The soar point with Tom Meighan
Whether rock ‘n’ roll is a look, a sound or a feeling, Tom Meighan and his band Kasabian have got all three by the bucket load. And then some. In June, our city’s finest musical exports offer their eagerly awaited third album to the masses, on a breathtaking live stadium tour with Oasis and The Enemy. Is the world ready for the return of Kasabian? Read on and experience the wonderful world of Tom Meighan, the man whose voice is set to be the soundtrack to your summer…Dean Eldredge: So Tom, tell us what you and the band have been up to over the past few weeks…
Tom Meighan: I’ve been doing a lot of lying down! Seriously, we’ve just mastered our record in New York. It’s the best thing we’ve done. It’s new, fresh and fantastic.DE: What can we expect from the new album?
TM: I don’t think people are ready for it. It is so leftfield and out on its own. We have grown up, we are comfortable with who we are and this record, let me 
tell you, is a piece of art.
DE: Anything you can compare it to?
TM: 13th Floor Elevators man, listen to them and you’re halfway there. Maybe a bit of early Pink Floyd. But I want to be clear this is a 21st century record, not a 20th century one.
DE: As a band you’ve always been very proud and vocal about your Leicester roots, when other bands may have hidden where they were from in favour of bigger cities. Was this a conscious decision?
TM: It’s to do with my own head and it keeps me sane and grounded. I can’t be in one place for too long, which is why I love touring so much, but I’m proud of this city.
DE: Talk to us about your childhood memories of Leicester and why it means so much to you…
TM: I remember the old Lewis’s and Santa climbing the ladder. I was about five and I’d be there every year, until I was told he wasn’t real!
DE: What about your upbringing?
TM: Yeah it was great. My mum and dad scrimped and saved. There were ups and downs but they always did the best they could for me.
DE: Who were your heroes when you were younger? Musically and in sport…
TM: Steve Walsh. He’s massive, massive. What can you say about him? Incredible, what a leader. Martin O’Neill, of course. With music, I’d say Liam Gallagher, John Lennon and Brian Jones who was in the Rolling Stones.
DE: As this is predominantly a sports magazine talk to us about your own sporting prowess. Didn’t Serge play football for Nottingham Forest as a kid? And was it true that he wore Leicester City socks underneath the Forest ones?
TM: I used to play for Dunton Bassett, Wigston Magna and nearly joined Oadby Town, but I just gave up. I was a pacey left-back who could play at centre-back, a bit like that Ramos at Real Madrid! As for the socks thing, I’m pretty sure Serge did it.
DE: What do you think of the current Leicester City side? Do you get along to many matches?
TM: I’ve been to around seven or eight games this season and what he’s done (Nigel Pearson) has been amazing. We couldn’t have hit any lower at Stoke last season, it was horrendous. It hurt me much more than all the play-off final defeats. I’ve enjoyed the experience of this season though. Oldham away, that was a dirty little ground, but proper football nonetheless.
Steve Walsh reminds Tom of an interview he gave to T4 Homecoming, where he described Leicester City as being “sex, religion and life”. Tom confirms that it still is.
DE: We can’t go through this interview without mentioning Serge’s goal on Soccer AM…
TM: I’m sick of hearing about it! He’s a genius though so he deserves all the praise.
At this point, Tom proceeds to explain the strike in graphic detail to Steve Walsh.
TM: Steve, Steve…not even Ronaldo could have done it! Give him twenty chances to do it, not even close to Serge, not even close.
DE: Do you both still play any football? What about the notorious celebrity six-a-side tournaments?
TM: Yeah, it’s all good fun. I leave it to Serge to sort out, but it’s always a laugh to mix it with armpits like Pete Docherty and McFly.
DE: What do you think to the current Leicester music scene?
TM: I get a bit caught up in our own world, but I’ve been told that there’s a load of bands in Leicester that are really doing it. The bands that I have heard of are The Screening, The Dandilions and The Displacements, but they’ve got to keep going as we’ve been doing it for so long now. It’s harder now, in my eyes, to get signed and if you haven’t got a commercial sound then you’re screwed unless you’re really lucky.
I’m so happy and thankful that touch wood, we’re safe now as it’s a difficult business and isn’t made easier by the current financial situation. You’ve got to slip that net man.
DE: What current bands do you like or admire and why?
TM: I’ve got a thing about The Enemy. They’re only young lads from down the road and I think they’re great. I like anyone that goes out and has it.
DE: Do you see something of yourselves in them?
TM: Well, they’re more of a mod band than us, but I think they started their band because of us, so yeah, I love them lads.
DE: You’re supporting Oasis this summer and you’ve been on tour with them in America. What are they like?
TM: They are heroes of mine and now they are friends, which is strange. Staying on Liam Gallagher’s tour bus was something. I remember one day having a purple muscle tank top on and he kept posing like one of those old bodybuilders with the handlebar moustaches! I just called him an orang-utan and left it at that. It was great.
DE: What can the public expect from the forthcoming gigs?
TM: It’s almost bigger than the festivals man. The tickets went in no time. Ridiculous man. That’s power. But Noel Gallagher is a clever geezer, no doubt. He knew how to make this an event and it is going to be massive.
DE: I’m fascinated by the story behind your band name. I understand that it was originally ‘Saracuse’ and was changed to ‘Kasabian’ after Linda Kasabian, who was part of the Charles Manson cult…
TM: It’s mad. We were sitting around throwing some names out and Chris Karloff (former band member) loved American history and came out with the name ‘Kasabian’, which means ‘butcher’ in Armenian. It sounds great though, one of the best rock ‘n’ roll names I’ve heard. It sounds like a bomb.
DE: Have you any plans to play a gig within Leicestershire in the next 12 months?
TM: I’m gagging to play in Leicester. The De Montfort Hall gigs were massive, so yeah I’d love to one day. I know that it’d mean a lot to the people of Leicester and it means a lot to us.
DE: You’ve been quoted on various occasions making controversial statements. Have you ever regretted anything you’ve said?
TM: No. We’ve got an attitude, but people shouldn’t take things too seriously with us. I stand by what I say, but most of it is just tongue-in-cheek anyway.
DE: Is there any truth to the rumour that you pulled out of playing at the Ricoh Arena due to Coventry City’s rivalry with Leicester City?
TM: None whatsoever. I’ve heard people say that, but it’s not true at all. That’s the only one that hasn’t sold out, but I think we’ll be doing something anyway.
DE: How would you describe the dynamic of your band and how do you ensure longevity for Kasabian?
TM: None of us have been to rehab. That’s a start. We reassure each other that nothing is too serious in life. I’ve grown up with these kids and most importantly they’re my mates.
DE: What are your plans beyond the new album and the summer tour?
TM: We’re going to push this new album as far as we can. It’ll be eighteen months of going at this, so that’s as far as I’d want to look ahead.
DE: How do you relax away from work and how important is that time to you?
TM: I like to draw and I’m not kidding you there. I like to read, just love reading. When everything stops, the touring and all that goes with it, I find it’s like a climate change. It’s like you’re burning in the Mediterranean and then someone throws you in to the North Pole and leaves you there.
DE: What ambitions do you have left?
TM: I just want to keep making music and as long as people are interested in us I can see the band being around for a good fifteen or twenty years yet. There’s so much left to conquer and I can’t wait to do it all.
DE: Sum yourself up in no more than ten words…
TM: An absolute original clown, artist, lover, brother, genius, non-genius, idiot.
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