Ian Anderson, multi instrumentalist and leader of Jethro Tull invited directors Neil Innes and Nick Turner to his beautiful house to chat about the band’s first record This Was… The album’s title, Anderson confessed, was a sly nod towards the fact that they would never sound like this again, but those sessions for their debut at Sound Techniques with engineer Vic Gamm would teach the band how to capture the sounds they needed to move forward.
After the departure of guitarist Mick Abrahams Anderson would go on to take full control and create Stand Up,pushing the band more and more into the more progressive sound with which they are now synonymous. It’s for this reason that This Was… certainly stands out as a very different Jethro Tull album.
Anderson was kind, philosophical and in good spirits remembering his time there; His interview adding yet another level to the rich and complex history of Sound Techniques and to the The Parts You Don’t Hear. Currently Anderson is touring his Rock Opera on the life of Jethro Tull, the English agricultural inventor, from whom the band borrowed their name. You can check the world tour dates over here on the official Jethro Tull site.
