Tag Archives: Walk off the Earth

Walk off the Earth: Sarah Blackwood interview

Walk off the Earth is an unique Canadian band. Their  interpretation of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” has so far reacg more than 67 million views on Youtube.

Vintage & Rare got the opportunity to talk to Sarah Blackwood, the band member. She told us something about their work, how does it feel to be the only girl in the band, their future plans and many more.

Hi Sarah, thank you for taking your time to speak to V&R.
No probs!

Could you please tell us a bit about how you got into playing music together in the first place?
I started working with Gianni a long time ago. Around 2007. Him and Marshall started WOTE in 2006 and just over the years we have all come together for different projects and music. Gianni helped produce and engineer my second solo album and during that time we started talking a lot about making videos and getting involved more with each others music. Over the past few years it’s all just kind of come together with everyone and the music and videos have created buzz and momentum for the band.

Your version of ’’Somebody that I used to know’’ has more than 64 millions views on Youtube. How important do you see Youtube as a promotion tool?
We have been making stuff for the Youtube world for a few years now. From experience and research we saw potential in it more so than anything else. I personally spent the past 6 years as more of a “road  warrior”  so to speak. Touring full time and traveling around the world with my music. When we put our heads and music together from the road and with the world of Youtube/Social Media our minds opened up big time! Youtube is a whole different world and we know there is so much more to develop from it. We’re just getting started. Social Media really is changing the world.

Five people, one guitar, five different roles – Great concept and it really sounds great. How did you came up with that idea?
Gianni came up with the idea. Every time we do a video the idea stems and we just go from there. With this one, it was something he had wanted to do for a while. When we looked up other videos on Youtube we could only find three people on one guitar. So we did five. Every idea we have has to be incredibly creative and inventive. Otherwise you’re just doing what everyone else has done already.

Does the instruments you play live differ from the ones you’re using in the studio?
Yes they do. We have a plethora of instruments that we share in studio with the stage and not. In face, just recently we have been obtaining more instruments than ever. It’s pretty neat. We also use random things as instruments as well. Like little pieces of metal instead of a snare drum. Or cardboard boxes instead of a drum. Or a box of TicTacs instead of a shaker. We like to get super creative.

Any artists you would like to play with?
I would love to play with a few different people. Mumford and Sons would be a killer!

You are the only female in the band. How does that feel? Or is it really the other way around?
It’s much better than being in a band with all girls! haha. Either way, the members in the band now add a dynamic that was never this strong. No matter what… we are family and will be together until the end. I love hanging out with guys because they are drama free for the most part. And in return, I have learned a lot about being patient, trustworthy and incredibly independent. There are many, many valuable things you learn about being a girl when spending all your time with guys.

Are you working on some new songs? Recording? Will you be touring soon?
We have a bunch of new original songs recorded now! The past 2 months have been insanely busy and we are working on an album to hopefully be released before or during the summer. It’s cool because now we just get to work on music and videos. It’s still a TON of work, even much, much more than before, but it’s our dream job so we are all so happy. We have tours and summer festivals coming up soon too!

Any famous last words?
Don’t drink chocolate milk before bedtime, it will give you nightmares.