From the beginning, Jethro Tull has been, to quote one of their songs, “Skating away on the thin ice of a new day.” Even in an era when progressive rock defied many music critics and won audiences with intricate instrumentation and challenging themes, the British band was and remains a confident taker of risks.
More than 50 years after the release of “Aqualung,” the album’s titular song of an elderly man living on the streets invoking both compassion and repugnance, endures as the one audiences clamor for at virtually every show.
But Jethro Tull is about the present as well as the past, fusing sounds of medieval folk and classical music with contemporary topics such as the ever-increasing pace of life, alienation from institutions such as organized religion, and love as a source of strength amid uncertainty.
Jethro Tull is taking on the road works both time-tested and new, in a dour tubbed “The Seven Decades,” including a concert set for Oct. 28 at MGM Music Hall in Boston.
Ian Anderson, vocalist, flautist, guitarist, principal songwriter and the band’s sole continuous member, recently spoke by Zoom from his home in the UK, including about the band’s 23rd studio album and newest release, “RökFlöte.” Following last year’s “The Zealot Gene,” their first LP in 20 years,”RökFlöte” draws from characters and stores of Norse mythology, with the name, meaning “rock flute,” a hat-tip to the instrument that has contributed to Jethro Tull’s unique sound.
In the background were scenes from a life — including family moments, and beloved cats of memory, and for this reporter, invoking another song from “Aqualung”: “Wondr’ing aloud, will the years treat us well?”
It was a conversation of music of tender emotion with killer riffs and aggressive beats that don’t back down, of spirituality, of what it means to find success in works that elude conventional popularity, yet with the power to speak to everyone.
Please tell me about your new release, and what people can expect at your upcoming concerts.
It’s the topic of various characters and personalities of the Norse gods, and mythology of some 1,000 years ago, and I amuse myself drawing comparisons of those personalities to the world today — people I know, or who I have met, or have some knowledge about.
The Norse gods were based on superior humans. These are all cast in the physical personality aspect, that people knew or could understand, to be superior humans.
With a large catalogue of music dating back so far, are there any songs or music that you see differently now?
I can honestly say, not at all. For me, when it comes to songs performed live on stage, I try to take myself back to that original interpretation, like an actor. I try to take a step back … I don’t change it. I try to relive it. For live performances, I am very much in character, and absolutely in step with what I wrote in the first place. I don’t think there is a case where I can say, “Oh, I see it differently.”
I remember when we talked a little over 10 years ago, for a solo show in 2010, technology was changing, and you had expressed concern about people holding up cell phones in the audience … What are your impressions now?
I guess we have had cell phones, we call them mobile phones, to the iPhones and the Galaxies. It’s hardly new. And secondly, I suppose what has changed is the ubiquitous nature of the phones in the public space. These days, it seems to be more common. My thoughts are that it was an occasional irritation 10 years ago. It’s a constant threat, these days. The reality of us folks who get on the stage, and have difficult things to play, whether you are a classical Shakespeare actor, or whether you are me. We could do without people using their phones. It becomes extremely irritating, and distracting. I am sure there are artists who don’t share that view at all.
I know a lot of folks in the audience really don’t like sitting behind them. So, I typically in a recorded message ask people not to u se their phones, until it comes to the encore. Then, we give time for the final eight minutes of the show
Is there anything you would like to do, musically, that you haven’t up to this point?
I have another album in me that’s kind of on the go. I hope to make progress in two or three months. It is too early to tell. I don’t like to talk about it until it’s complete.
When I think about the music of Jethro Tull, over time, one theme that comes to me is spirituality. Not endorsing religion, or a particular religion, but spiritual themes. Could you talk about that?
As a child, when I was about 6 or 7 years old, I was shipped off to, or led by the nose, and pushed out the door to the church. It had little to do with religion. I joined a bunch of other kids, doing whatever it is we did. The net result was that I was terrified, the ways things were depicted, and the ways we were being taught.
Was this a Scottish kirke, or an Anglican church, or other kinds of churches?
It was essentially the Scottish branch of the Anglican church … my father being Scottish, and my mother, English, they felt I should go to a church that embraced elements of both. The biblical teachings were the same. Anyway, I found it all very terrifying, and it lasted me all through my school days. I felt very alienated from churches and church services … in my early 20s, I became interested in those topics … not only did I find a sense of peace with my relationship with the church, but a positive attraction. Rarely do I walk past a church that I don’t go into. I am not a practicing Christian. I am not a person of belief. I believe in possibilities, and I believe in probabilities. If you are going to be truly practicing a faith, that implies certainties, and I don’t do certainties.
I am probably sure there was a Jesus of Nazareth who did very much … as ascribed in the bible, but I have a problem with Jesus the Christ …. having said all that, I work for the Christian churches every year, and fundraisers for the churches, and concerts, so they can be preserved for future generations, to decide whether they want to believe.
I remember that it seems whenever you play live, and sometimes before you’ve even walked on stage, people in the audience would be shouting, “Aqualung!” What are your thoughts on the staying power of this song?
“Aqualung” is one of the most important songs in the Jethro Tull catalogue, and one that we played at almost every concert. When performing “Aqualung” today, it’s more dramatic, but it’s just a farther-developed form. In fact, its arrangement is developed to an orchestral arrangement, and so, it’s an evolution of the original song, but all the bits are there, all those parts.
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It’s a song of observation, of sympathy, of a little fear, embarrassment. In 1971, seeing a 60-year-old homeless man seemed less scary, a little more being just down on their luck. Homelessness today is, unfortunately, caught up with a whole lot of issues, a bigger problem than it was 60 years ago. Young people, particularly into prostitution, areas of life where they quickly become hopeless. And so, I think that it’s a song that has a very high level of accessibility in the world today, and one that has resonance.
A while back, I believe you had a health scare, and I saw a report suggesting you had COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). Firstly, how are you doing now, and has your health affected your career?
I’m much better, because it turned out it wasn’t COPD. I had a lot of scans, and a few years later, in 2021, I had a whole lot more tests, and another opinion. Rather than COPD, it was more controllable — asthma, and apparently, I suffered asthma my whole life, coughing and wheezing … it is treatable, not curable, but nonetheless, treatable, and containable, now that I am suitably medicated. My health is much better than it was five years ago. I do have to be careful … not to try and be infected by a respiratory disease, and try to minimize chance of picking up a bug.
I’m just super careful. I don’t go out of the house without taking a mask with me.
When we last talked, you were telling me about your efforts to save the smaller wild cats, such as the Scottish wild cat, the Pallas cat. Why is that important to you?
Since I was a child, I was not really a doggy person. Their insularity, their independence, they choose spending time with you. They are a little different. Perhaps it just suits my personality. I feel I identify more with the personality of the felines … I really always had the preference of the company of cats over the company of dogs. That led to the small species of wild cats … I like the little guys. They are usually fearful of people, but I have, in my time, met some species of wild cats … in a zoo, in south England, servals, caracals, and a female puma. And of course, it was such a privilege to be able to engage, hands-on.
I’m involved in an aspect of (saving) the Scottish wild cat. I play a little part in hopefully having Scottish wild cats rehomes to the wild, through a breeding program.
All of us will come to a time when our path will end … what would you like people to remember and preserve about yours?
I managed to make a living by being unpopular. From the beginning, my musical heroes were esoteric, and not mainstream. I was never a fan of Elvis Presley … and so, I supposed, we’ve had a crew crossover hits that just caught the fancy of people. I’ve managed to make a decent living out of music that wasn’t mainstream, and not of the people of the masses. I have a great respect of people like Ed Sheeran, who can write a very successful pop song … it’s just not really my thing. I like being out on the edge, being out on the rim.
Jethro Tull performs at 8 p.m. Oct. 28 at MGM Music Hall at Fenway, 2 Landsdowne St., Boston. Tickets $42.60 to $142.50. To learn more, visit jethrotull.com.
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