A former Kaiser Chiefs member has named his favourite music venue in the world to play – and it’s in Glasgow.

Nick Hodgson, who drummed for and co-founded the Leeds group, has hailed the Barrowland Ballroom in the East End as his favourite place to play.

(Image: Picture credit: Stewart Baxter) “Barrowlands is my favourite venue in the world, I love the low ceilings and the sweat,” Nick said.

He added: “It’s just an unbelievable place, the best.”

But the 46-year-old doesn’t just have a soft spot for the city’s venues.

“I love playing in Glasgow,” Nick explained.

He continued: “I can pretty much remember every gig I’ve done in Glasgow but not so much anywhere else.

“Even when (as the Kaiser Chiefs) we played the SECC arena in Glasgow it was wild and that was unheard of because arena shows everywhere else were always just okay.” 

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Having played the Barras and venues like King Tut’s and Cathouse, Nick will soon add a new place to his list when he performs in the city with his new band Everyone Says Hi.

Loosely inspired by the 2002 David Bowie tune, the group brings together Pete Denton on bass (from The Kooks), Glenn Moule on drums (from The Howling Bells), keyboard player Ben Gordon (from The Dead 60s) and Leeds-based guitarist Tom Dawson. 

Everyone Says Hi will play McChuills on October 28 – and Nick is buzzing to say the least.

He said: “I’ve just been on the website for McChuills and it looks amazing.

“I love the fact that it is dead small. I think it is going to be an amazing gig and I can’t wait actually.”

The show will come as part of the group's small UK tour which will also take them to Manchester and London.

“It’s slightly nerve-wracking waiting to find out who is going to turn up,” Nick said on the upcoming tour.

He added: “It’s not like the old days where you could just put on a show and it would sell out instantly.

“But I’m really looking forward to it.”

(Image: Image by Stewart Baxter)

The upcoming shows will prelude the group's debut self-titled album out on January 31, 2025.

And Nick is making sure fans are not expecting the Kaiser Chief sound on the band's first record. 

“If people think they are getting tunes like I Predict a Riot, they’re not going to,” Nick said.

He added: “There’s definitely a Neil Young kind of thing going on with the record. There’s lots of melodies and harmonies and I think people will get good, old-fashioned classic songwriting.”

He added: “I think I’ve gone back to the roots of what I really like with the debut album.

“I’m not writing pop songs for the charts and I’m not writing songs for other people to sing. I decided to make an album that I could sit and listen to on a record player at night.”

The drummer left the Kaiser Chiefs in 2012 in a bid to be more involved in the studio and focus on songwriting.

He explained: “I wanted to write songs for other people, produce records and be in the studio all the time – and I did that for a while.

“It’s good to do something completely different because when you are writing for just one project – like a band – you have to fit songs into a very tight-fitting lane, which was what it was like in the Kaiser Chiefs.

“We tried as much as we could to move in and out of that lane, but every time we went out of that lane everyone hated it.”

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Since leaving, Nick has released a solo album and has worked with the likes of Olly Murs, Nina Nesbitt and Dua Lipa.

He has also worked with Duran Duran and producer Mark Ronson and has written for Shirley Bassey. 

Tickets are still available for Everyone Says Hi’s Glasgow gig and cost around £13. 

Click HERE to grab tickets.