JETHRO TULL’s IAN ANDERSON Doesn’t Do Social Media: ‘I Haven’t Got Time Or Inclination For That Kind Of Discourse’

In a new interview with The Prog Report, JETHRO TULL leader Ian Anderson was asked for his thoughts on social media and whether he pays much attention to what people write about him and his band online. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I’m as uninterested as I was back in 1968, ’69, because I think there’s a degree to which it’s nice if someone gives you a little smile or asks for an autograph at the right time, but I don’t depend on it and I certainly don’t want to be smothered with affection or congratulatory communications from people. I’m embarrassed by it. And if people want to be negative and nasty, well, I haven’t got much time for that either. So I’ve never — although we have a presence, obviously, on social media on a number of platforms, which, professionally speaking, we are rather obliged to do. But in terms of personal communication, I have absolutely no interest in reading people’s Twitterings on whatever it’s called these days, whatever ‘battery man’ calls it. X, isn’t it? It’s called X.”He continued: “It’s all of these dependencies that people have, seemingly, on social media, particularly people who are blogging or in some way making their presence felt, they count the happiness of their days in how many followers they have gained and they fall into desperate senses of malaise and self-loathing because the number of followers is reduced. It can really play havoc with your life if you take too much notice of what people think of you. Just have the confidence in your own ability and your own sense of who you are and don’t rely on other people to somehow bolster some insecurity or lack of confidence. It’s not good for the soul.”So, no, I don’t personally do social media,” Ian added. “There are other people who do it on my behalf in the sense of making sure people are aware of what’s going on, but not to to and fro with conversations, whether they’re upbeat and friendly or negative and destructive. I just haven’t got really time or inclination for that kind of discourse. It’s not that I’m old-fashioned, because I’m at the front, in terms of operating programs and software in terms of the things that I really do need to do, musically speaking, I’m using advanced stuff in terms of digital recording and when it comes to photography, for example. I mean, I’m up there with a state of the art in terms of what I do and delivering finished product to people. So, I think I’m not a person who lives in a sublime, dislocated period of either analog or old-fashioned values. I’m very much in touch with what’s happening today, including what’s happening in terms of news and current affairs and politics and religious strife and all the other things that beset our increasingly crowded planet.”JETHRO TULL’s 24th studio album, “Curious Ruminant”, is due on March 7, 2025.”Curious Ruminant” consists of nine new tracks varying in length from two and half minutes to almost seventeen minutes. Among the musicians featured are former JETHRO TULL keyboardist Andrew Giddings and drummer James Duncan, along with the current bandmembers David Goodier, John O’Hara, Scott Hammond and, making his recording debut with JETHRO TULL, guitarist Jack Clark.”Curious Ruminant” will be available on several different formats, including a limited deluxe ultra clear 180g 2LP + 2CD + Blu-ray artbook and limited deluxe 2CD+Blu-ray artbook. Both of these feature the main album, alternative stereo mixes and a Blu-ray containing Dolby Atmos and 5.1 Surround Sound (once again undertaken by Bruce Soord of THE PINEAPPLE THIEF),as well as exclusive interview material. The limited deluxe vinyl artbook also includes two exclusive art-prints. The album will also be available as a special edition CD digipak, gatefold 180g LP + LP booklet and as digital album (in both stereo and Dolby Atmos).Anderson had been saying for months following the release of “RökFlöte” that he would embark on a new project in late 2023. He waited only a few weeks before the first notions began to solidify into some drafted words of intent and in May 2024, some unfinished music recorded earlier with John O’Hara, David Goodier and James Duncan became the starting point for the new songs as they took shape.Writing the lyrics and melodies for all the newly written material came very quickly once he began in earnest during June and just seemed to slot right in to the musical feel and styles of the earlier recordings.Anderson’s writing here is often on a more personal level of lyric content than we are used to hearing. Interspersed with his usual observational descriptions are the slightly more heart-on-sleeve moments of soul-baring — albeit not on the topics more often paraded by the usual I-me lyric merchants of pop and rock.Some of the songs are developed from unfinished instrumental demos made some years ago although this does not result in a huge stylistic divide to jump out at the listener. Apart from the signature flute solos and melodies, accordion, mandolin, acoustic and tenor guitars feature on several tracks too, so the subtle backdrop of acoustic and folk rock serves to remind of the TULL heritage of the 1970s.[embedded content]