Walk off the Earth
Walk off the Earth | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Burlington, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Indie rock, alternative rock, reggae rock, experimental rock, folk rock, ska |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Labels | Columbia,[1] SlapDash |
| Members | Gianni Luminati Sarah Blackwood Ryan Marshall Mike Taylor Joel Cassady |
| Past members | Peter Kirkwood |
| Website | walkofftheearth |
Walk off the Earth is a Canadian rock band that was formed in 2006 in Burlington, Ontario, and has gained success around the world by making low-budget music videos of covers and originals. The band built its fan base independently with no help from record labels, booking agents, or management. In February 2012, the music industry publication Crazed Hits reported that the band had signed a recording contract with Columbia Records.[1] The band is best known for its covers of popular music on YouTube, making use of uncommon instruments such as the ukulele and the theremin, as well as looping samples. The band's recorded music and videos are produced by member and multi-instrumentalist, Gianni "Luminati" Nicassio.
History
The band's first big success came from covering the songs of The Gregory Brothers. The video of the band's live cover of Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" became rapidly popular on YouTube in early 2012, gathering over 127 million views in four months[2] and received positive responses from both Gotye and his co-singer on the song, Kimbra.[3][4] The band has also covered Rude by MAGIC!, "Someone Like You" by Adele, "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO, "Payphone" by Maroon 5, "Roll Up" by Wiz Khalifa and dozens of other tracks.[5][6] In December 2012, the band released an original single titled "Gang of Rhythm".[7] On March 11, RollingStone magazine streamed their unreleased R.E.V.O. LP in its entirety. The full length R.E.V.O. album was released on March 19, 2013, after which they commenced in the R.E.V.O. Tour through the U.S and Europe. They began another US and Europe tour, Gang of Rhythm, in 2014.[8]
Members
 |
- Current members
- Gianni Luminati – bass, guitar, ukulele, banjo, mandolin, drums, vocals, theremin, glockenspiel, piano, cajon, cello, bongos, harmonica, double bass, percussion, kazoo, keyboard, beatbox, kalimba
- Sarah Blackwood – guitar, bass, ukulele, banjo, glockenspiel, percussion, piano, vocals, mandolin, kazoo, harmonica, strumstick
- Ryan Marshall – guitar, bass, trumpet, piano, harmonica, vocals, ukulele, mandolin, glockenspiel, melodica, percussion, kazoo, bongos, banjo
- Mike "Beard Guy" Taylor – piano, keyboards, organ, vocals, xylophone, glockenspiel, trumpet, electric toothbrush, melodica, didgeridoo, kazoo
- Joel Cassady – drums, cajon, bongos, congas, percussion, vocals, bass, organ, piano, spoons, ukulele, guitar
- Touring members
- Lee Bolt - guitar, banjo, bass, mandolin, ukulele, ukulele base
- Shameless James O'Neill - trumpet, percussion
- Zach Gerber - drums, guitar, bass, vocals, percussion
- Past members
- Pete Kirkwood – drums, vocals
Popularity
- The band's cover of Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know", with accompanying video where all five members are shown playing on one guitar, went viral in early 2012 and has so far gained over 160 million hits on YouTube.[9] The production is live, taken from the 26th cut of a 14 hour session.[10]
- Ellen DeGeneres featured the band on her January 23, 2012 show where they played live, again on one guitar.
- The band's cover of Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble" with four of the five members and guest beatboxer KRNFX using only vocals (in the style of a capella) and uploaded to YouTube on January 1 of 2013 has since gone viral.[11]
- The band appeared in the Season 4 premiere of CTV's The Listener, performing two songs and socializing with the main characters in the bar.
- They were included in the YouTube 2012 review, doing a part of an acoustic version of "Gangnam Style" on one guitar, a reference to their viral video
- The band's YouTube video of Lorde's "Royals" was featured in the 2014 Grammy Awards.
- The band's original single "Gang of Rhythm" is the theme song of popular Catalan TV show El Foraster.[12]
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award ceremony | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Juno Awards | Breakthrough Group of the Year | Nominated |
| Video of the Year — Little Boxes | Nominated | ||
| CASBY Awards | Molson Canadian Favourite New Artist | Won | |
| YouTube Music Awards | Response of the Year | Nominated | |
| 2014 | Juno Awards | Group of the Year | Nominated |
| Pop Album of the Year — R.E.V.O. | Nominated | ||
| Juno Fan Choice Award | Nominated | ||
| Canadian Radio Music Awards | Best New Group or Solo Artist: Mainstream AC | Nominated | |
| Best New Group or Solo Artist: Hot AC | Won | ||
| Best New Group or Solo Artist: CHR | Won | ||
| SOCAN Song of the Year — Red Hands | Won | ||
| Fans' Choice | Won |
Discography
Albums
- 2007: Smooth Like Stone on a Beach
- 2010: My Rock
- 2012: Vol.1
- 2012: Vol.2
- 2012: R.E.V.O. EP
- 2012: Somebody That I Used To Know
- 2013: R.E.V.O. LP
- 2013: iTunes Session
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN | AUT | BEL (Vl) |
DEN | FRA [13] |
IRL | NED | SWE | US [1][14] |
UK | ||||||
| "Somebody That I Used to Know" | 2012 | 13 | 30 | 30 | 12 | 80 | 48 | 9 | 45 | 109 | 80 | R.E.V.O. | |||
| "Red Hands" | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 114 | — | |||||
| "Gang of Rhythm" | 2013 | 60 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Shake" | 2014 | 69 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||||||||
- ^ Singles peaked on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, which measures the top twenty-five singles that have not yet reached the Hot 100.
References
- ^ a b "Columbia signs Walk off the Earth". Crazed Hits. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
- ^ Cashmere, Paul (9 January 2012). "Gotye Cover Inspires Russell Crowe To Pitch To Walk off the Earth". Noise11. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
- ^ "Twitter post by Gotye". Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ Cashmere, Paul (8 January 2012). "Kimbra Impressed With Gotye Cover By Walk off the Earth". Noise11. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ CTV Edmonton (Jan 13, 2012). "Ont. band Walk Off the Earth has viral YouTube hit". CTV News. BellMedia. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
- ^ Lester, Paul (April 25, 2013). "Walk Off the Earth (No 1,500)". The Guardian (online). United Kingdom: Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 2014-01-02. theguardian.com.
- ^ "Gang of Rhythm by Walk Off The Earth". Retrieved 9 February 2013.
- ^ "Ones To Watch presents Walk Off The Earth - Gang of Rhythm Tour". Facebook - Walk Off The Earth. 28 October 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
- ^ Walk off the Earth cover of "Somebody That I Used to Know"
- ^ "Walk off the Earth interview days after viral fame". Global News YouTube Channel. 13 January 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
- ^ "Walk Off The Earth's "I Knew You Were Trouble" Cover Goes Viral". Metro Lyrics. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
- ^ "Gang Of Rhythm de Walk Off the Earth del album R.E.V.O". Facebook - El Foraster (in Catalan). 11 March 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - ^ LesCharts.com French and European chart positions for Walk off the Earth's version "Somebody That I Used to Know"
- ^ "Walk Off the Earth — Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
- ^ "Canadian digital download certifications – Walk Off the Earth – Somebody That I Used to Know". Music Canada.
- ^ "Canadian digital download certifications – Walk Off the Earth – Red Hands". Music Canada.