Stone Foundation play Shoreham with 30th anniversary on the horizon

Modern soul band Stone Foundation – created by Neil Sheasby and Neil Jones – play Shoreham’s Ropetackle on November 7 as they start to think about their 30th anniversary in two years’ time.

For the moment, they are touring on the back of their new live album Live from Band On The Wall which they will have available for their Shoreham gig.

Neil Jones explained: “It was recorded at the iconic Manchester venue of the same name last year. They've started doing this thing at venues where they record the show and then they send you a link, and when we heard it, we were just blown away. They give you various options – that you can pay a small fee and have it or just get it deleted or they can send you the tapes. We weren't intentionally looking to do a live album but this became one. We didn’t really have a document of the current line-up of the band and it was just really exciting to hear this recording because it just captured exactly where we are at the moment.

“We've got a different drummer since the last live album and this really captured the sound that we have got now. And it also captured some of the new songs, and as you know, when you play new songs live, they take a different direction to when you do them in the studio. It was just really good, a really proper document of where we are at the moment as a band. We're really pleased with it.”

As for that 30th anniversary in 2028, it seems like 30 years since they started in some ways but in others, of course, it doesn't: “The initial ten years of the band, it feels like different people, like we were different people in a completely different headspace. We have gone through a lot of changes from the initial line-up and then were picked up by The Specials to go on their arena tour and then fast forward to the moment when we started working with Paul Weller, and that just feels like a different chapter again. Next year will be the tenth anniversary of our first album with Weller, and then the next year after that be the 30th anniversary of the band. We've already started working on some new music. I'm hoping that the anniversary will be marked by us releasing some new music.

“The band has had a lot of line-ups, and I think in a way it's just been a natural progression as we have gone on. We're really fortunate to have myself and the other Neil. We tend to agree on a lot of things about music and about where we want to go and where we're heading, and I think the longevity of the band is down to that friendship that we've got. We've changed the line-ups and the music has changed and the followers have changed and the fans have changed and that's just kept it interesting.”