IAN:  It's just a song or two different than what we would otherwise be playing.   From tour to tour the set list will change in a sense. This year in America the set list between tours is going to change a great deal because it is in a way like one long tour because you are playing different parts of the country, and geographically it's broken up into three tours. But next year, of course, I guess there will be a lot of changes in the set because we'll be going back into     Europe and we will have to substantially change quite a lot of the stuff. We  wouldn't want to be playing the same music as we played two years ago when we were playing around northern Europe.  So we would, I guess, change 85 percent of the set to a bunch of different songs substantially.

P4Y:  You are about halfway through your U.S. tour, maybe three quarters of the way through your U.S. tour. What has been your favorite venue to play in so far?

IAN:  I probably have to say it would be one of the nicer theaters, either Symphony Hall, or like the Benaroya Hall in Seattle, an example of that kind of venue, a building designed and really well-maintained for classical music concerts. And the reason I like those is not necessarily because the acoustics are great, because sometimes they're not really such good acoustics for amplified music, but it's because the toilets are usually really good.  I have come to realize that the conductors and premier soloists of the classical world insist on good, clean working plumbing. And so I'm a grateful inheritor of that demand. On the other hand, there is lots of lovely art deco theaters that have been renovated from the 20's and 30's.

P4Y:  Nostalgic. 

IAN:  American theaters that are gorgeous theaters that have had substantial money spent on renovation and it's a great place for the audience to go. But unfortunately, in most cases, they never seem to get around to renovating back stage, and some of them are just hideous in terms of the dressing rooms standards and the plumbing which, frankly, you certainly wouldn't want to spend any time in.

P4Y:  I guess you would have to bring your own water then. 

IAN:  Basically, there is some pretty awful places. But being a flute player I'm a little sensitive about dirt and grime.  You know, it's like -- playing an instrument that really does need to be kept very clean and free of grease, grime, dirt, germs, I tend to be someone who washes his hands a lot.  And I really don't like people -- I mean, I have to accept that somebody is going to carry my guitar on stage because I make an entrance playing the flute, but I really don't like people touching my instruments. In most cases I put them in the cases and I take them out.  I change the strings on my guitar.  I clean my flute.  I really wouldn't want any road crew or assistants or anybody touching my stuff; it's far too personal.  And you want to make sure things are in good working order, and keeping them clean is a very important part of that. Whilst I'm not as quite as obsessional as maybe I'm making it sound, I do like during the important parts of my day to have soap, water and a towel at hand.  And even if I'm having to change in some in a cubicle or some, you know, cabin or whatever they stick out of the back of the stage, outdoor venues sometimes, you know, I always have to have a bowl of water and towel and some soap.  At least I know I can wash my hands and know everything is clean before I go on stage.  Because I have had so many embarrassing moments with flutes that jam up on me because they have gotten some dirty, greasy stuff on them and it jammed up the mechanism. 

P4Y:  We wouldn't want that to happen on stage while you are playing. 

IAN:  No.  It used to happen a great deal when I was not careful with my instruments.  About 10 to 15 years ago, I started, you know.  I was getting very disappointed with the number of times that I had equipment failures of that sort, and so I started just a different regime of treating my instruments in the same way a classical musician would, making sure it's  always clean when I put it away, and dried.  And I do that. But it applies to technical stuff as well, like lights.  It's like, you know, before you go on the tour you really want to make sure that you are using equipment, all of which has been tested. And all that stuff takes a bit of a toll during a tour.  And even things like guitar leads, they take a bit of punishment; people walking on them and stepping on them with  sharp heels.  And even brand new ones out of the box, you always want to make sure you check them out pretty carefully because a dry solder joint could let you down. So all of these things are part of the rigorous testing and checking of equipment because technical problems do manifest themselves; not on every show but, you know, a few times a week. Hopefully, the audience isn't aware of it.  But you want to try and minimize all of that stuff.  There is nothing more embarrassing then having a breakdown on stage that causes you to have to temporarily stop the show.  And that's happened to me a few times in my life, and it's always an embarrassment.

P4Y:  Ian, so is that almost like a ritual for you before the shows, to go through your instruments?  I mean, is that something that you do before the show?

IAN:  It's like warming up before the show.  I mean, people do different things.  There are a couple of guys in the band who don't even touch their instruments  until they walk on stage. On the other hand, there are others of us who religiously warm up and play our instruments and run through a few things before we go on stage because we want to be fluid and conversant with things.  And just, there is a lot of muscles and physicalness in place for all of the instruments. The drummer, for example, and me, we both have quite a rigorous warm-up period.  But our keyboard player, for example, I think he comes back at the end of the tour and I don't think he plays his instrument again until he walks on stage to start the next tour.  He's someone who hates practicing.  Sometimes I think he can't actually really enjoy the instrument because he never plays it, but it's something that he just doesn't seem to do. If I was a keyboard player, I would insist on having some sort of small, portable keyboard in my dressing room so I could warm up before the show, you know. But he doesn't like to do that.  And I think it appears that he doesn't need to do it.  He has a dislike of doing it; almost as if he wants the moment where he walks on stage and plays the first note the first time to be that bit more special for him perhaps. I'm not really sure why, but I suspect it's just that he really, he assiduously does not want to play his instrument except during the concert and begrudgingly during the sound check, although I know for sure that if he could get away without doing sound checks he wouldn't do those either.  But we wouldn't let  him get away with that.

P4Y:  I would like to chat a little about the DVD and CD.  We both have the CD and DVD and it's an outstanding piece of work.  It was a really nice surprise to see the original band play together, and you actually play three songs with them. What was it like getting together with the original Jethro Tull members on the DVD and CD and working with these guys again?

IAN:  I'm sure we all thought it was a little strange because we all hadn't been on the same stage together for 34 years.  And I don't think any of us doubted that we would be able to get up, you know, and make some music together but the actual, the sort of personality, the more soulful side, the more intuitive, mutual expression that comes through playing with other musicians, that's  something that you can't really second-guess as to whether it's going to work or not. And when we got together it was in front of a small invited audience in a club where we were filming that morning, and we nervously ran through the music and we did a run-through. And we said, that's it.  This is it.  Let's roll the cameras because we might as well because we don't want to rehearse this too many times and go off the boil.  We try and capture it while it's still fresh, you know.

P4Y:  Was it your idea? 

IAN:  Yes, it was.  I played with Glenn Cornick the bass player -- sorry.  I have not played with Glenn Cornick I go, the bass player.  He's the one that I haven't played with since I left the band.  Mick Abrahams and Clive Bunker, I played with occasionally here and there, or they got up and played with us or I played on one of their albums or something.

P4Y:  It looked like you had a lot of fun. 

P4Y:  Euphoria? 

IAN:  It's not a chemical that you want to fool around with because it's actually something that hurts. It's used in the context of spicy food.  It's the reason that many people enjoy spicy food, whether it's Mexican food or Indian food or Thai food.  It's actually because of one simple probably not so simple.  It's probably quite a complex chemical. But it's called capsaicin, and it is literally that.  Just like sodium chloride is a chemical that we call common salt, capsaicin is a more complex chemical which produces pain. But there is no sense in eating hot chili peppers for the point in eating hot chili peppers, just for the sense of being macho and demonstrating how hot is hot. It's something that you put into food because it gives it a certain bite, a certain zest.

P4Y:  And how are the chili peppers coming along on your farms? 

IAN:  Surprisingly, they are actually doing quite well. I brought a chili pepper into the house a couple of nights ago, and I picked up the telephone to call somebody. I absent-mindedly bit the end of the chili pepper and was chewing it, thinking that it was probably fairly mild. I didn't except it to be really, really hot, but it was.  It was in fact incredibly hot for a simple little cayenne that I grew in the greenhouse in the U.K. So sometimes they can surprise you, even when you think you know them well.  But even the same species, same chili pepper variety will be, from the same seed packet, will produce a number of plants, and the chili's that grow on the plant will not necessarily be all the same.  Some plants will produce hotter chilis, and individual chilis on a chili plant will be hotter than others. It's just not too exact a science when it comes to growing chilis.  So, you never really know quite what you are going to get.  Sometimes you get more than you bargain for.

P4Y:  They don't agree with me too much. 

IAN:  Perhaps it's an acquired taste that you work at, that you quietly work at, while there is nobody around.

P4Y:  I think you're right. Getting back to the CD and DVD  --

IAN:  Yeah.  This will be probably have to be the last topic because I've got to get on with the next interview.

P4Y:  Okay.  Can we ask about the solo tour?
IAN:  Sure.

P4Y:  We know that it's starting in the fall.
October 8th?

IAN:  It's a few days that I'm doing that, kind of an intimate little improvisational, just something a bit different that brings an audience into rather more immediate contact.  And it will be co-presented by some radio folks  and will involve radio folks and some guests, and will involve a few musicians that I'm bringing with me; some from the UK, acoustic musicians that have a folk background. So there is an opportunity to play some acoustic pieces, Jethro Tull songs, solo pieces, whatever, just rearranged, but just in an intimate context. So it's just a little experiment really to see how that works out; rather like doing some concerts with orchestras, which I have done a couple of a few weeks ago and I have a couple coming up, which is an experiment of taking some of my music and putting it into a different context, less electric more acoustic.

P4Y:  It's going to be quite special.

IAN:  I guess that's natural because I am the acoustic musician in Jehtro Tull.  That's what I am and what I've always done; that's what I've always been.  And most of the instruments that I play, and those that I'm known for, are archetypal acoustic instruments.  Obviously the flute is, being an orchestral instrument, the concert flute.

P4Y:  Congratulations on your efforts on the Andes Mountain Cat with the Wildlife Conservation Network. And we understand that you raised $15,000 and it's a credit to you and to all of your Jethro Tull fans.  They also made generous donations to the cause in the past.

IAN:  Yes.  I mean credit to the people who are prepared to support it. In reality what they are supporting is some scientific research.  It's sponsoring folks to be able to actually carry out some research, usually in the field, to fill in some of the gaping holes in our knowledge of certain wild species. Unfortunately, the world of private sponsorship and support of the public is necessary. There isn't really the kind of national or global funding for those things. That does involve people having to raise money. But what I do is very little compared to the many people that do huge amounts of work and spend their lives effectively involved in conservation issues.  I just do a little bit from time to time.  But I guess it's easy for me to do because of some contact potentially with people who are prepared to put their hands in their pockets and put their money on the table to help out.  So I'm just a catalyst.

P4Y:  It's good to see that you are giving something back.

IAN:  Anyway, with Sting looking after the rain forests and Elton John taking care of everyone with AIDS, the least I can do is look after the furry little guys.

P4Y:  Is there a message that you would like to convey to your fans?

IAN:  Well, be patient with us.  Because I guess you know coming to any concert is not -- we don't deliver the meat and potatoes necessarily before we serve the starter or the hors d'oeuvre.  I think when we do concerts it's always trying to give people a balanced meal.  We try and put in a lot of changes of pace and changes of mood, changes of dynamics into the concerts. And some people, I guess they are a little overexcited and think of rock 'n roll as more like a sports event.  But for those people I would say, be patient.  Just learn to be a good listener, and just let us do the work of moving you through different levels of music intensity. Patience is a great virtue for any audience. Listening to varied music, if you expect the pay-off, if you expect the orgasm in the first three minutes, then you could be at the wrong show. Better go and look for the lap dancing.

P4Y:  Well, we want to thank you.

IAN:  I'm very happy to entertain most people most of the time but there is a point where I draw the line. Must get with on the next folks here.  Good to talk to you.

P4Y:  We want to thank you very much for taking time and talking to us.

IAN:  As soon as I have some time I shall look you up.
P4Y:  Enjoy yourself.  I think you'll love the reading.

IAN:  Thank you.
P4Y:  Thank you.  Have a great day.

P4Y: It was an extreme pleasure to interview an eloquent and distinguished gentleman as Ian Anderson.

Official Jethro Tull Website: jethrotull.com