Buzz Magazine November 2013 | Page 15

upfront

RICHARD JONES
With one tour just finished and a UK tour just about to begin Stereophonics
are keeping busy. Bassist and founding member Richard Jones talks
to Heather Arnold about their return to Wales. pic (left): ©STEVE GULLICK

How was the response to your
new material over there?
Really good! It was released six months later, so it
only came out a month before we got there. But when
we were doing the live gigs everybody knew the new
songs – the internet helps with that.
We haven’t been over there for about four years now
so it was a bit of a ‘starting where we left off’ rather
than moving on. It’s always good to tour America as
it’s one of those places where all our favourite bands
are from. It so wide and open as well so it actually
feels like you’re on the road and doing the job you’re
supposed to be doing.
Your new album Graffiti On The Train
was released on your own label, Stylus
Records. When did you decide to launch
Stylus?
When we took [the new album] to the record label
we had a vision that we wanted it to be a collection
of songs. In regards to Graffiti On The Train it
could have been a double or triple album, and when
we were putting all these thoughts to the record
label they were just staring blankly. All we want is
an album, rather than a project. It didn’t feel like
they were on the same wavelength. They were great

“We want to
challenge
ourselves, we
want to scare
ourselves.”

making The Greatest Hits for us, which was perfect.
But we wanted to change things a little bit, change
the way we work and release stuff. They didn’t want
to take that gamble. It wasn’t an acrimonious thing.
It’s been a very steep learning curve. Very positive
though, knowing we can do it ourselves.
Was recording the album a
very different experience?
Only so much as the pressure we put on ourselves.
We always want to bring out something that sounds
different to what we’ve done in the past, we don’t
want to keep on repeating ourselves. We want to
challenge ourselves, we want to scare ourselves
when it comes to doing things that might not suit
what we do, but we usually try it and it works out.
Everything’s quite natural in what we do; we never
try and force something. We’re such big fans of
all different types of music, so it’s not as if we’ve
pigeonholed ourselves into one category.
Did recording the album with your own
record label affect its sound?
The mentality of it probably affects what went down
in the studio. We weren’t concerned with threeminute radio formats when it came to this album.
When you release the record people can feel that
it’s all us, it’s not trying to be anything other than
soulful, hand-on-heart music.

Are you looking forward to returning
to Wales?
Definitely, there’s no denying that Wales is our home
and every time we go back there we have such a
great reception. It’s one of those places where you
never know what to expect. You know it’s going to
be a great crowd but you don’t know how noisy its
going to be, or what happens around it. Usually when
we do an outdoor event in Wales it becomes a whole
gathering, a whole mini-festival. And sometimes the
gigs start being like that, there’s people walking the
streets enjoying themselves. Its a whole day enjoying
themselves. It’s great coming back to Cardiff. It’s a
shame Wales hasn’t got more large venues like the
Motorpoint, because it would be great to go around
Wales, all the regions, doing nice big shows.
What have you got planned next?
The plan is to bring out another version of Graffittii
On The Train, with new songs, probably late next
year. We recorded so many songs when we were in
the studio and 10 songs got released this year. Kelly’s
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