When we meet , frontman of , he is so engrossed in working on his live show from his home studio in Leicester that he initially forgets to join the Zoom call. When he does appear, he apologises profusely and says he was “working on a few little tweaks”.
On the chat, he is wearing a white T-shirt, what appears to be a shell necklace and a cap on backwards. Being in his home setting, he seems very relaxed and happy to chat all things Kasabian from new releases to upcoming live shows, as well as the way he writes lyrics and how he is inspired by pretty much everything around him.
Kasabian have played a massive Finsbury Park show (July 4th) about a week or so before we speak to Serge. Their biggest headline show to date. “It was absolutely incredible in so many ways. I’m still on a high after it, actually, because it was almost like a South American football team atmosphere. You know when you see those gigs in Buenos Aires and you are just like ‘Wow, where’s that?’ It was like that in London, which is wild.”
The front row was full of “next gen of Kasabian fans” and Serge was happy to see them front and centre at the show. “It was incredible. With the new and the old. And it was just a celebration, and the vibe in there was [high] energy, but it was good vibes and it was just probably one of the best gigs we’ve ever played, if not the best gig we’ve ever played. Honestly, I don’t say that lightly. It was really special.”
Kasabian are going on tour later this year with support from special guests . Serge and the rest of the band are keen to make sure everyone who attends their live shows in December has the time of their lives. It’s not going to be one to miss.
Serge promises to bring fans “an incredible night of entertainment.” Doomscrolling at the gigs is discouraged and they want fans to embrace the live music in all its glory. It will be an “opportunity to put down the screens and lose yourself in going out with your mates and just having the most unbelievable night. Just being together in a big room listening to loud music is just freeing and transcendent and the show is a journey and we plan to take you as high as you’ve ever gotten in your life.” He laughs. “Just be free.”
Upcoming album ‘Act III’ symbolises a confidence that the band have slowly acquired since Serge, who was the band’s guitarist, took over from frontman duties after Tom Meighan left. ‘Act III’ also signifies the end of an era. In a way, Kasabian are managing fan expectations in the sense that they are using this new album to declare that they will be free to pick and choose their ‘sound’ after this one. “The last six years have been like an opera of sorts. I have always loved story, I have always loved how important stories are to us all… I like the reference to that and the reference to film. And the couple of albums, say this is the third in the trilogy and then it kind of gives us the opportunity for the next record to go somewhere completely different. ‘Act III’ defines this era.’
Leicester manifests itself as a main character in this album since their single ‘Superpowers’ begins with Bollywood-esque sounds. This wasn’t necessarily intentional, but Serge says his hometown inspires him in lots of ways. Leicester is celebrated for being a multicultural city and we ask whether Kasabian were also celebrating diversity with ‘Superpowers’. “It must, subconsciously, it must be there. Even if I don’t know it myself. It’s where I grew up, it’s where I live, it’s part of who I am, it’s part of the culture of my city, so it’s there. I think it always has been. It’s part of me. It’s where I’m from, how I hear music and how I consume it and how I listen to what’s coming out of radios on the streets, things go in and I love that. I try as best I can inthe studio to be really instinctive and really express myself in whatever way is real so I like the first few essence of an idea, I’m really into and I just feel like it’s so raw and so real…Everything that’s coming out, a lot fo the times it’s just things that I’ve collected mentally on the way or things that have just been aroud me.”
We noticed the opener of ‘Act III’ ‘Quiet on Set, Please 1m9’ has the same eeriness of one of their early hits ‘Club Foot’. In a way, Serge hasn’t changed his writing process, which might explain some of the similarities, however he has improved and learned along the way. “I feel like, in a way, this album touches on all the eras of Kasabian. There’s elements of all the albums. It’s funny, because I wrote that first album exactly like I wrote this one and every album in between. I have a way of writing and that’s not changed over the years. “I definitely feel like this album is a little bit of each Kasabian era and I think that’s what I really love about it. It goes from the past to the future.” Serge is smiling to himself as he tells us this.
Thinking back to the early days, the production on tracks like ‘Club Foot’ were so different and unique that they were almost a bit weird (we say this respectfully) and on ‘Superpowers’ Serge even sings the lyrics “I’m a misfit”. He says he “definitely” feels like an outsider. He laughs. “I have never felt like I have fit in anywhere but not in a bad way, in a beautiful way.” He has a refreshing take on feeling like an outsider. “I think in a lot of ways the band is a celebration of misfits.”
‘Act III’ will be released on September 4th, order it HERE. Catch Kasabian on tour this December, including The O2 Arena in London on December 18th.