Matthew Followill spoke recently about Kings of Leon’s whirlwind year.
Q: “Only by the Night” came out a year ago this month, and it changed things pretty drastically for Kings of Leon. Is it still possible for you to consider yourselves alternative?
A: Yeah, I don’t feel like we’re in the mainstream really at all. I mean I know we are now because we’ll hear our song on the radio and then the next song will be Kanye West or Britney Spears. But we’re definitely still in the alternative vein. We just got lucky, I guess, with these songs — “Use Somebody,” “Sex on Fire.” We didn’t know those were going to be big singles.
Q: The band had a loyal but much smaller following before “Only by the Night.” How have the fans who cut their teeth on tunes like “Molly’s Chambers” and “Holy Roller Novocaine” from your first album reacted to your recent success?
A: A lot of them liked the raw music of the earlier days. I’m sure we’ve lost a couple of fans along the way. I’ve seen girls down front who obviously have been fans since the beginning, and they’ll be going crazy for the whole set. And then “Sex on Fire” comes on, and they just sit there and cross their arms and act like they hate being there. I guess they just hate the new sound. You don’t let that throw you too much, though; you make new fans.
Q: Words like “eerie,” “dreamy” and “spooky” have been used a lot to describe the last two Kings of Leon albums (“Only by the Night” and 2007’s “Because of the Times”). Your guitar work seems to have a good deal to do with that.
A: We did some big shows with some big bands, and we played in empty arenas during sound checks, and I think we just kind of liked that open sound. We said when were doing “Because of the Times” that we wanted to sound big. Plus, I started using pedals and stuff. I’d always been anti anything but the guitar and the amp. Then I thought maybe I should try something else on the next record, and I think that’s where a lot of that dark stuff like reverb comes in.
Q: You guys are from Tennessee, and that’s about as middle American as you can get. Yet it was fans in Britain who loved you first. You were huge there long before “Only by the Night.” What’s the secret of your appeal to the Brits?
A: I think they listen to a lot more music. It’s definitely a broader audience of music listeners. I think we just hit at the right time. The Strokes were out, the White Stripes. There was different stuff going on, and we looked way different. We were Southern, and that was really different. Right off the bat, they took a liking to us. ... I guess they knew something we didn’t.
Q: “Only by the Night” has won you a lot of older fans, people in their 30s and 40s, and some of them say they hear an echo of ‘80s arena rock in tunes like “Use Somebody.” Are you OK with that or do you find it bothersome?
A: It sounds funny to hear “‘80s arena rock” and I would never put the song in that category. ... I mean it doesn’t bother us at all. We’ve been called everything. We have pretty tough skin now. Nothing hurts too much. But I don’t know about that. Whatever. I guess we’ll try to stay away from ‘80s arena rock from now on.
But he wasn't rude to the rest of the crowd, he was actually very nice -- talking to us, complaining a bit about people turning on them for 'having a good year', and joking around.
Anyone else get the feeling the band ( or maybe just Caleb?) aren't having the best time at the moment, like they're uncomfortable with where they're at?
