Luke Pritchard reveals alcohol struggles as he confronts death of father

Luke Pritchard has confessed he relied too heavily on alcohol as a crutch while working through personal emotions while creating The Kooks new album.

‘I was being very self-destructive. I was confronting a lot of stuff about my dad at the time and there is a song, See Me Now, which is on the album which is about my dad,’ the 27-year-old frontman said.

‘He died when I was three. When something like that happens when you are really young, you go through phases where you deal with it. I poured it all into our music. But I didn’t want to make a depressing record, I wanted to make one that would make you cry but make you sing as well.’

The London-based singer says he almost lost himself to drink but managed to pull himself together in order to confront his own mortality and make his best music to date.

‘Drinking for me got really bad at a time and it changes you when you are like that. You become more aggressive and everything is s**t. Before you know it, it’s been months and months and you can’t remember the last time you didn’t have a drink and you’re sat there going “what am I doing? This is insane”.’

‘I was like “right. I want to do something f***ing amazing now. I’m in a place to take this to another level. What am I on this planet for? Why do I exist?” I want to leave my mark on the world.’

Catch The Kooks at: Lollapalooza, Mallorca Rocks, Ibiza Rocks. New single, Around Town, is out June 15 and album Listen on September 1.

[Originally published Metro, Guilty Pleasures 2014 Festival Guide, Friday 2 May 2014]