Born in Salford in 1980 and raised in Leicester, Serge Pizzorno is the co-founder and songwriter of Kasabian. Its four members met at school in the 90s. Inspired by Britpop and rave, they signed to Sony in the early 00s and released a string of hits including LSF, Club Foot and Fire, scoring six UK No 1 albums and headlining stadiums. In 2020, Kasabian announced it had asked singer Tom Meighan to leave the band before his conviction for assault against his partner Vikki Ager. Pizzorno now fronts the band. Their eighth album, Happenings, is released on 5 July, with a hometown show in Victoria Park on 6 July.
This is me in Victoria Park in Leicester. I was a curious, quiet and thoughtful three-year-old, and I loved that jumper. I suppose the colours are like the Italian flag – my dad was from Genoa and he was keen his heritage was passed on to the next generation.
I had a pretty straightforward childhood. As Dad worked a lot, I was mostly brought up by my mum and my sister, who was 10 years older than me. I reckon it had an impact on me, having that feminine influence; maybe it made me more sensitive. Mum was really into clothes and gradually I became obsessed, too. When I was eight, I came up with a whole brand concept – I drew pie charts and designed tracksuits, tennis wear, trainers. It was all nonsense, but an example of how deep I’d get when I was really into something.
