1995 was dominated by Britpop. A vibrant cultural phenomenon stoked by groups of young guitar-slingers who ascended the charts and stole the headlines, among the songwriters leading the charge was Cast frontman John Power.
‘If you listen to our debut album All Change now, you can tell it was recorded by a group full of young energy,’ he tells M. ‘We were like a comet willing to burn itself out just to make its mark on the stratosphere.’
From its memorable melodies to its singalong hooks, All Change sizzles with Scouse attitude and features a host of Cast’s most popular works (Alright, Finetime and the ballad Walkaway, to name but a few). 30 years on — and seven more records deeper into their journey, including the upcoming LP Yeah Yeah Yeah — and the October 1995 album still resonates far and wide.
‘When I joined The La’s in 1986, I looked at the sixties and seventies as this great epoch of guitar bands and songwriting,’ John explains. ‘I see younger kids coming to [our] shows now and they’re looking at the nineties in the same way I did with my past. All Change was part of a sound that captured that moment in time.’
'Cast were like a comet willing to burn itself out just to make its mark on the stratosphere.’
While he’d been aware of what he now describes as ‘the geometric shape of a melody’ since he was a kid growing up in Liverpool, John didn’t pick up a guitar until he was in his mid-teens. Things truly caught alight when he first encountered The La’s guitarist Lee Mavers. ‘The minute I heard Son of a Gun in Lee’s presence, a switch turned on,’ John recalls. ‘It was more about being around Lee. He was a few years older than me, but I still consider him one of the most naturally gifted songwriters of my generation. If I hadn’t met him, my life might have been different.’
After joining The La’s as bassist in 1986, John played a key part in their self-titled debut album. The 1990 record featured their classic calling card There She Goes, but, by the following year, John had departed the band.
‘When I was in The La’s, I had no intention of leaving. It only happened when things started to get heavy,’ he says now. ‘I had some songs and realised that if I didn’t sing them, no one was going to hear them. This line — “The change is cast” [from The La’s song Looking Glass] — was reverberating around my head too. It meant I started looking at my music in a different light.’
At this point John had elements of what would become staples of Cast’s discography, including Finetime, Alright and the descending scales of what would become Walkaway: ‘I knew I had to give them the love and nurturing they needed. If someone else was going to feel the same as I did about them, then it was going to be worthwhile. That’s all I wanted.’
When it came to assembling Cast, John utilised his connections within the Liverpool music scene. Bassist Pete Wilkinson was playing with Scouse legends Shack, while drummer Keith O’Neill was in another Liverpool group called The Windmills. ‘He was like a young Keith Moon. When I saw him playing, he made the kit look like this old Victorian flying machine,’ laughs John. ‘Keith wasn’t just an amazing drummer, he brought this energy and character. We were suddenly a gang.’
Fellow guitarist Liam ‘Skin’ Tyson had left Liverpool by this point, but John managed to convince him to join Cast after sending him a letter: ‘He then came to a rehearsal and straight away things took off. We played Tell It Like It Is and I just knew we were ready, given the band dynamics alongside the playing and the intention.’
After playing their demos to Oasis’ Noel and Liam Gallagher — who Cast are currently supporting on their world reunion tour — in Liverpool, the band were booked to play what would turn out to be a momentous London gig. There, they were introduced to an A&R from Polydor and, before they knew it, had signed a record deal with the label. Soon afterwards, they were recording what would become their debut album with producer John Leckie.
‘Those songs were bulletproof,’ John Power tells M. ‘We’d been gigging intensely for a year and a half, but the riffs, harmonies and arrangements of the songs were all done. John Leckie’s job was just to mic us up and capture the performance.’
Having worked with the likes of Pink Floyd and John Lennon at Abbey Road, producer John supported Cast through what became a stressful period. ‘He was old-school behind the desk, splicing the tape like you used to have to when editing,’ the frontman recalls. ‘He was a dude and really helped us through the recording process. That whole period was enjoyable, but I wish I knew what I know now and taken my foot off the gas a little bit. But the [Britpop] zeitgeist had lit its flame and was taking off all around the country.’
One of the biggest singles from the album was Walkaway. Less bombastic than their other hits, the track helped Cast cross over into the mainstream.
‘Fifties music was always playing in our house when I was growing up, and I’ve always loved Eddie Cochran,’ John remembers about the inspiration behind the song. ‘I was aware of slower songs with that major scale drop, and was just experimenting with these ideas when writing Walkaway. I was playing this descending scale, came up with this intro and then a middle eight.
'I wrote it in my bedroom at my mum and dad’s place. At one point I went downstairs to speak to my dad, and he said “Walk away” to me. I went back upstairs and got the chorus working, and then it all sort of fell into place. I knew it was a special song — the type that your mum’s mates might like as well as everyone else who already loved the band.’
'The songs on All Change were bulletproof.'
Despite his many years of songwriting experience, John tries to avoid thinking too deeply about where his melodies and harmonies stem from: ‘I have this sense of naivety [about my songwriting] that I try to maintain. I don’t quite want to totally know what I’m doing in case I lose it and am never able to find it again.’
While he maintains that anyone who wants to write a song ‘doesn’t need advice’, John does impart this wisdom: ‘My aim [with songwriting] is to reel it in and try to keep up with the shadows, as the sun is always moving. It’s a constant state of flux. A young songwriter would feel the energy, the passion and see the light in my eyes. That’s the best advice I can give: stay inspired.’
Having only released their most recent album Love Is The Call last year (‘I view that as the debut of our renaissance, starting this energy flowing’), Cast are set to release their next record Yeah Yeah Yeah in January 2026. John hopes that that release will build on their recent momentum, supplemented by a special tour to celebrate 30 years of All Change.
‘One wave of momentum catches the next — I don’t know where it’s going; I’ve stopped questioning it — but I know that, somewhere along the line, it’s gonna hit the shore,’ he reasons. ‘Until it does, man, I’m gonna surf that musical wave.
‘There are people coming back to the band who love us and just forgot. The band is on fire, and we’re excited. If you’re rediscovering us or hearing us for the first time, this is a good moment to get into Cast.’
You can pre-order Cast's new album 'Yeah Yeah Yeah' and see their upcoming tour dates by heading here.
