Kelly Jones

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Kelly Jones
Kelly Jones performing during the January 2005 Tsunami Relief Cardiff concert
Background information
Birth name	Kelly Jones
Born	3 June 1974(1974-06-03) (age 35)
Origin	Cwmaman, Wales
Genres	Rock, Britpop
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Lead guitar, Vocals
Years active	1992–present
Website	stereophonics.com
Notable instruments
Gibson SG

Kelly Jones (born 3 June 1974) is a Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist and the lead singer of the band Stereophonics. Influenced by classic rock bands such as The Who, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and the Sex Pistols, ^[1] Jones is noted for his strong, gravelly voice, which has been described as "whisky" vocals.^[2][3]As a lyricist, Jones is also strongly influenced by Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Otis Redding.^[1] Jones has a talent for poetry, having had several works published. He is also known in the media for his cynical view of fame and criticism of manufactured mainstream pop music.

History

Early life and début

Jones lived in the village of Cwmaman, near Aberdare, where he became friends with neighbours, Stuart Cable and Richard Jones and they formed a covers band together. Showing a talent for writing in his youth, he considered being a scriptwriter before being a musician and studied film at college.^[4] The BBC showed an interest in some of his early work but, as the band progressed from a covers band to writing their original material, he decided to use his narrative side more towards writing lyrics.

Jones also flirted with the idea of boxing, and was a successful boxer at youth level. Much of his early life is documented in the Stereophonics debut album, including his account of his teen years on a market stall. These are wryly documented in More Life in a Tramps Vest from the Stereophonics first album released in 1997, Word Gets Around.

Stereophonics made a big splash in 1996 as the first band to be signed to Richard Branson's new Virgin Records label V2. Their distinctive sound offered a blend of Oasis-inspired Britpop and '70s-influenced rock & roll earning them a series of big UK hits. However, this did not come at once - their debut EP Looks Like Chaplin did not have enough copies made to enter the charts, their next single Local Boy in the Photograph was one place shy of making the UK Top 50. Although constant gigging and countless support slots earned them much praise and a growing fanbase. Fellow Welsh band Manic Street Preachers put the band as support on many of their 1996-97 tour, this brought the band a lot of new fans.

Their debut LP Word Gets Around did however make it to #6 in the UK Album chart, something that in those days was unheard of for a small Welsh trio.

1998 - present: Mainstream success

In February 1998, they received a Brit Award for Best New Group, the same week as a re-issue of Local Boy in the Photograph made number 14 in the charts and their first album went gold in the UK, selling over 100,000 copies. During that year Stereophonics had successful tours in Europe, Australia and the USA. They performed a milestone concert on 12 June 1998 at Cardiff Castle in front of 10,000 people which was considered a major success.

In 1999, after playing another key gig at the now rebuilt Morfa Stadium in Swansea on 31 July 1999 (released later on VHS & DVD) they released the "difficult second album" which was entitled Performance & Cocktails. This was their first #1 album and it set the trend for their albums which at time of writing, all went straight in at the top spot. Performance & Cocktails showed how three boys from a small town in Wales grew into rockstars with stories to tell. Kelly no longer sang of small town matters but instead roared out anthems like Bartender & The Thief & Just Looking, and wrote tracks such as Plastic California documenting his time in the States. During this time they also collaborated with Welsh singer Tom Jones on a cover of the Randy Newman song Mama Told Me Not To Come for his album Reload.

In 2000, rumours that the band were splitting up ran wild when Jones announced a solo tour, however on the opening night of the tour in Vicar Street in Dublin, he came onto the stage and said "How's it going? This is about the band splitting up... it's bollocks".^{[citation needed]}

After another successful tour, they re-entered the studios and came out with Just Enough Education to Perform, the first single Mr. Writer, Jones talked about how journalists had turned on him, how they would play one act to an artist's face and then write untrue things about them once their back was turned. Despite this, Mr. Writer hit a nerve among fans. More single success for songs like Have A Nice Day, Step On My Old Size Nines and a cover of Rod Stewart's version of Handbags & Gladrags which still receives significant radio play today, established Stereophonics as one of Britains top bands. They also recorded their biggest audience to date when they played to 80,000 in Slane Castle in Ireland and ending with a Christmas show at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, supported by Feeder and Ocean Colour Scene - who they had supported years before.

Everybody expected another album like Just Enough Education to Perform (aka J.E.E.P). but once they released their fourth studio album You Gotta Go There to Come Back everybody knew the Stereophonics were here to stay, unlike their first three, they were not trying to "make it" in the music business, or cement their place. Songs like Maybe Tomorrow and Madame Helga came out of this album, and they also re-worked a song that had not been completed in time - Moviestar. They re-issued the album with this track included.

In 2002, the band was chosen as a support act for Counting Crows and toured on various UK dates with the band. Subsequently Jones would join the band on stage and perform Mr. Jones and Hanginaround alongside Adam Duritz.

Kelly Jones and the Stereophonics September 2007

In 2003, whilst on tour in Germany, drummer Stuart Cable - whom by this time had his own television chat show on BBC Wales - was sacked from the band by Jones, citing problems over "commitment". Cable was replaced temporarily on the remainder of the tour by Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman. According to Stuart, "I kept pluggin' away. I knew when we started we weren't very good and I was waiting for it to get better. It was becoming obvious that wasn't going to happen and I said so. Kelly didn't like that".^{[citation needed]}

The Stereophonics' fifth studio album Language. Sex. Violence. Other? was released in March 2005. This marked their first recording with new drummer, Javier Weyler the band's former studio engineer, whom they had made permanent in the band after asking him to fill in on the drums for some early LSVO recordings. The band grabbed their first number 1 hit in the UK singles chart with the album's first release, the upbeat Dakota, in which Kelly spent much of the video driving in dark sunglasses. The second single from the album, Superman, was a growling rocker. This song however did not repeat the success of Dakota, peaking at number 13 in the UK charts, partly due to limited radio airplay. After this release came Devil, which was promoted by a controversial video, reaching number 11 in the charts.

In January 2005 Kelly Jones performed a solo set at the Tsunami Relief Cardiff charity concert at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, the biggest live music charity concert since 1985's Live Aid, which also featured artists such as Eric Clapton.

On 2 July 2005, the group took a break from their sold out world tour and appeared at the Live 8 concert, in Hyde Park, London, performing to 240,000 people - their biggest audience yet.

In the following year, The Stereophonics were scheduled to tour with Oasis, but due to an unfortunate family-related event the band pulled out. They did not resurface until later in the year where they began recording for the sixth studio album Pull The Pin which was released on 15 October 2007. Pull The Pin is an album that returns to the band's classic rock roots evident in the first album and the influence of 70's rock can be heard in numerous tracks.

Equipment

Jones playing his Cherry Red Gibson SG.

Jones playing his Gibson Les Paul Goldtop.

Jones is well known for his love of British style amps, and is never seen without his Matchless', Badcats and Vox AC30s, whether playing solo or with Stereophonics. He loves the "clean British sound" of the AC30s and the "dirty crunch" of the Badcats and Matchless'.

He does not use many pedals, but in solos is well known for his use of his Dunlop CryBaby wah, and his crunchy, wah-driven solos are instantly recognisable. He also uses Boss effects pedals, including a chorus, delay, flange, phaser and various distortion pedals, although he is gradually getting rid of the distortion pedals and just using amp switching pedals using the built in crunch and clean settings, mainly using his AC30 for clean work and his other 2 amps for distortion.

His main guitar is a cherry red Gibson SG. His use of a Gibson ES-339 is becoming more and more common along with his Fender Stratocaster, and his Fender Telecaster is also making more and more appearances, his Fender Jaguar, used extensively on 'Language Sex Violence Other' looked to have been made redundant on the latest 'Pull the Pin' tour but was used a lot more towards the end of the tour, most notably on the single You're My Star. He owns one Telecaster clone built by Manson Guitars^[5] He is also known to use Gibson Les Paul Goldtops, especially on heavier tracks such as Bartender and the Thief and Vegas 2 Times. His acoustic guitar of choice is a Gibson J150 and rarely uses anything else, but owns various other Gibsons and Takamines.

Controversy

Media criticism

Jones has always had a troubled relationship with the media and they have often criticised him, his contribution to music, and his vocal abilities.^[6] This relationship was not helped when he wrote "Mr. Writer", a song about a journalist who had travelled with Stereophonics on tour and then subsequently slighted Jones in an article, which resulted in further negative reviews.

Thom Yorke

Thom Yorke

Jones has generated headlines several times by criticising other musical artists - most notably Radiohead frontman and solo artist Thom Yorke. Despite being a Radiohead fan,^[7] he criticised Yorke's attitude in a 2002 interview due to what Jones felt was complaining about touring on Radiohead's 1998 home video release, Meeting People Is Easy. He said: "We can all relate to that video – y’know, having to do a hundred fucking idents for radio stations – but that doesn’t mean you’ve got to walk round and be a miserable twat to everybody. Which is what Thom Yorke is mostly."^[8][9] Jones later regretted the comment, stressing his appreciation for Yorke's music, and confessing: "I don't know why I said that." Despite expressing goodwill towards Yorke, he claims that Yorke told him to "fuck off" when he attempted to make amends with him.^[7]

Manufactured acts

Most famously however, Jones is widely known for his cynical view of manufactured pop and has also criticised pop reality shows such as Popstars and X Factor and manufactured pop bands such as Hear'Say, as he believes they make no contribution to music, and regards them as a joke.^[10]

Other projects

In 2007 Kelly Jones brought out his first solo album, Only The Names Have Been Changed, as a limited edition release, which managed to reach number 1 on the iTunes download chart. He explained that; "We were recording the sixth Stereophonics album last year and in-between takes I started doing these songs off the cuff. Three or four tracks in I realised that this could actually be something… strange how it's always little things that makes big things happen." This created speculation that Jones would leave Stereophonics to pursue his solo career, however he denied these rumours and has continued to make albums with the band to this day. ^[11]

Personal life

Jones is the youngest of three brothers. His father, Arwyn Jones, was a factory worker, who also sang in local men's working clubs where they lived in South Wales, in his band Oscar And The Kingfishers. Arwyn managed to secure a record deal with Polydor, but never achieved any mainstream success.^[12] During his youth he was also an amateur boxer, competing at a high level in South Wales.

Jones cites AC/DC as his favourite band.^[1]

Jones is known for his preference of wearing vintage clothing, and owns at least twenty leather jackets including several variations of his trademark tan leather jacket.^{[citation needed]} He is frequently seen wearing sunglasses even at night time concerts and indoors.^{[citation needed]} Jones is a fan of Leeds United football club.^[13]

In 2000 Jones went to (his friend and band photographer) Julian Castaldi's home, kicked down his front door, smashed his window with a brick and then vandalised his two cars with a scaffolding pole, whilst under the influence of alcohol. This was because Jones had recently discovered that Castaldi was courting his ex-fiancee, Emma Dunn, four weeks after they had ended their twelve-year relationship. Castaldi called the police and consequently Jones was arrested. However Castaldi did not press charges, leaving Kelly Jones with a £2000 fine for damages. Jones commented that "What I did was completely out of character - but what he did was wrong", later writing the song "Rainbows and Pots of Gold" in response to the event. ^[14][15]

He currently has two daughters - Lolita Bootsy (born in 2004) and Misty (born in 2007), both to his then partner Rebecca Walters, a graphic designer he started a relationship with around 2003. However Jones split up with Walters in 2007, not long after Lolita became seriously ill, although she recovered.^[16][17]

The song "Lolita" was written for his daughter Lolita Bootsy.^[18]

Jones is also well-known for his small stature, standing at only 5 feet and 6 inches tall, and it was even referenced by Roger Daltrey of The Who - another singer known for his small stature (unconfirmed 5 feet and 7 inches) - on the Live at the Royal Albert Hall DVD, where Kelly was one of several special guests. Daltrey jokingly said: "It's great, 'cause he (Kelly) is smaller than me", right before performing Substitute.

Discography

Studio albums

References