14 February 2014
Newsdesk
The Voice judge and Kaiser Chiefs front man Ricky Wilson joined Christian O’Connell on his Absolute Radio Breakfast show for an exclusive chat.
He spoke about the comedy of his almost unmanageable new schedule since becoming a judge on the BBC’s reality TV show.
He reveals how he was approached to work on The Voice over email, his internal struggle over the decision to take the job and his continued hunger for success with The Kaiser Chiefs.
Ricky’s diary is so full since he started on The Voice it’s becoming comical, He said, "Yesterday, I laughed when my phone made a beep, and then I looked at it and it said '106 calendar updates' [laughter]."
On being approached to work on The Voice by email he revealed: "yeah, I got an email, and then I was like, oh no way, I don't want to do that. Well I kind of thought, maybe they would want me as a contestant [laughing].I took it to the band and said, "What do you think about this guys?", thinking everyone was gonna say, "No", and they did. And I was like, yeah it's pointless, we don't need this. And then you sleep on it, and you start thinking about how proud you are of your new record."
Ricky makes no bones about it. He did the Voice to promote the new Kaiser Chief Album. "It's on TV, in the corner of everyone's room, and at the risk of sounding vulgar; I kind of want as many people to hear this record as possible, 'cause I'm really proud of it’. I can say to you that I did it 'cause I wanted to give back to the talent of the future, but I've also got a record coming out on the 21st!"
Voice contestants remind Ricky of the hunger he has to make it in the music industry. "So when I was actually there, and you'd spin round and look at them, it reminded me, the hunger that I have."
On the rehearsal process for the Voice judges I predict a riot performance and Tom Jones not knowing who had written the song, Ricky says: "It's really hard. They keep you in this bubble, you don't see daylight for a week. Every time we had a break, we'd be going, this would be the best TV show, backstage. And on the first day I'm there, and we're having to film all four of us singing, I Predict a Riot. And I'm in my dressing room, in my pants, right, and I just hear Kylie through the walls. And Tom's there, and he's trying to get the words right, and he's going "Anybody out here...does anybody know the words...who wrote this?"
No regrets; "I think I would go back, yeah. It’s a question for the BBC. I mean, you start doubting your own ears, especially when it gets to one in the morning, and it's the thirtieth person you'd heard sing that day. Hours and hours and hours and hours. In retrospect I really enjoyed it though."
