The Kooks “had to Google Fontaines D.C.” after they met them

12 May 2025, 11:02

The Kooks and Fontaines D.C. Picture: Press/Theo Cottle

The Kooks guitarist Hugh Harris admitted that he didn't know who the band were when they introduced themselves last summer.

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The Kooks had to Google Fontaines D.C. when he first met them.

The band released their new studio album Never/Know last week and reflected on how their impact on guitar music over the years.

Asked if they have a level of respect from new bands, guitarist Hugh Harris recalled: "Last summer I had to Google Fontaines DC. I was outside our dressing room and they came to say hi and give their respect and love to the band. I was like, ‘Who the heck are they?’ Then I was like, ‘Oh my god they’re huge!’ It’s nice to have that support from both sides."

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In the interview, frontman Luke Pritchard discussed how the band is given a lot more respect now than they did in the '00s and how they've become "intergenerational" as parents have introduced them to their kids.

"Yeah, everyone loves us now," said the Seaside singer. "It didn’t used to be like that!"

He added: "The thing that I hear a lot about The Kooks, which is maybe a unique-ish thing to us, I always hear the same thing, which is, ‘I used to listen to The Kooks in the car with my parents and my younger brother.’ It’s always an intergenerational thing. Their parents would get us because they would hear The Kinks and The Beatles and Bob Dylan and the kids liked us, too."

The Ooh La singer went on: "What we’re seeing as The Kooks – I can’t speak for other bands of our generation – is the young people now, the teenagers, are getting into our music, which is crazy. I guess that shows the appreciation of what it was and the carrying on of guitar music, rock ‘n’ roll, which is more of a kind of mentality than anything."

The Kooks' Never Know album - which includes its title track and the singles If They Could Only Know and Sunny Baby - is out now.

Meanwhile, The Kooks are set to embark on a 2025 UK tour.

The shows include a homecoming date at the Brighton Centre on Sunday 5th October and culminate in their biggest headline show to date at The O2, London on Saturday 11th October.

They'll be joined on the dates, which includes a stop at Manchester's Co-op Live, by Merseyside four-piece The K's.

Visit thekooks.com for their full dates and to buy tickets.