Nicholas Matthew "Peanut" Baines, born 21 March 1978, is the keyboardist of the English indie-rock band Kaiser Chiefs. He studied at university for four years in Newcastle.
In an interview for Austin City Limits 2005 festival DVD extras disc, Baines said he got the nickname peanut at school when, aged 10 or 11 he drew a picture of himself and his head looked like a peanut.
He also plays guitar; and said in the same interview that he has played "music for most of my life". He, Nick and Simon started playing in bands at school when they were about 15. He also remembers "We were into stuff like Guns N' Roses. It was really cool to be able to play a song and actually finish it". The Beatles have been a major influence on the band- "as they should be on most musicians"
The band was no overnight success. Ricky added that it "took ten years of playing in this band to 'get lucky'".
He is known by his fans for wearing a hat all the time- as he is going bald- and for being the one the other Kaiser Chiefs pull pranks on: "He likes to go the front and clap, and while he was at the front clapping, we all went off. Left him there on his own." - Ricky Wilson, singer, said in an interview in Australia. "For how long?" replied the interviewer. "Hours."
Peanut missed a gig in LA in November 2008 and the filming of the Good Days Bad Days video due to appendicitis
"We bully Peanut onstage" - Simon Rix, bassist of the Kaiser Chiefs
He is also the only member who does not sing and is a resident of the Finsbury Park area of North London.
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