Kelly Jones compares being a rock star now to 20 years ago
13 November 2021, 11:00 | Updated: 16 November 2021, 11:28
Kelly Jones from Stereophonics talks to Johnny Vaughan
The Stereophonics frontman spoke to Johnny Vaughan about rehearsals for their J.E.E.P anniversary shows and recalled the old times.
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Kelly Jones has compared being a musician now to 20 years ago and revealed there are a lot less all-nighters.
The Stereophonics frontman talked about the preparations for the band's 20th anniversary Just Enough Education To Perform gigs and revealed how they took him back to the earlier days of the band.
He told Radio X's Johnny Vaughan: "We've been doing the whole album in its entirety and thinking about what times were like back then compared to now".
Asked what he came up with, Kelly replied: "Well in them days, you'd go straight through and you'd go to the pub again at 11 in the morning, start with a White Russian to get rid of the heartburn and then go again, wouldn't you?"
The Mr. Writer singer joked: "Now, I'm driving to the therapist with [Lynyrd Skynyrd's] Free Bird on hoping I'll be free again one day!"
READ MORE - Kelly Jones: Stereophonics' Mr. Writer turned Noel Gallagher's head instantly
The Welsh rocker also talked about the fact the band still meet up and "go for a drink" outside of their work and rehearsal time, because they've managed to maintain good relationships.
Asked how often they see each other socially, the frontman replied: "We'll actually go out and have a pint and that together.
"We still like each other," he added. "Not many bands do."
Explaining how far back he goes with fellow founding member Richard Jones, he said: "I've been with Richard since we were three. His mother and my mother were in the same school 'til they got expelled 'cause they had a pee in the sink because they wouldn't let them go to the toilet."
Asked if getting the band back together after a long break feels like the start of a new term, he replied: "It can be. It was in the middle of lockdown when we first got back together after about a year, but now we've been doing it once a week so it's kinda back to where it was now."
Kelly Jones and co are set to release their Oochya! album on 4 March 2022 and this week shared its latest single, Do Ya Feel My Love?
Stereophonics - 'Do Ya Feel My Love?' (Official Video)
Speaking on the album as a whole and its unusual title, Kelly Jones explained: "Oochya! was always a saying me and the band used in the studio to mean “let’s have it”, a blast of energy and optimism and that’s what we wanted to get across with [lead track, Hanging On Your] Hinges.”
Fans can expect to hear cuts of the new album and much more on the band's 2022 UK tour dates as well as their 2021 intimate Just Enough Education To Perform 20th anniversary tour dates, which include a homecoming show at Llandudno's Venue Cymru and a gig at London's O2 Shepherds Bush Empire.
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