Luke Pritchard has revealed that the departure of bass player Max Rafferty from the Kooks was partly down to his drug addiction.

As previously reported the band haven’t spoken to Rafferty since he left in January and had previously refused to speak about why he left.

However, Pritchard told Orange: "Max was in and out for a long time and we kind of made the decision that we wanted to carry on without him. Things got a bit much for him I think."

"He was struggling [with] various issues [including] his anxieties and taking drugs probably a lot more than he should have been doing or wanted to be doing."

"Not to get some fucking violin out, but it can be really difficult being in a band, especially when you're like that. Max is the greatest guy in the world but he just didn't really know how to stop."

The Kooks release their second album ‘Konk’ this coming Monday (April 14).

(by Daniel Melia)