybody read about it. That’s what we did.”

When I ask him if that’s his ‘top tip’ for anyone (well, at least any male) wanting to make it in a band Caleb’s dead pan response is: “It’s more than a tip.”

Rock star wisdom aside, I wanted to know what these ‘superstars’ from across the pond thought of the UK music scene and the conversation immediately turns to The Horrors.

“I’m glad The Horrors sound the way they do as there’s just way too many English bands that just sound-a-like,” rants Caleb. “I hate it when all those UK bands have that thing where they’re not singing…

“‘Same jeans on for four days now’…,” sings Jared in a mocking tone in a send up of the utterly overrated View. You see what kinda harm these bands are doing to the perception and reputation of the UK scene!

However, Caleb is quick to cite another UK band that’s made an impression on him: “Arctic Monkeys though, that dude’s got some good lyrics. There’s a lot of people who now have that Libertines kinda thing and it’s just too much.”

While the band start to flick through The Horrors cover issue of Artrocker Magazine I’d bought along for them the conversation turns to Joshua Von Grimm’s hair.

“I really like their music but I just don’t like his hair,” reveals Jared in reference to Von Grimm. “I just don’t think that’ll ever be in fashion. That makes me so mad. It’s the blonde bit. No one should do that.”

“He’s kinda cool though,” adds Nathan referring to Faris before turning his attention to Von Grimm. “Man, look at that big, big, big haired girl. That can’t be real, it must be a shadow.”



As I assure him it’s completely genuine another Brit comes in for some Kings of Leon abuse, but this time it’s not an Artrocker related Brit so you can calm yourselves down.

“He looks like Amy Winehouse,” concludes Jared, adding: “I saw this picture of Amy Winehouse the other day with half of her nipple hanging out and she had all of these white heads on her face that looked like they were ready to pop on their own.”

“At least she can sing,” interrupts Caleb.

“She’s a sweet girl though, we like her,” adds Jared with more than a hint of sarcasm as the whole band burst into hysterics.

“We’re gonna sit here and dog every single damn person and then go ‘You know what, they’re really sweet, we’re joking’,” concludes Nathan.

So are there any other UK bands on the Kings of Leon radar?

“I don’t know shit about shit,” Caleb freely admits. “Jared and Matt (the youngest Followill siblings) turn me and Nathan onto different stuff, cool songs, but I never quit listening to Townes Van Zandt, classic songs, good song writing. I can listen that shit all day. It doesn’t have to be a rock guitar to get me off at all.”

“I like a good snyth. That 80s sound,” adds Jared.

So do you like The Bravery, I ask, tongue firmly in cheek?

“That’s a brave question,” laughs Nathan. “There was so many bands that had public beefs with The Bravery and we’re thinking ‘OK, you’re having a fucking fight with The Bravery. Like, honest to God, come on.”

“Nathan just started a beef,” spits Jared.

“But anyway, they’re really sweet guys,” Nathan again concludes, much to everyone’s amusement. Could Artrocker have found a Kings of Leon catchphrase ‘They’re really sweet guys’? Maybe we could instigate a sitcom for them?

As the laughter and piss-taking subsides I get back to the band’s aspirations for their album and the answer is as fl ippant as it is true.

“Total world domination,” declares Nathan without hesitation. As Jared glibly reveals: “We just never want to have someone ask us again if we’re The Killers.”

But it’s Nathan’s initial response that rings most true, as Caleb enters the conversation.

“We’ve toured with big bands and seen behind the scenes and all that. We always said that we didn’t want to be a huge band because it was always scary but as much as we are scared of being huge we’re as equally scared of not being huge.”



Nathan interrupts: “Not even huge, just girthy.”

“I think being underground is pretty much over now,” adds Jared. “It’s almost not cool to not be famous anymore. I defi nitely think there’s a good thing about discovering new bands but I don’t think many people are making music now not to be famous.”

However, Caleb is well aware how important and exciting the indie record label scene is right now and loves the fact the big labels are struggling to keep up with the technology.

“It’s great that there’s these 20-year-old kids in their bedrooms who are using technology today that shits over a record company instead of these guys with suits on just wanting to go to the Hamptons controlling what comes out.”

The conversation then tales off as Nathan produces a fully loaded joint in clear paper… “Have you ever seen that, look clear paper. You can just smoke that.”

So as the interview draws to a natural close I leave the band to pickup on their discussions about their exploits from the night before and to have their room service burgers, beer and clear-papered joints in peace. As I leave the room, Caleb’s words of wisdom about what it takes to make it in a band echoing in my head, I wonder ‘Have I ever done an interview more fun than this one?’ and the answer is clearly ‘No’. These boys are living the rock’n’roll dream to the max so embrace it, put a smile on your face and turn the volume up to 11!