Louie Louie – The Story So Far…

• 27th Apr 2007

After only 2 years of the ‘rock star’ life, Louie have already been courted by Mick Jones, toured with Dirty Pretty Things and worked with Kasabian – so its safe to say their time on the music scene has went well. Dan Osborne takes a look into a band who have come a long way in a short space of time and who are surely on their way to cementing a place among the indie elite.

With only three folk nodding their heads down the front and the rest of a miserable crowd standing shiftily round the edges of the room, Louie could have been forgiven for putting on an average performance this evening. However, winding down is quite simply not in their nature as lead singers Gaz and Jordan bounce, scream and fight each other for vocal dominance in a twin front-man act that has gained favourable comparisons to The Libertines and The Clash amongst others.
Indeed, with only a handful of songs under their belt, Louie set out in 2005 to accompany guitar legend Mick Jones on a UK tour and ended up by playing to 30,000 people at ‘Super Bock, Super Rock’ in Portugal and opening the Leeds and Reading festivals at the end of the Summer.
It was all such whirlwind that the band can hardly recall their first major festival, “We just got as drunk as possible, ran out, played for about 18 minutes and ran off again. The crowd must have wondered what was happening”, smiles Gaz
Meanwhile, touring with Mick Jones provided a sage learning curve in the art of drinking Port and dancing down the front like a loon. For all his legendary status, “He’s just a normal guy”, interupts Jordan.
It hasn’t all been overnight success for Louie though, they have worked hard touring with the likes of The Fratellis and Dirty Pretty Things after Jordan boldly approached Carl Barat in a London bar, “I just went over to him and said we wanted to do a tour with them”. Simple enough.

They have also secured a firm friendship with Empire-builders, Kasabian who provide backing vocals on their new single “I Know What You’re Doing Tonight,” a throat-tearing slice of rock ‘n roll.
In between times they even found time to record an album with The Smiths and Blur producer Stephen Street which they enjoyed immensely: “Stephen was great to work with. He made us all feel very relaxed”. Incredibly they’re still waiting for a record label to pick it up, but are fairly relaxed about this happening soon, preferring instead to concentrate on their current tour and the exciting possibility of a forth-coming trip to Japan (“Japanese girls are hot!”). There is a laid-back confidence about the band that things will happen naturally for them if they just keep on doing what they’re doing.

Jordan and Gaz exude a down-to-earth charm and genuine enthusiasm for their own music and that of others: a mention of the latest Kings of Leon album results in much excited appreciation, “They’re just the coolest band around right now”, they both proclaim. However, on prompting, they declare that they won’t be taking a lead from KOL and baring their torsos on stage. “We haven’t got the bodies for it,” laughs Gaz.
For a large band (six members) they seem to all get on remarkably well, especially after living and touring together for the past two years and this positive attitude towards themselves and others has been responsible for the fans and high-profile friends they have acquired.
While tonight’s punters may have been drawn down the road to ride the hype-wagon that is the Arctic Monkeys, it is testament to Louie’s spirit that they still put on such a dynamic and energetic show. They launch straight into their new single with a remarkable force and swagger that demands attention, and amazingly manage to maintain the pace and thrill of this throughout a breath-taking set that deserves to instigate a riot not a tea party. Still, if they can come through nights like tonight without getting dis-heartened, then they will have without doubt earned the right to enjoy the success that surely awaits them round the corner.