"Jones’s voice is a killer instrument too, simultaneously raw and mellow, while his lyrics nail the disdain, boredom and affection inherent in small-town life." Q on Kelly Jones.

"On tunes such as ‘Not Up To You’ his drum patterns breathe life into the song and momentum into the show." The Times on Stuart Cable.

"...just like any other bass player - hanging back and looking cool." Richard Jones defines his role for Kerrang.

This you know.
Stereophonics signed to the then nascent V2 in the Summer of 1996 and good things have not stopped happening since then, but this story of stories goes way back. Kelly Jones, Richard Jones (no relation) and Stuart Cable have known each other since infancy and have played together since their early teens, rehearsing in Stuart’s bedroom, in Cwmaman, in South Wales (look it up). A luckless few years hugging the M4 back and forth to London under the moniker Tragic Love Company came to an end with a swift name change (taken from the brand name of Stuart’s gran’s gramophone) and a few dates on their doorstep.

"When we started doing interviews, everybody thought we wanted to escape because we didn’t like where we come from. That’s completely not the case. Opportunities are crap, I’ve got to be honest, there’s not a lot there. But for peace of mind, knowing you’re safe in your house, having a good time, and a close community environment where everybody talks to you, it’s brilliant." Kelly Jones.

Kelly and Richard were born a few yards and a few days away from each other, Stuart arrived a couple of years earlier. The three’s earliest musical experiences were shaped by the record collections of their elder brothers, taking in Creedence, The Kinks, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Stevie Wonder and gigs on the working men’s circuit (Kelly: "We hated it at the time, but we learnt a lot. If you didn’t entertain people in working men’s clubs, you got thrown off the stage"). With a history of music coursing through the Kelly Jones (former market trader, one-time boxer, budding scriptwriter) family, it was probably inevitable that he would end up singing and playing guitar. Stuart (worked on a building site, delivered school dinners) had sung in other local bands before taking the stool in Stereophonics. Ever the pragmatist, Richard (scaffolder, coalman, electrician) took up the bass because everyone else had guitars. Kelly got him in the band because he was the ‘coolest fucker in the village’.

"They’ve taken the apparently parochial, provincial and mundane inside-page headlines in the local paper and turned them into massive, rampant, breathless, bog-eyed anthems." NME.

"Kelly Jones writes with an uncluttered humanity which never fails to strike an emotional chord with his audience." Vox.

Cover versions came first, and then originals simply inspired by Kelly’s surroundings, but seemingly summoned from a rich vein of rock’n’roll storytelling followed ("Some of these songs might be the stuff of ancient murder ballads, deep and mysterious." NME). These songs included ‘A Thousand Trees’, a song about a loyalty-testing, village opinion-splitting drama which entered the charts at number 22 in August 1997, the suicide note of ‘Local Boy In The Photograph’ (number 14 - February 1998. "‘Local Boy In The Photograph’ is as beautiful as a beery mess can be at closing time, the story of a suicide, a wasted life amplified into a rousing symbol for the inevitable passing of youth." NME) and the twisted vision of a wedding reception (‘Too Many Sandwiches’). In marrying these dark visions to the most ravishing guitar pop music, Kelly created something unique and captivating, personal and yet universal. ‘Word Gets Around’, their debut album (released in August 1997, entered the charts at number 6) is dominated by stories of rumour, desire, whispers, murder and suicide, and memorable blasts of thrilling tunes.

"For a debut album, this is scarily self-assured, rich in details from rock’s ragged tapestry but performed with an unbridled energy that implies they’ve just invented it. Openers ‘A Thousand Trees’ and ‘Looks Like Chaplin’ reveal R&B throb, soul ache, American alt-rock thrash and, in guitarist Kelly Jones’s voice, hollering metal." Q.

"Fundamentally ‘Word Gets Around’ is a sublime title because that is precisely how Stereophonics built a fanbase. Bereft of the usual hyperfrenzied press outlets as the press struggled to find any mind-blowing ‘angle’ or emotional tangle on three utterly normal-looking blokes who sang incendiary rough-edged pop tunes about their normal lives, the threesome hit - nay clobbered - the wide-open road." NME.

Aside from recording ‘Word Gets Around’, Stereophonics spent the end of 1996 and most of 1997 earning a reputation as one of the best new live acts in the land, touring relentlessly, admittedly away from the glare of media coverage. Over the course of the 12 months they trod UK boards with Manic Street Preachers, Ocean Colour Scene, Skunk Anansie and The Who, whilst also spending time across Europe with Supergrass. They ended ‘97 with their 100th and 101st gigs of the year in Cardiff: the shows were subtitled ‘Happy With That’. They even almost completed the set of Summer festivals. At the time, however it was one concert that seemed to capture the band’s ascent in sharp focus.

Stereophonics played a tremendous early afternoon set at the Hillsborough Justice Concert at Anfield (May 1997) - it was raining and Kelly was jolted by a succession of electric shocks. The next day they received the warmest welcome at a big outdoor gig in Cardiff. A week later they appeared on Jools Holland’s Later, and released their single ‘More Life In A Tramp’s Vest’ (it’s about the fall of the market trader, and it was the band’s first Top 40 hit). Thirteen months later Kelly, Richard and Stuart floored 10,000 fans in the grounds of Cardiff Castle. "Elsewhere in Cardiff, hundreds of EC politicians have gathered to broker deals. But they’ll never hope to articulate this kind of union in the castle grounds, as three blokes turn the delirium of ‘More Life In A Tramp’s Vest’ into a monumental, noisy accord." - NME. Stereophonics were the first band to play in this breathtaking venue for 20 years. After that they completed a fully sold out UK tour, and three more big shows in Newport and Cardiff.

"There’s something going on here, and I suspect ’Phonicsmania will spread, even to America, where currently a Welsh band would have trouble getting arrested." The Guardian.

The NME recently called Stereophonics Princes Of Wales, and while the band are more than proud of their achievements on their home turf, its worth pointing out that Cardiff Castle aside, their biggest live shows have taken place in France - where Stereophonics are serious business. Beyond France the rest of Europe loves them ("Tonight it’s ‘Same Size Feet’ and ‘More Life In A Tramp’s Vest’ that run off with the honours; frontman Jones’s uniformly sharp lyrics - a running soap opera of real-life disasters, sexual intrigue and small-town strangeness - overcoming any language barriers." Q in Hamburg), their first tours of Australia and Japan were sell-outs, and when it comes to the States they’ve barely scratched the surface. They even found themselves in Thailand on promo duty filming the video for their highest chart entry yet - ‘The Bartender And The Thief’ (number 3, November 1998). Dressed in Oriental dragons they surrounded themselves with helicopters, gunboats, the campest army ever and numerous explosive charges on the banks of the River Kwai. The locals hadn’t seen anything like it for over fifty years.

"This is definitely a ‘fuck me’ moment. You write a song in your bedroom, and a few months later there are people running about beside the River Kwai filming a video for it." Kelly Jones.

The success of ‘Bartender’ capped a brilliant year, then, and signposts the future big style. The first single from the second Stereophonics album ‘Performance And Cocktails’ released in the UK March 1999, and USA September 1999, ‘Bartender’ roars along at breakneck pace, and is almost certainly the first top 5 hit to concern itself with a conman landlord and his hustler wife ("a raucous, frenzied song about crime, booze and lesbian nookie." - Melody Maker. Kelly: "The song came from an idea we had in this weird bar in New Zealand. It was this really strange place where these mad sailors wandered in and out all night.") You’ll find less of the Aberdare Leader in ‘Performance And Cocktails’ than its predecessor, instead Kelly’s thrown his net wider, taking in a NY performance art club experience (the "staggering, whiplashed" ‘Roll Up And Shine’), a record company receptionist being shot (‘T-Shirt Suntan’), Billy Liarisms (‘I Wouldn’t Believe Your Radio’) and a did he/didn’t he mystery thriller (‘I Stopped To Fill My Car Up’). The rock is rougher, the ballads bigger on ‘Performance And Cocktails’.

Stereophonics have stretched their blueprint in every direction. There’s songs like ‘Just Looking’ and ‘Pick A Part That’s New’ that you’ll be hearing a lot of this year ...

"I never knew their fans idolised them so much till I saw them at Cardiff Castle and I saw 10000 people singing along to obscure B-sides. Kelly could have just stopped singing." Darren Broome, BBC Wales.

"They were the band who Trojan-horsed raw riffing and rock’n’roll back into the charts with nary a naff whiff of irony or deceit." MM.

Going back a little, Stereophonics started 1998 with the most votes in the Melody Maker Best New Band Poll. They won the same category at the Brits in February '98, and claimed a hat-trick in August '98 winning the Best New band award at the Kerrang Awards. They met lifelong heroes Angus Young and Brian Johnson from AC/DC too (Kelly Jones: "All I can think about is when me and Richard were eight years old and we went to a fancy dress party dressed as Angus and Malcolm Young. And Angus Young is sitting over there in the corner and I’m absolutely shitting myself!"). In February '98 ‘Word Gets Around’ went gold in the UK and has now sold around 300,000 world-wide, and in November the band entertained the crowd for the Wales v South Africa Rugby match at Wembley Stadium. In April '98, a documentary filmed following their first few months on the road won a Welsh BAFTA, and they made it a double in ‘99 with a film of the Cardiff Castle show. Add to this the hits, the sold out gigs and tours, the new countries and the recording of a brilliant second album, 1998 had been a big year. 1999 promised to be even better!

Stereophonics ended 1998 with sold out headline shows at Newport Centre and Cardiff International Arena in December. ‘Performance And Cocktails’ was released on 8th March 1999 on V2, entering the charts at number one. It has since gone platinum (as has ‘Word Gets Around’). Stereophonics last two singles, ‘Just Looking’ and ‘Pick A Part That’s New’ have both reached Number 4 in the National Charts. Their most recent single ‘I Wouldn’t Believe Your Radio’ was released on August 23rd and went in at Number 11. August 16th saw the Stereophonics being nominated for 6 prestigious Kerrang! Awards, and walking away from the bash with 'Best British Band' Award and 'Best LP' Award for 'Performance and Cocktails'

Stereophonics completed a sold out UK tour in April/May, and participated in a benefit for Kosovo with Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher and Ray Davies. This Summer they have so far supported Aerosmith at Wembley and co-headlined T In The Park. They headlined their biggest show yet in Swansea in July (50,000 tickets all sold out within days of being released), and were Special Guests at V99, the penultimate act before headliners Suede, and even recorded a collaboration with fellow Welshman Tom Jones. So what's next for the 'Hardest Working Band in Britain'? They head off for some gigs in Australia in September, before taking their show to the USA for the imminent Welsh invasion of Uncle Sam in October.

Happy with that? Stereophonics will be. (Sept '99)