Almost thirty years since the release of their seminal debut album, Immigrants, Emigrants and Me, Power of Dreams recently released a double A-side on FIFA Records that encapsulates the different sides of the band’s musical coin and the multi-faceted songwriting of Craig Walker.

‘America’ / ‘Across the Shannon’ is the precursor for Power of Dream’s first studio album in twenty five years, titled Aüslander, and a wonderful re-introduction to one of Ireland’s most enigmatic bands of the nineties.

We caught up with Craig Walker from Power of Dreams to chat about lockdown hobbies, the early 90s music press, being in a band pre-internet and of course, their forthcoming new album Aüslander.

First things first Craig, how have you been coping during lockdown?

It has been up and down as I think it has been for many people. I did nothing for the first three weeks apart from making sure my family and I were safe here in Berlin where we currently live. I had no motivation to write music till about four weeks into lockdown. Once we decided we were gonna make a new Power of Dreams album remotely, I was really motivated and have been working on it now for the past three months. I’m lucky I had that to dive into. Once again I have to thank music!

Have you picked up any interesting new hobbies or interests?

I became an epidemiologist expert for a while along with a new found interest in medical graphs and world mortality charts. I have started to appreciate bike rides for pleasure. Berlin is a real bike city and I cycle to get around. But rarely before Covid hit, would I do it for pleasure. Now I do and it’s a nice discovery.

You recently released your brand new double a-side single ‘America’ / ’Across The Shannon’ - were these ‘in the bag’ before lockdown commenced?  If not, please tell me how you managed to fit in studio sessions etc…

‘America’ was written in October 2019 while I was on a road trip in America with my wife and son. We spent a week in Nashville where I was doing writing sessions. Then 10 days on the road visiting my wife’s family in a few states. My wife is American but has lived in Europe for 13 years. So we wrote the lyrics together on that road trip. We met so many amazing, warm and welcoming people on the road. It’s easy to forget these forgotten people in America. Life is tough in the states. People have to work very hard to get by and get less holidays than in Europe. Corporations such as the pharmaceutical industry have got people medicated and in debt. 

Obviously, along with the current political situation driving more division and fear, the song was really reflecting on what we were seeing and in my wife’s case, comparing to the America she knew. 

‘Across the Shannon’ I’ve had for a while. It was something I started a couple of years ago. I had started to write a solo album back then but scrapped the idea half way through. I moved onto something else, but when we had decided to do a new album, I went through a lot of stuff I had on my laptop and that one felt like it could become a POD song which it eventually did. It’s a sweet song.

I read that in December 1989, NME picked you along with others such as Carter USM and The Charlatans, as their "stars of tomorrow" - How did it feel at the time to be singled out for greatness by one of the finest music rags of the time?

It was really exciting. I was 18 and a music obsessive and read all those music weeklies religiously. In Ireland we didn’t get them till Thursday which meant we had to wait a bit longer than you did in the UK. Sounds and NME were really great supporters of the band early on. It was thrilling as a teenager to be in the same paper as your heroes.

Do you miss picking up a copy of NME/Melody Maker/Sounds and catching up with all the music news? 

I do yeah. I miss a lot of things about the early 90’s. Pre-smart phone days seem like a lifetime ago now.  I miss the excitement of knowing everyone who loves the kind of music you love were reading the same magazines. This created youth movements and allegiances to particular bands and labels. That seems to have died with the end of the printed weeklies.

You signed a record deal with Polydor in 1989, I know people in bands that signed around the same time and back then, it was ALL about getting a deal, do you think that it’s as important NOW as it was back then?

I think the game has changed so much but ultimately being with a good label these days is still a good idea. Labels have obviously changed  and they no longer have the same allure for many artists who already have a fanbase. But I think for a new artist or artists who don’t want the burden of running a record label too, labels are still very important. If nothing else it’s more hands on deck to lighten the load that these days a lot of artists self-releasing face.

How different would your journey have been back in the early days if social media and the internet was available as it is today?

I think we would have been a much bigger band had we had the internet. Purely because we were young and touring non stop in far flung places like Japan. So our social media content would have been great. I think social media is made for touring acts. It’s a great way for artists to get all their fans one click away and in contact at all times. 

You toured with The Mission back in the 90’s, what did you learn from Mr Hussey et al at the time?

They taught us how to be consistent live. To really work out the set list dynamically. We watched them every night from the side of stage and learnt about performance and intensity. They were a great live band to learn from. We picked up a lot of fans touring with them. Some of the same fans we have today.

Your debut album Immigrants, Emigrants and Me was produced by Ray Shulman who is a well known multi-instrumentalist, how did you find working with Ray? 

Ray was the perfect producer for a very young bands first album. He was very kind and listened to our ideas seriously. He really emphasised the importance of capturing what we already had going on in the live set. It was definitely the right choice of producer at the right time.

Are you a ‘hands on’ kind of guy in the studio or do you prefer the producer to earn his money? 

I like to let people do their jobs and not interfere unless it’s constructive. These days there’s a tendency and even expectation for young artists to be the writer, producer, mixer, PR etc.

I don’t think anyone is capable of doing it all and it’s sad that this has become the norm.

I prefer to focus on the lyrics and arrangement of songs in the studio and let the producer be the producer.

Your forthcoming new album Aüslander is due this year, this is 26 years after your last studio album ‘Become Yourself’ was released (not counting the debut re-issue and the Best Of album), what would you say has changed the most in the 26 years? 

Undoubtedly, that would be the arrival of the internet and the digitalisation of recorded music.

How people consume music has completely changed beyond recognition in those 26 years. The advantages are it is now possible to make a name for yourself by having a good idea and access to the various streaming platforms. The disadvantage is too many people can now make music easily and the market has become completely flooded with no real gatekeepers anymore.

Tell me about the new album….. were songs written for the album or was the album wrapped around songs that you had already written? Is there a ‘theme’ for the record?

I would say half the tracks on the album were songs I had been putting to one side over the years. Songs I felt could only ever work in the context of a new POD album. The rest have been written since we started the process of recording the album. So a real mix of both.

The albums theme would be about life as a ‘foreigner’, which is something I have been for 19 of the last 25 years. I have lived in London, Paris and I’ve been living in Berlin now for five years.

The album looks at the ideas of identity and nationality and what that means in 2020.

There is also a bit of looking back at the early days of the band. How that was. How it feels now to look back and reflect on the positive and negative areas of those times.

‘Aüslander’ means ‘foreigner’, you’re an Irishman living in Berlin, did you get called this? If not, please tell me how the album name came to be?

Yeah, Aüslander is something anyone not from Germany will be referred to in dealings with the government etc.

It has less sinister undercurrents than the English version of the word but has the exact same meaning.

The title is a direct nod to our debut albums title ‘Immigrants, emigrants and me’ which I wrote when I was 17.

I started out as an emigrant but have ended up an Aüslander. It charts the course of the past 30 years of my life.

Has your approach to writing songs changed over the years or do you have a set pattern that you follow? Please tell me about it….

I still sit down with a guitar and write songs like I did when I first started. But these days I no longer expect to finish something in the first sitting like I did in my younger years as a writer. I now know the importance of time and allowing the words to present themselves in my mind when they are ready.

I also collaborate a lot more these days in the writing process. I value the importance of others contributions a lot more these days.

Who will be producing Aüslander? Was this someone you knew already?

Erik Alcock is producing the Aüslander album. Erik and myself have been working together on a variety of projects over the past 9 months since Erik arrived in Berlin from LA. We had actually been in the process of finishing our debut album with our brand new project Craig Walker + The Cold, when Covid-19 hit. We put the Cold album on hold and dived into the POD album soon after. Erik is a fantastic producer/writer and musician. We have a wonderful working relationship and we work super quick together. There’s not a hint of ego when we work together which frees us up to be completely free and creative.

The Cold album will be released in 2021 and we are very excited about it.

You have a massive following in Japan, why do you think this is? Are you planning on visiting Japan for shows when it’s safe to do so?

I think the Japanese liked our crazy hair image back in the day. They also love emotionally charged indie music. Yes, we definitely plan to tour there whenever it is safe to do so.

Please tell me about some bands or artists that you’ve been listening to lately….

I work with tons of other artists here in Berlin as a writer. Working with younger artists is a great way to keep up with what’s currently going.

I love what young Berlin artist NOVAA is doing. She’s super young and writes and produces all her own music.

I have some songs coming out soon on the new James Hersey album that I am really excited about. James is a really great pop artist with a wonderful voice. I’m also working with a great new artist from Nashville called Francis King. She has an exceptional voice that I’m sure the world will really love.

I like a lot of the young bands coming out of Ireland at the moment. Fontaines DC are a great band and they are changing the worlds perception of what Irish music is and can be.

Lastly, please tell us when the new album Aüslander is due for release and will you be touring it?

The album will be out in November 2020. There will be a couple more singles before it is released.

We are already in the process of booking shows in the UK. Ireland and Germany. Obviously with so much uncertainty about when gigs can resume, we must wait a bit longer before announcing them.

We’d like to thank Craig for sparing the time to chat to us, we wish him and the band all the success for the future and look forward to listening to Aüslander when it lands in November 2020.

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