MUSIC: Glasgow is such a trip

They’ve headlined T In The Park, rocked Glasgow Green and sold out the SECC.

But Richard Jones of The Stereophonics admits there’s one Scottish gig he’ll remember for different reasons – the night he fell flat on his face at the Barrowland.

“When we played there in 1999, I’d asked one of the techs for an extra monitor onstage, and completely forgot at show time” he recalls.

“So I ended up tripping over it as I went on, and landing flat on the floor. But the crowd gave me a good cheer when I jumped back up!”

Scotland itself fell for the Phonics early on, from their days promoting Word Gets Around in 1997, to their current jaunt promoting their seventh studio album, Keep Calm And Carry On. They’ll be back at the SECC for two nights next week, and Richard, who’s a founding member of the group, is now quite used to playing the big hall.

“It’s pretty much a standard room, but I think for Scotland it’s one of those venues you have to play in. But the thing about being in The Stereophonics is that we’re not afraid to do small shows right next to big shows, like when we did a wee show at the Classic Grand just before Christmas.

“Glasgow has always got some of the best crowds in the UK, with everyone going mental.”

They’ve got some Scottish support for the tour too, in the form of Hip Parade, the Glasgow quartet who appeared on the Orange Unsigned Act competition in 2009 and have since been snapped up by BMG Artists Management.

The group’s forthcoming EP was produced by none other than the Stereophonics guitarist, Adam Zindani, and Richard’s expecting a lively experience on the road.

“Adam let us hear the demos they’d been working on, and we all really liked them. So we thought why not give an up and coming band the chance to play some big shows?

“That’s what we did when we started off – we played with anybody and everybody. And it should mean some good craic on the road too!”

If Hip Parade are looking for an example of how to carve out a lengthy career in music, then The Stereophonics fit the bill.

From their roots in Cwmaman, the group built up a solid following, then became one of the biggest bands in the country with the release of their second album, Performance And Cocktails, in 1999.

Thanks to singer Kelly Jones’ gravelly rasp of a vocal, and his ear for penning catchy, singalong rock songs like Just Looking, Have A Nice Day and Dakota, it’s a position the band have never lost.

They’ve changed along the way, with drummer Stuart Cable infamously leaving on bad terms after their third album, but their popularity remains intact. Richard believes that Keep Calm And Carry On has seen more change, with the band recruiting Jim Abbiss, who’d previously worked with the likes of the Artic Monkeys, Kasabian and Adele, to produce.

“We did things differently this time, as Jim uses different techniques. It wasn’t like the whole band were in a room recording, it was more like we were all separate musicians coming in and recording their parts individually.

“It was a bit strange for us, but the end result was very sparse and concise on the instrumentation. At the time it was challenging for us, as we’re used to playing all together when recording. ”

“There’s always been a flipped coin to The Stereophonics though, as we can do the harder edged rock & roll stuff, but can also do quieter songs, like I Stopped To Fill My Car Up.

“But on this record we really calmed down on the wall of sound we’ve used in the past, and let the melody and the vocals have more space, so it’s more mellow that way.”

It’s that ability to change, and add in new elements, that have kept the band going. However, Keep Calm was a disappointment in one regard, entering the charts at No 11.

As their previous five albums had all topped the charts, that chart placing had to be quite a blow. But Richard remains philosophical about the situation.

“We knew early on we weren,t going to be Top 5, because there was a lot of reality stuff in the charts then and we were going to be behind them. They’re always going to have that extra exposure.

“I don’t think any thought goes into what happens to these acts once the show is finished though. Fortunately for us we built our career the old-fashioned way, by getting in people’s faces!”

Richard clearly feels that so many bands being dropped so early is a shame, and points to the amount of learning experiences his own group have had as an example.

“It’s always been the way with major record companies, that when bands want to change their style they tend to not like that,” he says.

“We‘ve learned a lot in our career – after the second album we got a popularity boost, and we kind of let our guard down and didn’t work as hard.

“We quickly learned you still need to work at everything, or else your stuff won’t get seen! We also learned we didn’t want to be known for what we did privately, just for the music.”

And even after all those years together, Richard insists that he always gets fired up rattling through old classics like A Thousand Trees and More Life In A Tramp’s Vest.

“I can get tired of doing certain tracks, but when we did the greatest hits tour, in 2008, that kind of brought home how people like those songs so much, so that gives you a little bit of encouragement to play them, because the crowd getting such a buzz gives you a buzz too.”