Kaiser Chiefs Concerned About the Future of Guitar Music

Much like a certain the Who guitarist proclaiming the death of the electric guitar back in the '80s, the Kaiser Chiefs have expressed similar concerns about the fate of our beloved instruments -- although their gripe is the music industry, not the synthesizer.

Speaking to BANG Showbiz at the BT Digital Music Awards, Kaiser Chiefs lead singer Ricky Wilson said: "Necessity is the mother of invention and there will always be music. Whether it will be a viable career for five guys with guitars I'm not sure at the moment but you know, they'll be there in a garage somewhere."

Soon after, Chiefs bassist Simon Rix chimed in, saying: "What you need when you're a band, what it took for us was for a record company to give us a little money to get us on tour in a van, to get people to see us, to like our band, to get us on the radio and the telly."

He added: "That's what record companies do, and how bands get somewhere, but now they don't do that because they never make it back."

Josh Hart

Josh Hart is a former web producer and staff writer for Guitar World and Guitar Aficionado magazines (2010–2012). He has since pursued writing fiction under various pseudonyms while exploring the technical underpinnings of journalism, now serving as a senior software engineer for The Seattle Times.