The Kooks

The Kooks

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Biography

The Kooks formed in Brighton in 2004 and are an English indie rock band. The Kooks currently consist of guitarist and vocalist Luke Pritchard, drummer Paul Garred, lead guitarist and backing vocalist Hugh Harris, and bassist Dan Logan, who replaced Max Rafferty in 2008. The Kooks have two Top 5 albums to their name, as well as a string of Top 40 singles.

Early Days: The Kooks met as students at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music. Luke Pritchard formerly attended The Brits Performing Arts and Technology School in Croydon, where he was linked to musician Katie Melua. Luke Pritchard and Max Rafferty collaborated on a college project before getting Hugh Harris and Paul Garred on board. The band decided to name themselves after the song Kooks from David Bowie's 1971 album, Hunky Dory. The Kooks also shared a love of artists such as The Strokes, Bob Dylan, and The Police, which they began to channel into their own blend of poppy indie rock.

Inside In / Inside Out: In June 2005, soon after signing to Virgin Records, The Kooks released their debut single, Eddie's Gun. But it was The Kooks' third single, You Don't Love Me, which earned the band their first Top 20 hit. On 23rd January 2006, the Kooks unleashed their debut album, Inside In/Inside Out, which shot to number two in the UK Album Chart, eventually selling two million copies worldwide and going triple platinum in the UK. An alternative version of the album, called Inside In/Inside Out Acoustic, is also available.

Inside In/Inside Out was followed by the single Naïve, penned by Pritchard when he was just sixteen, and which reached number five in the UK Singles Chart on its release in March 2006. The Kooks' rise to fame accelerated with the release of another Top 10 single, She Moves in Her Own Way, and a support slot for The Rolling Stones at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. Now well and truly in the media limelight, The Kooks were drawn into a spat with Razorlight, who also opened for The Rolling Stones on this tour. The NME regularly reported on the feud between Razorlight's front man Johnny Borrell and The Kooks' Luke Pritchard.

Across the UK, The Kooks were enjoying playing to packed venues and October 2006 saw the band set off on their first US tour, selling out shows in New York and Los Angeles. That year The Kooks were nominated for Best New Act at the Q Awards, but lost out to Corinne Bailey Rae. They were also nominated for Best UK and Ireland Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards.

The Kooks: The Kooks released the first of their new material in March 2008 with the single Always Where I Need To Be. The Kooks' second album, Konk, followed on 14th April and went straight to number one. Konk was recorded at the London studio of the same name, owned by Ray Davies, singer-songwriter with The Kinks. The Kooks also recorded seven tracks at RAK studios in London and included this CD, entitled RAK, in the double disc version of the album. Shine On was the second single to be taken from Konk and reached number twenty-five on its release in July 2008. Earlier that year, bass player Max Rafferty left The Kooks and was replaced by Dan Logan, a member of Brighton band Cat The Dog.



Biography by Contactmusic.com

The Kooks Album The Best Of...So Far Out Now

Posted on19 May 2017

The Kooks Album The Best Of...So Far Out Now

The Kooks Promise More Music To Come With 'Best Of... So Far' Album


The Kooks

The Kooks have just dropped their first single in two years entitled 'Be Who You Are'; one of the brand new songs from their forthcoming compilation album 'Best Of... So Far'. The British indie band will be supporting the new release with a full UK tour starting in April.

The Kooks return with their first Best Of albumThe Kooks return with their first Best Of album

To celebrate more than 10 years together, the Brighton four-piece unveil their very first greatest hits album entitled 'Best Of... So Far', spanning work from their four studio albums: 'Inside In/ Inside Out', 'Konk', 'Junk of the Heart' and 'Listen'.

Continue reading: The Kooks Promise More Music To Come With 'Best Of... So Far' Album

Pinkpop 2014 Announce Headliners The Rolling Stones, Arctic Monkeys, Metallica Plus Many More

Posted on12 March 2014

Pinkpop 2014 Announce Headliners The Rolling Stones,  Arctic Monkeys, Metallica Plus Many More

The Kooks - Junk Of The Heart (Happy)


The Kooks' new single 'Junk of the Heart (Happy)' is the second single from their third Top Ten album of the same name and will be released on November 7th, through Virgin Records. It follows on from lead single 'Is It Me', which was released in September 2011.

Continue: The Kooks - Junk Of The Heart (Happy)

Luke Pritchard and The Kooks - Luke Pritchard of The Kooks London, England - Rimmel London party held at Battersea Power Station Thursday 15th September 2011

Luke Pritchard and The Kooks

The Kooks, Konk Album Review


Read a review for The Kooks album Konk released through Virgin.

The Kooks debut album, "Inside In/ Inside Out" was a definable debut in Indie of the new millennium.it was bold, energetic, melodic and utterly thrilling. Now, it comes to the same band and their poke at the all important and difficult second album. And from the off, I must admit, it is evident that the Kooks are stating their case as one of the bands of the decade.

Tracks like "Always Where I Need To Be", "Mr. Maker", "Do You Wanna" and "Stormy Weather" stand out as the real wonderful tracks of the album. This is music with passion, accuracy, a touch of class and sheer music supremacy. The Kooks have matured greatly in album Number Two, but, significantly, they have still managed to maintain their lackadaisical, for-the-fun-of-it approach to music writing and I find that truly inspiring.

This album could be the sound track to the summer and certainly is bound to be amongst most popular albums of the year .Ace.

Daniel Black

4/5

The Kooks, Always where I need to be Single Review


The Kooks
Always where I need to be
Single Review

Continue reading: The Kooks, Always where I need to be Single Review

The Kooks, Interview, Hugh Harris


The Kooks - Interview - Hugh Harris

Contactmusic.com spoke to Hugh Harris from up and coming Virgin records signing; The Kooks.

How's your day going?
It's going pretty well actually! We had to do a photo shoot this morning so that was surprisingly cool. Ha, surprisingly dangerous too! We had to cross busy roads and try not to get run over by traffic whilst this guy took numerous photos of us. Yeah, we live life of the edge yaw know!?! For the past few weeks we've been touring around playing all over the country and it's been pretty hardcore. We've all been sleeping in coffin bunks in our big yellow tour bus living out our out suitcases, so things like this are always good, it's kinda nice to challenge ourselves with dangerous photo shoots and such.

You've just been on tour with the Automatic, how was that?
It was really good! They're all really good guys. We haven't actually had a chance to go out with them yet. They always have to travel to the next venue as soon as they play, it actually really reminds me of us when we were supporting other bands. I think we've been pretty good to them really! Tried to be as nice as possible anyway! I don't really like what a lot of bands do nowadays and try and compete to up stage the other band or whatever, I think bands should work together to try and create the best show possible for the audience & fans! What's the point of working against one another you know? I guess it is hard with everyone living in one another's pockets – you just have to try and over come it!!

This was your first major Kooks tour. How did you find it?
Yea, pretty good. We did one back in the summer of last year but it was nothing in comparison to this. It's helped so much having an album out. Everyone knows our songs now & lyrics. It's great to hear people singing along. It's quite a nuts feeling when you're on stage though. When you have an audience like that you kinda feed off the crowd and atmosphere.

You've had three singles released off the record already, what's the plan for the next one?
Yea, I can't believe we've already done three singles. It really doesn't seem like it. I think we're going to do 'naïve' as the next one. I think it's a pretty catchy song. It's usually the one people tell me they enjoy the most. It was quite a strange song to record for us actually, it's quite a personal song to Luke and he really wanted to get it right. It could have come out sounding very bubble-gummy and poppy and I think he pulled it off.

You're playing SxSW this year, are you looking forward to it?
Yeaah!! That will be pretty mad though. I've heard a lot about it and now I can't wait to get there. I'm not going to be able to drink because I'm only 18 so it's going to be a bit of a downer really. You know what America is like and drinking laws. They are just so strict with those things. They ask everyone for ID. I don't really want to get arrested for underage drinking. We're gonna spend a little time in America this year. I don't mean we're gonna break it or anything but we will be playing quite a few shows. We're not gonna do the usual shows when we're over there we're gonna arrange some beach parties & do some more unusual stuff. Ha, you know, get naked and dance around a fire on a beach. I'm kinda hoping it will turn all like the OC on us!!

How long have you been signed to virgin?
We signed about 1 ½ years ago, almost two years. They were really good with us. They gave us a lot of time to write and record the album. We toured with actual touring bands that had large fan bases and cult followings.

When did you finish recording the album?
Summer last year, we recorded at a place called Konk studio it was amazing, so much history has happened there. The live room had such a nice feel to it.

Tony Hoffer recorded it with you didn't he?
Yea, that was a great experience. When we went into the studio we really didn't know how we wanted to sound. We all have so many different influences and musically we are all in to lots of different things. He really gave us our space to work on a sound right for all of us. We didn't over think it either; we just got loads of really gorgeous sounds from nice amps and beautiful guitars.

What's planned with UK shows this year?
We're going to be doing the festivals; I'm really looking forward to that already. I really want to do some more little obscure festivals like the secret garden festival. I heard a lot about that last year and I really wanted to go but I was too busy. Hopefully we will fit some more dates like that in this year.

What is your personal downfall?
Girls! Women, I'm terrible! I never know what to do!!

Give me one piece of advice for a new up and coming band that you always try and adhere to?
Do it for yourself. It sounds really cheesy but f*ck it. Don't get wrapped up in things that might not happen. Stay in your band because you like the music. Don't do it for any other reason!!

The Kooks

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