W INTERVIEW
L
AN INTERVIEW WITH
KINGS OF LEON
Kings of Leon, yes the ‘Yeeaaahhh this sex is on fi-re’ Kings of
Leon are headlining at the Fusion Festival which is heading
from Otterspool on the Liverpool waterfront to Sefton Park
this summer.
Kings of Leon achieved initial success in the United Kingdom
with nine Top 40 singles, two BRIT Awards in 2008, and all three
of the band's albums at the time peaked in the top five of the UK
Albums Chart. They’ve recently released their seventh album
and have had 12 Grammy Award nominations, including 4 wins
across their career.
They will be performing an exclusive set in the heart of Liverpool
on 30th August 2019 supported by a star-studded line up of talent
including Franz Ferdinand, Echo & The Bunnymen and BRIT
award winning artist Sam Fender.
But it hasn’t all been plain sailing for the brothers Caleb, Nathan
and Jared Followill with their cousin Matthew Followill who make
up the Kings of Leon.
Wirral Life caught up with them to find out what they are up to.
It’s the first time since 2017 you’ve played Liverpool when you
came to the Arena, are you looking forward to coming back?
Caleb: “It’s so good to be coming back to Liverpool. It’s a beautiful
place, you’re all very lucky We’re hoping to get to see more of it
this time. We tried to see some stuff last time we came.”
You have headlined Glastonbury, T in the Park, Reading and
Leeds and sold over 18 million albums worldwide, firmly
placing you as one of the biggest bands on the planet. How have
things changed?
Caleb: “I feel like making music is just a lot of fun. And it’s a crazy,
changing experience. Things that I used to find inspiration in, I
probably can’t relate to as much. I was writing songs about the
rock-and-roll lifestyle, never sleeping, pretty girls and all that.
Now that’s not where my head is. There are still so many things
musically that we feel like we haven’t accomplished yet. We are
serious, sober(-ish) men now with personal trainers and serious
golf habits. We’re husbands and fathers too, which is one reason
for us being a lot more mellow.”
It seemed like you took a downturn in Dallas in July 2011 when
Caleb walked offstage, muttering about needing another beer.
Did you need a break?
Nathan: “Well there were headlines saying – Kings Split - and
what have you but really I think the band only needed space from
the stage, and from each other.
You’ve got to remember, back in the day we played 186 shows
in one year. You can do that when you’re 19 and you’re playing
30-minute sets and you’re the opening band. And you can do that
hung over. But when you’re doing a two-hour set in a stadium
– my trainer says to me: ‘You’re like an athlete, a professional,
and you have to keep your body in shape.’ Although, I don’t
think David Beckham would be drinking a glass of wine before
a football match.”
Following five albums in seven years, you then had problems
with your voice Caleb. How did you cope?
Caleb: Well I had to have steroid injections for my throat. It helped
because it gives you this false belief in your voice…. and your face
gets all red and you get a headache.”
Jared: “And it makes you angry.”
Caleb: “I got a little temperamental. Roid rage is a true thing. At
one point I had to go on them for a week straight because I had
polyps on my throat. My wife was less than impressed. She said
‘We’re getting you your own hotel room, you’re being quarantined,
come see me when you’re off the regimen.”
And the your most recent album WALLS, what was that like
to make?
Caleb: "We enjoy this part of the process. Obviously, there's a lot
of work that goes into it and it can get stressful at times, but we're
all in a good place and we had fun with it and we're all excited to
do something new right now."
To find out more about the event and to purchase tickets, visit
https://thefusionfestival.co.uk
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