AND ALSO THE TREES interview (part 1)

We talk to And-Also-the-Trees mastermind Simon Huw Jones about the new album “Mother-of-pearl Moon”, things that won’t go away, profound things and much more.

About the mother-of-pearl moon
Orkus: The new album is entitled “Mother-of-pearl Moon”. How did the poetic song or title come about?
Simon Huw Jones: As with a lot of my lyrics, it just came to me when I responded to Justin’s guitar. A few years ago I was working on an idea that he had given the working title “Japanese Soldier”, but it didn’t work out, so we dropped it, but things like that don’t just disappear. So when I heard this new piece, I immediately felt like I was moving through this landscape in the Far East, and I must have had a few haiku pieces in my head too, because it just fell into place. Quite spontaneously. This happens occasionally, and when it does, it feels like I’ve been given an incredible gift.

No love song or a love song
O: After the atmospheric intro, the mood in “The Whaler” remains charged. What is the story behind it?
SHJ: At the risk of smashing the turtle’s shell to see what’s inside … “The Whaler” was a piece that really wanted to be a love ballad. – But I didn’t want to do that, so I had to remove the woman, which was quite difficult, and replace her with a ship. It was Colin’s clarinet part that gave me the nautical idea. Our drummer Paul said that the clarinet part was one of the most English things he’d ever heard. – Which is pretty funny when you consider that Colin is French.

In-depth
O: “Visions of a Stray” is particularly impressive. How did this song come about?
SHJ: From my side it was another improvisation … I was lucky with this album. But Justin is the maestro, all the pieces come from his creations and without them there would be nothing. Colin’s involvement in this album was also extremely important, because although the songs started out as “Brothers of the Trees” ideas, with just Justin’s guitars and my voice, it wasn’t until Colin added piano, clarinet and some retro synth parts that the songs took on a new depth.

Tree brothers?
O: Can you elaborate on that?
SHJ: The album started out as the “Brothers of the Trees” album… that’s our live project where we rewrote AATT songs to be performed with just electric guitar and voice. We were always open to complementing each other with other musicians and instruments, but essentially it was created so that we could perform convincingly as a duo. We soon realized that Colin Ozanne added a very interesting component to us, so of course Justin involved him in the album project. When Paul then added some really interesting and subtle drums and percussion, the line was crossed and it had to become And Also the Trees.

In the next part, we talk to Simon about how music is created from words, head cinema and imaginary urban planning.

Claudia Zinn-Zinnenburg

Line-up:
Simon Huw Jones – vocals and words
Justin Jones – guitars, zither, autoharp
Grant Gordon – Bass
Colin Ozanne – clarinet, bass clarinet, piano
Paul Hill – drums, percussion

And Also the Trees live:
March 24, 2024 UK-Birmingham, The Castle and Falcon
April 02, 2024 BE-Namur, La Nef de l’Eglise Notre Dame d’Harscamp
April 03, 2024 FR-Strasbourg, La Laiterie
April 04, 2024 FR-Amiens, La Lune des Pirates
April 05, 2024 FR-Limoges, Centre Culturel John Lennon
April 06, 2024 FR-Paris, Le Trabendo
April 07, 2024 FR-Brest, Cabaret Vauban

Do you already have your tickets?

Watch the video for “This Path Through the Meadow” here:

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