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Stereophonics
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Stereophonics are a Welsh rock band consisting of Kelly Jones, Richard Jones (no relation), Javier Weyler and Adam Zindani. Since their début album Word Gets Around which peaked at #6 in the album charts they have had five consecutive albums reach #1 in the UK. Described as 'classic UK rock with whiskey vocals' the band have enjoyed considerable success in the UK with 25 singles reaching the top 40 of the UK Singles chart. In 2005 their single Dakota became the band's biggest hit, reaching #1 on both the UK Singles chart and the UK Downloads chart and becoming the band's first release to chart in the US, reaching #34 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart.
y and Richard grew up together in the village of Cwmaman, near Aberdare, Wales.
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Encyclopedia
Stereophonics are a Welsh rock band consisting of Kelly Jones, Richard Jones (no relation), Javier Weyler and Adam Zindani. Since their début album Word Gets Around which peaked at #6 in the album charts they have had five consecutive albums reach #1 in the UK. Described as 'classic UK rock with whiskey vocals' the band have enjoyed considerable success in the UK with 25 singles reaching the top 40 of the UK Singles chart. In 2005 their single Dakota became the band's biggest hit, reaching #1 on both the UK Singles chart and the UK Downloads chart and becoming the band's first release to chart in the US, reaching #34 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart.
History
Formation and early years: 1992-1996
Kelly and Richard grew up together in the village of Cwmaman, near Aberdare, Wales. Along with original drummer Stuart Cable, they began writing and performing music in working men's clubs together in 1992 as a teenage cover band known as 'Tragic Love Company', a name inspired by their favourite bands (The Tragically Hip, Mother Love Bone and Bad Company). The band later changed their name to "Stereophonics", named after the manufacturer of then drummer Stuart Cable's father's record player.
In March 1996 the band played a gig at their local Coliseum Theatre with Catatonia and Pocket Devils. They played as Tragic Love Company and so impressed band manager John Brand that he signed a management deal with them after the concert.
In May 1996 they were the first artists to be signed to newly formed record label, V2, created by Richard Branson. Upon signing, they dropped "The" from their name and simply became "Stereophonics".
BRIT Award and height of fame: 1997-2000
In August 1997, the band released their first studio album Word Gets Around, which reached #6 in the UK charts and from which five singles were released. Afterwards the band embarked on a successful world tour.
In February 1998 the band received a BRIT Award for Best New Group. In the same week the band re-released the single "Local Boy in the Photograph" which in turn, reached position 14 in the UK Singles Chart. The band's debut album "Word Gets Around" also went gold in the UK.
In November 1998 The Bartender and the Thief, the first single from the album Performance and Cocktails, was released eventually reaching number 3 on the UK charts. "Just Looking", was released next and reached number 4 in March 1999. The same month the album was released, entering at number 1 and going platinum within three weeks. Later that year the band played in front of 50,000 people at Morfa Stadium in Swansea. The concert was filmed and released on DVD the following year. They also collaborated with Tom Jones on a cover of the Randy Newman song Mama Told Me Not To Come for his album Reload.
Throughout 1998 and 1999 the band toured in Europe, Australia and the USA. On 12 June 1998 Stereophonics played to over 10,000 spectators in the grounds of Cardiff Castle in Wales. Footage of the concert was released in VHS and DVD titled Live at Cardiff Castle.
Middle era: 2001-2004
The band released their third album, Just Enough Education to Perform (JEEP) in April 2001. The album included the track Mr. Writer, which included lyrics attacking a critic who they believe gave them an unfairly negative reviews. The album also contained one of the band's most famous tracks, Have a nice day, which reached #5 in the UK charts.
To promote the new album Just Enough Education to Perform the Stereophonics played a two day festival which was called A Day at the Races. The two day concert was held at Donington Park on the first day and Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on the second. The concerts were supported by Ash, Black Crowes and Proud Mary. Over 200,000 separate tickets were sold for the weekend festival. The performance was released on a DVD in 2002.
2003 saw the release of their fourth album titled You Gotta Go There to Come Back. Drummer Stuart Cable was sacked, according to reports, because of a lack of commitment to the band. Cable at the time presented a TV show called "Cable TV" and felt that the band would never improve. Because of this he missed several rehearsals and live concerts. He was eventually replaced by present drummer Javier Weyler. Steve Gorman from The Black Crowes stood in for Cable during the band's live performances until Javier Weyler was appointed.
Towards the end of the year the Stereophonics did a sold-out tour of the UK, ending with a Christmas show at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, supported by Feeder and Ocean Colour Scene. The group took a break after their 2003-2004 world tour, which included a set at the Manchester Move Festival in July 2004.
With new drummer on board: 2005-present
Their fifth studio album Language. Sex. Violence. Other? was released in March 2005. It marked their first recording with new drummer Javier Weyler. The band achieved their first number 1 hit in the UK singles charts with the album's first single, the punky, upbeat "Dakota". The second single from the album was "Superman", however that song did not repeat the success of "Dakota", peaking at number 13. After "Superman" came "Devil", featuring a controversial video and reaching number 11 in the charts. The album was nominated for a Pop Factory award at the end of the year, losing out to Feeder's Pushing the Senses.
The band played in Vancouver, Canada in April 2005 with opening band The Manvils. Following the concert Kelly Jones invited The Manvils lead guitarist, fellow Welshman Mark Parry to join Stereophonics on the road as second guitarist in the band for their world tour. On 2 July 2005 the group appeared at the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, London, playing to their biggest audience yet.
The band were scheduled to support Oasis for a number of dates across Europe in early 2006, but pulled out due to family commitments. 2006 also saw the release of Stereophonics first live album Live from Dakota. The album is a 2-disc compilation featuring 20 tracks spanning all five of the band's albums and capturing the best of their 2005 world tour. Rather than being a recording of a single show the tour was recorded every night and the band picked out the best version of each song individually. The album also features a track titled "Jayne", later released as part of Kelly Jones' solo album "Only the Names Have Been Changed"
Their latest album Pull the Pin was released in the UK on 15 October 2007 along with a download-only taster; "Bank Holiday Monday". The track was also available for free to people who pre-ordered tickets for the band's concerts in 2007. The album was written and recorded by November 2006 but held back for release until late 2007. It Means Nothing was the first single of the album, released in September before the LP was released a week later on October 15th. The album contains 12 songs and reached number 1 in the UK's Official album chart. The next single "My Friends" reached #32 in the UK charts, their poorest chart performance since "More Life in a Tramps Vest" on their debut album.
On 20 May 2007 at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Preston the band were joined on stage by Casino frontman Adam Zindani. Zindani continued to tour with the band for the remainder of the Pull The Pin tour, playing lead guitar and backing vocals. He has been credited for writing and performing on two of the the band's new tracks 'You're My Star' and 'My Own Worst Enemy'. On 'You're My Star' he sings backing vocals and plays lead guitar, whereas on 'My Own Worst Enemy' he only plays lead guitar.
In November 2008 Stereophonics released a greatest hits compilation, Decade In The Sun: The Best Of Stereophonics.
After touring to promote Decade In The Sun: The Best Of Stereophonics, the band is currently demoing tracks for their upcoming seventh studio album, due sometime in 2009, according to Kelly Jones latest blog. They will go into the studio to record the album and hopefully have it out for the end of the year.
On the 24th of February the band confirmed that they will be headlining The Isle Of Wight Festival for the second time after headlining the festival in 2004. It also looks like the band only festival appearance of the summer with the message on the bands website saying that it would be the band's 'Exclusive' festival appearance of the summer.
Other projects
On 9 October 2007 a retrospective DVD was released in the United States, Rewind: The First 10 Years. The DVD is a double disc with a runtime of nearly four hours.
Much of this footage was recorded around the time that the "You Gotta Go There" Album was being recorded. This is because a similar band history DVD was listed for release shortly after that album but was never released due to the departure of Stuart Cable. This explains Kelly's hairstyle (circa 2003/2004) in the interview footage and the appearance of Stuart and the rest of the band freely talking about their togetherness and solidarity as the original three members. The original footage was updated by adding further footage to the end, bring it up to date with the band's fifth album. Stuart does not appear on any of the extra footage.
Availability coincides with the US re-release of the Language.Sex.Violence.Other? DVD, and the worldwide digital debut of their latest studio album, Pull the Pin.
In 2007 Lead singer Kelly Jones released a solo album titled "Only the Names Have Been Changed" while recording the band's sixth studio album, Pull the Pin. The album contains 10 tracks (all named after women) and features a simple arrangement. The album also includes the song Jayne, a previously unreleased Stereophonics track featured on the live album Live from Dakota, and the Rewind DVD.
Guitarist Adam Zindani has continued to work with his own band; Casino since working with the Stereophonics. Casino's first album, 'The SpiderSimpson Incident' was released in December 2008 and an agreement was reached to have the album available to purchase at Stereophonics live shows across the UK that month.
Stereophonics are currently mentoring a band in Kansas City, Missouri called Dakota. Dakota is inspired by bands such as Stereophonics, Muse, The Killers, and Coldplay. Dakota is currently working on their debut album "Senses of the Soul" due in late 2009.
The band also performed the original opening theme tune for the TV series Long Way Round. The lyrics were altered slightly for the follow-up series, Long Way Down.
Javier's projects
Drummer Javier Weyler released a solo album titled Lagrima in 2007 under the name Capitan Melao. "Lagrima" is the name of a composition by art-rock guitarist Phil Manzanera that appears on the album 801 Live with Brian Eno and others. In Spanish the name Capitan means captain while Melao is a Latin American slang word for swing, rhythm or soul. You can listen to his songs on .
Javier announced in mid-february that he was working back on his own project, as the band stopped touring.
He also said that he plans to run the London Marathon 2009 along with his brother. They'll be running for Cancer Research Uk. You can sponsor them by following this link .
Band members
Previous members
- Stuart Cable (drums, percussion, backing vocals) 1992 - 2003
Touring members
- Tony Kirkham (keyboards)
- Scott James (guitar) 2001 - 2004 (touring member only)
- Aileen McLaughlin (backing vocals - live) 2002 - 2003
- Michale Johnson Pailing III (backing vocals - live) 2002 - 2003
- Steve Gorman (drums, percussion) 2003-2004 (touring member only)
Discography
See also
External links
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