New article from India
Verfasst: So Jan 29, 2006 10:38 pm
MUMBAI: On the eve of his third performance in India, Jethro Tull lead vocalist and flautist Ian Anderson is pleased that the infrastructure supporting a live gig in India is finally catching up, “If I compare now with 15 years ago, there’s a big difference. These days the production side of things is on par with what you’d expect to find in the West.
There’s less stress and aggravation for the crew and us alike. The way to make touring enjoyable is to keep things simple and not make unreasonable demands. Even the biggest stars have to change in the toilets sometimes, except Mariah Carey who changes in a vestibule of her own imagination!”
A couple of weeks before his India tour (January 31 and February 1 at the Shanmukhananda Hall, Mumbai, and February 3 at IIM Bangalore), Anderson spoke to ET from Switzerland, under the watchful eye of his wife — “that’s why there have been no four-letter words”, he explains.
Rocker-cum-gentleman-farmer-cum-salmon-breeder Anderson has fronted band Jethro Tull (the name of an 18th century German agricultural inventor) for the past four decades and has essayed a unique brand of rock music, that still manages to draw capacity crowds.
India has become something of a regular destination for ageing classic rockers, well into their fourth decade in the business. Jethro Tull’s last performance in Mumbai in ’04, with Hari Prasad Chaurasia, sold out in record time. For the current set of concerts, Tull will be joined on stage by Alms for Shanti — a band featuring Uday Benegal and Jayesh Gandhi, formerly with the now-disbanded Indus Creed.
Tull has focussed more on touring through the ’00s with only one studio recording — ’03’s The Jethro Tull Christmas Album, which was essentially a reworking of some of the classic Christmas tracks from the band’s discography. The individual members have kept themselves busy with solo albums — Anderson’s latest was Rupi’s Dance and guitarist Martin Barre released Stage Left in ’03.
Besides, Anderson is involved in everything from all-acoustic shows to playing with orchestras. He says, “I try to fit in things that broaden my musical horizons. I always think I’ve something to learn, irrespective of whether I’m playing with the old masters of music like Chaurasia or with some young person who has just made that first album. Anyone who thinks they are done with the learning and just applies their skill, is living in a dangerous bubble. Particularly, if you are a person in the creative world.”Given his schedule, one wonders if there’s a new studio album likely from Jethro Tull.
Anderson himself is not too sure, though he will be spending time in the studio, shortly. But he admits, “It will be, to some extent, Jethro Tull music but some of what I want to do is not in a rock band context.” In spite of no new studio recordings, Tull has maintained an approximate release schedule of an album a year — there’s a new live recording of the Tull classic Aqualung for a charity for homeless people, Jethro Tull Live at the Isle of Wight and also Ian Anderson Plays the Orchestral Jethro Tull. Anderson says, “They may not be available in India except as imports, but that’s what takes up a lot of my time.
Even live albums are a lot of work — production, mastering, art work.” There’s also the fact that record labels’ enthusiasm for new albums by ‘classic’ rock acts is at an all-time low — Deep Purple was recently dropped after over 30 years with EMI; Robert Plant and Alice Cooper have both released their latest albums on the independent, but financially shaky, Sanctuary label. The biggest activity on Jethro Tull from its erstwhile record label is reissues of the ‘classic’ catalogue with remastering and a few bonus tracks thrown in.
Says Anderson, “A compilation of remastered music has low origination costs. Potentially, the marketing and promotion costs are the only serious outlay. But if you are working on new material, you can understand labels getting nervous. Coldplay were nervous spending a year recording and re-recording an album (X&Y) that was a follow-up to a 11-m seller (Parachutes).
The Rolling Stones record company will be nervous — Soundscan data says that sales are probably about 20% of what the Stones would have sold back in the 1970s. Their latest record has performed poorly because of advances paid and money spent on promotion. I don’t want to quote sensitive figures, but U2’s latest has been very disappointing. Rod Stewart and David Bowie have made records that have sold probably a quarter or a fifth of what they might have, years ago!”
While Anderson contends that it’s possible to make a profit selling only 50,000 copies in the current system, it’s difficult to break even on an album that sells less than half a million. It’s hard to drum up interest in a new album and radio station support is scarce these days. He says, “There will probably only be one song played on the radio, when the band is in town, which then comes off rotation and they go back playing the catalogue again. These days, there’s a sense of ennui and boredom. It’s nobody’s fault, but the rather jaded world we all live in.”
A more sensible option, he contends, is for classic rock bands to focus on two-three new tracks. He says, “I was speaking to someone from Pink Floyd and asking if there will be a new album and he said, ‘It’s just too much hassle. You spend a year in the studio and tour together for two years... I’m just too old to contemplate that much work.’
But why work from the assumption that you have to do a huge album and a tour?” A couple of new tracks from these bands, available online, says Anderson, would crash every server on Planet Earth. According to him, “Then all you need to do is play a concert in New York, London and Berlin, and release a DVD! We live in strange times where we think in terms of convention.
People expect a CD to be around 55 minutes. That’s nonsense, really. It’s so much nicer for artistes to release a few tracks more often, than an hour’s worth of new music. We don’t have to live in the world of album-length music or three-and-a-half minute hit singles. The digital world should have freed us from physical structures and lengths. Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones should be the first to cast away these preconceptions and give us some new music from time to time.”
There’s less stress and aggravation for the crew and us alike. The way to make touring enjoyable is to keep things simple and not make unreasonable demands. Even the biggest stars have to change in the toilets sometimes, except Mariah Carey who changes in a vestibule of her own imagination!”
A couple of weeks before his India tour (January 31 and February 1 at the Shanmukhananda Hall, Mumbai, and February 3 at IIM Bangalore), Anderson spoke to ET from Switzerland, under the watchful eye of his wife — “that’s why there have been no four-letter words”, he explains.
Rocker-cum-gentleman-farmer-cum-salmon-breeder Anderson has fronted band Jethro Tull (the name of an 18th century German agricultural inventor) for the past four decades and has essayed a unique brand of rock music, that still manages to draw capacity crowds.
India has become something of a regular destination for ageing classic rockers, well into their fourth decade in the business. Jethro Tull’s last performance in Mumbai in ’04, with Hari Prasad Chaurasia, sold out in record time. For the current set of concerts, Tull will be joined on stage by Alms for Shanti — a band featuring Uday Benegal and Jayesh Gandhi, formerly with the now-disbanded Indus Creed.
Tull has focussed more on touring through the ’00s with only one studio recording — ’03’s The Jethro Tull Christmas Album, which was essentially a reworking of some of the classic Christmas tracks from the band’s discography. The individual members have kept themselves busy with solo albums — Anderson’s latest was Rupi’s Dance and guitarist Martin Barre released Stage Left in ’03.
Besides, Anderson is involved in everything from all-acoustic shows to playing with orchestras. He says, “I try to fit in things that broaden my musical horizons. I always think I’ve something to learn, irrespective of whether I’m playing with the old masters of music like Chaurasia or with some young person who has just made that first album. Anyone who thinks they are done with the learning and just applies their skill, is living in a dangerous bubble. Particularly, if you are a person in the creative world.”Given his schedule, one wonders if there’s a new studio album likely from Jethro Tull.
Anderson himself is not too sure, though he will be spending time in the studio, shortly. But he admits, “It will be, to some extent, Jethro Tull music but some of what I want to do is not in a rock band context.” In spite of no new studio recordings, Tull has maintained an approximate release schedule of an album a year — there’s a new live recording of the Tull classic Aqualung for a charity for homeless people, Jethro Tull Live at the Isle of Wight and also Ian Anderson Plays the Orchestral Jethro Tull. Anderson says, “They may not be available in India except as imports, but that’s what takes up a lot of my time.
Even live albums are a lot of work — production, mastering, art work.” There’s also the fact that record labels’ enthusiasm for new albums by ‘classic’ rock acts is at an all-time low — Deep Purple was recently dropped after over 30 years with EMI; Robert Plant and Alice Cooper have both released their latest albums on the independent, but financially shaky, Sanctuary label. The biggest activity on Jethro Tull from its erstwhile record label is reissues of the ‘classic’ catalogue with remastering and a few bonus tracks thrown in.
Says Anderson, “A compilation of remastered music has low origination costs. Potentially, the marketing and promotion costs are the only serious outlay. But if you are working on new material, you can understand labels getting nervous. Coldplay were nervous spending a year recording and re-recording an album (X&Y) that was a follow-up to a 11-m seller (Parachutes).
The Rolling Stones record company will be nervous — Soundscan data says that sales are probably about 20% of what the Stones would have sold back in the 1970s. Their latest record has performed poorly because of advances paid and money spent on promotion. I don’t want to quote sensitive figures, but U2’s latest has been very disappointing. Rod Stewart and David Bowie have made records that have sold probably a quarter or a fifth of what they might have, years ago!”
While Anderson contends that it’s possible to make a profit selling only 50,000 copies in the current system, it’s difficult to break even on an album that sells less than half a million. It’s hard to drum up interest in a new album and radio station support is scarce these days. He says, “There will probably only be one song played on the radio, when the band is in town, which then comes off rotation and they go back playing the catalogue again. These days, there’s a sense of ennui and boredom. It’s nobody’s fault, but the rather jaded world we all live in.”
A more sensible option, he contends, is for classic rock bands to focus on two-three new tracks. He says, “I was speaking to someone from Pink Floyd and asking if there will be a new album and he said, ‘It’s just too much hassle. You spend a year in the studio and tour together for two years... I’m just too old to contemplate that much work.’
But why work from the assumption that you have to do a huge album and a tour?” A couple of new tracks from these bands, available online, says Anderson, would crash every server on Planet Earth. According to him, “Then all you need to do is play a concert in New York, London and Berlin, and release a DVD! We live in strange times where we think in terms of convention.
People expect a CD to be around 55 minutes. That’s nonsense, really. It’s so much nicer for artistes to release a few tracks more often, than an hour’s worth of new music. We don’t have to live in the world of album-length music or three-and-a-half minute hit singles. The digital world should have freed us from physical structures and lengths. Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones should be the first to cast away these preconceptions and give us some new music from time to time.”
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