By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
July 14, 1996
When a cocky guy like Noel Gallagher rates your band as being better than his, there might be a tendency to get a swelled head, especially since the Oasis guitarist isn’t particularly generous in his assessment of other groups. But while John Power is quick to tout the merits of his band, Cast, he’s just as swift to set the record straight with a modicum of modesty.
“I know that’s what all the papers printed,” Power said of Gallagher’s quotes to the British press. “But what he actually said was that we were as good as them. The thing with us is that I believe that Cast is going to be the best band in the world at being Cast, and I won’t be embarrassed by the fact that we are good.
“But there are other groups in the world who are good in their own right. We have respect for bands like Oasis because they’re great at evoking emotions. However, I do think that about 96 percent of bands that you hear aren’t doing it right. They might have a bit of aggression or something, but they just ain’t got it.”
Phoning from San Francisco at the start of their U.S. tour, the singer-guitarist-songwriter for the alternative pop quartet spoke briskly in a thick, Liverpudlian accent. Britpop fans will remember Power as the bassist for the late, great group the La’s (“There She Goes”), where he took a back seat to vocalist Lee Mavers. Power quit that band after its first American tour in 1991 to concentrate on his own songs, which Cast will perform Wednesday night at Metro. Self, Tripmaster Monkey and Hollowbodies also are on the bill.
“It wasn’t like (I quit the La’s because) I had something to prove,” said Power, 28. “I just had a feeling. I wrote a song or two on that La’s American tour and felt good about them. I thought, `If I don’t go for it meself, I’ll regret it when I’m older.’ And I didn’t want to be like all bitter and full of regrets later, so I just thought, `Why not? If I fall flat on my face, I’ll fall flat on my face, but there’s something I need to know.’
“And I’m still trying to grow, because (making music) is an evolution thing, like you’re living and you’re learning. But I’ve got some good songs and I know that the second album’s going to be better than the first. If it wasn’t, there would be a problem.”
A platinum band in the United Kingdom, Cast is relatively unknown here. But jangly cuts such as “Alright” (which Power wrote during his days in the La’s) from Cast’s debut album “All Change” are extremely radio-friendly and would easily fit alongside songs by Pulp, Ash and Oasis. But Power knows that to break a band in America, a good song means less than a group’s willingness to hit the road and stay on it until the public knows who it is.
“It’s not going to happen overnight (for us) here,” he said. “But I have a good feeling that we’ve got something that you want, you know what I mean? I had a little glimpse (of fame) with the La’s, and I think we were a good band, but we just didn’t go over in America very well. With Cast, we’ve already had four hits in Britain and are well known so it’s not like we’re exactly struggling. But at the same time, this is only our first time here, so we don’t have unrealistic expectations. I think that once people see us live, we’ll get more people who like us.”
Laughing, he added, “We don’t please everyone, so if you don’t like what we’re saying or what we’re all about, then we say, `Bye, go away.’ That’s fine, get someone else and go find your quirky little band or whatever it is that turns you on. But if you’re receptive to what we’re saying, which we feel a lot of people are going to be, come and get it.”
Most of the people coming to get it are tuned in to the fact that Power basically is Cast. Guitarist Liam Tyson, drummer Keith O’Neill and bassist Peter Wilkinson are more than capable musicians, but it’s Power’s lead they follow. Having been in the shadows himself in the La’s, Power knows the internal problems that can brew when there’s one dominant presence in a band.
“I have great respect for everyone in Cast,” Power said. “But the fact is that I formed the group so I would have an outlet for my songs. So it’s not like I tricked anyone into joining. If the day comes when one of them wants to leave to pursue his own thing, I could only wish him the best. It would be hypocritical of me otherwise.”
But for now, the band is intact and itching to hit the States. After postponing its U.S. debut two months while Tyson’s shoulder healed (he slipped on a piece of sushi after indulging in too much sake in Japan), the musicians are primed to win over America. Asked whether he’s optimistic that the U.S. is ready for yet another British invasion, Power – a fan of Marvin Gaye, Carole King and those other Liverpudlians, the Beatles – is pragmatic.
“I think the time is right for any band who’s got something to say, and I’ve got something musical to say,” he said. “See, we are a British band but we don’t really give a hoot about that. There’re a lot of crap British bands, just like there are a lot of crap American bands. Good music isn’t just British. It can come from Chicago or Liverpool or Calcutta.”
