By Ryan Lang, 107.3 Alternative Cleveland
After more than 20 years of making music, Kings of Leon has hit a stride that’s brought them back to their roots. Can We Please Have Fun is the band’s ninth studio album, and has them feeling better than ever about the music.
Lead singer Caleb Followill and his brother, KOL bassist Jared Followill, sat down with 107.3 Alternative Cleveland’s Morning Hang with Ryan Lang and Brady Marks to talk about their new album, the tour, and the family dynamic of Kings of Leon.
ALT CLE: Was it fun making the album or is it more like work at this stage in the game?
Caleb: It was fun. By the time that we got into the studio I felt like the heavy lifting was done, or at least we had gotten to a point where we were enjoying the process. I think I can speak for everyone – we had a good time making this record. Probably one of the more pleasant experiences we’ve had in the studio. I think a lot of that has to do with kind of where we were and where we are as a band. Our heads were kind of all in the same place. We were just excited to be there and everything felt like an adventure. We were actually pretty bummed when we were finished. Things have been feeling good for us right now.
ALT CLE: Did the title of the album come first?
Caleb: The title was written down along with probably about 50 others. But that was the first one that Jared was like, I like that, and Kid Harpoon (who the band worked with on the record) was like, I like that. A lot of times you can try to be artsy and get cute with it and try to have hidden meaning. This one, though, was pretty right down the middle – “Can we please have fun?” I felt like it was pretty clear that it was more of a universal message because I feel like a lot of people have that same question in mind with life in general. Kinda hard to have a good time sometimes, but we found a way to do it.
ALT CLE: Do you guys kind of ride that high from making the record into the tour?
Jared: Yeah. It’ll be higher. Making the album is creative – it’s so amazing. But being able to showcase that and go out and show the people… It’s just different playing it live. We are so stoked about it. Yeah, I’m dying to get on the road.
ALT CLE: Jared, you have an interesting way of showcasing new KOL music?
Jared: Whenever I’m in a friend’s car or an Uber, I just sneak it on. I’ll just play in the middle of other stuff, just to see the reaction. I don’t trust anybody’s response to the music because they’ll always be nice or try to act cool or something. I’ll even do it to my wife sometimes.
ALT CLE: Do you just kinda sit back with your hand on your chin watching, waiting for their reaction?
Jared: I’m watching their feet, watching their facial reactions. If they’re bobbing their heads.
Caleb: He moonlights as a wedding DJ with a mask on and if they love the KOL song he pulls off the mask like, WHAT’S UP?!
ALT CLE: Caleb, you kinda did that with the first single off the new album, “Mustang,” right?
Caleb: My family hears it all from the very beginning – the annoying parts, everything. But Mustang is one of the more simple songs. I’m just playing the E chord and when I was starting out I said, “Oh that’s kinda nice,” and it was pretty instantaneous that my son, who’s five years old, walked in and was kinda bobbing his head to it. I was like, alright… And if we can pull the same numbers as some of these child acts that hit the road, then let’s go for it! Who was the Australian group?
Jared: The Wiggles?
Caleb: Yeah. That’s it.
ALT CLE: “Mustang,” when we first heard it, to us sounds gritty and raw and it felt like old Kings of Leon. When you wrote it and recorded it was it always going to be the first single?
Caleb: No, I don’t think we ever know what the first single is going to be. I’m the worst. Right now you could play me an album with “Use Somebody” and “Sex On Fire” on it and I’d say, we have no singles. So I’m bad at that. But you saying it felt dirty and old school, I think that goes back to the simplicity of it. You hear people say, to write a song, all you need is three chords and the truth, or whatever the saying is. It really is true, to me, because a lot of bands, when you hear them at the beginning of their journey, they play with such a fearlessness and they don’t require showing you all of their skillset. And that’s what “Mustang” felt like to me. And when I played it for the rest of the group for the first time, everyone just jumped on their instruments and by the end of the day it was done. It was pretty instantaneous and I feel like that is what happens when you’re first starting to write songs as a band.
ALT CLE: And you’re not just a band, you’re family. Can you talk about that dynamic and what it’s like balancing that?
Jared: That’s how I know you!
Caleb: (laughing) Being family, I don’t know? What do you think of me, Jared?
Jared: We’ve never played in other bands, so it’s hard for us to compare, but I have to think it makes it easier, or better for us. We’ve been in a band for 20-plus years now and things seem to be healthier and better than they ever have been. And it doesn’t work for everybody. We all want Liam and Noel to make up, but ya know, for us, it just seems to be the ticket. I guarantee you I would have been out of other bands. With this one it just feels right.
Caleb: Did you want me to answer to?
ALT CLE: Please!
Caleb: I agree (laughing).
ALT CLE: Congratulations to you, Jared! Your baby girl born in June.
Jared: Thank you, so much! She is pretty great!
Caleb: Um, not to toot my own horn, but I also have a new niece.
ALT CLE: And congratulations to you, too, Caleb!
Caleb: Thank you, thank you.
ALT CLE: On tour, with the families, is there a lot of FaceTime on the bus or backstage?
Caleb: Oh yeah, sometime on stage. We’ve done that before where we’re waving goodbye and we’ve got the kids on FaceTime. But I feel like I love my kids a lot more than they love me. When I’m on the road, I’m thinking they’re gonna be so devastated, they’re gonna miss me so much. And then I’m on FaceTime with them for two seconds and they’re like, “Dad, I’m watching YouTube! Are we rich?”
ALT CLE: We know you’re not stopping in Ohio this tour, but next time we’d love to have you.
Caleb: I told them, they put us in the Hall of Fame, we’ll come play some concerts.
ALT CLE: You kind of are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the first NTF album “When You See Yourself.” That’s pretty cool.
Caleb: Trust me, we use that a lot. “You’re gonna say that to a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer?!”
ALT CLE: What was the decision to do that, with the NFT?
Jared: It still could, but it was pitched to us that it was going to revolutionize things the way people consumed music. It could be one of those things like when people were talking about the Internet in 1999, saying this thing is definitely going to fizzle out. It still could be something, but we don’t necessarily understand. It was always a little bit above our paygrade, but we got pitched something that sounded incredible and we were on board with it.
Caleb: I never really understood it. Still don’t understand it. I’m not against it. I thought it sounded cool. We’re never on the forefront of anything, so to be on the forefront of something sounded exciting to us.
ALT CLE: You are swinging through Nashville on the tour. What’s it like for you guys playing in front of your hometown crowd?
Caleb: It’s definitely different, but definitely cool. We just played a little concert in a little local barn out in the sticks outside of Nashville. And it was only about 300 people. I walked out on stage and I felt like I recognized everyone. And I was very nervous. So when you’re playing in a big spot they’re a little more spread out, so you can see them, but they’re not right in your face. But we love playing shows and when we finally get to have a hometown show we build up to it. We’re all pretty excited to come back home with the music we’ve been making.
Kings Of Leon is currently overseas on the European leg of the tour. They’ll be back in the states, kicking off the U.S. portion in Texas in August. Keep up with the band at KingsofLeon.com and KingsOfLeon on Instagram. And, for a great video of Jared reacting to a bee in his house, check him out on Instagram at JaredFollowill.
