Kings O’ Leon lay claim to Irish roots
The Tennessee rockers wax lyrical to Danny McElhinney about the special connection they feel with Ireland
At first glance, Ireland mightn’t have been identified as having an enduring influence on the career of Kings of Leon but it has been just that.
Like a lot of Americans, the quartet behind worldwide hits such hits as Sex On Fire and Use Somebody say that Irish blood is in their ancestry. It is also true that the Tennessee rockers’ first single, 2003’s Molly’s Chambers, was inspired by Thin Lizzy’s version of the Irish folk standard Whiskey In The Jar and Ireland has continued to feature in pivotal events throughout their 22 year career.
Lead singer Caleb Followill also says that when they eventually go on tour to promote When You See Yourself, their very fine new album, it will be the Irish shows that he and his brothers Nathan, Jared and cousin Matthew Followill will most anticipate.
‘We had never really figured what it is about us and this kinda connectedness we feel with Ireland and Irish people but all we knew was that we were very likeminded,’ he says.
‘We like to have a good time, maybe get a little loud sometimes. If we disagree, we might have to take it to the yard. Then, a couple of years back we did an ancestry check and found that we were well over 50% Irish and we didn’t know that before. So, in answer, I think that it is because we basically are Irish.’
They first played here in December 2003 at the Olympia Theatre when they were promoting their debut album, the raw and brilliant Youth And Young Manhood. They returned the following year to play the Temple Bar Music Centre and the old Witnness Festival in Punchestown. They next visited to open for the reformed Pixies in 2005 and that trip is imprinted on the 39-yearold’s memory.
‘The Pixies were always a massive influence on our band, so that concert stands out,’ the Nashville native says.
‘I’ll never forget being backstage (at Lansdowne Road) with (Pixies’ bass player) Kim Deal and we were just so stoked, shocked that we were in her presence.’
Opening for U2 is almost a rite of passage for bands on the up and when the Irish megastars came calling to ask Kings of Leon to support them on dates on their 2005 Vertigo tour, it had a profound effect on their outlook.
‘The thing that we learned the most from the U2 tour was that you can play music for as long as you want and do it in a way that isn’t going to kill you,’ he says.
‘They taught us to work smarter and not harder. They also taught us to take good care of the people around you. The first thing we did when we left that tour was to make sure that any band who was opening for us was paid well. That’s what you’re supposed to do. You can get away with throwing a band not that much money and saying that (a support slot) is good for your exposure. The U2 guys put us under their wing and showed a better way to do it and maintain a longer career.’
Their sound also began to evolve. Songs such as Outside and the aforementioned Molly’s Chambers from Youth And Young Manhood and Four Kicks and The Bucket from their second album 2005’s AHa Shake Heartbreak made them edgy indie darlings. But by Because of the Times in 2007 and standout track On Call, which itself betrayed a U2 influence, they were clearly thinking bigger.
Songs define bands and if ever a song pointed the direction in which Kings of Leon were going it was 2009’s Sex On Fire, a radio-friendly banger that went to number one in Ireland, the UK and dozens of countries around the world. Fans of the unreconstructed earlier Kings of Leon sound deserted them. However, Only By The Night, the subsequent album, has to date sold over 6 million in the UK and US alone. They had already topped the bill at festivals such as Oxegen and Glastonbury by the time they came to play their then biggest headline concert at Slane Castle in 2011.
‘That was such a crazy day. We
U2 TAUGHT US HOW TO WORK SMARTER AND TAKE CARE OF THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU
had Thin Lizzy on the bill, the remaining members or whatever. The night before, we ended up partying pretty late with them,’ he says.
‘We were all raging pretty hard… The next day I woke up I was like, “oh f*** I have Slane Castle today.’
It was our biggest show ever and my head was spinning. We had written a set list that was pretty deep; we were playing a lot of songs. When I went out there, I was nervous and then my hangover went away and I was instantly high on the crowd and just had the greatest time ever. That one will always be one of the most memorable ones of our career.’
Being the headliner at a Slane Castle concert is one that artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Robbie Williams have also pointed to as being a pin
nacle of their career. However, the fact that Kings of Leon were on their way to selling out the 35,000 capacity RDS Arena in June 2020 before the Covid crisis caused it to be pulled, shows that they are still a massive draw in this country. It has not yet been rescheduled but some of the songs on the new album When You See Yourself could be instant crowd favourites by then.
The tracks Echoing and 100,000 People would be two such candidates. They are the songs, Caleb says, he is most proud of on the new album.
Talking about Echoing he reflects on his own unconventional childhood. One mostly spent in an Oldsmobile with his mother, who schooled him and his brothers as their Pentecostalist father, Ivan, drove through the southern states of America preaching from the bible at revivalist meetings in tents, halls and fairs.
‘The way that I grew up was we didn’t really have a television, but we had a window to look out of while we were driving across the country,’ he says.
‘So, the window was always my television. Every experience, I soaked up like a sponge.
That paid off for me more than a lot of my friends and family members who went to school. If you get it right, your imagination can take you wherever you want to go.’ Now that he and his wife, model Lily Aldridge, are parents to eight-year-old daughter Dixie and two-year-old Winston Roy, I wondered how he sees fatherhood.
‘Every parent’s fear is that their kid is going to go to college and get into the arts!’ he laughs.
‘They’re like oh sh**, we’re spending all this money and… I’ve always felt that creativity can take you a lot further at times than being a middle of the road scholar.’
Another song that touches on family is 100,000 People. It is partly inspired by the passing of Caleb’s father-in-law Alan Aldridge, a graphic designer who designed album artwork for The Who and Elton John and for a literary work on The Beatles.
‘I had witnessed my wife’s father go through a situation where he was slowly deteriorating,’ he says.
IRELAND IS A GIVEN ON OUR TOURING MAP. WE’LL BE DISAPPOINTED IF WE DON’T PLAY
‘It was sad to watch obviously and it was something that dug deep into my heart and my brain and I wanted to write about it. I’m very proud of that song. It’s a complete story.’
Until the tour is rescheduled, Caleb and his wife are considering a road trip that in some ways might recall his own childhood although he, Lily and the children may do it in a little bit more comfort than he and his siblings experienced.
‘My wife had contemplated getting an RV, us hitting the road travelling the country with me driving and then she remembered how much road rage I get! So, she thought maybe not,’ he says with a throaty laugh.
‘Then we thought why don’t we get in a tour bus, open a map and let’s go see the sights.
‘That’s definitely something that we are planning to do.’
He is of course also hoping Kings Of Leon can hit the road in support of When You See Yourself.
‘It’s not entirely up to us – management will decide – but fingers crossed we can get out there and show the world what we’ve been up to,’ he says.
‘Ireland is a given on our touring map. We will be so disappointed if we don’t get to play, you know you are our people.
‘It’s the shows that we enjoy the most, you’re all just at a party together.’
Maybe, from now on we can just call them Kings O’ Leon.
Kings of Leon – When You See Yourself is out now.