Post by alitahearts on Jan 5, 2008 6:49:04 GMT
In this interview nathan says that earlier in their career they turned down the infamous ipod commercial that JET took. If you remeber "Are you gonna be my girl" was on tv all of the time and helped score the band 4 million records...but KOL didn't sell out YAY! those smart boys
Sometimes you have to suffer to be beautiful. On their last Big Day Out tour in 2006, US Southern rockers Kings of Leon routinely kitted themselves out in stylish tight, black clothes for their shows despite the intense summer heat and their rabid hangovers.
"Good lord," drummer Nathan Followill says in his Southern US accent, "In Australia, it's just survival of the fittest. You grit your teeth, hold on to your instrument as tight as you can and hope you don't pass out until the show is over. It makes the show a little more punk rock because you have to psyche yourself out all the time, because your body's wanting to give up on you."
Certainly the black outfits augment the band's Southern gothic swamp-rock sound — it was even better when they all had beards on the first tour — but surely there were days when they wished they could dress down at a festival?
"I've been threatening to play one show in Australia in my golf outfit," Nathan says. "If it's too hot I might just play in my golf shorts. Maybe they'll let me if I wear black shorts."
The Followill brothers, Nathan, Caleb (guitar), Jared (bass) and cousin Matthew (guitar), are excited about returning to Australia this summer, and might even bring their families along for a holiday.
"We hear the Falls Festival is amazing. "We've only ever been out for the Big Day Out, and that's like a rock'n'roll summer camp. We did most of our bonding at the bar with bands. It usually starts out with a shot drinking contest and we all end up best friends."
The band of brothers were raised by their nomadic Pentecostal preacher father, Leon.
Does the band feel that its rootsy music lends itself to an outdoor vibe? "They are two totally different things," says Nathan. "In a festival, you're as good as your crew. Because you don't get to soundcheck and there's the element of surprise. We kind of get off on that. We like not knowing if it will be perfect or not. It makes it real for the fans. No one wants to see the same band play the same set all the time. You want something to happen. You want someone to break a string or slam a microphone down because they're mad. It's better than having the show down to an exact science so if someone comes to three shows they get the same show every night. But as far as the playing goes, we want to play as good a show as possible because tickets aren't cheap."
While British and Australian audiences embraced the band's incendiary swamp rock soon after the release of their debut album Youth and Young Manhood in 2003, American audiences took a bit longer to come around to their Southern charms. Perhaps because rootsy bands are a dime a dozen over there. But not this young and fresh and sexy.
The Kings' secret was wrapping up an old sound in an exciting new pop format for music fans who don't own any Allman Brothers records.
"It was just the music we made," says Nathan. "It's not like we had a formula. We just make music, and we've been getting more fans and playing bigger places, and hopefully it will continue until we go crazy."
The band could have taken off in the US more rapidly if they accepted the offer from iPod to use one of their songs in an advertising campaign. Jet took it and it helped catapult sales of their debut album Get Born to 4 million.
"We were offered that and at the time we didn't want to be known as 'the iPod band". We don't really have any regrets. Those commercials have helped a lot of bands out, and it's not like it's not a cool thing to do — Bob Dylan did one. But from the start of our career we didn't want to sell millions of our first record. Because if you start out on the top, there's nowhere else to go but down. We're good enough to keep everyone's attention but we don't have the pressure. It's good to keep fans guessing and keep goals for yourself you can reach, but won't make your next goal unattainable."
The band felt like royalty when they were recently offered US support slots with superstar acts U2, Bob Dylan and Pearl Jam. And now their adopted home town of Nashville has put their names alongside Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks on the Map of the Stars. So how does it feel to be part of a tourist trail?
"We have made the big time! The only thing that sucks is that those tours start at about eight o'clock in the morning, so they come past, talking about which star lives where, honking their bull horns."
Their latest album, Because of the Times, is texturally more diverse than previous offerings.
"People tell us that this is a lot darker than our other albums, and we find that funny because it was the happiest we've ever been recording because we get to sleep in our own beds every night, eat mum's cooking and drink at our favourite bars and all that good stuff. Maybe the record had a couple of darker spots because we were longing for that depressed thing because we were loving life so much."
So it's no surprise to hear that Kings of Leon plan on being around for a long career. It helps that they are used to living out of each other's pockets.
"We're all related, so we're going to have to be together no matter what. We may as well be making money and music."
www.theage.com.au/news/gig-previews--reviews/kings-of-leon/2008/01/04/1198950036787.html?page=2
Sometimes you have to suffer to be beautiful. On their last Big Day Out tour in 2006, US Southern rockers Kings of Leon routinely kitted themselves out in stylish tight, black clothes for their shows despite the intense summer heat and their rabid hangovers.
"Good lord," drummer Nathan Followill says in his Southern US accent, "In Australia, it's just survival of the fittest. You grit your teeth, hold on to your instrument as tight as you can and hope you don't pass out until the show is over. It makes the show a little more punk rock because you have to psyche yourself out all the time, because your body's wanting to give up on you."
Certainly the black outfits augment the band's Southern gothic swamp-rock sound — it was even better when they all had beards on the first tour — but surely there were days when they wished they could dress down at a festival?
"I've been threatening to play one show in Australia in my golf outfit," Nathan says. "If it's too hot I might just play in my golf shorts. Maybe they'll let me if I wear black shorts."
The Followill brothers, Nathan, Caleb (guitar), Jared (bass) and cousin Matthew (guitar), are excited about returning to Australia this summer, and might even bring their families along for a holiday.
"We hear the Falls Festival is amazing. "We've only ever been out for the Big Day Out, and that's like a rock'n'roll summer camp. We did most of our bonding at the bar with bands. It usually starts out with a shot drinking contest and we all end up best friends."
The band of brothers were raised by their nomadic Pentecostal preacher father, Leon.
Does the band feel that its rootsy music lends itself to an outdoor vibe? "They are two totally different things," says Nathan. "In a festival, you're as good as your crew. Because you don't get to soundcheck and there's the element of surprise. We kind of get off on that. We like not knowing if it will be perfect or not. It makes it real for the fans. No one wants to see the same band play the same set all the time. You want something to happen. You want someone to break a string or slam a microphone down because they're mad. It's better than having the show down to an exact science so if someone comes to three shows they get the same show every night. But as far as the playing goes, we want to play as good a show as possible because tickets aren't cheap."
While British and Australian audiences embraced the band's incendiary swamp rock soon after the release of their debut album Youth and Young Manhood in 2003, American audiences took a bit longer to come around to their Southern charms. Perhaps because rootsy bands are a dime a dozen over there. But not this young and fresh and sexy.
The Kings' secret was wrapping up an old sound in an exciting new pop format for music fans who don't own any Allman Brothers records.
"It was just the music we made," says Nathan. "It's not like we had a formula. We just make music, and we've been getting more fans and playing bigger places, and hopefully it will continue until we go crazy."
The band could have taken off in the US more rapidly if they accepted the offer from iPod to use one of their songs in an advertising campaign. Jet took it and it helped catapult sales of their debut album Get Born to 4 million.
"We were offered that and at the time we didn't want to be known as 'the iPod band". We don't really have any regrets. Those commercials have helped a lot of bands out, and it's not like it's not a cool thing to do — Bob Dylan did one. But from the start of our career we didn't want to sell millions of our first record. Because if you start out on the top, there's nowhere else to go but down. We're good enough to keep everyone's attention but we don't have the pressure. It's good to keep fans guessing and keep goals for yourself you can reach, but won't make your next goal unattainable."
The band felt like royalty when they were recently offered US support slots with superstar acts U2, Bob Dylan and Pearl Jam. And now their adopted home town of Nashville has put their names alongside Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks on the Map of the Stars. So how does it feel to be part of a tourist trail?
"We have made the big time! The only thing that sucks is that those tours start at about eight o'clock in the morning, so they come past, talking about which star lives where, honking their bull horns."
Their latest album, Because of the Times, is texturally more diverse than previous offerings.
"People tell us that this is a lot darker than our other albums, and we find that funny because it was the happiest we've ever been recording because we get to sleep in our own beds every night, eat mum's cooking and drink at our favourite bars and all that good stuff. Maybe the record had a couple of darker spots because we were longing for that depressed thing because we were loving life so much."
So it's no surprise to hear that Kings of Leon plan on being around for a long career. It helps that they are used to living out of each other's pockets.
"We're all related, so we're going to have to be together no matter what. We may as well be making money and music."
www.theage.com.au/news/gig-previews--reviews/kings-of-leon/2008/01/04/1198950036787.html?page=2
I love Nathan for realizing tickets aren't cheap, though. I hate ticketmaster!