Juno-nominated act Walk Off the Earth predicts 2016 award winners

Sarah Blackwood in Walk Off The Earth’s video for their tune “Home We’ll Go (Take My Hand)” featuring Steve Aoki.

Canada’s wonder band Walk Off the Earth is up for the country’s top honor in music again.

This year, the Do-It-Yourself viral phenomenon is nominated for three Juno Awards: the JUNO Fan Choice, Group of the Year and Pop Album of the Year for their record Sing It All Away featuring the platinum radio hit “Rule the World.”

WOTE’s Juno nominations have been piling up since their first nod for Breakthrough Group of the Year back in 2013.

The band’s beginning can be traced further back than that though. Established in 2006 to be exact. Six years before their explosive 5-people-on-one-guitar take of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” shot their music career out of this world.

Now WOTE is an international success, but they won’t stop there. The troupe continues to fly high and think up new, innovative ways to spread their music and reach out and connect with their fans around the globe.

“We really do spend a lot of time interacting with our fans,” comments WOTE member Sarah Blackwood. “We know that without them we wouldn’t be doing what we do so we are grateful every single day for them. We call them ‘WOTE-lings’ and they seriously are the greatest. We love all our fans so much.”

As the band gets ready for their next thrill ride, the 45th annual Juno Awards, Sarah looks over the nominees in the major categories and predicts this year’s top dogs.

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ALBUM OF THE YEAR
•    If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, Drake
•    À Paradis City, Jean Leloup
•    Purpose, Justin Bieber
•    Handwritten, Shawn Mendes
•    Beauty Behind the Madness, The Weeknd

“I wish I could say that I have listened to all of these albums front to back, but I can’t. So this one is a total guess: Shawn Mendes. I think he is rising so quickly and seems like a sweetheart. I hear his songs all the time on the radio and he deserves a win.”

POP ALBUM OF THE YEAR
•    Hello, Hedley
•    Purpose, Justin Bieber
•    Augusta, Scott Helman
•    Handwritten, Shawn Mendes
•    Sing It All Away, Walk Off The Earth

“I don’t know if we will win this one. There are so many great albums that were put out this year. I think Shawn Mendes might win this one too. Every year there is one artist that walks with a ton of awards. This year might be Shawn or Alessia Cara, but I also hope Scott Helman brings some awards home.”

SINGLE OF THE YEAR
•    Here, Alessia Cara
•    Hotline Bling, Drake
•    What Do You Mean?, Justin Bieber
•    Clothes Off, Ria Mae
•    Can’t Feel My Face, The Weeknd

“Alessia has a strong chance at winning this one. She is so incredibly talented and it’s so nice to see someone unique and interesting come out of the woodwork. I hope she wins.”

INTERNATIONAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
•    25, Adele
•    Hozier, Hozier
•    Title, Meghan Trainor
•    Four, One Direction
•    Dream Your Life Away, Vance Joy

“If Adele doesn’t win I will be surprised. She wins everything.”

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
•    City and Colour
•    Drake
•    Justin Bieber
•    Shawn Mendes
•    The Weeknd

“I am going to go with Shawn again. He has a lot of buzz right now.”

GROUP OF THE YEAR
•    Hedley
•    Marianas Trench
•    Metric
•    Three Days Grace
•    Walk Off The Earth

“I think we might actually have a shot at this one, but we’ll see. These are all very big bands in the Canadian market. Fingers crossed!”

BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST OF THE YEAR
•    Alessia Cara
•    Coleman Hell
•    Francesco Yates
•    Scott Helman
•    Tobias Jesso Jr.

“This one will be between Scott Helman and Alessia Cara for sure. I hope Scott takes it home. I love that guy like a brother.”

BREAKTHROUGH GROUP OF THE YEAR
•    Dear Rouge
•    Half Moon Run
•    Milk & Bone
•    The Elwins
•    Young Empires

“I don’t even know all of these bands! Haha! I hope it goes to whoever really deserves it.”

VIDEO OF THE YEAR
•    Virgins, Eva Michonk (Death From Above 1979)
•    Dark Days, Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux and Chandler Levack (Pup)
•    For the Town, Peter Huang (Sonreal)
•    Avalanche, Philip Sportel (Kalle Mattson)
•    Hello, Xavier Dolan (Adele)

“I haven’t seen all of these videos. The only thing ever playing on my computer now is kids shows and our own videos because my kids are obsessed. Haha! If you ask my two-year old who gets video of the year he will say anything by us, but I think Adele might take this home, because again, she wins at life.”

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
•    Abel Tesfaye
•    Béatrice Martin
•    Buffy Sainte-Marie
•    Dallas Green
•    Tobias Jesso Jr.

“I hope it goes to whoever wrote the best songs. I am not familiar with all of these writers, but I am going to vote for my good friend Dallas.”

Walk Off the Earth is nominated for Group of the Year, Pop Album of the Year and the JUNO Fan Choice Award at the 2016 JUNO Awards airing Sunday, April 3 on CTV. See all the nominees here.

The band is currently touring Canada with stops including Montreal’s Metropolis on Thursday, April 14 (tickets available here).

Click here for complete tour dates.

Follow the band on twitter, facebook and their youtube channel for updates and videos.

Posted by Marc Andrew on Mar 31 2016. Filed under Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.