March 5, 2013 9:43

Bloc Party's Kele Okereke: 'I'm destined to write a novel'

But would critics read it 'with complete disdain'?

Photo Gallery: Bloc Party
Photo: Richard Johnson/NME

Following the recent publication of his lyric book The Lyrics Of Okereke, Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke says he is writing a collection of short stories – and wants to write a novel.

Speaking to GQ, the singer says his passion for eavesdropping is feeding a collection of stories he's working on. "I'm writing a collection of short stories at the moment. I feel like it was a very eye-opening experience writing those stories but I've already started to think about writing a novel. I think that's what I'm destined to do."

Asked if he had any plans to return to his solo career, Okereke revealed that the band are working on an EP while on tour. He said: "Right now my priority is Bloc Party. We're about to make this EP so at the moment I'm just focusing on doing that."

Bloc Party released their long-awaited comeback LP 'Four' on August 20, 2012 and, in an interview with Spinner, Okereke revealed that it was fed by the "raw" and "intentionally under-produced" sound of Nirvana.

When asked if he had been inspired by any unlikely musical influences when making the album, Okereke replied:

I was listening to a lot of Nirvana. I've never been that big a Nirvana fan, but I listened to 'Bleach' a lot when we were making the record. I was really impressed by how raw the whole thing was and how intentionally under-produced it was.

The singer was eager to state that his songwriting hadn't been particularly inspired by Kurt Cobain, however, adding: "I don't think it would be cool to write songs like Nirvana. I just liked the way it sounded, how visceral it sounded. I think when a lot of bands start out they make the mistake of wanting to sound like Nirvana."

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