‘Noel Gallagher sent me a text that said: “Eh, you’ve had your first number one.” Then he added: “BUT YOU USED A SYNTHESIZER!”’
A lot of early Stereophonics songs were written while I was working in the market back in Cwmaman. Some afternoons, you’d just be standing there with a bunch of old ladies, waiting for them to buy some cauliflowers. A Thousand Trees, Local Boy in the Photograph – all that stuff was written on the back of brown paper bags. Then you start travelling around the world, and your experience of life changes from album to album.