ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT GUITARISTS OF HIS GENERATION, MARTIN BARRE GAINED FAME FOR HIS LEGENDARY WORK WITH JETHRO TULL. RESPONSIBLE FOR FAMOUS SOLOS AND LICKS FROM ALBUMS INCLUDING CLASSICS LIKE STAND UP, BENEFIT, AQUALUNG AND THICK AS A BRICK, BARRE HAS INFLUENCED A PLETHORA OF GUITARISTS WITH HIS MIX OF ROCK, JAZZ AND ENGLISH MINSTREL TONES AND COLORS.
WHILE ENJOYING FAME AND FORTUNE, BARRE ALSO REALIZED THAT HE NEEDED TO EXPRESS HIS OWN MUSICAL PERSONALITY MORE CLEARLY. FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS, HE HAS BEEN RELEASING A SERIES OF STRONG SOLO ALBUMS, RANGING FROM INSTRUMENTALS TO A MIX OF LYRICAL SONGS AND MELODIES, MOST RECENTLY ON HIS STRONG AND RESONANT ROADS LESS TRAVELED.
WE RECENTLY HAD A CHANCE TO CHAT WITH MARTIN, WHO IS CURRENTLY TOURING THE US, AND COMING TO THE LOS ANGELES AREA THE BEGINNING OF THIS MONTH.
HOW DID YOU DEVELOP YOUR OWN GUITAR SOUND?
My dad was a real music lover; he wanted to play a musical instrument. As a teenager he wanted to play clarinet and was never able to, as his family didn’t have a lot of money so he had to go into a trade and work at a young age.
He always retained his love of music and the big bands. He was a big fan of West Coast Jazz.
I was a teenager and liked rock and roll; the music of the 50s and early 60s, so I wasn’t particularly a fan of what he liked. But, when I started playing guitar he was very happy that I did it, and bought me some records, saying “Listen to these.” It was a nice introduction to some guitar players like Wes Montgomery, Barney Kessel, Johnny Smith and many others. I liked it, but it wasn’t what I wanted to do.
The thing that I did love were the jazz flute players. I had an album by Frank Wess and some Roland Kirk records. These made me go out and buy a flute. I bought a guitar when I was 14 and within a year I also got a flute and started playing that. So, the records had an affect on me, but not what my dad expected! (laughs)
I’ve always had a mind of my own. I’ve always watched the massive number of guitar players follow the mainstream, and I’ve never seen the point of doing that. I’ve felt that if you could just find a little niche that’s your own private world, you can make it yours. It’s so much nicer to find your own way through the maze of music, technology and information.
“I’ve always watched the massive number of guitar players follow the mainstream, and I’ve never seen the point of doing that”
WHEN DID YOU FEEL YOU FINALLY MATERED YOUR OWN SOUND?
Very recently (laughs). I’ve always struggled, as the equipment in the early days was unreliable and it was well into the 80s before you could reliably use a brand of guitar and amplifier that wouldn’t let you down and would be consistent and deliver quality.
We were always learning and struggling to play our instruments better and control what we did and try to find a sound. It slightly and slightly got better; I’ve never been satisfied with what I had. I always try to get a little bit better and more refined and fine tune everything about my playing.
I’m finally at a point where I’m comfortable with my gear; I won’t say I’m happy with it.
MUSIC IS ALMOST LIKE A SPIRITUAL PILGRIMAGE WHERE YOU TRY TO REACH A GOAL WITH YOUR LIMITED HUMAN RESOURCES. IT’S LIKE THE APOSTLE PAUL WROTE, “NOT THAT I ARRIVE, BUT I PRESS FORWARD”
Yeah, I see that, but amazingly a lot of musicians don’t. I get asked “Do you practice?” YES! “Do you keep learning things?” YES! “Do you think you can improve?” YES!
These things are obviously in everyone’s world; nobody should ever stop learning. It’s the carrot that you get to eat
“Nobody should ever stop learning. It’s the carrot that you get to eat”
YOUR MUSICAL CAREER STARTED WHEN ENGLAND WAS DELVING INTO AMERICAN BLUES R&B. HOW DID THIS SCENE TURN INTO PROGRESSIVE ROCK LIKE YOU AND JETHRO TULL OR THE MOODY BLUES? WAS IT A GRADUAL CHANGE OR A CONSCIOUS TRIAL AND ERROR?
We were just looking for something. We were learning how to write music, and when you write you look for new avenues and slants to make a more personalized way of music. I don’t think that anybody said “We need to be doing this and we shouldn’t be doing that.” It was a natural progression when you mature as a player and writer.
When I write now, I don’t have a agenda and I don’t know what it’s going to be like or how it’s going to be influenced or how it’s going to sound. But I love the process of writing and seeing what happens with the music. It’s your worst enemy when it goes wrong and your best friend when it goes right.
I just love when I can write a piece of music and find it enriching. I won’t say that it’s great or good music, but I love and enjoy the whole experience and procedure.
With improvisation, I don’t find it difficult, but it’s a sort of wonderfully unknown world where you never know what’s going to happen. I don’t want to think too much about it or make it too technical. I don’t want it to be an exercise in how to play 8th notes or 16th notes.
I love melody, and if I can find a melody in my brain, transfer it through my fingers and put it on to a record, that’s a wonderful thing. The solos that I really love from other people have melody, form, light shade and space. This is true music to me, something people can hum, sing and replicate. That’s the highest compliment.
“I don’t want to think too much about it or make it too technical. I don’t want it to be an exercise in how to play 8th notes or 16th notes”
WHY DID YOU NAME YOUR VERY FIRST BAND “GETHSEMANE”?
I was with one band before I joined Tull. They existed for three years and we kept changing our musical styles. In those days in the mid 60s, you changed your style to get work. One week you’d be a “soul” band and the next time an R&B band. We were a blues band, not because it was necessarily the music we wanted to play, but so we could exist!
So that was just one of those changes that we morphed into. It was another side of our music, and so we’d change the name of the band. I’m not sure if I was the one who named that one. People just came up with crazy names.
ON THEIR FIRST ALBUM WITH MICK ABRAHAMS AS GUITARIST, JETHRO TULL, WAS A BLUES BAND. DID IAN ANDERSON TELL YOU ABOUT HIS NEW VISION OR DIRECTION FOR THE BAND WHEN YOU JOINED, OR WAS IT A GRADUAL EVOLUTION TO THE PROGRESSIVE SOUND?
It was a very strict blues band with Mick Abrahams in it. When I first joined, I didn’t know it was going to change.
I loved the fact that they had a flute, as I was a flute player. With Gethsemane I played flute in Roland Kirk’s style. With Tull, I knew that it was a format that I wanted to be part of, but I had no agenda with them.
I’ve always been flexible. I listen and don’t have any pre-conceived ideas of what it should be like. So, for me and Ian it was perfect because he didn’t know what he wanted to do except that he didn’t want to be in a blues band for the rest of his life.
I tended to agree, because most of the players in the 60s and 70s followed a strict formula, and we didn’t want to be part of that. We wanted to make our own.
“The solos that I really love from other people have melody, form, light shade and space. This is true music to me”
WAS THERE A MOMENT WHEN YOU FELT THE BAND HAD ITS OWN SOUND?
I don’t think that there was, because we’d do a project, such as Stand Up, and we’d be happy with it and tour with the music and play it for a year and then go back into the studio and think of doing another album.
Ian is writing a lot of the music and had more control of the general direction. His songs were in a very basic form when he brought them to the band. So the band would sit down, work out an arrangement and find new sounds and come up with ideas.
We did that for a long time, and at no point did we think “We’re there. This is what works. We’re going to do more of this.” We never went back and replicated what we’d done; we always wanted to move on. New members would join the band and bring their own influences as well.
“For me and Ian it was perfect because he didn’t know what he wanted to do except that he didn’t want to be in a blues band for the rest of his life”
DID YOU EVER SUBSEQUENTLY CROSS PATHS WITH MICK ABRAHAMS AND COMPARE CAREER NOTES?
Not for many years. Eventually we met up and got along really, really well. We had a respect for each other and there was no agenda problem with what we did and what happened. He is a very nice person and showed great respect for what I had done with the band.
It was very nice of him, because it’s one thing to have that respect and it’s another to actually tell somebody that you have it. Most people are a bit scared of telling people what they really think.
WHEN GLENN CORNICK AND CLIVE BUNKER LEFT THE BAND, DID YOU AND IAN TAKE INVENTORY AND DISCUSS HOW TO ADAPT?
Every musician brings something new to the table, so a new drummer like Barlow would bring a new attitude and style. Sometimes the change is an infinitesimal amount with just the tiniest strand of influence. Sometimes more with Davey Palmer, Eddie Jobson or Peter Vettese and Dave Pegg. Their musical styles were more from jazz and classical, and they brought that into the Jethro Tull groove and it was a breath of fresh air. We were still hungry for ideas and had never stood still musically. We would never be satisfied and think we’d reached a plateau and needed to stay there. We were looking ahead all of the time.
WHAT’S THE BIGGEST THING YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR LONG TIME PARTNERSHIP WITH IAN ANDERSON?
(laughs) That’s a dangerous question!
I’ve met people of every size, shape and personality on the planet. I always say that whatever people are like, you can learn from them.
I’ve met some really good people, and I’ve learned from them. For the other end of the spectrum, I learn that I’ll never be like that.
I’m not talking about anyone like Ian in particular, but I believe in taking lessons from all people who don’t do their job correctly. If you can see that in other people and realize that you don’t want that in your life, it’s a good object lesson. You realize you don’t want that in your life, which is also an important influence.
I can’t make myself be a “good” person. What I’m like is for someone else to say. I try to be fair and have good ethics. I like people and don’t have anything about me that needs to be satisfied. I love playing “live” music; I’m not a complex person, and I don’t want to be.
I like the man in the street. I find that he’s got just as much to say as the most famous film star, musician or politician. Everyone has a voice; I learn from them all and move on.
“We never went back and replicated what we’d done; we always wanted to move on”
LIFE IS SIMPLE, BUT NOT EASY
It’s true. I still learn and still make mistakes.
IS THERE ANY BOOK, PHILOSOPHY OR SOMETHING YOU LEARNED GROWING UP THAT MADE A BIG IMPRESSION ON YOUR ATTITUDE ON LIFE?
I’ve had 2-3 personal instances that I won’t go into right now, but there have been books that helped me in those situations. Someone else that had gone through the same situation had written a book that was incredibly helpful.
For books, I like fiction and history. I’m not that complex where I read philosophy and psychology. Maybe I’m shallow, but I try to solve my own problems.
DO YOU HAVE ANY HOBBIES?
Many. I go running and play table tennis, snow boarding, wake boarding and tennis. I love being outdoors and exercise and the energy that it gives you. I try to maintain a balance between having a healthy body and a healthy mind. I like a glass of wine, it’s a balance.
DO YOU EVER LISTEN TO YOUR OLD RECORDINGS AND ALBUMS?
My own more so than the Jethro Tull tracks. Because we now play the music of Jethro Tull I listen to them more as a reference. I’m very proud of what I do, but not because “I’m amazing” or proud because it’s the best thing I’ve ever done, but I see all of the work that I’ve put into it and it’s important to me that at the end of all of that work there is something good that I can say “Yes, it was worth it.”
For that reason I do go back and listen to it and learn how I can do it better the next time.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE TULL ALBUM, SONG OR SOLO?
I like different things at different times. I’ve been working on a double cd 50 Years of Tull and we just did a song called “The Waking Edge.” It doesn’t get much airplay and people don’t know it as well as our more famous tracks, but it’s a lovely and melodic song. It was good fun and a nice piece of music.
WHAT DO YOU THINK IAN ANDERSON MEANT WHEN HE SAID THAT THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO JETHRO TULL WITH YOU?
He might have resented saying that! (laughs) There isn’t, and I will say the reverse; I will never be Jethro Tull and neither will he because I would need him and he needs me. It’s like Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend and all of these musical relationships. But it’s too ingrained; the history is too big. I can’t change it and neither can he.
BEING WITH JETHRO TULL FOR THAT LONG IS LIKE AN ACTOR ASSOCIATED WITH A LONG RUNNING TV SHOW. WHEN YOU LEFT JETHRO TULL, DID YOU TRY TO MAKE A COMPLETE MUSICAL BREAK FROM THAT SOUND?
No, because I wasn’t in a comfort zone. I was comfortable in my musicianship and who I was, but I didn’t have enough exposure. I was restrained and I didn’t get much space to play. The program was too restrictive to me; I was playing the same things year after year after year.
Leaving was a release, and I’m glad to say that the release and the exposure that it’s having is not just with writing and arranging. I fell into it all with great pleasure and I’ve loved every minute of it. It’s broken off the shackles. I didn’t realize how tied up I was until I got away from it.
ON YOUR BACK TO STEEL ALBUM, YOU CAN DETECT THE CLASSIC ENGLISH FOLK SOUNDS NOT UNLIKE FAIRPORT CONVENTION AND PENTANGLE. WAS THAT A PART OF YOUR BACKGROUND AS AN INFLUENCE?
Yes and no. I knew those people and loved them well, but I wouldn’t say I wanted to play their style of music. But I love mandolins , bluegrass and Irish folk music, bouzoukis, banjos and flutes. There’s so much out there.
I don’t think it influences me directly, but everything I hear soaks in. If I hear an Irish folk tune ten years ago and come up with an Irish tune ten years later it’s possible that the thread is still in your body. Some of the information soaks in and stays there.
AS FAR AS BREAKING SHACKLES, DID YOU FEEL THAT YOUR AWAY WITH WORDS WAS YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO GET INSTRUMENTALS OUT OF YOUR SYSTEM?
Yeah, it was exactly that. For that album I had myself and nothing. I always wanted to do an instrumental album, and I didn’t need a lot of help as I can play most things myself. I wanted to write and put this package together a few years before.
It gave me a lot of confidence and it was quite therapeutic. It was a lot of work and I was very involved with a lot of arranging and harmony. It was a good thing at that time (2013). It gave me a breathing space to help me gather my thoughts to help me see what I needed to do and what I wanted to do.
“I didn’t realize how tied up I was until I got away from it”
SINCE THEN YOUR ALBUMS HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE UPBEAT. THE MOST RECENT, THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED IS QUITE OPTIMISTIC.
Well, I am! (laughs) I’m not writing lyrics that I’m forcing out, but they do come out in that vein. They’re going to reflect my state of mind.
I don’t have issues; I’m a very happy and contented person doing something I love incredibly well. I love music. I’m so happy that I’m able to do so much of it.
AND YOU HAVE A GOOD BAND COMING TO CALIFORNIA
Yes, Alan Thomson on bass, Darby Todd on drums and Dan Crisp on vocals. The four piece band works well with dynamics, light, shade and space. We share musicality, energy and humor; it’s nice.
We play Jethro Tull music, and it’s played really well. The difference is that it’s got no flute or keyboards and it sounds very free and energetic. It’s the Martin Barre band.
WHAT DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO SAY ABOUT YOU AT YOUR FUNERAL?
(laughs) That’s a tough one to answer truthfully! I’m not looking forward to it, personally.
I have no control over what people think of me.
I went to a funeral of my wife’s friend, and the stories came out of the things they’d done were very surprising. I just thought of the person there that I never knew, and it made me feel good and happy that that person had done so many amazing things that they weren’t “famous” for.
It was things that they never talked about.
Whatever I’ve done, I hope I’ve left behind a lot that isn’t the obvious thing.
I KNEW A PREACHER THAT ONCE CHANGED AN OLD LADY’S TIRE AFTER A SERVICE IN THE CHURCH PARKING LOT. HE TOLD ME THAT MORE PEOPLE HAVE MENTIONED THAT ONE CHANGING OF A FLAT TIRE THAN ALL OF HIS SERVICES.
That’s right, and it’s of course why he changed it. Because he was a good person and did a good deed. That’s what religion needs: deeds rather than talk.
Everyone knows the words; it’s translating the words into how we behave and what we do.
NOT ONLY DOES MARTIN BARRE TALK LIKE HE’S BEEN FREE TO PLAY THE WAY HIS INTUITIVE CREATIVE PROCESS DIRECTS, BUT HIS PLAYING AND WRITING REFLECTS A LIBERATION THAT IS INSPIRING AND ALLURING. LIKE HIS LATEST ALBUM STATES, HE’S LEFT JETHRO TULL, TAKEN THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED, AND THAT HAS MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE.