On behalf of Progressive Aspect to myself, thank you John for giving us your time for this interview.
Darren Walker: Growing up a time when Rock was, arguably, at its best, what made you pick up as a flute as the instrument of choice?
John Hackett: That’s a really interesting question actually.
I started off on the guitar. I was about 12 years old when I bought my first guitar off of a friend of my brother Steve, he was five years older than me, so he’d have been about 17 at the time. He taught me to play things like House of the Rising Sun, which was great, it is very good for finger picking using a plectrum, learning how to pick and everything and I then spent the next three years really concentrating on being a guitarist and listening to Blues guitar. I loved listening to people like Clapton and Jeff Beck and other Blues players.
And then it was one of those turning points in my life when we went to see King Crimson playing at the Marquee Club in London. This was 1969, so I was about 14 at the time and this was the original King Crimson line-up. It was a fantastic band. They started off with Schizoid Man, which was absolutely amazing. And then, later on, they played this beautiful song. I Talk to the Wind with Ian McDonald playing flutes, and it was just one of those of turning points. I thought, wow, I just absolutely love the sound of the flute, because before that I’d only ever heard somebody playing it at school. I realized how powerful the flute can sound if it’s going through a PA system. It was an absolutely gorgeous sound. And it was then that I thought I’d love to take up the flute and my brother Steve was interested as well.
Perhaps it was a rather foolish thing to do, but I actually sold my electric guitar and bought a flute instead. I think it was about £25 and looking back on it, it was a pretty awful flute, but it got me started and I absolutely loved it, there was a clarinet teacher at the school who also taught me the flute. And in fact, it was Nigel Warren Green who ended up playing on Voyage of the Acolyte, my brother’s first solo album.
I then went in the direction of studying classical flute and I used to practice for hours. That was the starting point with the flute for me. Hard but I’m still at it now. I used to listen to some of the other rock players, such as Focus and groups like that, but I was mostly influenced by the classical players that I used to listen to.
Darren: You mentioned Ian McDonald, did you ever actually meet him and tell him how he inspired you, or how he set you off on the long path?
John: I was once absolutely gutted because my brother Steve Hackett used to play in a band called Quiet World, and their arranger was a guy called Phil Henderson. Phil knew Ian McDonald, and I remember coming back from school one day and I must have been about 15 and Steve said to me, “Do you know what? Ian McDonald’s just been in here and he had a go on your flute.” And I had missed him because I’d been at school.
Then it was only years and years later that I actually got to meet Ian. We were in New York and Ian was there and he came to say hi to Steve and we’re all stood around and I got to meet him and he was absolutely delightful. Sadly, no longer with us, but a lovely guy. And yes, I think he did know that he inspired me because I did an album called Velvet Afternoon and I put in the notes that I had been inspired, by Ian McDonald, to take up the flute and I think he’d somehow got a hold of a copy of the album or Steve had passed on the message, or something. So, he did know that.
So, it’s funny, isn’t it? How these things happen, and you think ‘Oh, perhaps if he’d played the trombone that night, maybe I would have taken up the trombone’, but, probably not. 😉
Darren: On stage, you’re well known for playing the vertical flute. Why that as opposed to the more traditional Western, horizontal, concert flute?
John: Funnily enough this is a bit of an anniversary day for me today. Because today is the 3rd October and it was 3rd October 31 years ago that I was on the M4 and in a car accident, which was not my fault, but I was involved and it really knocked me back. I’ve never been physically quite the same, since it really affected my neck, my back and it’s also had an give me some problems with my left hand as well.
Playing the normal fully transverse flute was very painful and I just couldn’t do it.
I went for a year without playing at all, and I tried to get back into it and it was very, very difficult so I experimented with different things. I ended up playing on a type with a little bend in it so that it brings the flute closer which was great for kids that are taking up the flute, as full size ones are a bit too much for them. I played on one of those for a long, long time because you don’t have to twist yourself around so much.
And then, eventually, I heard about a vertical flute, I bought one and tried it. And it was a real turning point. I got a couple, and I’ve had them slightly modified to make it a bit more comfortable to play. That’s the reason for the vertical flute. It’s not that I necessarily believe a vertical flute is better than a normal transverse flute, it is just for comfort. In fact, I do have another flute that I use quite a lot, which has got a bit of a bend in it and it just brings the flute down a bit more. And so, you don’t have to twist quite so much. The vertical flute is just so much more comfortable, and if anyone has got a shoulder injury and neck injury, back problems or anything like that, it’s well worth investigating.
Darren: Although you could never be accused of being idle when it comes to releasing albums for various projects, it’s been quite a few years since the your only full John Hackett Band album, We Are Not Alone came out. What have you got planned for a new album? What can you tell us about it?
John: It’s in the final mixing stages and it’s called Red Institution, which is a track written by Jeremy Richardson, our bass player and singer. I’m hoping we’ll be able to bring it out before the end of this year.
Darren: With the song-writing credits, is it a case of everybody contributes and you just democratically record what you all think are the best songs?
John: Yeah, it’s fairly democratic. What we like to do is we try and play the material live first because we get to road test it, seeing which tracks are going to work. The successful ones get to go on the album. I’ve written a few other tracks, but I think the joy of being in this band is that there are four of us and every single member of the band is a very strong writer. And it’s why I love working with these guys because everybody’s very creative, it’s not just about being able to whiz up and down and play your instrument.
There’s always so much material that’s available. It’s more a case of “Well, what’s going to make it onto the album? Let’s try it out live”. Or let’s play it in the rehearsal room. Even if we haven’t played it on stage, just see what works and what people can get enthusiastic and get behind it, because there’s no point recording a song you don’t really feel or relate to and I think the main thing with the album that I wanted to achieve.
Darren: On the subject of concerts, you seem to be regularly on the road. Often playing double headers with bands such as Ebb, Black Heart Orchestra and Heather Findlay, to name a few, but, despite the amazing talent that you and the other bands have, it’s sometimes the case that you don’t always sell out at venues. What is your view on the live music scene? Post COVID is actually playing live sustainable?
John: It is tough, and you see it with a lot of bands, so it is not just us. Particularly when you’re playing original music, at the moment we only do one cover, which is I Talk to the Wind, because I love the song and there’s a real reason for doing it and as you know. It was a reason I took up the flute in the first place.
So, it’s very difficult to build an audience with new material when there are so many good tribute bands around and people, with restricted amount of money to spend, think well, am I going to take a punt on a new band with material I don’t know, or will I go and see a show where I know what I’m going to get? I’m no expert on it, but I feel is it’s probably harder than ever to get people to come to concerts and too many venues are closing for good.
Darren: Onto the last question, you don’t look it, but you must be getting near to what some normal office workers would say was retirement age. Have you ever thought of opting for an easier life and rather than filling your time with recording and playing live? Do you foresee a time when you’re actually willingly hang up the flute and just rest.
John: It’s a very good question actually, I think I will always carry on playing the flute for as long as I can. It’s something that I’ve done all my life, but I have to be honest, I do find that gigs with the band to be quite tough. Sometimes there’s just so much equipment to be to be moved around and at the level that we are at, we don’t have roadies or a technical back up team.
Thank goodness the guys are very helpful. And my wife also helps, but the way things are looking it may be that next year might be the point that that I’ll think it’s enough. We’ll see how things go, but I can’t deny that that physically, because I’m not good with lifting anything particularly heavy, it becomes exhausting. Playing is the easy part but getting back at 4:00 in the morning from Southampton, and all that, can take it out of me, the travelling and the equipment that is a lot hard work. But, anyway, we’ll see what happens.
But next year, we’ll have the new album and we’ll be performing that. I’m also going to be doing some highlights from Voyage of the Acolyte album, which was made in 1975, and was my brother’s first solo album that I was very involved in. We’re not gonna do the whole album, but we’ll be doing some tracks off of that album. We’ve already started rehearsing it.
Darren: Once again, on behalf of The Progressive Aspect website, and myself, thank you for your time and look forward to seeing you next year, when you’re touring again and obviously once the album comes out, I’ll be wanting a copy.
John: Thank you, Darren, and thanks to everyone at The Progressive Aspect. It’s brilliant to have your support, it really is.
Thank you so much.
LINKS
John Hackett – Website | Facebook | Facebook (JHB) | YouTube | X
