It’s been 12 years since the British band The Kooks released their first album Inside In / Inside Out, and they still find people who have just found this record. It might be because their sound is so fresh, that it seems as if they’d launched it just this summer.
But how is it possible to create such timeless songs with good vibes despite the troubled times we live in? Well, Pete Denton, the bassist from the famous band confesses in an interview with Cultura Colectiva that it is incredible to be able to do that. “I think we have that to a degree and that’s what has kept us around.”
The band, founded in 2014 in Brighton, is releasing its new album Let’s Go Sunshine, the fifth in their trajectory, and one that represents how their members have grown and evolved during this decade. “Children, wives, small houses, big lawn mowers, big houses, small lawn mowers, etc. Seriously, though, your 20s are the most important years of your life, in my opinion, so that is gonna affect your musical and lyrical content dramatically.”
As Pete says, this record has a very positive theme in it. “It was the first time in a very long time that the four of us were in good places at exactly the same time. It was very much the band in a room getting creative and having fun. It certainly shows in the music, I think.”
The Kooks inherited the sounds of the 1960s British Invasion, but also from Britpop, both movements that have influenced their compositions to become evergreen sounds that transcend generations. “We just feel blessed to still be here. The music speaks for itself and that’s why we are here. We’ve always done what we wanted to do for better or worse on occasion, but making mistakes is never a bad thing. You learn, you move on, and generally become stronger,” Pete explains.
For Pete, music is a form of therapy for both the listener and the performer. “As a listener, you can interpret the song however you wish to suit your situation and relate in any way you desire. As a performer it’s amazing to give the gift of music and see a positive reaction to it. You can take yourself out of the real world for a minute, which, let’s be honest, is quite a beautiful thing to be able to do these days.” And this idea is related to the video for “All the time,” one of the new songs in this album, where a young girl escapes from a difficult situation of violence.
But how difficult has the music industry gotten with all the digital platforms and tools available? Pete answers: “You have to move with the times and we are all still learning essentially. It’s definitely getting there though and I think it’s a great thing or will become a great thing for the industry. We come from a place where we were the last of the analogue bands, really, so it did take a minute for us to adapt truly, but it’s incredible seeing the rise of your audience in each territory and even age range. It’s exciting times.”
The Kooks will be touring around the UK during September, they’ll play in Mexico at the Corona Capital music festival in November, and finally say goodbye to 2018 in Australia.
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