It may only be March but Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson has a lot of work to do if he is going to make it on to Simon Cowell's Christmas card list this year.

The iconic British folk group are currently touring the UK again and will be performing at Fairfield Halls on Friday.

Having been at the top of their game for four decades now, Tull have seen the music industry change a great deal and it's safe to say Anderson is not the biggest fan of the current trend for talent show superstars.

"When we came through it was good because we didn't have sudden fame, it was a gradual rise," he says.

"We had time to learn what we were doing, like touring and travelling and staying in hotels as opposed to the young acts today who find themselves becoming immediate successes.

"They are all just basically the same and copy artists that have nothing original to say at all, just spending their time imitating the old styles and long established artists.

"They are just rather hollow vessels for the likes of Simon Cowell who are looking for a commercial product.

"It's not about people or creativity.

"None of them write their own songs, they just want to be imitators.

"They are like a ventriloquist dummy with Cowell pulling the strings.

"It's rather sad.

"It's always been that way but we took a very different route as we knew what would happen.

"We avoided the man with the cigar and the big office desk and the big gun.

"We decided to go with the new breed, people like Richard Branson who were a different generation who liked music and the idea of building record companies.

"They were much more in touch with music but the last 20 years has seen a bit of a return to the ruthless person.

"If I was starting out again I would avoid that kind of person."

Ranting aside, Tull have enjoyed enormous success with a whole legion of fans all over the world and a back catalogue of songs that would make Cliff Richard jealous.

With that amount of songs you could forgive them for getting bored performing the same material over and over again but Anderson revealed that wasn't a problem.

"We try to change it by at least 50 to 80 per cent from the last time we played as we want to keep it as different as we can," he says "There are only two or three songs that are set in a Jethro Tull gig but you do find yourself torn between doing the best stuff from your repertoire and people saying - oh they played that last time.

"There's always a mixture of music with the tried and tested examples of the old repertoire then the more obscure stuff that the anoraks in the audience might say - oh yes, I know that one."

Jethro Tull, Fairfield Halls, Park Lane, March 19, 8pm, £25.50. Call 020 8688 9291 or visit fairfield.co.uk.