The Kooks are Hunky Dory

They’ve definitely been here; the pool table has a few un-potted balls from an unfinished game. There are cigarette ends in the ashtray. A half-eaten sausage sandwich and a tepid mug of coffee sit on the large glass table. T shirts and towels hang on the radiator, drying. A pile of CDs are strewn on the table: Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, The Stooges, Bonnie Prince Billy. The beige sofa looks as if it’s seen some action. Then again, it most definitely has. Gigwise is waiting in the basement rooms of Ray Davies’ Konk studios, which has played host to a number of seminal recording sessions by the likes of The Kinks (naturally), The Stone Roses, Primal Scream and Elastica. You can smell the kudos!

Just as we’re getting nostalgic, our reverie is interrupted by a fresh-faced fellow who shuffles in, brushing a mop of curls from his eyes. This is Hugh – the youngest member of Brighton band The Kooks. He’s been over-dubbing some guitar whilst the rest of them are down the pub, although the approaching rabble signals their arrival. The rest of the band clatter in: bassist Max a Johnny Borrell doppelganger (this isn’t well received) haughtily plonks a bottle of Jack Daniels on the table and nods in acknowledgement. An Über slim, slightly sullen guy in a yellow t-shirt and dark curly hair joins the table, eyeing Gigwise suspiciously with piercing blue eyes; Luke, the singer. Then the fourth flops on to the sofa with a friendly smile dancing across his face. This is Paul – the drummer. Together they’re The Kooks, and yep, they are named after that Bowie tune. Lovely.

They’re a young band (Hugh, at 17, is the youngest), the eldest is 21. Obviously wary of the age subject, Luke shoots Gigwise a withered look when we ask if the band met at school. “No, we met through a dating agency,� he says, flatly. Eeep! The real answer is they went to college together in Brighton, started the band, “well, more a collective with a few tunes,� corrects Paul, and recorded a demo.

Such was the diffidence of this ‘collective’ they were unsure as to each other’s willingness to participate because they were all into such “different stuff� says Paul. It transpired their musical tastes did, in fact, convene due to the eclecticism of their favoured musical genres, which is the spirit that informs their diverse sound. A wild weekend ensued, where they all got on “fucking amazingly� and the rest, well, is history - in the making.