Dreaming From The Inside
As they approach their 40th anniversary, Galahad are facing new challenges as an independent British band. Current release The Long Goodbye finds them with a stable line-up and embracing modified recording techniques. Prog catches up with vocalist Stu Nicholson and keyboard player Dean Baker to find out about their future plans.
Words: Chris Wheatley Images: Donna Nicholson
Galahad are clearly enjoying being in the same room again.
“Our fan demographic has sort of grown old with us and are still interested in buying physical formats.”
Stu Nicholson
The last few years have been turbulent for the music industry, with Brexit, Covid and the rise to dominance of streaming services shaking up the landscape. Having been a going concern since 1985, and remarkably consistent in their output, prog rockers Galahad have seen it all. They’re now back with a new album, The Long Goodbye, a companion record to 2022’s stirring The Last Great Adventurer.
“Enthusiasm,” says co-founding vocalist Stu Nicholson, when asked about his personal journey into the business, which started, appropriately enough, with hearing Genesis for the first time. “In the late 70s,” he recalls, “I remember very clearly being at a friend’s house and we were playing pool. We were a bit drunk, and I was sitting under the table. He put on Selling England By The Pound and I heard the first words: ‘Can you tell me where my country lies.’ I just loved it. And I was hooked.”