Serge Pizzorno On Hoping Schwarzenegger Works Out To Kasabian's Music

At the time of our chat, Kasabian had just played back-to-back shows at Sydney Opera House and the band's songwriter/guitarist Serge Pizzorno is clearly still buzzing. "Oh, it was monumen'al," he gushes. "We didn't know what to expect from the venue, 'cause it's obviously, you know, one of the Wonders Of The World and people can be very, I dunno, like, intimidated by such a building, but there was none of that. I mean, it was just chaos from the get-go; it was, like, absolute pandemonium." As for the iconic building's interior, Pizzorno chuckles, "It's well '70s inside."

Those shows were performed in the round and Pizzorno assesses, "It was nice to experiment, 'cause we've considered it... It was great. I really like bein' surrounded." The band (except perhaps maybe drummer Ian Matthews - not really possible for him - certainly interacted with the punters in the seats behind the band and, when asked whether he reckons these limited-view seats would've been cheaper, Pizzorno cheekily considers, "They probably were, yeah. Mind you, you do get to see our arses so maybe there were more expensive?"

Just wait 'til you hear album number six from the band, For Crying Out Loud. According to Pizzorno, it contains "proper, real tunes". "I was well into the '70s makin' it, you know?" he points out. "I've got a really good feeling about this album... A lot of people that've heard it already have been real positive about it and, you know, I think that's great! To be on the sixth album and for people to still be interested - d'ya know what I mean?

"For me, like, transcending decades is a big thing... that's kind of when you can truly say that things have gone well is if you jump from one decade to another and sort of carry on and, you know, everyone's sort of going, 'Yeah, great! We're excited to hear what you've still got to do'."

And Pizzorno admits he tries to create something completely different for Kasabian with each album. "I can't try and make people happy, if you know wha' I mean," he posits. "Like, 'Oh, you know, I gotta write a hit!' I dunno what that means, you know wha' I mean? I sort of follow my instincts, wherever my instincts take me that's where I'll go. We've been lucky enough that people have come with us on the way, 'cause a lot of bands have started to mess with their sound and people are goin', 'Oh, what's goin' on!?' [laughs] So we've been really lucky; people have gone with it, you know. And even when instincts have taken us in odd directions, people are like, 'Well, that's great!' And we wanna do something new and different - that's the point of the band."

Kasabian dropped their first new song in two years Comeback Kid as part of the FIFA 17 soundtrack, via a lyrical teaser in what we believe is Pizzorno's handwriting (including "Sasquatch in a bin bag, it's no surprise") on their Instagram page around September last year. Pizzorno admits the aforementioned lyrical phrase "is a particular favourite", adding that he's "really proud" of the lyrics on For Crying Out Loud overall: "I was really loose on this record so I had a lotta fun with the lyrics."

When told this scribe's favourite track at the moment is Are You Looking For Action?, Pizzorno confesses, "That was the centrepiece, I think, for the album." There's trippy keys, a sauntering bass line with swag on tap and the kind of arrangement that hurls constant curveballs (and the song clocks in at a generous 8.22 minutes). So how did all the elements in that song come together? "Well, when I listen to ESG and Roxy Music, and sorta like that street disco kind of thing - and even Talking Heads as well - you know, breaking out into that really euphoric chorus but, yeah!" Pizzorno pauses, before continuing, "It was just sort of like that plonky disco kind of thing, you know?"

Another album track, Sixteen Blocks, features a whistling intro. Who's that, then? "That's me and Tom, and Steve [McLaughlin] the engineer. Tom's a keen whistler," Pizzorno reveals. "Yeah, he's an amazin' whistler."

Even though Pizzorno muses, "I don't know how many people listen to records in order these days," he admits to being "obsessive" over Kasabian's tracklistings. "Certain songs at certain times can react and then trigger the next song," he explains, "and I've heard it a lot with dance music, you know wha' I mean? I think going to see, you know, someone who's a master craftsman that can start a show and then build you into a crescendo - and it's such an art, and I try and do that with the tracklisting; so when the next song comes in, [it's] kinda like your body goes, 'Yes! That's exactly what I wanted!'" When Chemical Brothers are put forward as an example since they nail this type of telepathic setlist, Pizzorno is definitely on board. "Totally," he enthuses. "It just goes, 'Boom!' Yeah, they drop one on you and you're like, 'Yes!'"

You would've heard You're In Love With A Psycho, the first official single from Kasabian's upcoming set, by now (and be sure to Google the hilarious, star-studded accompanying music video that even required the lads to learn some Bollywood choreography). On choosing this song as a single, Pizzorno opines, "It resets whatever you thought [you knew about Kasabian]. I just think it will surprise people." You're In Love With A Psycho also boasts a "sort of tongue-in-cheek chorus... where you're looking at your most loved one and, you know, you're tryin'a figure out which one it is that's the psycho outta the two of you, d'you know wha' I mean?" Pizzorno laughs.

It was widely reported that Kasabian had "volunteered" to provide the soundtrack for a film about Leicester City striker Jamie Hardy and Pizzorno is quick to dispel this rumour. "No, it's one of those weird stories that people associate the name with a name," he chuckles. "I find that tool in Wikipedia so annoying, it's like, 'Who the fuck writes that shit?' And none of it's true, d'you know wha' I mean? And it's out there and, you know, one person says it and you're like, 'It's not real!'" There is one rumour about his band, however, that Pizzorno hopes is true. "Arnold Schwarzenegger says that he works out to our music. They're the ones you're like, 'Yeah, that's definitely true'. Whether it is or not, I've got no idea," he jokes.

Although Pizzorno believes Kasabian's success and longevity "was always gonna happen" ("I would never have let it not"), he allows, "I had no clue what that meant. Like, just releasing an album and, like, playin', you know, Brixton Academy - well, that would've been it, you know? Not that we didn't think big, but it was just, like, in reality for, you know, a sort of weird little psychedelic-rock [band]... So obviously to play the Opera House was unbelievable! I mean, it will sorta live with me forever. And you do get those moments where you sorta go, 'Wow! I mean, yeah! This is actually pretty insane!'... You genuinely touch people in this really positive way, you know, if people come to the shows to release, like, to escape, then you can see that in the crowd; you can see faces and people just, you know, whatever they're goin' through, they're there in some mad sort of, you know, communal dance, some ritual. It's a sort of primal thing and then you sort of do go, 'Wow! Whatever we've done has left a mark,' you know? And that's as good as it gets, really."

When asked what made him fall in love with music in the first place, Pizzorno doesn't hesitate: "Chuck Berry - Johnny B Goode. My dad played it to me when I was, like, five or six and, you know, that song is so special to me 'cause I think that was the moment that I felt the magic, whatever that was. I wanted to know who was making that sound, d'you know wha' I mean? And that song still gets me now; like, you know, you can try any chord sequence - and try any lyric or whatever - but I don't think you're gonna beat that," he laughs. "D'you know wha' I mean? That's kinda like the blueprint or whatever."

After Kasabian's first Sydney Opera House show, the football-style chanting from the band's set closer LSF continued out through the Sydney Opera House doors, down the stairs and along the harbour. "It's amazin' to think that that's ringin' out in the Sydney sky," Pizzorno extols. "I mean, that is pretty special."