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Festival EP from 1997<\/p><\/div>\n
In 1996, the Welsh rock band Stereophonics signed a record deal with Richard Branson\u2019s new V2 label, believing that by being the first on the roster they would be the centre of attention. Their plan proved to be a good one. V2 needed the Stereophonics to be a success in order to finance the label, so they ploughed all their efforts into promoting the band and their debut album Word Gets Around<\/em>, sending them on a series of lengthy live tours.<\/p>\n It was some time towards the end of the summer of 1997 when I managed to arrange an interview with the band at the Junction venue in Cambridge, where they were about to play a gig. It was for a live magazine so the focus was on the band\u2019s stage setup, but before I had a chance to attend to the text, the magazine folded and the piece was shelved.<\/p>\n At the time, no one could predict how successful the band would become and the venue was more than half-empty that evening. Eventually though, V2 and the band\u2019s efforts began to pay off and so followed a series of chart-topping albums taking them to stadium rock status.<\/p>\n When the photographer and I arrived at the Junction on that particular evening some time in 1997, the band were just finishing their sound check and we were greeted by V2\u2019s hugely confident Regional Promotions Manager, Andy Hipkiss, who specialized in disconcertingly firm handshakes.<\/p>\n A local amateur fanzine had also managed to get an interview and was represented by two eager and attractive young girls. Andy introduced us all to the band and then made a decision as to who would interview who. He assigned Kelly to me and Stuart Cable to the girls. Kelly, quite understandably, loudly voiced his disappointment, but was quickly reassured by the forthright Hipkiss that he would get the girls another time and that our magazine was the more important job.<\/p>\n Still protesting, Kelly accompanied us to one of the backstage rooms and, over the din of the support band (which roared into the room as venue staff blundered back and forth leaving the soundproof doors ajar as they went), I began the interview. This is it, exclusive to The Polymath Perspective.<\/p>\n Last year, I think you were playing at the Cambridge Boat Race\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cYes, with AC Acoustics, I think it was.\u201d<\/p>\n Now you are at the Junction. What has changed in the last year?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWe played there in November \u201cEmpty rooms getting fuller and fuller, basically, and now they are starting to sell out, so it\u2019s gone really well. It\u2019s been a really busy year and I think we\u2019ve had about three weeks off in total. It\u2019s been good progress.\u201d<\/p>\n Have things changed for you in terms of your gear and setup?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cMy gear has. When we first started I just had one Peavey Bandit amplifier \u2013 an old one.<\/p>\n I always liked Peavey because of the sound and because it was easy to use but I don\u2019t like the new stuff \u2013 it\u2019s shit. But all I had was this quite old amp and you can get a lot of variation out of it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a good sound on stage but kind of thin at the front. Dave [Roden]<\/em>, our sound guy couldn\u2019t get enough depth out of it so we introduced the 4\u00d712 Fender cab just to give it a bit of bottom end.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I just had that [extra cab] for a bit of bottom end. But then I needed something to boost, and I don\u2019t like overdrive pedals, so I just had exactly the same setup again, so I\u2019ve doubled up with another Peavey and another cab. So it has gone from one speaker to four pretty quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a simple setup, but as simple as it was, I had trouble with phasing and all that kind of shit so it had to be doctored by Pete Cornish who makes all the pedals and stuff. He made me an A\/B box which knocking one on that is just full on. That cost about 500 quid for a chunk of metal and one fucking button!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo I\u2019ve got one Vox Wah-wah pedal which is basically for the newer stuff and I don\u2019t really use much, a Marshall Cabinet pedal which is also something I hardly use, the A\/B box and that\u2019s it. It\u2019s basically what the amps do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRichard has got the same kind of thing. He had one combo and he introduced two more and Stuart had an endorsement with Premiere so he is soon going to have new kits, which is pleasing.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I don\u2019t really know what goes on out front whether our sound guy, Dave has changed equipment wise or changed tracks, I don\u2019t really know, but stage sound is pretty much full-on staging kind of amplified.\u201d<\/p>\n As there are only three of you, do you find that you need the extra boost for the guitar?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe way we wrote the songs was\u2026\u00a0 We used to go back and forth to London before we were signed, trying to get noticed and the only way we thought we could get people\u2019s attention was to do really simple songs which could be transformed either into, you know on to an acoustic guitar, which I basically write stuff on, or philharmonic orchestra. If it has got a good melody and it\u2019s a really simple idea then it will cross over into any format, so the way we did it was really simple.<\/p>\n \u201cTo fill it out as a three piece you tend not to play too many guitar solos, not much picking and no arpeggios, just a lot of strumming, lot of simple stuff and good melodies.<\/p>\n \u201cStuart plays a lot on the ride and that just fills out. And Richard doesn\u2019t play one string on the bass, he fuckin\u2019 hits \u2019em all! And the vocals are on top. So we just basically do a lot of everything and we sound full.<\/p>\n \u201cThe guitars are quite overdriven, but it\u2019s not a metal kind of sound, it\u2019s pretty much a mix in between. It\u2019s just the way we play. It\u2019s the only way we could find to fill it out as a three piece.\u201d<\/p>\n How about festivals? I notice you\u2019ve been doing a lot of them.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cFestivals are always a good way to pick up new fans because there are people there who are not just there to see you \u2013 they are there to see everybody, so you can pick up somebody else\u2019s fans.<\/p>\n \u201cBut they are always a nightmare for sound. Basically, for most of the festivals you walk on and the first time you hear what you\u2019re going to hear is when you play the first song. Sometimes it can sound weird and sometimes it can sound pretty shit so it\u2019s one of those things\u2026 You\u2019ve just got to take them as they are, really. One day it can be good the next day it could be total shit so\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n How do you get over it if it is sounding a bit iffy?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWhen we first started we didn\u2019t have our own monitoring engineer and we found \u2013 because the PAs club\u2019s use are so loud, and to get over a drummer these days the guitar has got to be a certain volume, you can never hear the vocal over the PA system monitors. Because of the way I sing, if I end up shouting then I\u2019m going to fuck my voice and if I fuck my voice then the sound in the band goes down. So we decided to take our own monitor system and monitoring engineer to festivals, which was an advantage because at least the guy knew roughly what it was supposed to sound like.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it was an outsider we\u2019d walk on the stage and it could be anything coming out of the speakers. For bands that don\u2019t have that setup doing festivals must be a nightmare. And we did a couple like that and it was a nightmare.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t enjoy the gig \u2013 you just can\u2019t get into it. If you have too much bass and drums and can\u2019t hear the guitar you just think that it sounds weak and so it\u2019s a weird environment. You can\u2019t win.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you have a guitar quite loud on stage to get a big buzz as a band then you can\u2019t hear your singing, so you have to come down with the guitar. The only way we can ever get a sound we really want is on a stage with a bit of depth, so then I can be quite a bit of distance from Stuart\u2019s cymbals and then we can have a bit of clarity; otherwise we find it really difficult playing.\u201d<\/p>\n So they guy who mixes your fold-back, does he balance it out?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThis tour has been quite varied. The rooms have been quite big but the stages have been quite small so what [Darren] Connor tends to do is start with just vocal in the monitors \u2013 one in front, two on either side \u2013 and if I need anything else, for feel or whatever, then he introduces it. But rather than starting with everything and taking stuff away, he starts with the band on stage and vocal in the monitors and then introduces things as necessary.<\/p>\n \u201cUsually we need a bit more kick and snare and maybe a bit of bass and guitar, more for direction more than anything. Not for the sound, though, because you can feel it from somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOne song on the record called \u2018Not Up To You\u2019 has got a drum loop at the beginning and Stuart triggers it manually. He also has some other trigger things and we use them as well. The song starts off really small and then opens up into a full band. The first time we started using that is on this tour and it\u2019s gone really well and sounds good. I\u2019ve no idea what Stuart is using to do it but he\u2019s got all the samples set in there and he\u2019s triggering them manually.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we did the record we wanted to do a song with a really small guitar, almost like the little mini Marshalls you get \u2013 almost like that \u2013 with a really small drum sound. So it\u2019s like a really crushed up thing that we have introduced on our recordings. It was like a crossover kind of thing and it really worked well on the record.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we first started touring we were just doing it using a straight drum kit and Stuart just played lighter and harder or whatever, but Dave really wanted to get a different sound at the front so we experimented and tried to find a way. We wouldn\u2019t have been comfortable with a drum machine. We\u2019re manually playing it because we feel more comfortable doing that. Otherwise you\u2019ve got to start using a metronome, really. It works this way and seems to be going really well.\u201d<\/p>\n I notice that in the track \u2018Traffic\u2019 you had organs. Do you get someone in to play those parts?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWhen we did the Jools Holland show it was Marshall Bird playing. Marshall Bird and Steve Bush, known as Bird and Bush, produced the album \u2013 and Marshall plays Rhodes piano, Hammond and maybe a little bit of piano, like in the track \u2018Last of the Big Time Drinkers\u2019 from the record.<\/p>\n \u201cWe did a few gigs with Marshall, and we were going to do all the festivals with the Hammond but he was recording so we didn\u2019t actually go ahead. It\u2019s good to do, I think, because it just warms things up a little bit, especially on the record which is very acoustic, but when we play live it\u2019s with an electric guitar. Like I said, there is stuff that sounds good on the record but you can do without it live.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we\u2019re not going to be afraid to take anything on the road. When we first started recording the album there were ideas we had to use other instruments, but because it was our first record we didn\u2019t want too much on it that we couldn\u2019t reproduce live.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery album last year had an orchestra on and we didn\u2019t really want to do that either because I think it\u2019s going to sound dated, to be honest, in about four year\u2019s time. We really wanted to stay away from that so we didn\u2019t do it and now it sounds really raw.<\/p>\n \u201cWe could have had the big choruses and big leaps up in level but we just wanted simple songs and to concentrate on that. We\u2019ll mess about on the next one. We are going to start recording in November and I\u2019m looking forward to doing that now.\u201d<\/p>\n Have you got a theme or direction you are going with that?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got about six ideas recorded on a Dictaphone and we\u2019ll be messing about with those over the next week. We\u2019ll be going to a pre-production studio in Oxford so we can go through the ideas for a week before we start recording in November.\u201d<\/p>\n You used a Dictaphone?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThat tends to be the way I write. I write on acoustic guitar, chuck it on a Dictaphone, go to a rehearsal room where everybody chucks their bit in, there go back and we type it up, kind of thing.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I don\u2019t know what direction we\u2019re going in. The first album is not like one style or one sound. There were lots of individual songs rather than one sound so it\u2019s probably going to be still very varied. Recording wise, everything was quite tight on that record. Maybe we\u2019ll open up a bit and just free things up a little. I\u2019m looking forward to doing that so it doesn\u2019t sound the same.<\/p>\n Also, with my strumming, I\u2019ll try different guitars. I\u2019ve always used Gibson SGs and I may go away from that for the new stuff. I don\u2019t know. We\u2019ll have to see what goes on.\u201d<\/p>\n Is playing and singing together something you always do?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always sung and played guitar. I\u2019ve never played guitar and sung separately. Arpeggios are always difficult to play when you are singing, timing wise, so that\u2019s why I\u2019ve stuck to strumming, especially as a three piece doesn\u2019t fill things up very well.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I don\u2019t find any problems singing and playing \u2013 it kind of came naturally. I was forced into singing as a kid by Stuart. I just wanted to be a guitar player, but he made me sing and he made me sing Led Zeppelin songs in the same key, which killed me!<\/p>\n But you\u2019ve just got to find out what you do best and write in that style, I think, until you want to change.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think the band should change over night; it should be a natural progression. We are going to take one step one forward, and one to the left maybe, but it\u2019s not going to turn into Beck overnight!\u201d<\/p>\n There has been much written about the Welsh music scene, but does it exist?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIt does exist as much as it doesn\u2019t exist! I think it\u2019s a coincidence that all the bands got established at the same time. Nobody planned it; none of us knew each other before. It\u2019s a country, not a city: one band lives at one end of the country, another up there, so were not going to bump into each other.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a really good thing that Wales had finally been put on the map for something, especially when you go abroad. People in Germany, France and America they all saying \u2018What\u2019s this Welsh scene?\u2019 and they actually know Wales as a country now, and not as part of England. It\u2019s nice in that aspect for the Welsh people, but I think all the bands would say the same thing: it\u2019s about the songs. If you\u2019re a good band it doesn\u2019t matter where you come from.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it is nice to see that people are talking about Wales and it\u2019s nice to see magazines where every band on the front is Welsh. I\u2019ve never seen that before which was very odd. It is nice to see and we are one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n How long have you been in the band?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI did my first gig with Stuart, who plays drums with us now, when I was 12 and he was 15. It was just something out of boredom, messing about in a garage or rehearsal room or whatever \u2013 nothing serious. We were messing about as kids, going in and out of different bands, playing cover versions on and off for years.<\/p>\n \u201cWe started taking it seriously when I was about 18. We were writing songs, trying to get established and we\u2019d been going back and forth to London, trying to get noticed.\u201d<\/p>\n Has it been a gradual build up or would you say that since you\u2019ve signed to V2 have things taken off from there?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI think the band has developed over three or four years, writing wise, playing together wise \u2013 tightness \u2013 and as a friendship. We\u2019ve done a lot of work, it wasn\u2019t like 10 years of work, it was three or four years seriously working at it; the rest of the time it was a bit of fun, but always learning. It\u2019s been a good crack. We got signed when we were ready to be signed and we got signed when we had 13 songs. Some bands get signed with three singles, and they\u2019ve got to find eight fillers to fill the rest of the record and then they get dropped. We didn\u2019t want to do it like that.\u201d TF<\/em><\/p>\n