A Bunch Of Kooks

Calling from his sofa in London at the “ungodly hour” of 9am, Hugh Harris is usually the “getting up and having a purpose”-type, but with his current, more relaxed Kooks-schedule, there's no reason he can't sleep in. His unbroken morning voice concurs.

Last in the country for Splendour In The Grass in 2012, The Kooks will be returning to Australia for Groovin' The Moo, and are “ecstatic” to return down under. “We have the best time down there, it's insane. Everyone loves it.”

Prior to their first tour of Australia, the band weren't sure what to expect and had some preconceived ideas about what Australians would be like. “I'm half-Australian, and I was a bit nervous about the [debut] trek when we went there and whether the guys would get beaten up by bogans or jocks, or whether they'll not get beaten up and just like have the best time on the beach,” he jokes. “And luckily the latter happened and we all fell slightly in love.”

Harris expands on his past experiences with the aforementioned 'bogans' and 'jocks' with a touch of seriousness as he explains his experience at Falls Music & Arts Festival – which the band played in 2011. “Especially in Lorne (laughs), I mean, that's a real treasure trove of aggression. I thought like surfing people were supposed to be quite relaxed and hippie-d up, but they're not.”

Though we can't claim Harris as one of our own – he has given us permission to claim half of him – he goes on to admit that Australia is his favourite place to tour, as it allows him to see his family in Corryong, Victoria, or as he likes to tag it, “the middle of nowhere”.

“I have cousins, I have aunties, uncles [who all live in Australia]. My dad's Australian. My sister lives in Melbourne. So, yeah, the best tour for me is going to Australia because I get to see family.“

The Kooks will get to see and experience a lot more of regional Australia in May as the Groovin' The Moo festival stops over in Maitland, Canberra, Bunbury and Townsville. New material is something Harris would love to unleash at the festival, since it has been nearly two years since their latest offering, Junk Of The Heart, but there's something that's stopping them from doing so.

“I really, really would love to play some new songs. It's going to be really difficult for us to go back to the old ones, but we're not really finished with the new album yet. So, if we did – which all of us would be up for it – they wouldn't really be the right versions.

“You can be really over-pressured about these things though, it is also important to kind of wait a bit. So we may play one or two new songs, yeah. I'd really love for that to happen. I'll be pushing for it. But if we don't do it, it's not our fault.” Then who can we blame? “Hm… management. We blame the management,” he laughs.

With new material floating around – the first taste (in the form of an EP or single) to drop in the middle of the year – Harris believes the band has “found [their] feet again” in terms of musical direction.

“We're working really spontaneously. And it's certainly not going to take three years to do it,” assures Harris, referring to the three-year wait between album number two – the highly-acclaimed Konk (2008) – and their most recent effort Junk Of The Heart (2011).

 “We've got set songs down already, and it's sounding very fresh and very exciting,” he continues. “But you know, it's hard to talk about music. It's very difficult to explain to somebody what music sounds like. It's just, for me, it's something that has kind of given me a lot of energy, and I think I can probably say the same about all of us. We've sort of found our feet again.”

The Kooks have experienced a number of line-up changes, although the core members of the band have been together for 11 years: something that most bands could only dream of achieving. And so, in Harris' opinion, what has kept the band glued together for the past decade is their desire to evolve musically; most prominent in Junk… as electronic elements weaseled their way into the classic Kooks sound. Their upcoming album may be even more of a surprise to fans.

“Yeah, we all play synths,” laughs Harris. “No, not really. Yeah, it's bullshit. I was thinking of swapping my guitar for a keytar at one point but I realised I'd have to shoot myself in my face if I were to do that, from the shame.

“There's a bit of modernity on the new album. It's hard [to describe it] because I don't think we've ever really been guitar people or rock'n'roll people. We listen to every aspect of every genre of music. It's mainly about the songwriting and melody for us, whether that's on a keytar or a gee-tar, it's irrelevant for us, really. There's more modern stuff but there's also guitar stuff.”

The last thing Harris wants The Kooks to become is a band exhausted with their art. “I've seen bands at festivals on stage, completely disinterested in what they do and completely kind of like, not there, not engaged with their music. And for us, we don't want to get to a point where we get sick of anything. Like, that's the importance of evolution. You know, if you're not enjoying something then you know, change it, make it yours.”

Breaking up and ending things had crossed their minds but that was never the option. “It's an easy way out,” responds Harris. “But I don't think any of us were really, sort of, in our heart of hearts, had really factored that in. But of course you think about it a lot – I'm sure every band thinks about splitting up at some point in their life. We've somehow managed to maintain interest in what we're doing in this project. It's something that is important and is working. You just have to kind of evolve and change, and that's something that's either a natural progression or something that you have to force.”

And this evolution has gone beyond their music. With a strong fan base, The Kooks have utilised their power for good and philanthropy, choosing to donate a portion of their ticket sales to charities like the Kato Fund, which advocates for human rights and equality, regardless of sexual orientation, as Harris explains, is something very close to their hearts.

“It means a lot to the world, especially in countries like America, where it's just such a modern country yet it has such dated rights. It means a massive amount to us. But I mean combining music and politics is always a dangerous thing, but having said that, if you do have a voice and an audience you should try and use it for a good cause. If you have an audience then you have a voice and you can use it for the right reason.”

The Kooks will be playing the following dates:

Saturday 27 April - Groovin' The Moo, Maitland Showground, Maitland NSW
Sunday 28 April - Groovin' The Moo, University Of Canberra, Canberra ACT
Tuesday 30 April - Enmore Theatre, Sydney NSW
Wednesday 1 May - Palais Theatre, Melbourne VIC
Friday 3 May - Palais Theatre, Melbourne VIC
Saturday 4 May - Groovin' The Moo, Prince Of Wales Showground, Bendigo VIC
Sunday 5 May - Groovin' The Moo, Townsville Cricket Grounds, Townsville QLD
Tuesday 7 May - The Tivoli, Brisbane QLD
Wednesday 8 May - The Tivoli, Brisbane QLD
Friday 10 May - Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide SA
Saturday 11 May - Groovin' The Moo, Hay Park, Bunbury WA
Sunday 12 May - Fremantle Arts Centre, Perth WA