Sarah Blackwood - Walk Off The Earth (13/08/2013)
Well known for their Youtube videos, and touring with Harvest Presents, we chat with Sarah Blackwood of Walk Off The Earth.
Hi Sarah, how are you?
Hey. How you doing?
I'm really well thank you. You must be excited to be coming down to Australia for Harvest Festival later this year?
Oh we can't wait. It's seriously going to be the highlight of the year (laughs)
What were your thoughts on the lineup?
Well we've been able to share the stage with some pretty cool bands so to be able to add to that list is such a privilege for us. We're all really excited. There's a lot of great bands out there that we wanna play with so to be able to do that is really exciting.
Onto the new album R.E.V.O. What was the recording process like for that?
It was actually really great. We kept it close to home and we recorded the album in our home town instead of going away or being fancy. We kept is simple by recording it where we record all of our songs. It was a really cozy experience and actually kinda pleasant because we weren't under a crazy amount of pressure and it was the first time a few of us got to write together so it was new and exciting and it felt good. It was fun.
What is the inspiration and influence behind the lyrics and music and who writes them?
We all write the lyrics and there's a lot of different stories within songs that may not have even come from the same person. For this record we wrote a lot about how we were feeling at the time and it was a fairly intense time so we had a lot of good stories to tell (laughs) We're really influenced by life so a lot of our music and a lot of our songs reflects that, like what we're doing and what's going on and how we're feeling and all that kind of stuff.
Walk Off The Earth are known for their You Tube videos, which one would you say has been the most fun to do?
The most fun to do? Hmm...well as much as I love being in the videos I also love shooting videos, like being the person behind the camera (laughs) We have a couple of videos where I got to do that. Payphone was one. I filmed it but was also in the video which was kinda a cool idea. The ones where we're playing heaps of instruments and ukeleles are falling from the sky and stuff those are always my favourite. Someone Like You or Karma Police were both really fun.
Where do the ideas for the videos come from?
A lot of the time we'll be inspired by the song. Gianna (Luminati) does a lot of production for the band so a lot of the time when we're writing a song or we hear a song we're gonna cover the idea will come out and we'll just expand on it from there. Gianna comes up with a lot of the ideas, or he and I will brainstorm to come up with stuff and then everyone contributes so it's really a collective effort.
You were in a band called The Creepshow, what would you say the differences and similarities are between the two bands?
Well I actually came to Australia with The Creepshow (laughs)
Yeah I saw you guys play Soundwave.
Yeah it was at Soundwave Festival in 2010 I believe. But to answer your questions, the similarities are both bands are fun. There's more differences than there are similarities though, like I feel more where I'm supposed to be with Walk Off The Earth. I did a lot of different projects to get where I am and this is definitely the one where I feel the most positive and confident about so that's a really big difference between the two. I did have fun with The Creepshow, I mean it was a punk band so I did a lot of touring and a lot of sleeping on floors (laughs) There was a lot of playing small venues and small clubs but with Walk Off The Earth it's more a family vibe but of course we still love touring and playing shows for our fans but we don't focus so much on the partying or getting wasted we just wanna make the music and get it out there.
When you were growing up what bands inspired you to play in a band?
I remember when I was twelve years old and I watched the movie The Doors and that influenced me pretty big (laughs) Over the years thought there's not a specific band or genre that I really listened to, it was just everything.
Are there any bands you are loving right now?
Florence and the Machine. I'm obsessed with them right now (laughs) Oh and Lorde, she has a song called Royals, I dunno if it's big over there but it's getting big over here. It's a pretty amazing song and she's a pretty cool artist.
You mentioned earlier that you've toured with a lot of bands, are there any you haven't toured with as yet but would love to be able to?
Hmmm....that's a really good question. I don't know who I would say, there's so many. So many awesome bands. I would rather just do a giant festival tour where there's like twenty awesome bands on the lineup.
Does Harvest Festival meet that criteria?
It's pretty close. I'm seriously really looking forward to coming over. It's such a beautiful place. A lot of our fans, even before our You Tube popularity, originated from Australia. Like record sales and stuff. We're very excited to come and play for our fans over there.
What are your best memories of Australia when you were here with The Creepshow?
I went hang-gliding in Sydney and it was amazing. I think Australia honestly has the most beautiful landscapes in all of the world. Oh and the warmth, because we're coming there in November so for us it's freezing (laughs) I really honestly loved my experience doing Soundwave and I know it's the same promoters doing Harvest Festival so I'm assuming it's going to be kinda the same organisation. It was one of the most pleasant, organised, amazing experiences I've ever had on tour. I'm really excited to be coming back to a place I know is beautiful, the bands are going to be wicked and I know is going to be organised amazingly so I know I'm going to have a really good time.
What are the plans up until Harvest and then into next year?
Well we have a few shows to play within Canada and the US. I just had a baby so we're kinda just doing these fly out weekend shows or a few festival gigs. We're also shooting a ton of videos so we'll have all of them coming out soon. Then next year we're never going to stop making music and making videos and touring to all of the countries and all of the cities we can get to. We're just going to keep working (laughs)
Congratulations on the baby.
Thank you so much.
How have you worked around having a new baby?
Well it's kinda affected things as far as we would have played more shows in June because my due date was then but I had him on the road three weeks after he was born. We look at everything as a positive thing so that's what we did with the baby, it was kinda like we've got another band member. (laughs)
The positive outlook on things, is that where the band's motto Realise Every Victory Outright comes from?
Absolutely. Positive living, positive thinking, positive actions. Staying motivated to follow your dreams and make them happen.
Now I know you've said you just had a baby so that would take up most of your time right now, but when you do get some time off from Walk Off The Earth what do you like to get up to?
When there is actually time for vacation which is kinda tough for us because we love working (laughs) Actually, you know what? We might spend an extra week in Australia and spend some time on the beach but when there is some time off though we talk about things we wanna do, you only have one life so you've gotta try and fill your spare time up with something so we try to fill our spare time up with awesome stuff (laughs)
That sounds like a good plan. We'll wrap it up there, thanks for your time today and I look forward to seeing you guys later in the year.
Same here, we can't wait. Honestly, it's going to be amazing. Thanks so much.
Matt Barton
Hi Sarah, how are you?
Hey. How you doing?
I'm really well thank you. You must be excited to be coming down to Australia for Harvest Festival later this year?
Oh we can't wait. It's seriously going to be the highlight of the year (laughs)
What were your thoughts on the lineup?
Well we've been able to share the stage with some pretty cool bands so to be able to add to that list is such a privilege for us. We're all really excited. There's a lot of great bands out there that we wanna play with so to be able to do that is really exciting.
Onto the new album R.E.V.O. What was the recording process like for that?
It was actually really great. We kept it close to home and we recorded the album in our home town instead of going away or being fancy. We kept is simple by recording it where we record all of our songs. It was a really cozy experience and actually kinda pleasant because we weren't under a crazy amount of pressure and it was the first time a few of us got to write together so it was new and exciting and it felt good. It was fun.
What is the inspiration and influence behind the lyrics and music and who writes them?
We all write the lyrics and there's a lot of different stories within songs that may not have even come from the same person. For this record we wrote a lot about how we were feeling at the time and it was a fairly intense time so we had a lot of good stories to tell (laughs) We're really influenced by life so a lot of our music and a lot of our songs reflects that, like what we're doing and what's going on and how we're feeling and all that kind of stuff.
Walk Off The Earth are known for their You Tube videos, which one would you say has been the most fun to do?
The most fun to do? Hmm...well as much as I love being in the videos I also love shooting videos, like being the person behind the camera (laughs) We have a couple of videos where I got to do that. Payphone was one. I filmed it but was also in the video which was kinda a cool idea. The ones where we're playing heaps of instruments and ukeleles are falling from the sky and stuff those are always my favourite. Someone Like You or Karma Police were both really fun.
Where do the ideas for the videos come from?
A lot of the time we'll be inspired by the song. Gianna (Luminati) does a lot of production for the band so a lot of the time when we're writing a song or we hear a song we're gonna cover the idea will come out and we'll just expand on it from there. Gianna comes up with a lot of the ideas, or he and I will brainstorm to come up with stuff and then everyone contributes so it's really a collective effort.
You were in a band called The Creepshow, what would you say the differences and similarities are between the two bands?
Well I actually came to Australia with The Creepshow (laughs)
Yeah I saw you guys play Soundwave.
Yeah it was at Soundwave Festival in 2010 I believe. But to answer your questions, the similarities are both bands are fun. There's more differences than there are similarities though, like I feel more where I'm supposed to be with Walk Off The Earth. I did a lot of different projects to get where I am and this is definitely the one where I feel the most positive and confident about so that's a really big difference between the two. I did have fun with The Creepshow, I mean it was a punk band so I did a lot of touring and a lot of sleeping on floors (laughs) There was a lot of playing small venues and small clubs but with Walk Off The Earth it's more a family vibe but of course we still love touring and playing shows for our fans but we don't focus so much on the partying or getting wasted we just wanna make the music and get it out there.
When you were growing up what bands inspired you to play in a band?
I remember when I was twelve years old and I watched the movie The Doors and that influenced me pretty big (laughs) Over the years thought there's not a specific band or genre that I really listened to, it was just everything.
Are there any bands you are loving right now?
Florence and the Machine. I'm obsessed with them right now (laughs) Oh and Lorde, she has a song called Royals, I dunno if it's big over there but it's getting big over here. It's a pretty amazing song and she's a pretty cool artist.
You mentioned earlier that you've toured with a lot of bands, are there any you haven't toured with as yet but would love to be able to?
Hmmm....that's a really good question. I don't know who I would say, there's so many. So many awesome bands. I would rather just do a giant festival tour where there's like twenty awesome bands on the lineup.
Does Harvest Festival meet that criteria?
It's pretty close. I'm seriously really looking forward to coming over. It's such a beautiful place. A lot of our fans, even before our You Tube popularity, originated from Australia. Like record sales and stuff. We're very excited to come and play for our fans over there.
What are your best memories of Australia when you were here with The Creepshow?
I went hang-gliding in Sydney and it was amazing. I think Australia honestly has the most beautiful landscapes in all of the world. Oh and the warmth, because we're coming there in November so for us it's freezing (laughs) I really honestly loved my experience doing Soundwave and I know it's the same promoters doing Harvest Festival so I'm assuming it's going to be kinda the same organisation. It was one of the most pleasant, organised, amazing experiences I've ever had on tour. I'm really excited to be coming back to a place I know is beautiful, the bands are going to be wicked and I know is going to be organised amazingly so I know I'm going to have a really good time.
What are the plans up until Harvest and then into next year?
Well we have a few shows to play within Canada and the US. I just had a baby so we're kinda just doing these fly out weekend shows or a few festival gigs. We're also shooting a ton of videos so we'll have all of them coming out soon. Then next year we're never going to stop making music and making videos and touring to all of the countries and all of the cities we can get to. We're just going to keep working (laughs)
Congratulations on the baby.
Thank you so much.
How have you worked around having a new baby?
Well it's kinda affected things as far as we would have played more shows in June because my due date was then but I had him on the road three weeks after he was born. We look at everything as a positive thing so that's what we did with the baby, it was kinda like we've got another band member. (laughs)
The positive outlook on things, is that where the band's motto Realise Every Victory Outright comes from?
Absolutely. Positive living, positive thinking, positive actions. Staying motivated to follow your dreams and make them happen.
Now I know you've said you just had a baby so that would take up most of your time right now, but when you do get some time off from Walk Off The Earth what do you like to get up to?
When there is actually time for vacation which is kinda tough for us because we love working (laughs) Actually, you know what? We might spend an extra week in Australia and spend some time on the beach but when there is some time off though we talk about things we wanna do, you only have one life so you've gotta try and fill your spare time up with something so we try to fill our spare time up with awesome stuff (laughs)
That sounds like a good plan. We'll wrap it up there, thanks for your time today and I look forward to seeing you guys later in the year.
Same here, we can't wait. Honestly, it's going to be amazing. Thanks so much.
Matt Barton