Kaiser Chiefs

Morning Ricky, how are you? I'm feeling a bit sick to be honest and I need a piss. I've just been woken up really quickly. This is my first day off in three weeks and I got a phone call to say I had to do this interview.

Cracking start. Shall we talk about your new album or do you want to go for that piss first? I'm very excited about this album. I think it's our best yet. I'm excited to read the reviews, to read what people are saying on the internet. I'm confident people are going to like it.

You cut short your world tour last year, so keen were you to get writing this album. Is that right? Not strictly true, no. That was a bit of a lie. We cancelled a few dates in the States because we were absolutely fucked. And we just said we wanted to write songs as an excuse. We did write some, to be fair. The thing is, your management draws up these schedules with all sorts of gig dates on them, but they don't have to perform them. We do.

Do you feel more in control of your lives now that you're on a new record label? Not at this precise moment, no. Otherwise I'd still be asleep now. And I've got a lot to do today. My mobile phone is broken and I've got to drive into town and then get a train to London and everything... Listen, sorry for being grumpy. I really do love being in a band, honest.

The new album was produced by producer du jour Mark Ronson and features tracks with likes of Lily Allen and New Young Pony Club...  Do you know what, it's a bloody great album!  

But it's coming out at the same time as some other big British indie albums – Oasis, Bloc Party. I was going to say Keane, but I don't want to offend you. Does that worry you? [Laughs] Keane! No, it's good. We're excited to be coming out at the same time as a lot of other big albums.

And Keane. People haven't been buying a lot of records recently so maybe us all coming out together will create a bit of buzz. You know, if they've gone to the record shop to buy the new Oasis album, maybe they'll pick up the Kaiser Chiefs at the same time, and vice versa.

Noel Gallagher recently slated you on the radio, comparing you to The Monkees and saying "I did drugs for 18 years and I never got that bad as to say, 'You know what? I think the Kaiser Chiefs are brilliant'." It might sound a bit bigheaded to say this but I agree with what [drummer] Nick [Hodgson] said – which is that when people compare our album to theirs, they'll say ours is better. It's good to have a bit of rivalry.

You recently said that you thought indie bands were "boring". Who were you referring to? I say a lot of shit in interviews, sometimes just to fill an awkward silence. [Awkward silence.] And sometimes just to make sure that we don't fall into the trap of being boring ourselves. So I'll say something shocking – "indie bands are boring" – and there, you've got a headline. And then everyone comes back and says "Ooh, pot calling the kettle black, Mr Wilson." Fuck off!

Alright then, which band excites you most at the moment? Late of the Pier. I cannot stop listening to them. I think they might be geniuses. Or is it genii?  

What's your guiltiest pleasure? Murder mysteries. Crap ones like Diagnosis Murder. Poirot is about as intellectual as I get. Murder She Wrote is the best. George Michael recently bought Angela Lansbury's typewriter [from the opening credits] as a present for Geri Halliwell. He paid six grand for it. I read that and thought: "I'd have paid six and a half for that." I might give Geri a call.

If you could make one apology, what would it be and to whom? To the girl I wrote 'Every Day I Love You Less and Less' about. Not long ago I was the subject of a similarly bitter song. I had a liaison with someone and she wrote this song that is so obviously about me, I can't believe no one has figured it out yet. It felt weird. I felt violated.

Care to give us a clue? It's no one as famous as Christina or Britney. She's an American artist. That's all I'm saying.

[We can't be sure, readers, but we think it was Amanda Palmer from the Dresden Dolls with whom Wilson had a liaison in 2006. 'Backstabber' contains the lines "You're all alone / You're all over / The popular magazines... But you've got no right to sit there saying I abuse it / When you only sleep with girls who say they like your music." ]

[Reader Dan writes: "'Backstabber' was out in 2006 and had been written before and therefore can't be about Wilson. It's quite obviously Palmer's song 'Leeds United' from her solo album Who Killed Amanda Palmer?. She said in an interview recently that Wilson was the one that killed her.]

The Kaiser Chiefs play with Razorlight on Tue 31 Mar at the Enmore Theatre

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