Walk Off the Earth

Few YouTube channels have turned pop hits into something as inventive as the output of Walk Off the Earth, the indie pop act from Burlington, Ontario. Their reputation rests on covers and originals built around a ukulele, a theremin and looped samples. Behind the recordings and videos is multi-instrumentalist Gianni "Luminati" Nicassio, who produces the band's music himself.

The breakthrough came in early 2012, when their live cover of Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" drew over 175 million YouTube views in four months, earning praise from Gotye and his co-singer Kimbra. An accompanying video showed all five members on one guitar at once. Columbia Records signed them that February, and the R.E.V.O. album arrived in March 2013. In December 2018 the band lost member Mike "Beard Guy" Taylor to natural causes, aged 51, and a free memorial concert followed in Burlington that January. Their recent work includes the 2021 album Meet You There, preceded by "Love You Right", a collaboration with Danish group Lukas Graham.