{"id":313911,"date":"2025-08-03T07:05:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T07:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/313911\/"},"modified":"2025-08-03T07:05:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T07:05:11","slug":"ryan-tubridy-i-love-him-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/313911\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Ryan Tubridy? I love him\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

As with many rock<\/a> stars who\u2019ve been around a bit, Ricky Wilson of Kaiser Chiefs has a Bono anecdote. \u201cI was sat at a table with Bono<\/a>, his wife and Stella McCartney. Everyone\u2019s chatting. And I hadn\u2019t got anything to say,\u201d the singer says from his home in London<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was thinking, \u2018I\u2019ve got to have something to say. I\u2019ve got to bring things to this. So what do I do? What do I say?\u2019 And there\u2019s a lull in the conversation. I thought, \u2018Now\u2019s my chance: say something.\u2019 And I don\u2019t know why \u2013 I think I heard about it the other day \u2013 that Pringles, when you set them on fire, they burn with a blue or green flame. So I said, \u2018Has anyone ever set fire to a Pringle?\u2019 At which point there was a resounding \u2018No\u2019. I got up and left and went back to my room. Embarrassed.\u201d <\/p>\n

The story is a nice party piece, but it also articulates a fundamental truth about Kaiser Chiefs \u2013 or so Wilson feels. They\u2019ve been in glamorous company \u2013 Pringlegate happened when they were supporting U2 on tour \u2013 clocked up three Brit awards and two number-one albums. Yet they have always felt like outsiders, gatecrashers who might be shown the door at any moment. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t introduce ourselves to famous people. We prefer twitching the curtains of our dressingroom, looking at all the famous people walking past. Not feeling that we\u2019re part of that. I find it exhausting talking to people. I\u2019m a classic introvert. That\u2019s not a famous person saying, \u2018Actually, I\u2019m shy.\u2019 I do find it exhausting. I don\u2019t find being on stage exhausting. That\u2019s different. That\u2019s performance on my terms. I\u2019m there to entertain people. I get off and I don\u2019t go to the after-show. Because that would be exhausting.\u201d <\/p>\n

Kaiser Chiefs are preparing for a show at Collins Barracks, part of the Wider Than Pictures series of events at the historic Dublin venue. The concert marks the 20th anniversary of their debut LP, Employment, which has sold two million copies and spawned the timeless indie-disco smashes I Predict a Riot \u2013 a song that also became a Leeds United terrace anthem \u2013 and Oh My God.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must have been doing something right for 20 years. In between doing some things wrong. That\u2019s what makes it last for 20 years. If you\u2019re consistently not making mistakes, that\u2019s how you disappear. Your graph will go up and up and then you drop off. Ours has gone up and down, up and down. At the time you don\u2019t think you\u2019re making a mistake. Looking back, there are whole albums where I think, \u2018That isn\u2019t as good as it could have been.\u2019 We\u2019re in the privileged position of making albums that weren\u2019t as good as they could have been. And I\u2019m glad of it. We\u2019re still going, still searching for that perfect thing.\u201d <\/p>\n

As he says, they\u2019ve had an up-and-down time since Employment: it was long voguish to deride Kaiser Chiefs as pub rockers who\u2019d got too big for their boots. But that\u2019s all vitriol under the bridge, and Wilson and bandmates are today celebrated for their great tunes. Just how completely they have been rehabilitated was underlined when they played the main stage at Glastonbury this year to a huge audience. \u201cIt was kind a validation, because a f**king s**tload of people turned up. I had no idea our songs have become household songs.\u201d <\/p>\n

He points out, however, that nothing is ever simple for Kaiser Chiefs. There\u2019s always that sting in the tail, that wrinkle that won\u2019t be ironed out. For instance, although the set was a triumph, the BBC didn\u2019t see fit to record it.<\/p>\n

\"KaiserKaiser Chiefs’ Ricky Wilson: ‘There\u2019s been many times I\u2019ve wanted to leave [the band]. But the alternative for me has never been as good as what I\u2019ve got <\/p>\n

\u201cI have no idea why. It\u2019s crazy. We\u2019re not going to do a Kneecap or anything,\u201d he says, referring to the controversial Belfast\/Derry rap trio, who led chants of \u201cF**k Keir Starmer\u201d at the festival. \u201cMaybe we should have. Even if we had done it, no one would have seen it. My mother was furious.\u201d <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Kneecap will face no further action over Glastonbury performance, police sayOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Wilson is friendly, but the 47-year-old has been through the mill. Though hugely acclaimed early on, the tide quickly turned against Kaiser Chiefs. Cheery chaps from Leeds, they were an easy target for the London music press, and the backlash was pitiless. <\/p>\n

\u201cHumdrum, ambition-less,\u201d the website Drowned in Sound said of their second LP, Yours Truly, Angry Mob. Noel Gallagher of Oasis was even more scathing, saying, \u201cI did drugs for 18 years and I never got that bad as to say, \u2018You know what? I think the Kaiser Chiefs are brilliant.\u2019\u201d Boris Johnson, of all people, labelled them \u201cthe weeds from Leeds\u201d in a newspaper column. Many reviews also focused on Wilson\u2019s appearance and his fluctuating weight. He\u2019s had the last laugh \u2013 but there is some scarring.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe press used to be a weird thing. Because it was, like, you have some success; then, obviously, with success comes the press turning on you. The thing is, it got personal,\u201d he says. \u201cCould you imagine [nowadays] a review of a band going deep into how ugly or fat they were? It would be career suicide for the journalist. I still have a little chuckle to myself. The internet lasts forever. People don\u2019t look good, do they, in respect of some of the things they said?\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson dealt with insults by turning them into positives. They were a reminder that, regardless of how many records they sold, Kaiser Chiefs would always be scrappy outsiders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe like being the underdog. And even when we\u2019re top of the world, there was always that element of not being that happy. I mean, even Glastonbury … the fact it wasn\u2019t filmed by the BBC. If it had been, everything would have been perfect \u2013 and I probably wouldn\u2019t have come away as happy, because something has to go wrong. We have to still be striving. As soon as everything is perfect, what\u2019s the point in carrying on?\u201d <\/p>\n

The rise of Kaiser Chiefs coincided with what was regarded as a musical low point \u2013 the heyday of \u201clandfill indie\u201d. These were the glory days of meat-and-two-veg merchants such as The Pigeon Detectives, Razorlight, The Kooks and The Fratellis. Kaiser Chiefs rubbed shoulders with them all, but they were always aware of not being cut from the same image-conscious cloth. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a real facade. Being \u2018traditional cool\u2019 comes with a lot of facade and a lot of effort. When we went to the NME Awards there was lots of being cool \u2026 by the traditional use of the word cool and also pretending they didn\u2019t want to be there. I thought, \u2018It\u2019s not very cool if you\u2019re pretending you don\u2019t want to be here. If you don\u2019t want to be here … don\u2019t go.\u2019 Going and pretending, \u2018I don\u2019t want to be here.\u2019 Well, why are you here if you\u2019re so cool? And that must have rubbed people the wrong way. Even people I know in other bands. The fact that we seemed to be having a good time \u2013 because we were.\u201d <\/p>\n

The wheels came off in 2008 with the band\u2019s third album, Off With Their Heads. It had all the makings of a huge hit. The Amy Winehouse collaborator Mark Ronson was producing and Lily Allen guested on the single Never Miss a Beat. But the album proved to be plodding and directionless \u2013 the work of musicians asked to go to the well once too often. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Mark Ronson: \u2018I wish I\u2019d been more upfront about Amy Winehouse\u2019s addiction\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cMark Ronson was a weird one. We were friends with him. We made the record and I think we hadn\u2019t finished writing it. I listen to it now and there are some good moments. It has Never Miss a Beat on it, which is a classic. But there\u2019s a lot of stuff on it which needed finishing before we went in the studio. Maybe needed playing live. We didn\u2019t play any of it live. First and second albums we played live a lot before we recorded.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should have spent a bit more time in the rehearsal studio. We didn\u2019t have time. Nick\u201d \u2013 Hodgson, then Kaisers Chiefs\u2019 drummer and songwriter \u2013 \u201cwas doing a lot of the hard work. Usually with an album I know what it is about. With this album it was the first time I didn\u2019t know what it was about. You can tell if you listen to it \u2013 a lot of the lyrics are all over the shop. A lot of them are just things that sounded cool.\u201d <\/p>\n

Things got even worse in 2012 when Hodgson left. He and Wilson, who went to school together, had started Kaiser Chiefs in 1996 (when they went as Runston Parva). But Hodgson, who wrote their 2007 number-one Ruby, had become disillusioned. And, much like Roger Waters leaving Pink Floyd, he had assumed that the band would not continue without him. Wilson had other ideas. The relationship turned frosty, though there seems to have been a reconciliation when Hodgson joined the Kaisers on stage in Leeds this summer, playing guitar on Oh My God. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very disappointing when he left. He thought it was broken. He was probably right,\u201d Wilson says. \u201cBut we fixed it. In that way it was a break-up. I didn\u2019t want to break up, and he did. He did the best thing and the right thing for him, and fair play to him. There\u2019s been many times I\u2019ve wanted to leave. But the alternative for me has never been as good as what I\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n

Touring Employment has been fun, though Wilson does have to remind himself that the album came out 20 years ago. \u201cIt\u2019s weird. In 2005, 20 years ago was 1985. If there was a band from 1985 playing the same festival as us I\u2019d be, like, who are these old geezers?\u201d <\/p>\n

Wilson is in a healthy place where Kaiser Chiefs are still his day job but not his whole life. Around the time of Hodgson\u2019s departure he replaced Danny O\u2019Donoghue, of The Script, as a judge on The Voice UK. He has gone on to play the Artilleryman in a touring production of Jeff Wayne\u2019s The War of the Worlds and has worked as a presenter on BBC children\u2019s TV.<\/p>\n

He currently has a side hustle as the host of the drivetime slot on Virgin Radio UK, where one of his colleagues is the Irishman abroad Ryan Tubridy. He perks up at the mention of Tubridy\u2019s name, praising him as a respected colleague and style icon. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s someone that\u2019s good at conversation. I love Ryan Tubridy. Like most people in England, I didn\u2019t know who he was. I knew him from The Late Late Show. We\u2019d been on his show. I\u2019d no idea how huge he was. I have good conversations with him. He\u2019s recommended books. I\u2019ve recommended books to him \u2013 he\u2019s never read them. But I do like him. He always looks impeccably ironed. Amazing. Everything about him looks like it\u2019s straight out of the shop, apart from the battered old leather bag he takes everywhere. Always a fresh haircut. He looks incredible.\u201d <\/p>\n

These are heady days for live music. Kaiser Chiefs are on the march again \u2013 and Oasis\u2019s comeback tour is introducing a new generation to the joy of living it large in a big field with your friends. There\u2019s still that tetchy history \u2013 in addition to Noel insulting the Leeds band, Liam Gallagher once labelled them \u201cnaff c**ts\u201d. But Wilson is delighted the Gallaghers are back, louder and lairier than ever. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting, and I understand why everyone\u2019s going. I think it\u2019s brilliant. And I saw Oasis many, many times from the mid-1990s on. Then we started playing with them on the same festival bills. Incredible just to be around them \u2013 even as people, there\u2019s this buzzing energy. People will always like live music. There\u2019s something about bands like that. It\u2019s almost as if it has to be live. It\u2019s like an animal in the zoo: it has to be in the wild. That\u2019s where it will thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaiser Chiefs play Collins Barracks, Dublin, as part of the Wider Than Pictures<\/a> series, on Saturday, August 23rd<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As with many rock stars who\u2019ve been around a bit, Ricky Wilson of Kaiser Chiefs has a Bono…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313912,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3936],"tags":[77,2709,114389,14576,269,25182,25181,114390,114391,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-313911","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-glastonbury-festival","10":"tag-kaiser-chiefs","11":"tag-liam-gallagher","12":"tag-music","13":"tag-noel-gallagher","14":"tag-oasis","15":"tag-ricky-wilson","16":"tag-ryan-tubridy","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114963567409505719","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}