Stick Figure

Founding and early releases (2005–2010)

The band Stick Figure was founded as a one-man band by multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer Scott Woodruff. Woodruff, who hails from Duxbury, Massachusetts, had first started playing instruments in his youth. According to Woodruff, his early fixation was reggae, as well as producers such as Keller Williams. His interest in playing instruments eventually turned into writing, performing, and producing his own albums. Woodruff began blending upbeat roots reggae with the reggae subgenre of dub. The name Stick Figure is a take on Woodruff's high school nickname. He first officially adopted the moniker while a freshman in college when submitting instrumental tracks to the Sublime Archive website. From 2006 to 2012 Woodruff wrote, produced, recorded, and released four full-length albums. The first in 2006 was The Sound of My Addiction, which like his later albums was created by "recording instruments individually, layering tracks on top of one another in unison."

His sophomore album Burnin’ Ocean was awarded “Top 10 Best Reggae Albums in 2008" by Apple iTunes. Woodruff's third LP as Stick Figure was titled Smoke Stack. According to Branch Out Music, Smoke Stack "captures a pure ambiance of expression with hard drum and bass intertwined with diverse echoes of dub laced, with all sorts of interesting knickknacks that keep you locked into the sound. Topped with strong, conscience lyrics that hit hard and spread like wild fire into your heart." Like his previous albums, Woodruff tracked and recorded all the lines himself. Smoke Stack peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart. In the summer of 2009, Woodruff moved to the San Diego area. He then recorded the album Reprise Session with a full band, which was released in 2010.

Burial Ground (2011-2012)

On June 12, 2012 Woodruff released the fifth Stick Figure album, Burial Ground. It contains 14 tracks written and produced by Woodruff, one of which features vocal by reggae singer Half Pint. Woodruff cowrote five of the tracks with his close friend T.J. O'Neill; the two had spent time traveling abroad together in Indonesia, Australia, Fiji, Thailand, and New Zealand starting in 2010, finding mutual inspiration for songwriting. The album reached no. 1 on the iTunes and Billboard Reggae charts, and accumulated album sales for all Stick Figure releases reached 60,000+ worldwide. It also reached No. 17 on the Heatseekers Albums chart in the United States.

Burial Ground met with a positive critical response, with a number of critics noting the mixing of upbeat reggae and dub. According to The Reggae Review, "Original, bass-heavy, one drop beats are consistent throughout the album, as are the subtle nuances...and sometimes not so subtle nuances....of dub. Stick Figure's digits remain firmly on the pulse of roots reggae/dub music." The Pier stated "the album represents a new milestone in Stick Figure's musical growth and innovative abilities, with more layering, instrumental transcendence, and lyrical complexity [than their previous albums]."

Live band and touring (2012-2014)

After the release of Burial Ground in 2012, Woodruff began to put together a live band. According to Woodruff, the band started as a local group playing at different venues in the San Diego area, before deciding to tour for the first time in the fall of 2012, playing gigs with The Green on the east coast. They afterwards had two national tours with the reggae bands Passafire, John Brown’s Body, and Tribal Seeds, then headlined their own national tour in the spring of 2013. In summer of 2013 Stick Figure again toured nationally with Passafire, hitting states such as Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida. Stick Figure performed at the Lake Tahoe Reggae Festival in June 2013.

In December 2013, the band was nominated for Best Live Artist of the Year at The Pier Awards. Subsequently, the band was a part of the Winter Blackout Tour with The Expendables and Seedless in January 2014. Beyond Woodruff, the band as of 2014 included Kevin Bong on keyboards, Kevin Offitzer on drums, and Tommy Suliman on bass. In the summer of 2014, Stick Figure was a supporting act on the Count Me In tour featuring Rebelution, The Green, and Iration. They also headlined their own fall tour with HIRIE and Pacific Dub. Stick Figure toured with Slightly Stoopid and The Dirty Heads during the summer and fall 2015, playing amphitheaters across the United States such as Red Rocks. Other stops included the ARISE Festival in Loveland, Colorado.

Set in Stone (2015-2016)

The group's sixth album, Set in Stone, was released in November 2015, and included collaborations with Eric Rachmany of Rebelution, Slightly Stoopid, KBong, and Collie Buddz. Like their previous album, it again topped the Billboard Reggae Albums Chart, reaching No. 1. It appeared on six Billboard charts overall after its release, including No. 101 on the Billboard 200, No. 24 on Digital Albums, No. 1 on Heatseekers Albums, No. 7 on Independent Albums, and No. 65 on the Top Album Sales chart. "Set in Stone" reached No. 6 on the CMJ World Charts, and was the No. 1 most added on CMJ World.

The group released their first music video, for "Fire on the Horizon," on November 10, 2015 through Billboard. The video was shot in the Santa Cruz Mountains and beaches near Woodruff's home studio. A second video, for "Sound of the Sea," was released two days later on November 12, 2015. In December 2015, the online publication The Island Sound named Stick Figure No. 2 on their list of the Top 5 Artists of 2015.

Touring and music videos (2015-2016)

After headlining their own shows in 2015 and also touring with bands such as Slightly Stoopid, in January 2016 the band embarked on a headlining US tour with the band Fortunate Youth. As of January, the band was also touring with an additional multi-instrumentalist by the name of Johnny Cosmic, as well as Cocoa, an Australian Shepherd who often joins them on stage. Rescued by Woodruff in 2012, she had first started touring with the band in 2013 while supporting Tribal Seeds. On March 23, 2016, the band released their music video for "Shadow," featuring Cocoa and a farm in Northern California. The band revealed that they were planning on shooting videos for most of the other tracks on Set in Stone as well. In early 2016, the band was added to The Joint on Sirius XM, with various songs put on the air. In April 2016, Stick Figure performed a live session at the Sirius XM studios in New York City.

Their album Set in Stone: Instrumental was released on April 1, 2016. In 2016, band will be playing festivals including Hang Out Festival, Pemberton Music Festival, Electric Forest, Cali Roots, North Coast Music Festival, and Levitate Music and Arts Festival. They will also be playing at the Red Rocks Amphitheater twice in 2016, the second time as part of their support slot on Rebelution's upcoming summer amphitheatre tour, which also plays venues like the Greek Theatre in LA.

Lineup