After they released their debut album Inside In/Inside Out in 2006, The Kooks were taken on a wild ride. The record became a huge smash in the UK, peaking at number two on the charts and going on to sell over one and a half million copies worldwide. But the guys hit an unexpected career milestone when the Rolling Stones approached them to be the opening act on their A Bigger Bang Tour later that year. Life is usually never that easy when you're newcomers in the game, but when Mick Jagger digs you after you've only released one album, you know you're on the path to success.
The Kooks have continued to ride the popularity wave with the release of their sophomore album Konk, a 13-track romp that came out last April. Luke Pritchard (lead vocals / guitar), Hugh Harris (guitar), Paul Garred (percussion) and Dan Logan (bass) wrote over 80 tracks for Konk, but settled on the punching collection of guitar-driven sunny rock jams. In fact, the group had so many songs to record that they included a bonus disc titled RAK in the limited edition release of Konk featuring nine B-sides and demos sung mostly by Harris.
With Konk faring much better on the charts than their debut (including the US Billboard Top 200 Albums, where they peaked at number 41), The Kooks have been touring machines, playing to crowds upwards of 60,000 people. The band made their trek across the US this past spring, selling out multiple shows in NYC, but are coming back for a second leg of their Konk tour with dates scheduled as far back as the end of November and in more countries than you've probably visited.
Before heading back out on the road for their massive string of tour dates, The Kooks' frontman Luke called in from the UK to talk to Kiwibox Senior Editor Steven. With their new single "Shine On" making a splash in the mainstream circuit, Luke sounded complacent as he talked about hanging out with Mick Jagger, how he mentally prepares for playing to a sea of people and why he wouldn't mind heading out on the road with Bob Dylan, just to see him perform every night for months at a time.
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