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X-clusive: Bloc Party Get "Revenge On The World’
Speaking exclusively to Xfm Lauren Laverne, Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke has talked about his band’s recent rise to adulation, working in the studio and collaborating with The Chemical Brothers.
Okereke called into Lauren’s Drivetime Show yesterday afternoon (April 14) and explained that one of the highlights of a year that has included many highlights was their recent tour and headlining London show, but they’ve got their eyes on being honoured (again) at the NME Awards.
“Every week something amazing has happened,” he explained, “Like playing the Forum a month ago, that was when I knew we’d made it. We felt like we were a real band. Playing Reading and doing a sold-out tour too. There’s been so many things that have been so good.
“Our time in the public eye has gone relatively quickly, but we’ve spent five years touring on buses, with no one paying any interest in what we were doing, so it feels nice that we’re got our revenge on the world.”
“How could things get any better? We could be declared 'Godlike Genius' at the next NME awards or something like that, that would be the pinnacle. Or maybe name an award after me… ‘The Bloc Party Award for Innovation’.”
Okereke also revealed that surprisingly, he prefers the safety of the studio to the more unpredictable gig environment, saying,
“Playing live is amazing fun but things tend to go wrong. But the best part for me is the writing. The four of us together in a room just working on music. Going from nothing to suddenly there’s a song. I write stuff and take it to the others or I get an idea and then we fill in the blanks.”
As for his brilliant collaboration providing vocals on the new Chemicals Brothers single ‘Believe’ it appears the whole process was relative easy.
“They got in touch with us and thought it would be great to work with me, I’ve seen them a few times live and I think that they’re awesome. It was just a really great opportunity. They were really nice people, very focussed, they knew what they wanted. I was really tired and we recorded it in between two gigs on a UK tour so it was hard work.”
The Chemicals Brothers's new single ‘Believe’ featuring Kele Okereke is out on April 18 on Virgin Records.
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