Now celebrating 21 years of making hits, selling out shows and inspiring countless young bands, The Kooks are set to return to Aussie shores this month, hitting the stage for solo shows and appearances at festivals amongst the likes of Party in the Paddock and Yours and Owls.
We caught up with band members Hugh Harris and Luke Pritchard to get the lowdown on it all.
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“Looking back, it’s been a really cool year. We finished an album, we toured all over the world, and we feel very vitalised for next year.
“Actually, it’s probably the first year after a long year of touring. I feel very energetic. So that’s good, even though I’m getting old.
“It has been really energising, hasn’t it? There’s been so much work, but what do they say about extroverts being recharged by people?
“I feel like the work is kind of been recharging for us. It’s not been something to complain about. I got a cat this year. That’s pretty cool.”
With a couple of decades of touring under their belt, it’s easy to fall into habits, and feel like the road becomes a bit of chore. But the pair note that with such a well-oiled machine, there’s more time for themselves when they’re on the road.
“Waking up early and getting a coffee in the morning, that wasn’t the case a few years ago; enjoying a city in the morning. There’s different sides of touring,” Pritchard notes.
“I’ve kind of noticed how wonderful and rare this all is, the job is to play music and travel for a living, be welcomed by people because of your artistry. That is mad, that is absolutely unheard of,” Harris adds.
“It’s genuinely quite a beautiful way to experience life on earth as a human being, just playing in a band, touring the world; it’s unbelievably enriching for me. It’s really clicked in this year. Just super grateful about it all.”
While more time does come up for The Kooks when touring in this day and age, and while the boys will be hitting Aussie shores for about four weeks, rarely does pen hit paper, the Naïve hitmakers preferring to save song writing for their return home.
But inspiration does happen while they’re on the road.
“You probably get inspiration but I don’t do any writing on tour. I used to try; I once put a little studio in the bus, and I think I wrote half a song?” says Pritchard.
“I love just saving all up, you get this nice, big juicy tank after a while of ideas and then they explode in the studio.
“I was in the studio last night, and the engineer went out to get some wine. And I wrote a song in like fucking three minutes, and it just explodes like that. When you leave it and leave it and leave it, it just builds up, like a pressure cooker.”
With the boys hitting the road a fair bit last year, and with a big 2025 on their plates, a refresh of the setlist will be in order.
“I think we’re going to completely reinvigorate the set list, because it’s been a while. We basically did a 15-year anniversary for our first album, we ended up touring it for about three years.
“I can’t wait to get to the rehearsal room, because we can play some songs we’ve not played for ages, and stuff like that. And so, yeah, it does change. We’ve also got brand new album that’s going to be coming out around the time we’re touring Australia, so a few singles will be out.”
There’s no question that The Kooks have a bit of a love affair with us all down under, the 2025 tour marking their 12th visit, the first way back in 2008. Luke and Hugh note their fondest memories about making their way around Australia over the years.
“We’ve had so many great experiences out there. It’s just a very beautiful reflection of the nature.
“I love seeing my cousins, out there too, they’re farmers,” Harris notes. “They live far out, so I love going to see them. They usually put me on a naughty horse and watch me struggle for my life around the paddock. So that’s really nice too.”
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