Nashville, Tenn. 
Improvisational Escape Plans

How do you decide on the name Backup Planet? Ben Cooper, keyboardist and co-founder of the Nashville-based quartet, recalls coming up with the moniker during a stressful day in college. “Every television station you turned on was like, ‘The world’s coming to an end,’” he says. “It was one of those days where you’re kind of like, ‘Man, I wish I had a ‘backup planet’ and could escape the mundanity of everyday life.’” After meeting guitarist Gavin Donati at a Phish show when both were freshmen at the University of Tennessee, the pair started playing together in various bands around Knoxville. They moved to Nashville three years ago “searching for more musicianship, production and just professionalism in the industry,” says Cooper. The group’s lineup was soon solidified with the additions of bassist Blake Gallant and drummer Chris Potocik. Backup Planet dropped their debut album, Element, last year—an eight-track synthesis of the band’s ability to move between keyboard-led funk and guitar-heavy rock. (Cooper and Donati cite everyone from Earth, Wind & Fire to Dickey Betts as influences, and characterize their live show as very improvisational.) “Music is very therapeutic; it’s very spiritual,” Cooper says, returning to the “backup planet” idea that originally inspired him. “For us, it’s kind of an escape.”