stereophonics kelly jones on writing screenplay

WHAT do you do when you've sold out stadiums and enjoyed 20 years of success?

For Stereophonics main man Kelly Jones, the answer was to take a creative break to write a screenplay.

A film school graduate, the screenplay (which he describes as somewhere between Quadrophenia and Stand By Me) still has a large element of his songwriting and music.

Thirty songs were written for the project, the first ten of which are included on Graffiti On The Train — Stereophonics' eighth studio album.

Here Kelly tells SFTW about its inspiration and how taking a break led to a burst of creativity.

YOU recently took your first break from touring in years. How did it help shape this record?

The greatest hits album (2008's Decade In The Sun: The Best Of Stereophonics) gave us confidence to realise that the band's name was out there and our catalogue was strong. To go off and try something different was OK. But everything's been received really well so far.

Veterans ... band say highlight of their career is making records that people are still interested in

How has the sound of the band developed on this album?

Because I was writing the screenplay at the same time, the music became a lot more widescreen and dramatic. It gives you a new way of writing, producing records and thinking about your music. I don't think Graffiti On The Train sounds like any band I've heard before.

How did you come to write a screenplay and songs at the same time?

I studied film at college and I've always wanted to try to combine the visual with the music a lot more than we've been able to. These days, people mostly listen to music via the internet and it usually comes with a visual element on YouTube.

Whether I'm telling stories in songs or if directing is the next step, being a storyteller is what I like doing.

What is the story behind the screenplay and the album?

There was an incident when a couple of guys were climbing on my roof and I thought they were trying to break in the house.

I shouted to them and they told me they weren't trying to break into the house, they were just trying to get to the railway track where they were wanted to graffiti the train.

It stuck with me throughout the summer and I just started making up different stories about it. I started writing the script and I was making the music at the same time, so they kind of bounced off each other and bled into each other. Then I started developing the idea with Kate Leys, a script editor at BAFTA. We recorded 30 songs and we'd love to release two more albums around this. There'll probably be a second ten songs after this and, hopefully, the film will go into production next year. In five years it will all make sense as one big picture.

Tell us a bit about your song Indian Summer.

There are elements of my youth in it. How true or factual it is, well, that's another matter, but there are seeds within it that have happened to me.

How did working with James Bond composer David Arnold on the track Violins And Tambourines come about?

He was on our wishlist and through our producer Jim Lowe I was asked if I wanted to meet him. He put a 36-piece orchestra on it. Half of them have played on every James Bond movie since Dr No, so it was a great experience. I took my dad to that one — he got a bit emotional.

Sound of the underground ... Steve Goddard
designed the Graffiti On The Train artwork

Tell us about the painting that features on the album artwork.

I bought a painting a couple of years ago by a guy called Steve Goddard. It's a bit dark, a bit weird — almost childlike. A friend of mine knew him and he started coming to a few shows. I played him some of the stuff, gave him the film script and he said he wanted to do the sleeve.

Last year you played some out-of-the-way places, such as Llandudno and Grimsby.

Yes, we decided to do a bunch of shows in towns where bands don't usually visit. We grew up in towns like that. We're going to end up doing all the big shows and festivals, but it was a nice way of taking the music to people who don't get much opportunity to see live bands.

Will there be a visual aspect to the shows now?

Yes. I don't know how much we can do on the March tour, but by November we'll have it up and running.

What are the highlights of your 20-year career?

The biggest highlight is to still be making records and that people are still interested in them. We have 14-year-old kids in the front row who are only just discovering the band. That's all you can ask for, really.

I look up to people such as Neil Young, Tom Waits or Nick Cave, who thought, "F*** the rest of you, I'm going to make these records and hopefully you come on this journey with me." That's all we've ever wanted to do.

Graffiti On The Train is out on Monday.

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