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Post by sar on Jul 10, 2007 15:45:17 GMT
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Post by skatf on Jul 10, 2007 15:52:53 GMT
Ooooooh - get 'er!! Caleb is just a jealous little boy! I have to say that I can relate because I'm also really close to my brother and sometimes feel pushed out when he's with a girl. But I do feel sorry for Jessie having to read that. Bet Caleb is banished from the wedding party!!
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Post by tammym on Jul 10, 2007 15:53:17 GMT
Lordy, the woman trouble continues. When their looking woman their trouble, when they find woman their trouble.
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Post by sar on Jul 10, 2007 15:55:55 GMT
full interview - it's not as bad if it's taken in context i think...
In rock, certain codes of deference apply. Such as: don't hug Bob Dylan. "His people tell you not to even touch him," says the Kings of Leon drummer Nathan Followill, "but when he walked into our trailer, I hugged him before I could even think about it. After that he had to hug us all, and my brother Jared accidentally knocked his hat off. His security guys were furious."
These are royal times for the Kings of Leon. Their third album Because of the Times reached No 1 in the UK this year, and after supporting Dylan and U2, the Nashville, Tennessee-raised band are gaining ground on home turf.
I've joined them in the green room ahead of their performance on the US show Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Next night, they play New York's Roseland Ballroom; the gig sold out in 28 minutes. "The UK fever is starting to spread," says the singer and guitarist Caleb Followill.
Bassist Jared, 20, is the third Followill brother in the band, and these three sons of a defrocked Pentecostal minister are joined by their first cousin Matthew Followill on lead guitar. Whiling away the time before they're on, talk turns to the previous evening when the eldest Followill, Nathan, proposed to his girlfriend Jessie Baylin at her parents' New York restaurant. "I bought them a bottle of Cristal, then had a long hot bath and just wept," Caleb says.
For the Kings of Leon – whose appetite for the more carnal trappings of fame is well documented – Nathan's engagement has ramifications. When I meet Nathan and Caleb for a proper chat the following morning, both are adjusting to the altered terrain. "If he doesn't get a pre-nuptial agreement, he's an idiot," Caleb says. "Me and him have a lot invested in each other," he adds, not looking at his brother. "We started this band. We've bought land and houses together. We've been best friends since we were little biddy boys. I don't want him to make mistakes."
But surely being in a band and having a committed relationship needn't be incompatible? "No, but we have friends in bands who are married and their songs start being watered down because they're all about the same girl. I mean, Nathan's not writing the lyrics, but even still..."
Nathan: "Look at Bono – he's been married his whole career."
Caleb: "True, but Bono still loves Bono. It's still all about him. I'll have girls come to the show who are beautiful and are in love with me, but as soon as I let them in, they start to try to change me. They don't like me going to this party, or being seen taking pictures with that girl. But that's what I do. This is my life."
Nathan: "It's different for me, dude. I'm pushing 30."
Caleb: "You're not, you're 28."
Nathan: "It's always hard when big brother starts devoting time to a girl that would normally be devoted to little brother."
Intriguingly, Because of the Times takes its name from a preachers' conference in Louisiana that the Followill brothers used to attend with their dad as kids. Nathan says it was a chance for them to put on their best clothes, meet girls and catch up with friends. The three-day event was a bit like a sanctified Glastonbury: "You'd pick your favourite preachers like you'd pick your favourite bands."
Those were happy, fairly innocent times, with any conflict between desire and the brothers' Christian upbringing yet to be tested. But with adolescence came disillusionment, and Caleb fell hardest. "I'd put my faith in my dad and I wanted to follow in his footsteps," he says. "I'd always looked up to ministers, but at about 15 I started to see that they were just normal men and it broke my heart. I closed myself off to pretty much everyone and dropped out of school. I thought I was smarter than everyone else, but I was wrong. Now I'm trying to go back and figure some things out, and writing songs is a good way to do that."
Parts of the Kings of Leon's debut album Youth and Young Manhood celebrated their partaking of the touring lifestyle. Because of the Times, Caleb has said, is more about the consequences of doing so. "Knocked Up" seems to deal with the dangers of sleeping around, while "Charmer", based on real events, sees Caleb resisting the charms of a preacher's wife.
Musically, the album is ambitious. Songs such as "On Call" and "Black Thumbnail" see the Kings temper their indie/Southern rock with tropes more suited to stadium-sized venues. "After supporting U2, we wanted to write songs that were bigger than us so that we could get back to those audiences," Caleb says.
More pressing was the need for the Kings to clean up their act. "We looked in the mirror and didn't like who we'd become," Nathan says. "It would be, 'Shit! I did it again. I pissed everybody off.' You'd resolve not to drink or do any drugs that day, but before you knew it you'd be at a club with whoever doing whatever.
The rather frightening antidote, the brothers say, has been the unifying power of golf. The Followills swing clubs whenever possible, the shared hours proving a useful way to relate outside the pressure-cooker that is the Kings of Leon.
But Caleb, for one, is still partial to a bit of deviance. Only the intervention of companions stopped him peeing on to the hotel foyer from three floors up the previous evening.
He's not proud of such antics, although he's unusually open about them. So is the Followill family stance that of the honest sinner? "To be a man means that you are born into sin," Caleb says, "so you might as well be honest about it. Look at David in the Old Testament: he was a man after God's own heart, yet he plotted the death of one of his generals so that he could marry the guy's wife Bathsheba."
Another change has been the move back home to Nashville, another way of grounding themselves after New York. "We like a simple lifestyle," Nathan says. "We bought a ranch. We're fixing to buy some horses and build us a bar in the woods, so we might invite you round for a beer if this piece of yours turns out well."
In 2003, when the Kings exploded in the UK, cynics said their back story was a product of the marketing people. The group's response was to close ranks; understandably, as one UK magazine keen to verify their DNA turned up to meet them with cheek swabs.
"It was the same with some of the bands we played with," Nathan says. "They wanted nothing to do with us until we got famous, but now we're like: fuck you, you had your chance." That's a bit Old Testament, I suggest. Nathan pauses, then says: "An eye for an eye, brother."
Kings of Leon play Brixton Academy in London on Thursday and Friday. The single "Fans" is out on Columbia
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Post by skatf on Jul 10, 2007 16:02:49 GMT
Nope - just as bad in context haha!! He started to cry after they got engaged! Oh dear. I really hope Jessie doesn't read the European press. I'd be well pissed off.
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Post by tammym on Jul 10, 2007 16:06:45 GMT
Nope - just as bad in context haha!! He started to cry after they got engaged! Oh dear. I really hope Jessie doesn't read the European press. I'd be well pissed off. Yeah the bath thing made me laugh. I do believe I did something similar when my sister got engaged. Only probably instead of a bath I just drank a bottle of smirnoff! |
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Post by sel on Jul 10, 2007 16:07:16 GMT
ahh funny! and why do articles alwaays get details wrong. its hammersmith apollo not brixton academy!
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Post by skatf on Jul 10, 2007 16:14:15 GMT
ahh funny! and why do articles alwaays get details wrong. its hammersmith apollo not brixton academy! I know - that was just ridiculous. And it's meant to be a serious broadsheet! Well done for getting your facts right....... |
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coco456
Innocent Smile
HELLO PPL OF THE WORLD!
Posts: 162
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Post by coco456 on Jul 10, 2007 16:20:00 GMT
AWWW!
LITTLE CALEB IS JEALOUS!!
POOR HIM
I'LL B THERE TO GIVE HIM A HUG!!lol
I UNDERSTAND WHERE NATHAN IS COMING FROM
I MEAN HE ALMOST 30 I BET HE REALLY WANTS TO GET MARRIED!
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Post by tammym on Jul 10, 2007 16:21:11 GMT
ahh funny! and why do articles alwaays get details wrong. its hammersmith apollo not brixton academy! The journalist probably asked Nathan where they were playing. You know how he has the tendency to get gig and festival mixed up and denying he has played somewhere when he has. Cut down on the Wacky backy man! |
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Post by tammym on Jul 10, 2007 16:24:18 GMT
AWWW! LITTLE CALEB IS JEALOUS!! POOR HIM I'LL B THERE TO GIVE HIM A HUG!!lol I UNDERSTAND WHERE NATHAN IS COMING FROM I MEAN HE ALMOST 30 I BET HE REALLY WANTS TO GET MARRIED! Woe!! Why do people feel the need to freak out when they near 30 and feel like they need to settle down and get married or procreate. People go with the flow, it's not worth the stress. Ok rant over! |
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Post by lauralimonada on Jul 10, 2007 16:42:50 GMT
as a journalist, i gotta say that's a great article because it shows a different side of caleb than we have seen. it's compeletely understandable that he's jealous or maybe not even jealous, just afraid that things are going to change now that his brother and bandmate is engaged to one girl. just like we responded to the change of caleb's haircut, caleb's responding to the change in the band's chemistry now that one of their own is in a committed relationship. it's not comparable, i know, but it's the only example i could think of.
anyways, this article is well-written. i wish i would've written it. i hope one day i'll interview them like this. :]
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Post by talkdownthegirl on Jul 10, 2007 16:55:39 GMT
Wow...hes taking the whole engagement well.
Fans out on Columbia? O.o
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Post by lauralimonada on Jul 10, 2007 17:01:44 GMT
columbia records?
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Post by Lihllvmch on Jul 10, 2007 17:15:36 GMT
This is strange ...
As Caleb doesn't have girlfriend the only thing he can keep safe is his monkey haha and I don't know but Nathan makes me feel that just because he's achieving 30 he needs marry.
But well there are another points...
"I thought I was smarter than everyone else, but I was wrong. Now I'm trying to go back and figure some things out, and writing songs is a good way to do that" - I appreciate that!
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Post by evilincarnate on Jul 10, 2007 17:26:03 GMT
I can sympathesize with Caleb...I'm super, super close with my sister...I mean, we are the kind of siblings that finish each other sentences and speak another language because of all the inside jokes, strange references and things conveyed just by nonverbal looks and such...we're closer than any best friends I've ever met. And granted I'm the older sister, I am still going to be really reluctant about my sister ever getting into a serious relationship, let alone getting married. Heck, going away to college was hard enough, and she still comes to visit me almost every weekend. And Caleb and Nathan are pretty much always together seeing as they tour, live, and work together...so this is going to be hard on them, band mates or not. I'm sure they will work through it...but they have to remember to keep tempers at bay, and be understanding. They've worked through issues before, I have faith.
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Post by chichi on Jul 10, 2007 17:31:27 GMT
I wish I did the interview just so I could have a beer at their ranch!!!
(God, I wanna party on that farm.......)
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Post by evilincarnate on Jul 10, 2007 17:36:38 GMT
Let's break into their barn and throw our own party...they are bound to show up.
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Post by quelquefois on Jul 10, 2007 17:40:37 GMT
I'm never a jealous person, but when my sister got pregnant I hated her, I don't know why.
Even looking back on it I don't understand my actions: I was cold, insulted her, and expected her to be able to run and pushed her to do it even though she was 5-6 months in.
I guess when a sibling devotes time or is going to have to take care after someone else that isn't yourself your blood changes. Maybe it's hormonal. I don't know.
I just remember being a raging piece of shit. And, I love the kid now. LOVE him. He's a genius..and, I'm not one that likes kids.
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Post by Sephora FairyQueen on Jul 10, 2007 18:21:18 GMT
Ah man..lately all Caleb interviews are really depressing me. But I aswell can understand where he is coming from. I would not be so vocal about it to the media..but then again after a few bottles of whatever I might have even called a press conference together and expressed my pissed off-ness about the engagement. I would cry. Yeah definitly..it's the end of an era. It feels like everything is gonna change and not in a good way. My brother had a girlfriend he was getting pretty serious about, he said the same thing; "I'm pushing 30 I need to settle down" Mind you, he was 26 at the time. We'd hardly spend any time together anymore, and the time we did spend always included his girlfriend. Who I hated for multiple reasons btw. but the biggest being..she had my brother! MINE! My brother is the most important person in the world to me. And I imagine them Followill boys feel the same about eachother. Change is inevitable and nessecairy. And Nathan seems to have a good head and pretty head on his shoulders, I think it will be ok. Besides, I hear there's some places in this world where you can get like drive-thrue divorces. You drive in married, and out divorced.  |
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