by brenton crozier bdcrozier@gmail.com
What: Kings of Leon and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Where: The Florida Theatre
When: Tuesday, October 30th
The Kings of Leon are beloved in the UK, have opened and played with some of rock’s biggest names and set fire to indie rock’s biggest festivals. Their bio and music only seem to make sense when digested in tandem. As three brothers and a cousin, most of them grew up the sons of a charismatic preacher in Tennessee and traveled on the tent revival circuit before putting their energy into writing a new brand of rock-n-roll and climbing the ranks of rock stardom.
There is no easy way to describe their sound, except that it is truly inventive and a raucous good time. Purists from any of the genres that they are associated with would probably gasp with pretentious derision, but anyone who appreciates guts, originality, passion and imaginative musicianship will find love in their hearts for KOL. If hard pressed, I would describe their sound as post-punk, incendiary indie rock born in a garage with empty beer bottles, broken amplifiers and a potent dash of Southern Rock. Take away Tom Petty’s verse-chorus-verse structure, add distortion and upheaval, and you get Kings of Leon. They are far more interesting and engaging that any of the alt-country or Southern rock resurrectionists they have been grouped with.
KOL drummer Nathan Followill was kind enough to take a break from his dinner in wine country with his fiancé and parents to talk to EU about the things that have shaped the sound of their new record and bathing the great unwashed in it.
EU: Was rock-n-roll in any way a rebellion or celebration of your childhood?
Nathan Followill: Rock-n-roll was an escape from the boring lives we were leading. We were tired of painting houses and waiting tables.
EU: Has the charismatic nature of your father’s former profession had an impact on you as performers?
NF: In a sense, it’s kind of the same thing. We’re not preaching, but we’re trying to get a message across of all of our hard work. It’s hard not to view our audience as a congregation. We learned from our father how to put on a show.
EU: To what do you attribute the early UK embrace of Kings of Leon?
NF: At first it was the story. They thought it was our publicist’s fabrication. Half the people didn’t even believe it, so we had to convince people it was true. When the dust cleared and the smoke cleared, we had a good first record. The UK has always had a fascination with the South. Where we came from had something to do with it.
EU: What do you attribute the more atmospheric elements of Because of the Times to?
NF: What we were just talking about, a lot of those songs were written while we were on tour with U2, Bob Dylan and Pearl Jam. We wanted to make a record to sound as atmospheric in a small club as a big stadium. It opened our eyes that you’re not limited to any room. You can make music that sounds great in any size room.
EU: Was your approach to this album any different than that of Aha Shake Heartbreak?
NF: This was the first record that we knew the sounds we were going for and wanted to experiment with guitar and drum sounds. People expected 2-minute barn burners. We started with the 7-minute song so that everyone would know we grew. We never got caught up in the hoopla of what number record we were making. We saw this as an opportunity to show fans how much we’ve grown musically and as people. We’ve tapped into a different audience with this record.
EU: Is the band dynamic more restrictive or open to more candor seeing that you are family?
NF: We all have a good time. We all have our diva moments. The only time we ever fight is on the golf course.
EU: What type of role does religion play in your lives now?
NF: We still have uncles that are preachers. Our grandma is a Sunday school teacher. We’re not the same people we were, but we say our prayers every night and are thankful for the opportunities we’ve been given. If our grandma’s cool with it, we’re ok with it.
EU: What is the album everyone in the band can agree on?
NF: It changes. It’s probably a My Morning Jacket album. We like traveling music, anything that can take your mind off of traveling 310 days out of the year.
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
