Today in pleasant surprises: Just when we thought we’d run out of bands to reunite, Ray Davies says in a new interview with Britain’s The Telegraph that he and his brother Dave, along with original The Kinks drummer Mick Avory, are playing music together again—for more than a few minutes this time.
The Davies brothers reportedly settled their longstanding feud earlier this year, and are now in the studio with Avory, who left the group in 1984 over his clashes with Dave. (The fourth original member, bassist Pete Quaife, died in 2010.) Mick and Dave’s beef has also reportedly been squashed, and the trio is now working on a new Kinks album with songs Ray has been holding on to since the band “parted company” in 1996. No word yet on when (or if) that’ll ever see the light of iTunes, but Ray says the reunion was inspired by The Rolling Stones, who as Money reported last December were grossing about $10 million a show on their recent “No Filter” tour. (Those kind of numbers tend to make one forget about arguments from 20 years ago.)
Ray cautions not to expect a worldwide stadium tour from The Kinks just yet, though, telling The Telegraph that there’s still some tension between Dave and Mick but “I’ve made that work in the studio and it’s fired me up to make them play harder, and with fire.” He adds, “You must praise the Rolling Stones for being great at publicity and a great band great at organizing their careers … It’s kind of inspiring to see them doing it. But The Kinks will probably be playing the local bar.” Asked point blank if the band is officially getting back together, Ray jokes, “officially, we are—in the pub later on.”
You can watch the full interview, which opens with Ray on the phone telling Mick, “I’ll see you at the pub later,” below.