Serge Pizzorno: Kasabian's lyrics are in my blood

5 August 2022, 14:37

The musician has been explaining how he "had no choice" to become Kasabian's frontman following the departure of Tom Meighan but adds "He knows that we’re there if he needs us."

Serge Pizzorno has been explaining that he "had no choice" to becoming Kasabian's frontman following the departure of singer Tom Meighan two years ago. He added: “What else were we going to do? Go and do something else? I have to pay my f*****g mortgage and so we had to do what made us happy."

But, as the guitarist explained, the songs still mean a lot to him.

“Those words are in my blood," he told The Sun. “I know where I was when I wrote every one of those songs. That counts for something on stage when the words come from within. So, I had to stand up and I had to step up. I had no choice really.”

Meighan left the group he'd fronted for two decades after assaulting his then-fiancée – and now wife – Vikki Alger in April 2020. The singer was given a sentence of 200 hours unpaid work, while his bandmates axed him from the group, saying they could not "condone" Tom's conviction as "domestic violence is something that can never be excused".

The guitarist-turned-frontman admitted not only would it have been heartbreaking to disband, but he added: "To park Kasabian’s songs for the rest of my life didn’t just affect me. It affected Dibs [Chris Edwards] and Ian [Matthews], our crew, and families.

Serge Pizzorno on being Kasabian's new frontman

“We made the decision as a band to carry on with me as singer. Tom knows that we’re there if he needs us. We spoke to him and he knows that. But subsequently, he’s moved on. He went solo before we even knew what we were going to do.

"Once you’ve made the choice and stepped on to that stage, there’s no turning back. You are freefalling and I can’t be worrying about any of it by then.”

Kasabian release their first studio album since Meighan left, The Alchemist's Euphoria, on 12th August.