“We’ve been very busy. And part of the reason, I guess, being busy, is also because I’m at an age where I know this won’t go on forever,” the rocker explained to Brazil's A Rádio Rock.
"If I can still physically and mentally do what I do, I feel an urgency to get out there and do it," he declared. "Not just to sit back and say, ‘Oh well, maybe I’ll do that next year and the year after.’”
Anderson, who turns 77 later this year, further noted that the clock is clicking on his ability to tour and perform.
“I’m well aware that time is running out,” he admitted. “So I’m driven by the passions and sometimes the ethical obligation of showing up for work.”
“The travel is just so boring and stressful,” the frontman noted of the rigors of touring. “And so sitting on an airplane for 12 hours might be somebody's idea of fun — maybe if you're going on holiday with your family and the airplane ride is part of it — but for me, I go to work on an airplane and I don't enjoy it. I really hate it. So, it's not an enjoyable thing to have to start. But you have to do it to get there. And every day we have another flight.”
Anderson went on to say that the reason he works relentlessly is because of a desperate need to flex his creativity. The musician likes to be innovative, and as such, the idea of not working on something for one year and taking a break doesn’t appeal to him whatsoever.
“Those of us who are creative for a living, it’s hard to imagine a year going by, and you haven’t come up with something new,” Anderson added, “Even though, in my case, it may not be a new album release every year, but there’s lots of other creative things that I’ve been doing in the period of time.”
Jethro Tull will replay 7 decades of music live at Sheffeld City Hall on May 3, 2024
When I took up the flute, it was really without any knowledge of the instrument. It was just something different to play because I had played guitar and knew that I was never going to be equal to Eric Clapton, let alone Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore and the other guys who were doing sessions in London. I found something else to play that was an unlikely instrument.
A few months later, I managed to get a couple of notes out of it. Once I had five notes, I could play the blues scale and I could play solos. So I was playing the flute, but I was thinking guitar – because that was my musical background.
Behind Jethro Tull’s Aqualung: “We had no interest in being rock stars”
Ian Anderson and Martin Barre give the lowdown on Aqualung, Jethro Tull's career-defining 1971 record. Just don't call it a concept album.
Fans might have thought that after talking about Aqualung for half a century, Ian Anderson would be fed up with yet more questions about the album. But that’s not so. (Loudesound report)
“I’m happy to talk about anything,” he says in a calmly positive manner. “Of course, I get asked the same questions over and over again. But it’s no problem, because there are always different ways to answer these. Besides, it’s a compliment that an album recorded so long ago still holds a fascination for many people. And I am grateful for what Aqualung did for Jethro Tull.”
“A lot of the lyrics I wrote for the album came from visual images. For instance, the person who inspired the title track was a real homeless person. As a photographer, I love walking around taking pictures of interesting people I see or meet. And even when I don’t have actual photos of them, I can see these figures in my mind and that’s projected into the lyrics."
(Sources: Fresnobee / VMZ)
