Kasabian

Kasabian are an English rock band from Leicester, formed by Tom Meighan (vocals), Sergio Pizzorno (guitar and vocals), Chris Edwards (bass), Chris Karloff (Keyboards and Guitar) and Ash Hannis (drums) who left shortly before the release of the first album. During the recording of the band's second album, the drummer Ian Matthews became a permanent member. Shortly after this, Chris Karloff was asked to leave due to "creative differences". He was replaced during the recording of their third album by Jay Mehler.

The band members are from the Leicestershire villages of Blaby and Countesthorpe. They met whilst attending Leysland High School and Countesthorpe Community College.

The band took their name from Linda Kasabian, the young pregnant girl who drove the car in which Charles Manson escaped after the murder in the house of Sharon Tate, the wife of Roman Polanski.

The band has been compared with the likes of Primal Scream, with whom they share an electronica-indie rock fusion, and The Stone Roses and Oasis, with whom they share confidence, swagger and rough vocal style.

Their music is often compared with "Madchester" group the Stone Roses in music magazines such as NME, though the band have disputed their labelling as a "Madchester" band as "lazy journalism.

History

Early years (1999-2002)

The band was formerly called Saracuse and started recording at Bedrock Studios in Leicester where Chris Edwards worked as an engineer. The first demo EP was produced by Scott Gilbert and Mike Newitt and handed to the band late on December 24th 1999. Their first public appearance was at the Vipers Rugby Club to celebrate Chris' 18th birthday with family and friends. The band was soon spotted and changed its name to Kasabian, after Linda Kasabian, a member of the Charles Manson cult (aka the Manson "family") famous for serving as his getaway driver. In an interview with Ukula, bassist Chris Edwards explained how the former guitarist Chris Karloff picked the name. Reading up on Charles Manson, the Kasabian name stuck with Karloff. "He just thought the word was cool, it literally took about a minute after the rest of us heard it... so it was decided,” says Edwards.

In the early days Tom Meighan used to post on the Libertines.org forum for short notice gigs and to promote his band.

Debut album (2003-2005)

Their self-titled debut album was released in the UK in September 2004. During the recording, the band had lived in a farmhouse at Rutland Water, so as not to be disturbed.

The single Club Foot (written in the early years of the band forming) is the band's most widely-recognised track, often ending their live sets or featuring in encores.

Kasabian featured at Glastonbury 2005 on the 'Other Stage'.

Empire (2006-2007)

During the recording of Kasabian's second album, Empire, Christopher Karloff, one of the band's chief songwriters, had "artistic and creative differences" and was asked to leave the band, according to the band's website, although there is evidence to suggest that Christopher Karloff left due to personal circumstances. He had contributed his writing skills to three of the songs on Empire, including the title track, which went on to be the first single released from the album. The album itself was released in the UK on August 28, 2006. The band recruited once temporary drummer, Ian Matthews, as a permanent member of the band. In October 2006, Kasabian recorded a live session for Live from Abbey Road at the famed studios. The song "Empire", a self-described 'call to arms' and the first single from the album of the same name, reached #9 on the UK charts, based on downloads sales alone, and with only six days airplay. It stayed in the top 10 for 4 weeks. It was exclusively played on BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe show in July 2006 and immediately made available for internet download.

The album seems to focus on the horrors of war, and the problems of waging it. "Shoot the Runner" reached #17 in the British charts. A third single, "Me Plus One", was released on January 29th, 2007.

Kasabian won the Best Live Act award at the 2007 NME Awards. After receiving the award, Meighan had said: "This is the first award we've ever won, so about fucking time! Thank you NME!"

The band finished touring supporting the new album, playing at many festivals, including Isle of Wight Festival in June 2007, second from top on the Pyramid Stage of Glastonbury Festival. On 7 July 2007 Kasabian performed as part of the UK leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium, London. The following night the band headlined the NME stage at the T in the Park festival in Kinross, Scotland. The band ended 2007 by playing a 1 hour set at Edinburgh's Hogmanay street party. Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher joined the band on stage to play guitar on the last 3 songs of the set.

Third studio album (2008-present)

The band released an EP titled "Fast Fuse" in late 2007 which featured the songs 'Fast Fuse' and 'Thick As Thieves' however the EP was not given any promotion or advertisement. It has been confirmed that the track 'Fast Fuse' will be featured in their third album and the soundtrack to the video game FIFA 09, after being the Official Theme Song of a WWE Pay Per View, Cyber Sunday 2007.

Kasabian started work on their third album in late 2007. The band have said that their third album will contain an early Pink Floyd-influenced song that "sounds like Syd Barrett.

During the making of their third album, they recruited live replacement Jay Mehler as a permanent member of Kasabian.

When asked about the direction of the album, frontman Tom Meighan explained, “It all joins together which is beautiful, there’s no gaps in it, it’s very psychedelic, there’s very much elements of the first but it’s a more distant sounding Kasabian than we have been with the last two albums.” He also spoke of the title, “It’s a loony title mate, but we have a couple of titles and we have picked one that has lots of words, it’s a tongue twister!” The band also headlined the Main Stage at Creamfields in Daresbury,England, debuting 'Fire', a contender for the new record. This was followed by a set at the Hydro Connect festival in Inverary, Scotland.

Fans are awaiting news of the third album by Kasabian. The band had been scheduled for an early 2008 release but it appears now that the CD will be released in late 2008/early 2009, potential tracks include 'Take Aim', 'West Rider Silver Bullet', 'Where did all the love go' and the aforementioned 'Fast Fuse' and 'Fire'.

Discography

Studio Albums

Kasabian (September 13, 2004) RCA Records (UK) / BMG/RCA (US) #4 UK (2x Platinum),#94 US, #56 ITA
Empire (August 28, 2006) Columbia Records (UK) / BMG/RCA (US) #1 UK (2x Platinum),#114 US, #40 ITA

Live albums

Live From Brixton Academy (July 4, 2005) Arista Records (UK) / BMG/RCA (US) Download only

Singles

Year	Title	Album	Chart Positions
Year	Title	Album	UK Singles Chart	UK Download Chart	US Modern Rock
2003	"Processed Beats"	Demo	-	-	-
2004	"Reason Is Treason"	Kasabian	-	-	-
	"Club Foot"		19	~	27
	"L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever)"		10	-	32
	"Processed Beats"		17	-	-
2005	"Cutt Off"		8	18	-
2005	"Club Foot (reissue)"		21	36	-
2006	"Empire"	Empire	9	8	-
2006	"Shoot The Runner"		17	29	-
2007	"Me Plus One"		22	-	-