The Kooks
England | Indie Rock / Britpop | 2004 - present
The Kooks are an indie rock band based in the United Kingdom. The band was formed in Brighton, England, in 2004, and currently consists of guitarist and lead vocalist Luke Pritchard, lead guitarist and back up vocalist Hugh Harris, drummer Paul Garred and temporary bassist Dan Logan, who replaced Max Rafferty in 2008. They have released two studio albums, both achieved commendable success on the UK Albums Chart, with their 2006 debut album Inside In/Inside Out peaking at #2, and their 2008 follow up Konk peaking at #1.
The Kooks formed at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music, where they were all students. Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Luke Pritchard who was born in the Yorkshire seaside town of Saltburn, got bassist Max Rafferty (Musician) involved in a college project, which formed the base of the band. After getting lead guitarist Hugh Harris and drummer Paul Garred involved, they chose a band name from a song off the 1971 David Bowie album Hunky Dory, entitled "Kooks". When Virgin tried to trademark the name, they found that in the late/mid 1990s a Swedish band by the same name released a single in Sweden called "Too Much of Nothing".
The Kooks released a debut EP and played Brighton's Free Butt festival, and were instantly signed to Virgin Records. Pritchard wrote The Kooks' hit song "Naïve" when he was only 16 years old, which after release catapulted the debut album, Inside In/Inside Out into the UK Top 20 charts for more than half of 2006. The album has sold more than a million copies and has attained triple platinum status. During a promo tour, the band refused to be interviewed on Channel 4's Popworld after presenter Simon Amstell made repeated references to Pritchard's ex-girlfriend.
The group released Inside In/Inside Out and went on their first US tour in October 2006, selling out shows both in New York and Los Angeles. They also played at the Reading/Leeds festivals in the NME/Radio 1 Tent.
Among the band's honours are a nomination for Best New Act at the 2006 Q Awards and the award for Best UK and Ireland Act at the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards and had one nomination at The BRIT Awards and a shortlist nomination.
The band gave away non-album track Pull Me In as a pize in a competition they ran from their website and was limited to 5000 vinyl copies.
Their second studio album, Konk, has been produced by Tony Hoffer and was released on 14 April 2008. In an interview with NME.com, Pritchard revealed that the band have "80 or 90" songs written and ready to record. "I want this album to be big," he said. "I've got an ego - I want the album to do well. I want our singles to come on the radio and for people to literally have their heads blown off by them."
Bassist Max Rafferty officially left the band on 31th January after long standing rumours and an on-off absence from the band. Dan Logan, bassist with "Cat the Dog," was brought in as a temporary replacement, although Pritchard revealed that he might join the act on permanent basis: "It's been really strange for us but it's something that had to happen. Dan hasn’t joined the band properly yet. We're trying him out, but I love playing with him."