You’ve passed a long way together. Lots of line up changes. Lots of fashions have come and gone. How does getting older affect you and music in general?

When I feel too old, I’ll quit. As for now, I still enjoy it. There’s still a lot of fun, but indeed, it has been a long journey. I’ve been in the music business for thirty years. We’ve done lots of touring, 19 studio albums, numerous compilations and live albums. The latest album is acoustic ("Bare Bones", 1999), and a live album will be released soon ("Live Dates III", 2001). We toured many countries: USA, Europe, The Soviet Union and even India. It’s a life!

Do you listen to a lot of today's music?

I do listen, whenever possible. Right now, there are many good bands. This is a pretty healthy period – but not necessarily in the U.K. The U.K. is now more pop oriented, not rock. Considering the huge number of amazing rock acts raised here in the past, it’s amazing to find the current U.K. market in a pop sensibility.

There are some good bands like “Stone the Crows”, a band with rock ideal. They don’t sound like a 70s band but use 70s ideals. 

There was some good music in the 80s but it became weird. However, values appear to return now. I also enjoyed Radiohead, the Stone Roses and the Cardigans. My teenage boys keep me informed.

Do your kids play any instruments?

Yes. Two kids play piano, and the third is a multi-instrumentalist.

How does Wishbone Ash fit today’s scene? Have you ever thought about it in terms of “fashionable/unfashionable” or “relevant/irrelevant”?

There were times when we were considered relevant, and there were times when we were not.

When the Punk boom came, the band was almost “dated” in British terms. Thankfully, we were living in the USA by then, so we were not affected, but lots of bands suffered from the Punk. 

Right now, at the age of millennium, it feels very “in” to play like us. Many young bands have the same mentality. American bands like Phish play extended jams, just like us, and the Greatful Dead. And they are also not bothered with hit singles. Just like us!

Hit singles have never really been a part of the Wishbone Ash story have they?

In the old FM days, the song “Blowin’ Free” was played a lot on American radio. Actually, they thought we were American (as well as with Deep Purple in its early days). But in general, we are an album oriented band.

Many British bands moved to America, where rock appears to live forever…

And we moved, too. We were trying to crack the US market. If you want to tour over there, there is a need to play lots of gigs in lots of towns, hence you need to live there. There was also the British tax problem, 86% by then (the percentage has increased since, and was decreased as soon as the Labour came back to power – M.G.). Like many bands, we had a year out, which was extended to two and three. I actually put roots in America.

Since you moved to America, how do you find the U.S. compared to  playing gigs in the U.K.  where the rock music is not as popular?

It’s like homecoming for us. I keep an active website, as we don’t get much press coverage. Not like in the past, anyway. People who attend our U.K. gigs really have to make an effort to find where we play. They check the website and fanzines – which are active, and come to our gigs! The crowd in tonight’s show found out where we play. This is not abnormal but natural. We felt very privileged to play to them!

The vast majority of people tonight are considered “older”. Do you find many younger fans getting turned on to your music?

There were some teenagers in the crowd tonight. Teenagers do get exposed to our music, but in general, there is an “ageism” problem in the U.K. which I don’t find in any other country.

In America, for instance, Rock’n’Roll is a state of mind, which has nothing to do with age. But sure, I would like to play to a young audience, or to be exact, to a mixture audience.

Have you ever considered adopting a heavier sound? You toyed with that once before.

We did that once, with the album “Raw To The Bone”. This album was a big mistake. Our fans didn’t like it. I think that we only wanted to follow the fashionable wave of the late 80s metal. Instead of following our instinct, we tried to sound like heavy metal. This is wrong. Wishbone Ash has its own sound, and doesn’t need to play anything else. We are heavy, but not in the heavy metal vein. Anyway, that was an interesting experience…

In general, what do you think about the sixties and seventies bands that are reforming and touring?

Dave Gilmour of Pink Floyd once said, “Why should I step down? It’s up to the new groups to knock me off my perch. If no one is coming close as real as a threat, then I continue to do what I do”. I totally agree. I don’t see it as abnormally, that we still play. We wrote the book. We laid down the rules. The new groups have to try harder. I still enjoy playing, and if you are a musician, age doesn’t matter.

It's obvious that you still enjoy playing live. 

Every musician has a little bit of a whore in him/her. At the minute you play music for money, you are in quote/unquote business. This is not a bad thing.

Straight people, or non-musicians, may perceive it in the way of “they should have done it for the passion”. We live in a capitalist society. Everyone has to live. If your stock in trade is music, then so behave. The problem is when it gets put of hand, with sex, drugs and money. Then you come up short, because you are putting nothing in the bank, emotionally. When you operate this way, it is whoring, and eventually, you end up without a heart or soul, and it’s not a pleasurable place to be.

The first instinct employed must be related to your willing to do it. That’s why three former members of Wishbone Ash are not here tonight. They simply don’t want to do it anymore. Had they wanted, they would have. 

Do you think they had enough?

Yes. They perceived it as something that was one particular era. I never really thought about it, because I never left the band.

Wishbone Ash once featured bassist Trevor Bolder, formerly with Bowie’s Spiders from Mars, then with Uriah Heep and now back in Heep. 

When you’re a musician, and you speak a common language with other musician, nobody is considered “Superstar” or “Higher League”. Some people do perceive it differently. Eric Clapton, for instance, considers himself a star. People who are real stars, don’t perceive it this way.

As with Trevor Bolder, I was actually like a groupie, as Bowie’s “Hunky Dory” is one of my favourites. Trevor played on this album, and I respect him for that. Some people ask me the same question about Ash’s album “Argus”. It’s like a routine…

Have you ever considered a collaboration with any of the current popular acts? Seems to be a popular thing to do nowadays.

No collaboration, but we did a dance project, namely “Psychic Terrorism”, which is being played in clubs. Something completely different. The press loved it but the fans didn’t.

Another different thing we released recently is the acoustic album. These special projects didn’t make us a huge hit with the kids, but it’s as good as anything.

What’s next for Wishbone Ash? 

Lots of gigging will keep us busy and going for the next little while.