Kelly Jones talks about Stereophonics' longevity, social media and 2020 plans

Virgin Radio

28 Dec 2019, 14:54

In this modern way of life, it’s easy to be switched on constantly: whether scrolling through your phone in bed until you drop it on your face, the daily commute, or being exposed to rolling news 24/7.

It’s no surprise then that sometimes you just want to take time out, and Stereophonics’ Kelly Jones felt the same last year after finishing a world tour.

‘I’ve been doing this for 22 years’ explains Kelly. ‘You come off of a world tour and you think – right, what do I do now? Do I go into the studio and start another album or I step back?’ One of the most productive writers around, it wasn’t long before Kelly was back writing Kind, the ‘Phonics latest studio album that went into the charts at number one.

He wanted to do something different this time around though. ‘It’s about the experience of the record. I wanted to make an album that you can listen to from beginning to end’ he explains.

‘It’s not about individual songs, it’s about setting the mood for 45 minutes. When I sent the songs to the record company I didn’t give them individual tracks, I sent it to them as one long streamed thing so they had to it through it!’ he cracks up laughing. ‘I’m so pleased people are enjoying it for what it is.’

You won’t see Kelly setting up his own Twitter account in 2020 though. ‘I’m not really a social media guy’ he says. ‘I don’t have a personal Twitter or Instagram, I don’t want to talk about rubbish on there.

‘I’d rather just give a glimpse of what’s going on, and for me the best way to do that is through music.’

Stereophonics are heading out on a huge tour next year, and plans are being made already. ‘It's all about the stage production, there’s a lot of different looks and a magical feeling. We’ve got 22 years of material to choose from, we’ve got a huge catalogue. The shows get longer!' says Kelly.

You know you’ll get to hear the hits anyway, and nobody would be surprised if they come back with another record for 2020.