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From Dublin and 360 to America with Glen Power of The Script
By Troy Rogers
 When you look at up and coming bands on the music scene today, The Script, featuring lead singer Danny O'Donoghue, guitarist Mark Sheehan, and drummer Glen Power, have accomplished more in eight years than most bands could ever dream of in a lifetime. Although the early years for The Script were lean, playing clubs and gigs of all shapes and sizes in order to get noticed, the Dublin, Ireland rooted trio is now finding that hard work and experience is paying off in ways they could never have imagined.
In 2008 The Script finally broke out with their self-titled debut album, with five singles burning up the UK charts, including "We Cry," also making their way overseas while seeing their track "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" get picked up as a regular song in the TV series, The Ghost Whisperer, before "The End Where I Begin" got picked up for the then upcoming FIFA 09 video game. If that wasn't enough, The Script was also one of 12 acts to perform at the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize in a collection of acts that included Il Divo and Diana Ross. 2009, however, has been an even bigger year for the guys of The Script as Danny, Mark, and Glen got the gigs of their career as the supporting act on the U2 360 Tour and recently opening for Paul McCartney on the former Beatle's current world tour.
In the midst of their current live swing through the U.S., which includes a July 30 kick off with Parachute, we caught up with drummer Glen Power of The Script to find out how they’re enjoying success on the flip side of the Atlantic, what they've learned from U2 and Paul McCartney, how their music has changed, the differences between Irish and U.S. fans, and what has surprised Glen the most now that he's rolling through cities and stadiums he only dreamed of playing while slugging it out in the early days in Dublin.
THE DEADBOLT: What was going through your mind when you got the gigs to open for U2 and Paul McCartney?
 GLEN POWER: I think I nearly shit my pants, and I kind of thought back to the early days when I started out in music and the dreams I had and hoping that I could get to some of the places that my idols had gone to. I thought, "Holy shit! Here I am now and I’m going to grace the same stage as my idols." I thought, "Isn’t it amazing that thought and belief I had as a kid, that feeling that I’m going to do something big with this?’ I was so happy that I never stopped believing in what I was doing. It’s hard to think that, even when it was bad and times were low.
I was doing shitty pop gigs and people trying to steal your equipment and people trying to fight with you. I kept at it and never gave up and never lost hope and I can tell you its' a very vindicated feeling. I felt so happy and justified for all the years I stayed at this. For all of the people that told me I should get a real job, I felt like calling them up and telling them, "By the way, piss off!"
But it was whole mix of emotions. Above all, just relief. It was kind of like, "Okay, we’ve now arrived. We’ve now done something really big and it’s going to really prove to us that you guys are good, because if we weren’t, we wouldn’t be doing it. So it just shows how far we’ve come. Honestly, we’re living a very blessed life right now, we really are.
THE DEADBOLT: How did the 360 gig come about? Was it through Bono and U2 and an Irish connection?
POWER: Well, yeah. I think the great thing about Bono and U2 is that they’re brilliant like that. They support Irish music and new up and coming Irish bands. We heard that it’s customary over here in America that they kind of invite all of the radio stations down and they had asked, "What band are you listening to" Apparently, Bono said, "We listen to The Script." We were always wondering for a long time what they thing of us and do they even know who we are? Then we knew we were on their radar and that they were talking about us. Then the next thing, we got a call from our manager saying, "Hey guys, you’ve been offered a slot." We were like, "Oh, my God!"
 I mean, it’s the ultimate endorsement when you get your idols asking you to support them and we were honestly just blown away. We just couldn’t believe it. It was 4a.m. when we found out and our guitar player, Mark, called me in the room and I swear I probably woke up the whole flat. I screamed out loud. I was like, "YEAHHHH," because they’ve been my idols for years and they really inspired me to do this job and be in this business. I said, "It’s going to be a magical day." Not only do we get to watch them perform, we get to support them and go on before them on their stage and then possibly meet them all in one day. That’s a day you can put on Ebay and sell for a million dollars [laughs].
THE DEADBOLT: Musically, what’s the biggest thing you’ve learned from U2?
POWER: Musically, the biggest thing I’ve learned from U2 is that there’s power in numbers, the unity they have as a group. They’re gentlemen, they’re family men, and they’ve got their private lives and yet they’re such a force in the world of music. I think, musically, we’ve learned that if you stick together as a unit, you have an idea like they do as a band, it just shows you what can happen when you do that. Those boys know that when you put the four guys together on the stage, you can see the magic happening. On their own, individually, they’re still very good musicians. But when you put them together, musically, they’re leaders.
When we got in a room together, we start acting like that and that magic happens. I’d been doing coffee shops and singing my ass off and doing all kinds of gigs throughout the years and people are coming up to you saying, "Oh, that’s great." Even though we all did that and it was great, it’s only when you put it together when you see the magic happen. If anything, we look to U2 for that, that magic we see in them. We only hope that we can get one-quarter of that magic to conjure in our situation. But honestly, it’s just amazing. We’re so lucky right now.
THE DEADBOLT: I was reading your MySpace page about how you felt before hitting the stage with Paul McCartney. How surreal was that experience?
POWER: It was so surreal. I mean, the new Citi Field, the new Shea Stadium, I walked out before [the show] - I like to equate it to a boxing match. I like to get a look at the guy and make sure he’s not bigger than me. And if he is, so I know that about him. I went up onto the stage and had a look out at the size of it and it was just mind blowing. But before we even got out to do the gig there was a knock at the door and Sir Paul McCartney walked in. I swear to God, I actually - although I would never be like that or say - but as he walked in I was like, [high pitched voice] "Oh, my God."
 We all hopped up and shook his hand and he stood there chatting to us for a long time and he asked, "What’s the biggest place you guys have played?" He wanted to know how we felt about doing a big stadium and what kind of stages we’ve come from and then he started talking about The Beatles and when they played small places and stuff. Then how they had to move to the bigger stuff and how daunting that felt and we just felt common ground. All the while you’re just saying to yourself, "Oh, my God! I’m with a Beatle. I’m talking to a Beatle here." It was just mind blowing. It was hard to take it in.
THE DEADBOLT: So with more control over your music, is it more difficult to balance the demands of commercial airplay over what you may want to do.
POWER: I think we’re lucky in that sense. I mean, as a band we all have a unified sense of what’s good and what’s not good, and we wanted to write good music and good songs that people want to hear. I think that when we find a hot idea, we all have that kind of ear and we all chase after a great idea and we move towards that. So we still do what we want, but we want the songs to be good and that people want to listen, because at the end of the day we don’t want to go back to what we were doing before. You know what I mean? [laughs] We’re like, "F**k that! Those days are gone, man. We want to be successful."
But at the same time we want to stay loyal to what it is that we like about music and what it is that we like about a great song. That’s all we were after is great songs. I think we did so well on this album because there are some great themes on the album that people can relate to. I think that’s the main reason why we’ve done so well because the themes on the album are universal. Everybody has felt or are feeling them right now, so we just chase a great idea.
THE DEADBOLT: How do people in Ireland view musicians and celebrity? Is it the same as America?
 POWER: No. Honest to God, people are chill. Bono can walk around Dublin and doesn’t really get hassled. People are like, "There’s Bono. Yeah, whatever." You know, people are a bit more laid back with the whole celebrity thing and they also wear that like a badge right now. They’re very proud that there’s another Irish band out there in the world getting viewed by so many people and moving around in so many places. When we come home, there really is a sense of pride and that’s from everyone right across the board.
We’ve had no negative vibe off of anybody. Everyone is really behind us 100%. Even taxi drivers, when you get in the cab, they say, "What do you do?’ And you tell them, and they go, "Oh, my God, love you guys. It’s great to see an Irish band doing well." So Irish feedback is behind us 100% and they’re just thrilled that there’s another band out there making a name, so they’re great. When it comes to the whole celebrity, thing it’s a little bit more chill. You still get people that come over and ask for stuff, but they usually just want to press pounds with you and tell you how much they love the music.
THE DEADBOLT: "The Man Who Can’t Be Moved" is still your biggest hit and most successful single to date, but it was kept out of the number one spot by Katy Perry’s "I Kissed a Girl". So are you guys gunning for her now?
POWER: [laughs] We met her at a festival called Pinkpop in Holland and her dressing room was literally beside ours and we said hello. She’s a really nice girl. She looked totally different in person. I couldn’t believe it. But we have no problem with Katy, she’s cool, and the best of luck to her. There’s plenty of room out there for all of us.
THE DEADBOLT: Since this is your first U.S. tour, is it everything you expected? What has surprised you the most so far?
POWER: If anything, that people know our music, that people are singing along to the songs and that after a song or two we’re getting them. The people that don’t know them, it’s literally after two songs that you can see them, they’re paying attention and know who you are. It’s funny, with Paul McCartne y we did Citi Field a few nights ago and the first song or two people were kind of sizing us up and trying to check out who we are. Then, after like two songs, I could see them taking out their cameras - no joke - and they were starting to take pictures of us. So then to know that you’re starting to turn heads and win some hearts over.
If anything, what surprised me the most was that it seems to be the same for us when we play a song or two. People do get it and then kind of lock onto it and we’ve kind of converted them to the way of The Script. So yeah, and also the fact that you’ve got the best pancakes in the world [laughs].
THE DEADBOLT: I noticed that the track "The End Where I Begin" is featured in FIFA 09. That’s a huge boost for any musician to be featured in a video game. How did that come about?
POWER: We’re hardcore gamers and obviously spend a lot of time on tour buses and in stadiums and stuff. So PlayStation has been great and they’ve given us PlayStations and EA Games. The backend of that, they turned around and said, "Look, do you mind if we use one of your song? We really love the band." We were just blown away. That game is a best selling game and our song is on it, which is unbelievable. And when you’re sitting there picking your teams and the song comes on, it’s like, "Oh, my God! That’s us!’ It’s crazy, it really is. It’s brilliant.
For more on Glen Power and his band mates, head this way to the official website of The Script.
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