Cover band rides online wave to fame
They are the band in demand by other bands.
Walk Off The Earth's low budget, homemade videos have been seen more than 400 million times, which could make them the most famous cover band in the Internet age, CBS News' Ben Tracy reports.
Their rise to stardom all started with their take on Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know."
They called the video "5 peeps, 1 guitar."
"We didn't think there was anything extraordinarily special about the video," band member Gianni Luminati said. "But that changed within like four hours."
The video blew up, now having been watched nearly 160 million times. That's twice as many views as Jay Z and Justin Timberlake garnered for their "Suit and Tie" music video. And they were dressed in suits.
The band has no production budget, so each video is a one-take wonder.
Sarah Blackwell is the lone female in the party of five instrumentalists from Toronto. She said getting that one perfect take is as challenging as you would expect.
"The more people that are involved, the more chance there is for one person to mess up, and then you have to start over again," Blackwell said. "I remember getting shaky by the end of the take that I was like, 'I hope everyone's getting it because we're so close, and I'm killing this take.'"
The band is now in demand by big name artists. Taylor Swift started playing their version of her hit in arenas before her concerts.
Pharrell Williams' record label asked them to sing his "Happy" hit. The band piled into their bus, and the one take took all night.
Their newest hit is a twist on "Rude" by the band Magic!
These covers have made them famous, but most of the music they perform live is original. The only rule is that there are none.
"You'd be surprised how many people don't want to do that," Luminati said. "I've played in so many bands that are just like, 'Why we would do that? That doesn't make any sense.' Exactly!"
Bands are asking for Walk Off The Earth to cover their songs because they make the original track more popular. And if nothing else, their videos are a lot of fun.