"All Too Frequently Asked Questions" is the
official FAQ, set up after the style of an impromptu interview. Ian
Anderson answers the questions of the fictitious interviewer:
All Too Frequently Asked Questions
( From their website, used by permission )
How did you get the name Jethro Tull?
Back in February, 1968, we had many different names which usually changed
every week, since we were so bad that we had to pretend to be some new
band in order to get re-booked in the clubs where we aspired to find fame
and fortune. Our agent, who had studied History at college, came up with
the name Jethro Tull (an eighteenth century English agricultural pioneer
who invented the seed drill). That was the band name during the week in
which London's famous Marquee Club offered us the Thursday night
residency. So it stuck. Is it too late to change? I thought so.
Who are the current band members?
Myself, Ian Anderson, on flute, vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica and
mandolin. Martin Barre on Electric guitar. Doane Perry on drums. Andrew
Giddings on keyboards and Jonathan Noyce on bass.
Why have there been so many changes in line-up over the years?
Lots of different reasons. Some of the boys left to get married,
settle down, form their own bands, that sort of thing. Jeffrey
Hammond-Hammond left to be a painter. John Glascock tragically died from a
heart disease. And two were fired. We are all pretty good pals now. Like a
big extended family of two football teams.
In 1976, you named a famous Tull track "Too Old To Rock And Roll". What
do you feel about this title, looking back on it now?
It was not, then or now, an autobiographical statement. It was an
album track which was about the cyclic changes of fashion in culture, pop
and rock music. Quite predictive for 1975 really, given the endless
recycling of 60's and 70's musical influences which fill the charts these
days.
In 1973, Jethro Tull disbanded following the bad reviews of "A Passion
Play". Why?
No, we didn't! Our then manager decided to respond to a bad review in
the influential pop newspaper Melody Maker by cutting a deal with the
editor for a front page "scoop" involving the band's supposed decision to
quit. We knew nothing about it until we read it in the paper ourselves,
and we were furious. It made us look petulant and silly. Which we probably
were, but we didn't need the wrong kind of publicity. Tull have never
disbanded, even for a moment. No come-back tours for us, thank you very
much. We haven't yet been away!
Are you, like the song, "Living in the Past"?
I am not one for nostalgia or reminiscences and prefer to live in the
present and the future. However, some of our audience obviously like the
nostalgia bit, and the older material which we play is, for them perhaps,
a trip down memory lane. For us, it's not about playing a song which could
be thirty years old. It's about playing something 24 hours old, since
that's when we probably last played it on stage. Our style of music is, I
hope, a little bit timeless and not rooted in a particular music fashion.
Pop and Rock music have changed a great deal over the last 30 years.
How do you view these changes? And do you listen to the new music like
Techno and Rap?
Well, the really big changes were back in the early years of the
mid-to-late sixties and the early seventies. The introduction of musical
influences from many diverse world cultures and historical periods
provided for a rapidly evolving and richly creative musical environment.
Folk, Classical, Blues, Jazz and Asian motifs and forms broadened the
scope of American-derived pop and rock. Tull were a part of that
evolution. Since the mid-seventies, the development has been more
technological rather than musical. Sampling, synthesis, sequencing and the
personal home computer revolution have brought music making to the masses
at an affordable price. But the music goes round in circles. Same old
simple rhythms, melodies, harmonies and verse/chorus/bridge song
structures. Nothing really changes: nothing is really new. But each new
generation of young musicians rediscovers the wheel, The Beatles,
sunglasses and stretch limousines. As long as they and their fans think it
is new, why disappoint them? Give the kids a pot of paint and they will
repaint their house. Same old bricks underneath. Techno and Rap? Just
nursery rhymes with attitude. Nice idea but going round in very small
circles.
You are now one of the old men of rock - over 50 years of age. How long
do you plan do go on performing and recording?
As long as it remains a challenge and my health permits. One year: ten
years - who knows? Then there are painting, writing and other creative
indulgences to consider. Which will go first: the eyes, ears or the hands?
Fear of boredom in old age is my greatest concern.
Do you have Family? A wife? Children? Where do you live?
I enjoy the company and love of my wife of 23 years, Shona, two
children, James and Gael, both at University, five cats, two dogs and some
horses and chickens. We live in an eighteenth century English country
house with a recording studio, 400 acres of wheat, barley and trees about
100 miles west of London. Disgusting isn't it? Want to swap? Thought so.
Is it true you are also a fish farmer? How did you get interested in
that hobby and will you retire from music to concentrate on it full-time
one day?
In 1978, we bought a second home in Scotland, where I was born. We
were looking for some way to off-set the cost of owning the property and I
read, in an airline magazine as I recall, an article about Aquaculture. We
set up a Salmon farm at the beginning of that then new industry's
development. A smoking and processing factory and more fish farms followed
and today they employ about 250 people in the Highlands of Scotland. But
my time on the business is limited to around one day a month. When I wake
up in the morning, I am a musician, not a farmer or fish salesman. That's
what I pay other people to do. I just like eating smoked salmon from one
of the most beautiful parts of the world. Death may beckon, but retirement
does not.
Do you listen to new bands and who are your favourites?
I receive rather a lot of unsolicited demo tapes and CD's from
would-be musicians as well as from more professional performers, so I
listen to a lot of "new" stuff that way. The car radio and music
television keep me as informed as I want to be. But I have never been a
great listener of other people's work. Even when I first started, I
listened only to a few things which really caught my attention. My
favourite music to listen to these days is that of Muddy Waters, Beethoven
and Indian Classical and pop music.
Jethro Tull is one of the legends of Rock. Why do you think the band
has lasted so long?
The loyalty of our fans keeps us in work and pocket money. Some
artists have fickle fans who have short attention spans. More loyal and
committed fans ensure that the work of some bands like Zeppelin, The
Grateful Dead, Hendrix and the Stones won't fade away. Tull is just a
lesser version of those rock giants whose music will go on to define the
form in the history books of the future.
Is concert touring as exciting as before or do you ever become tired of
it?
It's my job. When I was a child, I always wanted a great job. I didn't
leave Art College to become pop star: I left to attempt a career as a
professional working musician. I love my job and I still have it. And I
already got the gold watch. You want my job? You want to swap? I thought
so.
Don't you hate having to play the same songs, like Aqualung or
Locomotive Breath, every night after so many years?
If they were not decent songs, then I certainly would, but I am lucky
to have a good collection of material which I still enjoy playing. There
are over 250 songs to choose from, in fact. Anyway, much of Tull's music
contains elements of improvisation, so the songs are never the same two
nights running. There is always some scope for variation and
interpretation in each performance. A Tull concert wouldn't be the same
without some of Locomotive Breath. Well, for me at any rate.
If you could choose the words for your epitaph, what would they be?
"Thank you and goodnight". Or perhaps, "Any chance of a wake-up call?"
I think that probably covers it.
Well, thank you for answering these questions one more time.
Don't mention it. Ever, ever again. |