The Kooks' Luke Pritchard: "Music is like a medicine to me"

21 May 2025, 09:45 | Updated: 22 May 2025, 13:00

The Kooks' Luke Pritchard in 2023. Picture: SOPA Images Limited / Alamy Stock Photo

By Jenny Mensah

The Kooks frontman spoke to Dan O'Connell about the band's Never/Know album and discussed why he'll never stop creating music.

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Luke Pritchard believes that music is his medicine.

The Kooks scored a UK No. 5 with their Never/Know album last week and their frontman caught up with Radio X's Dan O'Connell to talk about everything from the new record to the band's live shows.

The Brighton-formed indie rockers have been together for over 20 years and asked why it still matters to him, their frontman reflected on The Evening Show: "Music is Iike a medicine to me I think. I don’t really know any other way. For me I think it’s a pillar of my life. If you talk to my wife Ellie she’ll know If I don’t make music for about a week then I get really tetchy and it’s just in my soul."

He went on: "That’s pretty common I think when you’ve done it since you were young and you sort of lean on it. You lean on your music in good and bad times.”

Listen to the band's seventh studio album below:

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The Sunny Days singer might rely on music in the good and bad times, but he also loves cleaning and thinks of it as his "meditation".

Asked if he ever has to call back to is more rock & roll lifestyle when he's deep in parenting mode, he told Radio X: "I’ve never really been like that. I’m the guy that would be taking the rubbish out and then going to play in front of 50,000 people in Finsbury Park. That’s kind of my vibe.”

He went on: “There’s a bit of a kind of Buddhist vibe about it. I really like cleaning andI like doing all that and I think it’s something inbuilt in our human nature. ‘Cause we think hard things and pain is bad, but you can’t escape it and If you do monotonous tasks, I think it’s meditation essentially.”

He might not think of himself as rock & roll, but he has hung out after hours with none other than Oasis and managed to be one of the last ones standing!

Dan O'Connell shared a clip of Noel Gallagher recalling how Pritchard was once "swept up" into their entourage and "stayed the distance" on a night out and ;ooking back on what he believes was the night in question, the Ooh La singer revealed: “It was the Q Awards and we did get invited and maybe even by Paul Weller as we were kind of friendly with Paul Weller. He’d been to a few of our shows. Maybe he was the guy who swooped us into their entourage."

"It was a brilliant night, I remember," he went on. "I think me and Noel were comparing our chest hair for some reason and then Liam got involved. He had more of course, then that was that. But I did stay the distance... Yeah, we’ve had a few nights out."

Luke Pritchard impressed Noel Gallagher when partying with Oasis

Though Pritchard remembers the night fondly, he was gutted to then miss out on the chance to support Oasis before their split.

According to the indie rocker, The Kooks were due to appear on the same bill as the Manchester band at a Spanish festival just days after Liam and Noel's fight on the night of their Rock en Seine gig in Paris, France.

He explained: "Actually it’s really sad for us because we were booked to play the gig after the famous Paris gig. The Kooks was on a bill. It was Kasabian, The Kooks and then Oasis. […] It was in Spain somewhere and they flew in Deep Purple to cover Oasis because they had split.

"So we were on the bill, so we always felt sad we never got to do that, but very grateful to - you know Noel, we supported Noel and we supported Liam.”

Quizzed if he had a favourite Gallagher brother, he added: “I love them both equally, of course. They’re both great. Excited to see them again!"

Asked if he had plans to see Oasis on their reunion dates, the Naive singer admitted: “I tried to get [tickets] online, but I hope this lasts quite a long time and I’m sure I’ll get my chance”.

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

Their arena shows will include a homecoming show 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 tour, 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.