“Accolades and trophies and all that – they’re all right,” says Jones. “For me, it’s about the music standing the test of time. That’s a lot more important to me than a great review or a number one. People forget who was number one, but they don’t forget if the song’s any good. I don’t know what number Bowie’s Heroes went on the charts… Kubrick never won Best Director, nor did Charlie Chaplin.”
In a period when artists and executives alike are transfixed by the power of the trending hashtag, Jones stays clear of social media, and couldn’t tell you what the highest-played Stereophonics song on Spotify is.
“Labels are starting to look too hard at likes and views and streams,” says Jones. “They’re not really giving new artists a chance. It’s all become based on figures, whereas, in the past, there was just a feeling of what’s good and what’s not good. I don’t think art should be based on statistics.”
Of course, thanks to social media, there are many places in the world where rock music has arrived ahead of running water. Jones appreciates the fact that streaming allows Stereophonics to make fans of people who have never been inside a record store.
“We played Mexico City just before Christmas, and they knew every word to every song that we’d released in 20 years,” says Jones. “Stuff like that is amazing. I’m into the Spotify and Apple Music stuff on that front.”
Stereophonics are now on the road with Scream Above the Sounds, a stampeding, U2-esque album tailored for the stadium. The band arrives in Australia Wednesday April 25 for their first-ever gig at the Sydney Opera House. Following a jaunt up to Brisbane, Stereophonics will swing by Melbourne’s Forum Theatre on Monday April 30. This tour will let Stereophonics connect with its emerging younger fanbase and give audiences a festive and uplifting evening out, explains Jones.
“There’s a lot of bombardment of doom and gloom in the world, at the minute, so our show is very celebratory,” he says. “It takes you on a lot of dynamic and musical shifts, but the end of the show is very jubilant, so people walk out of there in high spirits.”
Though Stereophonics haven’t played Australia since 2013, Jones may be the UK’s best-known AC/DC fanboy, and doesn’t miss a chance to pick up AC/DC imports when touring Down Under.
“We’ve been lucky along the way, getting to do Bowie’s last tour, and The Stones and The Who,” says Jones. “The only band I never got to tour with which I loved was AC/DC. If I could have toured with AC/DC around Highway to Hell or Back in Black, I would have been very happy.”
After the Scream Above the Sounds tour, Jones plans to hunker down at the band’s own Stylus Studios in London and begin piecing together the next album. The band usually works up a large body of demo material from which they pick the best tracks. In fact, Jones’s hand recorder is already full of songs that might go into the next album, he says.
“In the past, you’d book a studio for three months and make an album,” says Jones. “This is a much nicer way of working, having more to choose from. It’s a bit like having 20 players in a squad and you pick the best 11 for the game.”
For Jones, music is a cyclical process. Once he’s spent a while on the road, he’s ready to return to the studio, and vice versa.
“They both irritate you so much that you want to do the other thing,” laughs Jones. “When you get to the end of a tour, maybe a year in, you start getting a bit fidgety and you want to record some new songs. By the time you’ve finished a record, you can’t wait to go out and play live. So, thankfully, I get to do them both.”
