Nick Hodgson explains departure from Kaiser Chiefs

KAISER CHIEFS co-founder NICK HODGSON has opened up about his decision to leave the band after 15 years, insisting he simply just wants to take his career in another direction.

The drummer, who formed the group with singer Ricky Wilson and guitarist Andrew White, announced the news in a post on Twitter.com in December (12), and now he reveals he plans on focusing on producing after launching his own label, Birthday Records.

He tells NME.com, "I'd always thought I'd do it. I like studios a lot, I like producing, I like finding bands, I like working with bands, I like writing songs. And now I can do them all. It's been 10 years on the road (with the band). When I was a kid I reckoned I'd love to be a drummer in a band, and then a record guy.

"I'd said a year ago that this was what I wanted to do, and that was it really. No one was surprised, we'd talked about it for a year and everyone was happy. I feel good and I'd like to think they do to. It was obvious really, because they know I love the studio and I love writing and I'm not mad about touring. I loved touring at some point, but I didn't love it all the time and I didn't love it as much as everyone else."

But Hodgson insists the split was amicable: "We worked it out together, we just thought that would be the way to do it, because there's no beef at all, and nowadays you've got to be so definite and leave no gray areas or people will jump in and make something up. So we talked about it."