Kaiser Chiefs

Novation have been tight lipped about SL Mk II ahead of its launch at Messe09. But it made a secret public debut 4 weeks earlier at Wembley Arena in the capable hands of Nick Baines - better known as Peanut from the Kaiser Chiefs.

The Kaiser Chiefs are having a busy year. Before headlining Reading and Leeds Festival this summer, they are playing a series of dates in Australia, Singapore, Europe and Scandinavia. Their UK tour promoting "Off With Their Heads", culminated in a spectacular show at Wembley Arena on March 4th. It was here that one of a handful of pre-production SL Mk II's was put through its paces.

Its not often that rock stars offer to test out prototype controllers in front of over 10 000 fans, but Peanut is a man who knows his kit: "I've been using the SL25 (Mk I) in my live rig for almost 2 years now. It's solid, and is perfect for use as an extra controller/sample triggering and tinkering device." In addition to its studio duties, the SL Mk II has been designed to trigger samples and synths on stage without the worry of working out what controller is assigned to what parameter. Peanut has plenty of experience managing complex live control set-ups, and appreciates the way all his control information is instantly visible: "The new LED rings around the controllers in the Mk II make it much much easier to see what is going on - especially useful on dark stages! The same applies for the backlit buttons and transport controls, they make the original SL design even better."

Peanut and the rest of the band will be playing festivals across Europe this summer in the run up to Reading and Leeds in the UK. For further information visit: www.kaiserchiefs.co.uk

Nick Baines, aka Peanut, is Kaiser Chiefs’ keyboard player and previous wearer of pork pie hats. When you’re playing with one of the best bands in the world, you need the best gear, so it’s no surprise to find him using Novation keyboards.

The Kaiser Chiefs story is an incredible one even for the world of pop. Seemingly the band were nowhere one day and then, one chant-along anthem (I Predict A Riot) and one blinding US Live 8 performance later, they were everywhere! Now the band are global superstars and to their keyboard player, Nick ‘Peanut’ Baines, it must feel incredible, especially when he looks back at the band’s past. But despite appearances to the contrary, success didn’t come overnight after all.

“We all had a history of being in bands around Leeds for many years – Nick [Hodgson], Simon [Rix] and I since school,” he says. “The five of us have now been playing under one guise or another since summer 2000.”

The band recorded some demos in 2003, which the label Drowned In Sound picked up on and put out the single Oh My God. They then embarked on the 2005 NME tour, which was the kick-start they needed. Now they can count huge sales, Brit Awards, sell-out gigs and top 10 hits in their lists of achievements. Oh yes, and owning some pretty good keyboards too…

To compliment their unique sound, on the Kaiser Chiefs most recent tour, Peanut has been playing a custom-built ReMOTE 25 SL: The standard black casing having been replaced with a new white shell.

“I have the Novation ReMOTE 25 SL and the new XioSynth,” says Peanut. “When I need a combination of organ, piano and Wurlitzer, but not all spanning 73 keys then the ReMOTE 25 SL comes in handy. The semi-weighted keys feel sturdy and not like they'll be knackered after one tour.”

“And the added bonus of the many controller knobs, buttons and faders on it is that I can send program changes and control effects from it too, hopefully meaning less fumbling around in the rack between songs! The fantastic Automap feature really speeds things up as well.”

“As for the XioSynth, well, I'm in the middle of creating some patches to be included on it (if they're good enough!) so I am having fun with that. It seems a very powerful synth for such a small size. Again, there's not too much scrolling through menus to edit things. It's instant and hands-on – I like that.”

Peanut and the rest of the Kaiser Chiefs look set to get even busier over the coming months and there’s even some new material…

“We are currently on tour in Europe, testing out the songs for our new album, which is released in February,” Peanut explains and then adds: “The ReMOTE 25 SL is going to become part of my live set-up for triggering the sounds I've used on the new record. And before Christmas we'll be making a video for the first single and finalising mixes and artwork. Then next year we travel the world, playing people the new record!”