He is the tattoo-covered Welshman who has always been the lesser known Jones in the band, but Stereophonics’ bassist Rich Jones says that suits him just fine.

The father-of-three is getting ready to go on holiday to the south of France when we chat, a quick break before he rejoins lead singer Kelly Jones, guitarist Adam Zindani and drummer Jamie Morrison for the madness of V Festival and then the frenzy of promoting their ninth album Keep the Village Alive, which comes out next month and the 10-date UK arena tour which quickly follows.

“It’s inevitable with bands that the frontman gets all the attention, “ says the 41-year-old referring to Kelly, who frequently makes sexiest men lists and whose poster has adorned many a schoolgirl’s wall, “ I don’t mind at all.

“We set out in the beginning to make the band what it is and the goal is to keep the band being the best it can be. The press like to identify bands by one or two people and it means I get left alone.”

These days Rich lives on the outskirts of West Wycombe with his Suffolk-raised wife and three children, aged 10, eight and four, and says he loves being just 20 minutes from the band’s west London studio but away from the hubbub of city life, and that he rarely gets recognised.

“In the old celebrity circles you can play the game and be in the right places and be seen in the right parties and get your names and face out there and use it for what it is but at the end of the day if you want a normal life as well outside of what you do then you need a balance and I have always wanted that balance.”

While being a rich and famous rock star “beats workin’ for a livin’” Rich says becoming a dad has put a lot of things into perspective: "You don’t feel invincible any more, you tend to think about what you are doing more, all the travelling and time away, whereas before kids you can basically do anything you want. You are restrained now and we are wary of not being away for months on end.”

His own “idyllic” upbringing was in the old mining village of Cwmaman in South Wales, which Stereophonics’ latest album pays tribute to.

“That phrase Keep the Village Alive is in the liner notes for our first album Word Gets Around,” explains Rich.

“A lot of villages and smaller towns in the UK and around the world kind of get overlooked and forgotten about. So it’s a bit of a hats off and show of support for those smaller communities that need to be shouted about.

“Cwmaman is a really small village, probably 1,500 to 2,000 people. Now there’s only one pub, all the shops have been closed down. But when we were growing up it was a very idyllic place surrounded by hills and mountains and we had everywhere to roam free.”

Kelly and former Stereophonics member Stuart Cable, who died in 2010, were his neighbours and the trio began playing together as teenagers in their spare time: “I was an electrician for a year, a plumber for a while, worked on the scaffolding for five years, anything to survive,” says Rich.

“I was practising twice a week with Kelly and Stuart but obviously we had to have day jobs. It was a good time though, there was a lot of life left to be learnt back then.”

Members drifted in and out but finally the trip formed Tragic Love Company and caught the attention of industry insiders after supporting Smalltown Heroes at the Borderline Club in London.

“We had a couple of years where we couldn’t get a lot of bookings outside our region and that was a bit disheartening, “ says Rich, “but everything fell into place for us around the same month. We met two producers from London who really liked our stuff and we met our manager when we was doing a show back in Wales and the two of those things paved the way.”

Stereophonics were signed by the newly formed V2 label in May 1996 and Rich celebrated by buying a Fender Precision bass from New York’s famous ‘music row’ on 48th street which he is his pride and joy.

They released their first studio album Word Gets Around in August 1997, which reached number six in the charts, and embarked on a successful world tour and received a BRIT in 1998 for Best New Group. They had their first number one single with Dakota in 2005 and have had six platinum albums and two golds.

While other bans of their era have fallen by the wayside Stereophonic are still going strong and will be headlining V Festival’s MTV stage on Sunday (August 23).

“Festivals aren’t your ticket buying audience they are your general audience so you cram it with all the big singles from the past and sneak in a few new ones as well, “ says Rich in their set line-up

“We’ll come out all guns blazing and hopefully knock ‘em on the floor with all the hits. We have always had an amazing reaction to Local Boy in the Photograph which was our first single way back in 1998. But as soon as we play Dakota as well the crowd go mental.”

Waiting around to go on stage is one of the least fun parts of the job for the bassist who says the band will probably drink a fruit smoothie to "try and be healthy" and then ruin it by downing some lager before they go on stage.

He says the band have a great camaraderie between them and trusted crew behind them, who have dealt with amps blowing up, leads not working and once even saved Rich from injury.

“I managed to fall off stage once too at Glasgow Barrowlands in about 1998. I walked backwards, tripped over a monitor and fell of, it was OK, it was good fun, I managed to land on our sound engineer but he was fine, he’s a big lad.”

They also still genuinely enjoying hanging out when the show is over, sinking a few beers to unwind and arguments are rare.

“We have got so much in common- our taste in music is really similar and we all have the same goals of what we want the band to be, we are all basically on the same page. The only time we have cross words, it’s usually not with each other but with someone else, and its usually to do with other people’s incompetence,” Rich says in his thick Valley's accent.

“We have been fortunate to travel and tour with some of the big artist with David Bowie and the Rolling Stones and have quality times with them and they have always said to enjoy it and get what you want to get out of what you are doing. I think that’s the best advice you can have- don’t try and be anything you are not and have fun.”

It is the ethos they apply when it comes to making albums as well but Rich, who rates bands such as Drenge, Charlatans and Catfish and the Bottleman, says they are always pushing themselves to do better and not just regurgitate material.

“It’s really hard when it comes to planning creativity. You have to let it happen. But as soon as we do find that spark of something we do tend to get organised then and get ruthless about what you have to do to make that song shine.”

“I think most of it is down to consistency, “ he says of their success, “and not taking the piss really and going off for 10 years and trying to large it up. If you want an audience to keep on remembering what you do, you have to keep on putting stuff out there and make sure it is of a great quality.”

Stereophonics play V Festival in Hylands Park, Chelmsford on Sunday, August 23. Details: vfestival.com

Keep the Village Alive is out on September 11. 

The tour comes to The 02 on December 16. Tickets go on sale at 9am on Thursday, August 27. Details: stereophonics.com