The-Kooks singer Luke Pritchard: What does he think of the Oasis reunion?

“Never/Know”, the new album by The Kooks, will be released on May 9th. Singer Luke Pritchard (40) explains in an interview with the Spot on News news agency why the record is a love letter to his wife. In addition, the British musician, who, with guitarist Hugh Harris (37), forms the band’s Kernduo, how he combines family and tour life, what he appreciates at German festivals and what he thinks of the announced Oasis comeback.

Luke Pritchhard: I thought a lot about how the band should go on. We had changed our sound so much over the years and tried so many new things. When the album was created, we have revived the original influences. I felt that it was time to return to the guitar. And the impulse came: I have to write the songs in a basement and not with a producer, I have to return to the basics. The journey was about finding love for our roots why we founded the band, because after 20 years you just start doing things for other reasons. You try to be clever, more current or relevant with what you do. I think the album has just become right. It is a positive “Sunshine” plate with many cool guitar hooks and sounds. It is authentic for The Kooks and I’m really proud of that.

Pritchhard: For example, “Never Know” is about that I was my worst enemy and quite depressed for a while, things were only black and white for me. And then I met someone and my whole life changed. My wife taught me to overcome myself and be more grateful for life and little things. “Sunny Baby” is about the birth of our first son and how people around us were convinced that we would never make it as a couple. Everyone wrote to us and we did it. Now we are here with two children. These topics for the songs just came out of me, not too well thought out, but directly what I feel.

Pritchhard: In a way, it is a relief if you have children, because suddenly there are people who are so much more important than their own needs. You overcome your own ego. As far as making music is concerned, children are great inspiration. You have brought a lot of joy in my life and my home. I had her around me when I wrote the songs for the album. It all sounds very idyllic, but that was it too. Especially in the current times it is very nice to have new and innocent life around you. This is great for music, because music is the inner child.

Pritchhard: It’s definitely hard if you miss them and miss them. I try to stick to the three-week rule and no longer be away in a row. Fortunately, there is FaceTime, I don’t know how people did it before. If it fits, you will also come over on tour. My wife is also in the business and the tour is a large part of being a musician and a performer. We would also like to show the children that they should go out into the world and realize themselves.

Pritchhard: I like it. I’ve already done my first silly tictok videos (laughs). I think it’s fun if you don’t take it too seriously. For an “old” guy like me it is really cool to keep what we do, to keep fresh. Of course it is a very strange thing, because the platforms only show you what you are looking for. If you just look for funny videos of dogs or cats, it’s brilliant. But if you are looking for something dark or conspiracy theories or whatever, it can become depressing. At the same time, social media is great for music, for example, since it gave her a much more democratic space. It has produced people who might never have made it without social media. Some of them are terrible, so sometimes it’s not the best thing (laughs), but some of them are incredibly good.

Pritchhard: For me it is like two worlds. There are young artists and music that has become a commodity, and then there are legends that have shaped business for years. In contrast, the boys sometimes have a hard time. Because you can’t buy authenticity, there are no tictok videos. It is crazy how quickly people grow up and suddenly go on tour and perform with their second album in stadiums. The Rolling Stones only did it in the 70s. Of course, this is a great opportunity for the newcomers, but it also triggers enormous pressure. All the comments on social media also cause pressure that we never had. We got the bad things off the press, but we were able to easily handle that.

Pritchhard: I was very happy. I tried to get cards, but it was impossible, I am not the most patient (laughs). I hope I can still sneak in. We have a long friendship with both brothers, have already played with both of them and spent a lot of time with them. As a music fan, I think it is brilliant for the rock’n’roll. It can only be good that a real guitar band without backing track will now appear in stadiums. It is also an iconic story from the 90s. That is what I meant. Younger artists cannot keep up.

Pritchhard: I don’t think that will happen. But you never know. If we quarrel or if the music no longer flows, it could happen. There were times when we both were about to leave the band, but we tore ourselves together and said to ourselves that we could do it. Bands like the Stones are definitely a role model. We try not to take ourselves too seriously, we love music and just want to bring cool vibes to the cities on tour. What we definitely don’t like at all are pressunts like a separation for two years in order to then raise the prices for the tickets.

Pritchhard: It was really painful. In the first constellation with Paul and Max, there was so much good chemistry that you can hear on the first two albums. But life in a band that travels a lot is not something for everyone. I still have a good personal relationship with both of them. Since then we have had so many people in the band. I think we are now the quietest and musically very well recorded. It is probably the best line -up that has existed since the beginning. Alexis is still the new one, although he has been there for ten years (laughs). He is our Ronnie Wood. Jon has been part of it for a few years now, he has breathed a lot of life into the new album. So it really feels like a band, it’s a band, even if Hugh and I founded it. We are the core as long as there are both of us. May this version of the band exist for a long time. After all, we have just done the best record since the first album. At least that’s how it feels.

Pritchhard: Yes, we will celebrate and make a retrospective. Not specifically about the first album, but over 20 years of band history. There is still so much excavated material that we have, so much footage that we have never published, from the time before we even published music, and many demos. It will be fun to go through and prepare these things for the Ultrafans. I am sure that there will also be opportunities to really do new things that we have never done before. Who knows maybe we will play in stadiums next year.

Pritchhard: I think German festivals are very similar to the British. Probably because we have to cope with the weather in both. We are hardened (laughs). In addition, it can get out of control, but in a good way. The energy is great. People just want to leave, I love that. Nevertheless, everyone deals very respectfully. Even if I have the impression that the German music scene is rather hip-hop-heavy at the moment, Rock’n’roll is still announced.

Pritchhard: Definitely. In addition to the UK, Australia and South America, Germany is one of the countries in which we are most successful. We recorded our whole last album there and it was really fun to get to know German culture and way of life.

Pritchhard: There are many. We have traveled around the world twenty times, but there are still places where we have never appeared. I’ve been to India, but I’ve never played there. That would be really exciting. We performed in South Africa, but have never been in East and West Africa. And who knows, maybe we could also be the first band to play on Mars …