Lisa Regan talks to powerful live performer Garrett Wall ahead of his return to Ireland for a number of Irish dates, including upstairs in the Róisín on Monday 1 October  

Is this your first time performing in Galway?

No, I've played here many times I'm happy to say. Before I moved to Spain, I toured the country quite a bit and used to play in The King's Head, The Quays, Róisín Dubh and did a couple of live studio sessions with Jon Richards on Galway Bay FM. I released one of those, ‘Superhero Sometimes’, as a bonus track on the Spanish version of the Gravity (2002) album. I think I also played in UCG; university gigs can sometimes be a blur!

How do you find performing in Galway?

I love it! It's always been my favourite place in Ireland for many reasons. There's a unique atmosphere here that has remained untouched and I hope it always stays that way. The city centre is like a mini Edinburgh during Fringe, in terms of the buzz on the street, and live music has always been an important part of nightlife and culture here, perhaps more than any other place in the country. Some of the finest bands and singers come from Galway, and you only have to look at groups like ‘No Banjo’ to see the talent just oozing out of the place. I'm absolutely thrilled about coming back to play in Galway and checking out the new acoustic room in Róisín Dubh. It also gives me a big buzz to bring the band here, since some of them have never been to Ireland, let alone Galway. I brought a Spanish band here a few years ago and they always talk about the Connemara experience, just amazing.

How does performing in Galway differ from other performances?

I think the attitude of the gig-goers is fantastic in terms of what they're looking for from a good night's live music. The standards are very high and there area lot of artists who come to play in Galway for that very reason. The audiences here are second to none and, being a university town, you get a good mix of nationalities as well and basically a lot of people looking for a bit of craic. Hopefully they'll come down looking for a bit of that in The Róisín on 1 October.

Can you tell us a bit about the show?

Well, it's a four piece band, mostly acoustic instruments, trumpet, bass, guitar and Cajon, which is a flamenco box drum you sit on and basically looks like a made-up instrument but sounds fantastic. Robbie is one of the best players in the world. He's brought something fresh to the art of playing it and combines a drummer's touch with a mix of bodhrán and basic percussion, which he also plays. I think we have one of the most original and distinctive sounds around at the moment (not that I'm blowing my own trumpet; Howard does that!). Having played in many different line-ups with some amazing musicians over the years, I'm happy to say this is the most satisfying and enjoyable music I've ever played. It's hard to create something new these days; breathing new life into the singer-songwriter genre is always tough. That’s why this feels more like a band than anything. Each member brings their own creative ideas and style to the songs and it's very much a group effort when it comes to arrangements and overall sound. I'm looking forward to bringing this show to Ireland for the first time; hopefully we'll get to play to a bunch of great people and have some fun.

Well, I've released two albums since moving to Spain and this one, ‘Sky Pointing’, will be the third and perhaps most important. I work most of the time as a professional singer and composer for TV jingles and movie soundtracks, so I'm very lucky to be able to earn a living from music. The Spanish industry has opened its arms to me in that sense, which I'm very grateful for. It's something I probably wouldn’t have been able to do if I'd stayed in Ireland and it's opened up some incredible doors. The advertising world in Spain is one of the biggest, so there are plenty of opportunities and thankfully they like to have their jingle music in English, which is great for me. It's funny though since one of the other people doing that in Madrid is an old secondary schoolmate of mine, Tom Spain, who moved there more than 15 years ago. Strange how things work out like that!

What was the highlight of the last year?

Mmmm, tough question! I guess recording the new album in three days after my last two having taken a year apiece was certainly a cause for celebration. Playing at the Edinburgh Fringe was also a buzz, in fact we played 25 times in seven days ha, mad! Overall I'm fortunate enough to say there have been quite a few highlights, but then again I'm relatively easy to please.

What are your plans for the year ahead?

Mainly to get the new album licensed to the right label in Spain, (I wasn't very happy with the last one), and then work on Ireland, England and the US, although this tour is the first step in trying to break back into the Irish scene where I've been more or less absent for a few years. The most important thing for us is to play live and in as many different countries as possible since the live show is what it's all about for us.