By Fred Spanner
Photography: Jim Mitcham
From playing bass with The La’s and laying down one of the most annoyingly catchy tunes ever with There She Goes, to stepping up front with Cast and belting out Britpop bangers that soundtracked a thousand lads’ nights out, Power’s never been one to fade into the background. He’s the Scouse grafter with a six-string and a swagger, and he’s still making tunes that matter.
And right now, it’s happening for him big time. Fred Spanner sat down for a blether with the legend himself.
You’ve just finished working on a new album, completed a theatre tour, walked your daughter down the aisle, you’re about to support Oasis on their UK tour, you’re venturing to the US, and then embarking on your All Change tour. Apart from that, I guess it’ll be a quiet year for you?
“Haha. Yes, I’ve learnt very quickly to just deal with the day, I think, if you look too far ahead to anything, it’s like being a deer in the headlights. The year started with me running to Youth’s place with some ideas for a new album. There was a window of opportunity, and I had these anthemic songs.
“I thought, if we can record these songs now, then we might be able to get a single out in the summer and an album just after the Oasis gigs. So the year began just on the hoof. We started running, and we haven’t stopped, but I’ve just found this way of dealing with it all. I’ll deal with tomorrow, today, if that makes sense?
“It’s a massive, massive year which has come off the back of another massive year. But this year is something else. It’s really happening for Cast. From America, which we haven’t been to in 28 years, to Oasis- the biggest tour in the world. I’m really excited.
“You and I will remember where this all started over 30 years ago. We lit the touchpaper and the whole zeitgeist caught fire. It was a magical time to be involved in music. And we’ve now got the 30th anniversary of All Change, and you can’t align these things. They could have all happened separately, and each would have been a massive event.
“The year started with Youth and Alan McGee telling us we’d made our best ever album, which is a big shout. They said it’s a majestic, anthemic record. The record you make when you’re at that point.
“Then I walked my daughter down the aisle, did a theatre tour, we’ve got Oasis, the US, All Change…you can’t make this shit up!
“These big events will happen, and they will pass. We’re only passing through, so it’s a good idea to slow things down and savour the moment.”
How did the wedding go? Asking for a parent who will be in the same situation in a few months.
“It couldn’t have gone more perfectly. I was a bit worried about how it would go, but it was amazing. The whole day was perfect. You’re gonna be alright, mate. You’ve got to remember, everyone is on your side. When I did my speech, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house, cos all you have to do is talk about this beautiful young lady. As a father, it was mindblowing and beautiful.”
The name Cast came about during a gig with The La’s, didn’t it?
“The way I describe it is, if you’re going on a new date, you don’t spend all your time talking about how good your ex-lover was, do you? I didn’t really talk about The La’s much. I had no intention of leaving The La’s when I was in the band, but when I was standing on stage, and things felt heavy around me, the last words sung were, “The change is cast.’ It was reverberating around the auditorium, and I thought this had to be a sign.
“So I kept thinking about all of the songs I’d written, and I thought, ‘No one’s going to sing them unless I do.” It was on my theatre tour that I was narrating my time all the way through The La’s, the split up, and the time in Cast. It’s only now that I realise that it’s not John Power the bass player, John Power the actor, John Power the solo artist, or John Power the songwriter. It’s just one John Power. It’s made me view everything in a very wholesome way.”
Is it the LA’s or the La’s (as in short for the lads)?
“Well, originally it was as in LA, LA, LA, LA LA. It was Mike Badger who came up with the name. He said it came to him in a dream. Someone was singing, “LA, LA, LA, LA, LA.” But, depending on your accent, it’s neither, or both.”
How many times did you do Top Of The Pops?
“I don’t know the exact number, but it was a lot. My first experience of it was a family event, because when I was a kid, Thursday night was massive in our house. Tomorrow’s World, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, The Goodies, and Top Of The Pops. It was a time when everyone watched TV at the same time.
“When The La’s did it, the show was massive, but when Cast did it, I felt it was too much. It’s one way of gauging success, I guess. I don’t know if younger people know just how big a show it was.
“The thing I remember most is that I always sang live. Which was fine, but when everyone else was in the bar and having fun, I was staying sober, trying to protect my voice. It was always great fun, and we always bumped into loads of great bands. Even bands that you wouldn’t normally come across, as they weren’t your type of music. But you still got on with them. I met a lot of people in the corridors of the BBC.
“It was good to do it with The La’s, but it was better with Cast, as there were so many great bands on the scene at that time. They just felt like bigger events. Nowadays, my voice is stronger than ever, but when I was younger, I wasn’t as confident and I wondered if I’d be able to sing it well. ‘You’ve been out all night, partying, John, but now you’ve got to sing live.”
Let’s test your memory now. I’m pretty sure I saw you in a Chinese restaurant in the mid-90s in Cambridgeshire. I tried to catch your attention by doing a rendition of Flying, whilst trying to catch a fly that was buzzing around my table with a pair of chopsticks. I bet my mate a fiver it was you, but as you didn’t turn around, I lost the bet. Any chance I can reclaim my dosh?
“Haha. For me, the 90s were a blur. Keith and Skin can remember everyone’s name, but my memory of the 90s is a bit like the cliche: it was a smudge. I can remember big events. People come up to me and say, “Remember I sat next to you on the bus?” I’d like to win your fiver back, but it’s too vague.”
I do remember the guy saying, “We went to Japan and they went crazy for us.”
“Ah, we did go to Japan, and they did go crazy for us. Did he have a Scouse accent?”
Oh, definitely. He might have been an impersonator, though.
“There you go then. It might well have been me. I mean, would the impersonator have gone to Japan?”
Well, if he wasn’t John Power, he’d certainly done his homework.
I’d have to say it might have been me, but I can’t confirm it for sure.
Ah, well. That’s my fiver gone for good.
On to more serious matters, you have a new Cast album in the pipeline. Are you allowed to tell us much about it, yet?
“I’m not messing, it’s sounding majestic and anthemic. We have a song we’re going to rush-release. I literally got the mix of it yesterday. It’s sounding like a summer anthem. Just before I started speaking to you, I got a text from Alan McGee about it. It’s a very special song, it’s got some serious vibes. This track is…oh man!”
Okay, you’ve got me on the edge of my seat now.
“No, really, everyone who’s heard this is blown away. It sounds like it’s got a proper groove. If I get the okay from Alan, I’ll send you a link to it today.”
Cheers, mate. That Alan McGee seems to be a lucky charm for you. Didn’t you get signed when you were on tour with Oasis?
“Yes, we did! It’s a very funny story. A very young Liam Gallagher and I had met up, years before everything. Then, Cast was formed, and I was doing the demo for Chrysalis Records. I’d just finished it when Supersonic hit the charts. Oasis at that time was on a very small club tour, and they were playing a club in Liverpool called The Lomax. I ran over to the club with the demo, and Mick- the guy who ran the club- was like, “You can’t come in, John.”
“But I somehow managed to blag my way in, and I ended up sitting with some NME journalists in the bar. It was packed. The next minute, it all went quiet, and Liam Gallagher walked in, recognised me, walked through the crowd, and right up to me. He then proceeds to drag me upstairs with him. So I end up sitting next to Noel and Liam and playing them the demo.
“They both loved it, and they asked if we would open for them at one of their shows. At that gig was a guy called Paul Adams, who was head of A&R at Polydor. He came up to me after the show and said, “I can’t believe you’re not signed.” And I said, “Nor can I.”
“Alan McGee members Liam and Noel coming round to his house and saying, “We’ve got the lad from The La’s with us tonight with his new band. It’s incredible to think that here we are, more than thirty years later, and we’re opening for them on the biggest tour of the year. It’s going to be fantastic.”
I was going to buy a ticket to come and see you, but I’m a fiver short after that bet all those years ago.
“Haha, well, I tell you what, I’ll buy you a pint of Guinness to make up for it. Or we can go for a Chinese and have a ‘Catch the Fly’ competition with the chopsticks.”
Sounds like a plan.
You’ll barely have a chance to catch your breath after the Oasis tour, before you’re off to tour ‘30 Years of All Change.’
“It’s going to be fantastic. The whole album, All Change, is one of those bullet-proof records. There’s something special about debut albums. When we went to record it, we were ready. We’d been playing it in clubs all over the country. When John Leckie went into the studio with us, all those choruses, backing vocals, and arrangements were ready to go.
“We didn’t need anything. We didn’t write anything in the studio. They were already there, and we just had to perform them. That’s the beautiful thing about All Change. Every song is ‘Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang’ on the money, and you can’t help noticing that this was a young band coming out ‘all guns blazing’. It captured the moment and kept it, and that’s why it’s a classic.”
It’s my favourite Cast album, but my favourite song is on Mother Nature Calls: I’m So Lonely.
“There’s a story behind that. It was going to be the big Walkaway track on that album. It was all set to be released. I came home one day and switched the radio on after being on tour, and it was all about Princess Diana’s awful tragedy. She died that night. The week after- Candle In The Wind aside- no-one gave a shit about what was being released.
“The song did alright, but not as well as it could. And I’m not blaming Diana, by the way. Haha. It’s got that ascending chorus, and everyone puts their arms around each other. It’s an amazing song.”
Is there anything that sticks out in your life’s musical journey?
“Well the whole thing has been crazy. The 90s was a hedonistic time for all the bands, record companies, and journalists. I wouldn’t really like to go back. A lot of us ended up washed up on the shores, a bit disheveled, and slightly mad.
“It was one long story. But the magic of the fairytale and narrative is that it’s still continuing. With the thirty-year anniversary tour, opening for Oasis, and the new album, which people are suggesting is our best work ever, it’s never-ending. You couldn’t make it up.”
Does being in your 50’s make you appreciate the life journey more?
“Oh, yes. Where I’m at now, I’m totally liberated from the person I thought I used to be. I’m very much in the present all the time. I realise that I don’t need complications, I don’t need drama, and I’ve learned to just do the things that make me feel good.
“That whole hedonistic time of our lives has gone. It’s great that we’re still all here, I’m singing better than ever, and we’ve recorded two new albums in three years. I’m on a roll! Everything is okay if you let it be okay. You and I both know, we’re all just travellers passing through. Roll with it, and benefit yourself and other people.
“The music I make now is as valid to me as All Change was back in the day. If you can hit your 50s and wake up, then you’re okay. You’re gonna make it. It’s when you plug on to your 50s, trying to be who you once were, that you’ll struggle. But I can’t lecture people. You’ve got to learn it for yourself.
“You’ve got to be young, be a bit of dick, but learn from it.”
Like trying to catch a fly with chopsticks in a Chinese restaurant?
“Haha! Exactly. When you get older you learn to behave, and just how important everything is. You treat everything with a bit more respect.”
The best could be yet to come for the legend. Who knows what’s in store next year, but one thing’s for sure: he’s doing fine.
Find out more at castband.co.uk