Spotlight: Stuck On Planet Earth

Stuck on Planet Earth (SOPE) are moving up in the music world.

“Usually you have to apply [to be a part of Canadian Music Week] through a website called SonicBids … I believe there was a $35 entrance this year to get into CMW,” lead singer Al Capo said. “This year we knew someone in the event, so we got asked to perform … we got lucky.” Typically the more buzzworthy bands get invited to perform. This is one of the many recent successes SOPE have experienced in their six years together as a band.

Starting in 2007, SOPE was never what one could consider “conventional.” They created what they deemed a “backpack tour”— they would show up at various high schools while the kids were leaving for the day and just play their songs. “We made a lot of fans that way, but we also got kicked out of the schools. We had cops follow us, we had snowballs thrown at us … it was pretty ballsy,” Capo reminisced. “We did that for six to eight months. We put up videos of us doing this and got a lot of fans that way.”

SOPE has put out four EPs with five songs on each but have no plans to put out an album yet. “We’re completely independent and I just think not enough people care. Music is super disposable … it’s hard enough to get people to listen to five songs.” With people’s shortening attention spans, SOPE is going back to some “old-school” techniques to get their music across. They are constantly touring to get and keep themselves in everyone’s faces while simultaneously putting out music videos for recently released singles.

The most decidedly old-school technique they’ve employed recently is OFFLINE, their zine. “Back in the 90’s, a lot of bands had fan zines, before the Internet existed,” said Capo. “We were approached and given the idea and thought it was a really cool idea. It’s gone really well, we’ve had 25 subscribers already … the idea behind OFFLINE was to put out content that our hardcore fans can’t get online.”

In terms of recent growth, they’ve recently charted on the iTunes Alternative Rock Charts, coming in at number 32. This is an incredible accomplishment for a completely independent band—they charted alongside the Black Keys and Bon Iver. If this growth continues at the same speed it’s been occuring, they certainly won’t be stuck to the Canadian Indie music scene much longer.