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Stereophonics’ Kelly inspired to keep rockin’ by Ronnie and co
KELLY JONES is adamant there are no plans for Stereophonics to call it a day after nearly 30 years, despite revealing that earlier this year he considered quitting at the end of their tour in 2018.
He reckons the Rolling Stones are partly responsible for bands choosing to continue rocking out well past their twenties.
“They are to blame for all of us continuing to go and go and go and go
– they’re the ones that set the benchmark and we’ve got to follow it,” he laughs.
He adds: “I’m quite good friends with Ronnie Wood and I don’t think Ronnie imagined when he was 30 that he’d still be doing it now.
“To be honest with you, that guy’s got more energy now than he had when he was 30!”
But in all seriousness, Kelly and fellow founding member Richard Jones, as well as bandmates Adam Zindani and Jamie Morrison, have no desire to slow down.
They are heading out on tour in January, and come to the Arena Birmingham on February 29.
“If you’ve still got the desire and the fire to do something, I don’t see any reason to stop doing it if your fans are still getting excited by whatever message you’re putting out there,” says Kelly.
The 45-year-old does admit he was keen to take a break last year following the
Stereophonics’ latest tour, because “a big part of me was ready to – not quit the music – but I was ready to quit the repetitive cycle of what I was doing”.
However, his own creativity foiled his plan, and the band are back with their 11th album, Kind.
It’s another classic Stereophonics record, although with a more stripped-back, raw sound. An “honest” album, as Kelly calls it.
“I wasn’t really in any way looking to make a new album that quickly,” he says.
“I was going to stop for a while and do nothing for a bit, but around about November some songs started happening, and they were kind of informing how I was feeling... That’s kind of what happens with songs – they channel through you.”
Following a speedy writing process, where the songs “came very thick and very fast” to Kelly, the band got into the studio and recorded the album in just 11 days.
“I didn’t want to over-produce the record,” he explains. “It was very honest and a real ‘band in a room’ kind of record.”
Kelly – who formed the band in the Welsh village of Cwmaman in 1992 along with bassist Richard and drummer Stuart Cable, who died in 2010 – admits he has been described as a “workaholic”.
“For me, being creative actually makes me feel relaxed, and when I’m not doing something creative I kind of become more restless,” he says.
“That’s why, I guess... when I was getting a bit jaded last year, maybe I was going through a period of time that I wasn’t learning anymore, I wasn’t growing anymore.
“I wasn’t fed up with actually being on stage, I wasn’t fed up with making records.
“What I was starting to tire of was the 16, 17 hours a day, waking up in hotels or travelling and wasting time, really.
“For me it’s always going to be about growth and expanding what I can do, and on paper it looks like every 15 to 18 months there’s a new album and a tour and stuff going on.
“Yes, it can wear you out when you’re travelling around, don’t get me wrong,” he adds.
“That’s the hardest part of the whole thing. But the process of the creating is the bit that I need to do.”
It may be one of the toughest parts of the job, but the band are set to head out on another major arena tour next year to support the album.
Since their big breakthrough in the late 1990s, the band have released a string of anthemic rock singles over the decades, including Dakota, Have A Nice Day, Maybe Tomorrow and The Bartender And The Thief, selling 8.5 million albums in the UK alone, with six number one records and another three in the top 10.
“At the time you make the record you couldn’t care less if anybody likes it,” says Kelly.
“But then, stage by stage, more people hear it and it gets to the point where you think ‘Are they gonna play it on the radio and in the shops?’
“And on it goes and before you know it you’re in that marketing campaign.
“And if you ignore that then you’re just a bit stupid and ignorant really – that’s part of it.
“You didn’t make something for people not to then experience it, so you have to be part of that.
“The band has done well and we’ve never really been that far out of the area of the charts anyway, so if we get a number one, that’d be amazing.
“But it’s not the ultimate goal for me. My ultimate goal is that the music lasts and that people get to hear it and people are still listening to it 10 years from now.”
Kind by Stereophonics is out now.