'Need to get bored' before beginning work on the new album.

Kaiser Chiefs' frontman Ricky Wilson has revealed the band "needed to get bored" in order to rediscover their hunger for writing new music.

The Leeds band, who decided to take a break following their homecoming appearance at last August's Leeds Festival, are now working on a follow-up to 2008's 'Off With Their Heads'

"After a couple of months [off] we got bored," Ricky Wilson told BBC. "Then I got really bored, then mind-numbingly bored and that's when you start thinking about the fact you want to get up and do something again."

Currently recording new material in drummer Nick Hodgson's newly built studio, Wilson gave an update on proceedings.

"I haven't felt this creative since we first started," he explained. "We're playing around at the moment, I'm sending him [Hodgson] words and lyrics in the mail. He's sending me CDs in the mail."

Kiser Chiefs expect derby victory

This was the view of coach Vladi-mir Vermezovic yesterday as Ama-khosi prepared for their Telkom Knockout semifinal against Orlando Pirates on Monday at the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban.

Vermezovic has promised fireworks, a claim hard to believe considering the two teams produced goalless draws in both their league games this season.

The Soweto giants qualified after Chiefs beat Mamelodi Sundowns and Pirates dumped Jomo Cosmos out of the cup at the weekend.

"The game will last for only 90 minutes and there will be no extra time or penalty kicks," said Vermezovic. "I have a feeling things will be different this time around.

"We have to control the mood as we have been doing so well in the last few big games we have played. There are no possibilities other than winning because we are healthy, psychologically strong and in good shape."

The Serb said his players had realised that some games had to be played harder, and the derby - in a cup competition - is one of those games.

"We will only leave Johannesburg for Durban on Sunday afternoon and the players will get some time off to be with their families and friends on the holiday. I trust that they will be professionals in their behaviour and keep their minds on the game," he said.

Vermezovic said he was aware of reports about the behaviour of key PSL players and their "nightlife antics", but gave his troops a vote of confidence going into the weekend.

Chiefs will be without midfield workhorse Josta Dladla because he is serving a one-match suspension. Dladla has been a live wire for the team this season and played a big part in the victory against Sundowns in the quarterfinal. But Vermezovic will have defensive midfielder Tinashe Nengomasha back for the Pirates game.

"There's no reason to change the combinations from the team that played Sundowns, but one forced change is that of Josta. However, we are yet to make the final deci-sion, as George Lebese needs a last-minute medical check-up to determine his availability," he said.

Kaiser Chiefs: Music industry needs clear strategy and control over illegal downloads

It’s 4am in a hotel room far from home and you’ve just broken up with your lover. Aside from the minibar, there’s no empathy on offer: not a soul to talk to, no shoulder to cry on.
You update your Facebook status with news of the split. Seconds later someone on the other side of the world sends your smart phone a digital version of What Difference Does It Make?, allowing you and Morrissey to wallow together in self-pity. Someone else sends you Paul Simon’s Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover, which cheers you up a bit. This may sound far-fetched, but the hope of the music industry rests upon such connections. A future where songs are not bought, but accessed via telephones, sent across cyberspace, and passed around friends through platforms such as Twitter, is what is hoped will save music from the twin ravages of illegal downloading and a lack of strategic direction.
The full extent of the crisis was illustrated with the news that EMI, the label that gave the world the Beatles and Pink Floyd, faces the possibility of break-up if it fails to find £120 million by June. The smallest of the “big four” record labels, it has suffered from the battle between its parent company and bankers over a £2.6 billion debt — despite a jump in profits and the signing of 200 artists in 18 months.
“EMI are perceived to be in a terrible situation, worse than they actually are, and that’s putting off some artists,” said James Sandom, manager of the Kaiser Chiefs. “It’s a shame because they’ve got some great creative people and are out to prove a point.”

Kaiser Chiefs' Nick Hodgson starts record label

Kaiser Chiefs drummer Nick Hodgson has started his own record label.Named Chewing Gum, the label's first signing are Hull band The Neat. According to Hodgson's Kaiser Chiefs bandmates Peanut and Simon Rix, the drummer is writing material for The Neat as well as producing them.As well as revealing Hodgson's new venture, Peanut told the Daily Star that Kaiser Chiefs, currently on a band break, have vague plans to start work on new material later this year.

"We're all doing our own thing for a while but will reconvene Kaiser Chiefs probably at the end of the summer," he said.Hodgson is understood to be looking for other new acts to sign to Chewing Gum, which he has set up with his girlfriend. Kaiser Chiefs singer (and former art teacher) Ricky Wilson is also on board, and is designing a logo for the label

The Kaiser Chiefs Concert Review

The Kaiser Chiefs performed a rip roaring set in Tel Aviv's Israel Trade Fairs and assembly Center (commonly known as Ganei Hata'arucha) last Thursday night. The band, hailing from Leeds, England, played to a crowd of applyed Israeli fans.
The show kicked off with a storming gig of "Never Miss a Beat‚" the lead single from The Kaiser Chiefs' most currently album, Off with Their Heads. It was followed by crowd favorites "Everything is Average Nowadays" and "Everyday I Love You Less and Less."
The show reached its pinnacle as lead singer Ricky Wilson climbed the stage scaffolding and arised to belt out "I Predict a Riot" which is perhaps the Chiefs' best known single about a typical night out in their hometown, complete with binge drinking, fights and underdressed girls.
Wilson told the crowd how bygone in the week he had visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem and had written a note asking for the crowd to be the best the band had ever had.
One dedicated fan made the journey from Leeds to Tel Aviv to attend the show. Joanne Grainger said, "It's excellent to see a band from my hometown play so far away and still attract so many fans. They've been exactly class tonight."
The band ended its lively performance with "The Angry Mob‚" the lyrics of the chorus worthy of a literary prize: "We are the angry mob, we read the papers every day, we like who we like, we hate who we hate, but we're also easily swayed!"
Returning to the stage for an encore, Wilson caped up the show in fine style with a wild description of the band's 2004 entry single "Oh My God."

Kaiser Chiefs Dstv story

Kaiser Chiefs Live From San Francisco Saturday, 20:00, Animax
This is a full on gig from indie favourites Kaiser Chiefs (left) recorded in high clarification using nine cameras . Don’t miss the hits I Predict a Riot, Modern Way and Oh, My God.

King Arthur’S Disasters Saturday, 09:30, Boomerang
Legendary cartoon characters take to the screen, from valiant King Arthur to his wise advisor Merlin, sweet fiancée Guinevere and loyal ally Sir Lancelot. Well, not really. This Guinevere is just as dipsy as Paris Hilton, manipulating King Arthur into risking life and appendage to fulfil her every wish. Heroic Arthur embarks on one epic chance after another in a bid to win Guinevere’s love.
E’s Celebrity Medical Nightmares: In Their Own Words Sunday, 20:00, E! Entertainment
The famous, too, dawnfall ill and here they tell of their personal battles to overcome and accomplish disease or disaster. The sharing of the stories of their medical condition is intended by those stars featured to help others suffering from the same illnesses. First person stories admit Anastacia who had breast cancer; diabetic Bret Michaels; Nick Jones and Montel Williams (MS); T-Boz (sickle cell anaemia); and former American Idol compitition Luke Menard who has Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.