Nothing Is Easy - Jethro Tull (cover by Martin Skews)

I discovered Jethro Tull and their album Stand Up when I was around 13 years old. The band, Ian Anderson, and particularly this album, quickly became one of the single biggest musical influences ever on me and my musicianship. I learned to play flute because of Ian Anderson, and this album lead me down a path of wonderful discovery, of not just the work of Jethro Tull, but of prog rock and beyond - from Caravan to Genesis (with Peter Gabriel), to Zappa, and further from there into music such as The Mars Volta, Opeth, and the music of 20th Century classical composers such as Edgard Varese and Olivier Messiaen. This band were the first to open my mind to the bountiful and beautiful worlds of music out there, and that means a lot to me.

This is my tribute to Jethro Tull. I've wanted for ages to do a proper cover of something from their catalogue but never got round to it until now. I also realised I hadn't yet made a cover video where I play multiple instruments, so I thought I'd give Nothing Is Easy a go as it's super fun to play on every instrument and has loads of energy. My interpretation is deliberately close to the original as I wanted to get under the skin of the song, but I have interpreted it in my own way too here and there. But hopefully it's pretty true to the original.

This video more than anything was an excuse to practice; to practice the drums (haven't really played properly since my teens so go easy on me!), to practice aural skills (I made myself learn each part completely by ear), to practice mixing and video editing (two disciplines I'm still really a novice at). The process of making it was really the point for me and I find it such a valuable process, so intend to make more like this in the future. I do hope though that final result is something you enjoy.

Go and listen to the Stand Up album if you haven't already. It's great.

Peace
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