Some bands pass through trends untouched. Others fade with time. And then there are And Also The Trees, who grow, deepen, and seem to be writing the most powerful chapters of their story today.
As they return to Italy for their tour, we spoke with them to retrace the path of a truly unique and personal musical journey. A journey rooted in countryside origins, timeless passion, and an Italian audience that has loved them with silent devotion.
Because every journey, for those who truly listen, leaves its mark.
1. Simon and Justin, your musical journey began in a small Worcestershire village. What remains today of those rural roots in your music?
SHJ – We are still outsiders, somehow detached. And our closeness to nature and the elements is still prevalent in our music and my words. There is also a kind of timelessness about ‘And also the trees’ that comes from living in such a quiet and forgotten place and that remains.
JJ – I’m not sure this connection will ever disappear. Although I haven’t lived in that area for 25 years I still find myself returning to the midlands from time to time. Most recently whilst working on the newest album. Paul still lives close and so does Matthew who we do most of our recording with. So I do drive through the place periodically. For me it is ‘the past’ and of course there are always ‘ghosts’ some good and some bad, but I am intrigued by this past. The physical landscape on the surface changes, the trees are taller now but the views, the far distance is so etched into the mind it totally entrances me. Personally for me there are deep musical roots where we grew up. If you listen to Vaughn Williams you will here this and in turn he was feeding from Thomas Tallis and so it goes back to dawn of English music.
2. This year, you’re returning to Italy: how does it feel to reunite with the Italian audience, who has followed you so faithfully for decades?
SHJ – To be honest I’m a bit apprehensive – I have no idea if people still remember us and if new, younger music lovers have discovered us in Italy as they have in some other countries. I hope so of course. It is always a huge pleasure to visit Italy for any reason, but we’re really looking forward to human contact we get from playing to an Italian audience.
3. Many are discovering you today through your more recent albums. Is it strange to think that your “masterpieces” may be your latest works, after more than forty years of career?
SHJ – Strange yes, unusual… but if that’s the case then we’re very happy as it is not only a great compliment to us as musicians and artists but also it might show, in some small way, that its possible for a rock band to develop and remain creative over a long period of time. And that life doesn’t end (as I used to think when I was a teenager) after you’ve past 30 years of age.
4. “Born into the Waves” is a deeply emotional and cosmopolitan record. What were its initial sparks of inspiration?
SHJ – All our music starts with Justin’s guitar pieces – the rest of us react to that and songs appear. Sometimes very quickly like spontaneous reactions and sometimes it takes a long time to find the right balance and the right direction. When Justin presented me with the initial guitar ideas for ‘Born into the Waves’ he said they were love songs from different parts of the world, so I took that as a starting point. Love is a strong word and can be applied to many things of course – not just boy meets girl… well… not in our world anyway.
5. Throughout your career, you’ve crossed several musical eras. Do you still feel part of a movement, or do you now stand outside and apart from trends?
SHJ – Like I implied earlier – we have never felt part of a particular genre or movement. When the term ‘post-punk’ finally appeared we felt it was the most accurate category we could fall into – we were literally a post-punk band. We formed because of Punk rock and we were a very young, self taught, Punk band that was in existence at that moment in time when it was
clear that the punk rebellion had passed or had morphed into something else… and there we were with our instruments and our band thinking… ‘now what?’. We always see it as a great compliment when people who personally identify with other specific genres ‘get’ our music… we appeal to people who like regular, alternative and experimental ‘rock’ we even receive a certain respect from the ‘metal’ crowd and the ‘Goths’. It’s useful to belong to a genre from a ‘business’ perspective, but from an artistic point of view I am very happy we cross different musical boundaries.
6. What can we expect from your Italian concerts this year? Which are the songs that will always make it into your setlist?
SHJ – Well, even people who have seen us multiple times like to hear certain songs from our ‘Virus Meadow’ album, but we’ll play songs from right across our history. And we like to play a slightly different set every night. The focus will lean towards our last album ‘Mother-of-pearl Moon’ and the newly re-issued ‘(listen for) The Rag and Bone Man’ album but we’ll try to create a set that is diverse and interesting.
7. Your relationship with Italian fans is unique: passionate, loyal, even poetic in how they follow you. What have you learned about the Italian audience over the years?
SHJ – I think our followers in general are as you have said – passionate and loyal, it’s something outsiders or people new to our music have commented on. We don’t have a very big audience but those we have are very into us and totally ‘get’ us in a quite special way. Italians are anyway pretty special in the way they behave and react to life. I’ll be able to say more about our Italian audience after the tour 🙂
8. Have you ever thought of creating an “Italian” record—perhaps written, recorded, or inspired here?
SHJ – I thought about doing a version of ‘Slow Pulse Boy’ in Italian back in the late 80’s but our record company there advised against it. I think they were absolutely right. We’ve anyway been quite influenced by Italy over the years.
9. Is there a particular memory from Italy—a concert, a person, a place—that you still carry in your heart?
SHJ – yes. There are many moments… too many to mention…
10. On the back of an old diary, you write down every place you’ve ever performed. What will you write after the 2025/6 Italian tour?
SHJ – If you mean – ‘will there be more concerts to add to the list?’ – then the simple answer is – yes – I’ll write the names of the town and venue of the next shows in Germany and Spain in the back of my old diary. Or do you mean ‘how much longer will AATT continue to play live?’ – which is a bigger question that I don’t know the answer to. It was difficult getting this tour together as we don’t currently have an Italian agent, and I have to mention that a guy called Leonardo, who will play in ’The second Nature’, the Roman band supporting us throughout the tour, has organised it – he’s put a lot of time and work into it and has been brilliant. Without him this wouldn’t have happened and I don’t know if it could ever happen again. We’ll see.
The current line up for live performances is:
Simon Huw Jones – vocal
Justin Jones – guitar
Paul Hill – drums
Grant Gordon – bass
Colin Ozanne – clarinet, guitar and organ