If you don’t have a raging crush on The Duke Spirit‘s Liela Moss and her growly rock voice, you’re probably a few moments shy of a flatline.

The dirty punkyartrock five-piece from London as a whole are also deserving of your affection. I’m an equal-opportunity lover.

An electric, sexy live act, The Duke Spirit have toured with everyone from Queens of the Stone Age, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, REM, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and the crazy cats in Eagles of Death Metal, which is where this crazy cat first met them in November, 2008. We were all drinking and dancing our asses off on the side of the stage together while EODM played in Vancouver.

Backstage I shot sideways, longing glances at Liela, and hung out with lovely guitarist Luke Ford (turns out we have a mutual acquaintance from London) and lush drummer Olly “The Kid” Betts. They were attracting the attention of young, blushing liggers. “Are you Australian?” one lass asked. “Uh, no, English” The Duke Spirit responded unanimously. Bless. The girls seemed impressed either way, even if they were a bit thick.

It’s been a while since TDS have graced us with new music (Neptune – with stonking track “Lassoo” – came out in 2008) but I’ve been hearing whispers that the band have been working on new stuff this past year. So I tracked Luke Ford down in London to find out.

So, what the hell have you been up to in the last six months?

Luke Ford: Making a record between various parts of London (North and South) , Brighton, The Cotswolds, Los Angeles and Wales.

How IS the recording going? Or, what stage are you at?

We’ve completely finished.

What’s the new stuff sounding like?

Like a real Bethnal Green Bruiser of a record, with a pretty kind heart if you treat it right.

[BSR Note: Bethnal Green is a kinda gritty East London neighbourhood.]

If Wikipedia is to be believed, what could possibly be good about recording in “The West Country”?

Great cider, great cheese and great cheese rolling contests, what more could one ask for?

When are we gonna get to physically hold a new Duke Spirit “compact disc” in our hands? Because I’m itchy.

A mighty fine New Ep is on it’s way imminently – so keep ’em peeled. You’ll be able to hear new songs on our website in and over the next few weeks.

What bands out there are currently turning you and the others on?

Joe Gideon & The Shark, Black Angels, She Keeps Bees, First Aid Kit, Grinderman, Archie Bronson Outfit, Black Keys…

You’ve been out on tour with a bazillion frankly-quite-awesome-bands. Highlights?

Simple – Dave Catching. He is the highlight.

[BSR Note: Dave Catching is the Eagles of Death Metal’s guitarist and amazingly kind and wonderful dude.]

…although we did some shows with Duran Duran once in some skewed turn of events and I must say they still have some fine highlights on their barnets.

Best Englishman abroad story?

Lawrence Of Arabia

Tell me something secret about Eagles of Death Metal or Queens of the Stone Age? Josh Homme wants me, right?

Of course he does….In fact, all those guys do.  There were many nights out on tour when I’d overhear any one of those boys mumbling your name under their breath in quite a disturbing manner.

Does Olly The Kid still look like this? I found a video of him on YouTube:

Yes, although I’d say his hair has grown a little since that was filmed.

Which is your favourite guitar and why? Feel free to geek out.

My 1964 Framus Strato Deluxe because it looks weird as fuck, It sounds cool as fuck, it seems to have a Foot stock rather than a headstock and my bandmates hate it because it seems to follow its own path when it comes to staying in tune. All great reasons to love an instrument.

Is Liela still ridiculously hot? And what products does she use to make herself that way? Because I want to buy some.

Damn right. A combination of Hai Karate, Woods Old Navy Rum and a little Sriracha sauce applied to both sets of cheeks morning and night will get you there, I believe. \m/

New music from The Duke Spirit will be sneaking its way onto their site www.thedukespirit.com shortly. Bookmark it. Then go see ’em next time they’re in your hood. And say hello from me.