When the Kaiser Chiefs are on tour, the band has a habit of recasting themselves as their favorite Star Wars characters complete with Wookiees, Ewoks and even Lando's assistant. "Our lead singer Ricky is Luke Skywalker -- obviously he chose that," Kaiser Chiefs guitarist Andrew "Whitey" White laughs. "Simon and Peanut, the keyboard player and the bass player, are really close friends so they're named R2-D2 and C-3PO. Nick, who's the songwriter, he comes up with all the ideas, and is kind of the leader, but he's also a little bit girly, so he's Princess Leia. And I'm the one who always moans and complains and ask why we're doing everything -- so I'm Han Solo. Our stage manager is Chief Chirpa. We have six big tall, hairy guys on the crew who are all like Chewbacca. We have a bald guy who's into electronics, so he's Lobot. Darth Vader is our tour manager. And our band manager is Yoda, obviously."

Not only are Star Wars nicknames commonplace, but watching the films in the bus between gigs also has become a bit of a touring tradition. "I carry the DVDs with me at all times just in case I need a little fix," White says. "When you're on the road it's nice to have them around. I probably watch Return of the Jedi the most. My favorites, in order, are Return of the Jedi, Empire second, Phantom Menace third, Star Wars, Sith and then Clones. I love Jedi the most because that's when I had all the toys. Those are the Christmases I remember the most. I think it's quite an underrated film. Everything happens in that one. That whole 20 minutes with Luke and the Emperor is scary! And Vader takes his mask off and he looks horrible! And you realize that he's just a man. I was surprised he was English."

White can't help but feel sorry for the Imperial Army. "Ultimately it's those poor stormtroopers who are equipped with really bad armor who are the most underrated characters in the movies," White says. "Just like the goons in the orange jumpsuits in all the James Bond films, they never get enough credit. Maybe in George Lucas' upcoming TV show, he can reveal more about the guys under the stormtrooper armor. In fact, I treated myself to some stormtrooper armor, but I'm too busy with the band to join the 501st Legion."

Forming in 2003, the British rock band Kaiser Chiefs consist of friends White (guitarist), Nick Hodgson (drummer), Simon Rix (bassist), Nick Baines (keyboardist) and Ricky Wilson (lead singer). The band quickly climbed the charts with their hit singles "Oh My God," "I Predict a Riot," and "Everyday I Love You Less and Less." Impressing audiences at the Reading and Leeds Festival in 2004, and later in 2005 as one of the opening bands at the Live 8 Festival in Philadelphia, as well as with memorable performances at the Glastonbury Festival, Kaiser Chiefs gained momentum as a buzz-worthy live act. The band is currently touring to promote their 2007 release, Yours Truly, Angry Mob.

While Return of the Jedi is his favorite of the films to watch on the tour bus, it was in fact a double feature of The Empire Strikes Back and A New Hope that initially sparked his interest as a child. "I was too young to see A New Hope in theaters because I was born in 1974," White recalls. "But my brother took me to see a double showing of The Empire Strikes Back and A New Hope at my local cinema in Leeds when I was seven years old. I watched A New Hope and absolutely loved it and then the next thing I remembered was my brother waking me up. I was really tired and obviously fell asleep through Empire and was so upset I missed it. The space battles and the ships in A New Hope were amazing. I used to watch a lot of war films with my dad. So the X-wings reminded me of those dogfights with the planes. I'd never seen special effects like that before. It was probably one of the first films I had ever seen as well."

After seeing the films, it was only a matter of time before White would become entranced by the toys. "I was heavily into the toys around the time Return of the Jedi came out," White says. "I had every single action figure from the main Star Wars line. But many years later when I was a teenager, I wasn't really into Star Wars as much. So when I was 18, I asked my mom about the toys. And she told me that when I was a kid I used to go outside and sacrifice each one by dropping them down the grates. I don't even remember doing that. That memory must have been swiped from my brain. I must have been absolutely mental! But I've replaced them all since, and had to pay twice as much for them."

White's collection is impressive to say the least. "I have a ton of Star Wars collectibles now -- first shots, all the carded figures, mint condition items, everything," White says. "To be honest, I kind of went a little bit overboard. But I've chilled out since. I haven't bought anything new for nearly three months. I've spent so much money on Revenge of the Jedi booth cards, anything to do with stormtroopers, etc. I suppose I collect these things now because I loved everything to do with being a kid, and all those memories of seeing movies like Star Wars, Close Encounters, Indiana Jones and Jaws. And so I wanted to recapture some of that youth by collecting toys. Almost a year ago, I didn't have any Star Wars stuff really. But when The Phantom Menace came out, me and my friends got really excited, and it put the coal back on the fire so to speak, and I started collecting the Episode I toys which then led me back into the vintage stuff. It's nice having a complete collection again."

To properly showcase his collection, White has a special room dedicated to Star Wars in his home. "Only myself and my very close friends who are around the same age go in there and drool at everything. I've obviously gone over the top. But there are others who have much more impressive collections, like Steve Sansweet from Lucasfilm. He isn't merely a collector, he's a legend. And he's completely dedicated to the films, not just the action figures. When we tour through San Francisco, I would absolutely love to pop round and see his collection."

As the saga celebrates its 30th anniversary, White has a few theories why the films have remained so popular with fans of all ages. "Star Wars is the cool thing to like, after all," White smiles. "For anyone between the ages of 25 and 40, Star Wars was a big part of their life. The films just came at the right time. Some great independent cult movies had come about, but nothing like Star Wars had been released yet. This biggest thing to hit the '70s was Star Wars. It was at the pinnacle of technology using stuff that had never been scene before. The early '80s was the best time for a kid to grow up. I have such great memories of BMX biking, and seeing Gremlins, and being excited by the adventure of Indiana Jones. Pop culture came to the forefront then. So many huge movies came out at that time. George Lucas was savvy enough to transform a film into a thriving business. Usually movies are released and then they are gone. But Lucas understood the idea behind creating toys for the films."

"The films inspire people to explore their own minds," White continues. "Seeing the X-wing in a battle scene made me want to be in space. It got me thinking about what's out there, and science fiction in general. Good movies give you room to think and imagine possibilities. And Star Wars did that for me."

To catch the Kaiser Chiefs on tour and read the band's blog, visit the official site here. Also check out the Kaiser Chiefs on MySpace to listen to music tracks.

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