Few Great OKGO articles

DJRose

Damian's written another op-ed, this time for the Wall Street Journal.  Here's a link to the video interview they did: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy.....hilosophy/

The op-ed can be found here: http://online.wsj.com/article/.....re_twitter

And Holy G-d, go get the Wall Street Journal.  Now.

beckysioux

From the WSJ op-ed:

We once relied on investment and support from a major label. Now we make a comparable living raising money directly from fans and through licensing and sponsorship.

Rach, he was being completely serious when he said he wanted more of your money.

Really well written piece. I quite enjoy his style and the fact that it's not dumbed down nor do you need a dictionary to figure out what it is he's writing about. Anyone can pick this up, read it and know exactly what he's trying to get across. And because I'm a dork, I love that he said it was 2,300 pieces of toast for Last Leaf. Twenty-three. Me = loser.

I hope that Borders still has copies on hand when I go there later.

Tempe Arizona

Eeep, Barnes and Noble or Borders, which is more likely to have that little treasure in the middle of the Southern nowhere? Eh, I'll try both. Thanks for the heads up and pic, Rachelah!

jamdkoff

Yay! Hubby just got home from work with my requested copy of the WSJ in hand- what a guy  (he was able to find it at Walgreens).

This spread is amazing!  The vibrant (and oh, so appropriately primary color themed) graphics are the perfect compliment to Damian's well written article.  After reading it online late last night, I imagined it would be presented much more like the "Op/Ed" pieces of the past.  What a treat to get all of this great "eye-candy" along with the brilliant writing this time around.  Pure joy!  

Totalgeek42

If you go to kardiackids.com you can find episode one.  xP

Also, I'm kinda bummed that I didn't get a copy of that.. stupid school and taking up all of my time.  xP

beckysioux

Another Tim-terview. I'm putting it here because the interviewer asks relevant questions on the band as it is now.

Interview With OK Go: On File-Sharing, The Major Label System, & Balancing Creativity With Marketing

And it's kinda funny that some of the interview is spent on file-sharing considering the gmail was set up just last week. I'm sure neither of these things has anything to do with the other, but it's funny how the timing worked out. At least to me anyway.

laydeejol

This is possibly the worst, most superficial article i've ever seen written by presumably a jealous lil snitch of a blogger (sorz i know this link's supposed to b abt "great" OK Go articles but i felt i HAD to post it o.O ) against damian's views of the music industry:  http://www.zeitgeistyreport.com/record-reviews/2010/12/21/ok-go-singer-damian-kulash-on-the-future-of-the-music-business/

ugh. pissy morning thx to this >:( x

ChristelAdina

Actually, that's a very good article/blog. I disagree with Robbins' opinion, of course, but several points are valid. And much of his arguement is actually true.

Because it is an opinion piece (and written by a "curmudgeon" from The Zeitgeisty Report), it's not supposed to present fair and balanced coverage. It doesn't need to balance his points with the more positive points that might be on the other side of this issue. If it were a debate, he'd just be arguing the "against" platform. Those of us arguing "for" Ok Go would win the debate by pointing out that, even if all of his assumptions about the EMI relationship actually DO apply to this particular band in the way he assumes they do (he's generalizing about all labels/bands and asserting that those generalizations cover OK Go), the band would still be innovative and successful, known for its videos and its new approach to the business part of music business… however, those things may have taken longer without EMI's support at the outset.

laydeejol

hmm I suppose u're right, Christel, I just wish he didn't draw such a wide generalisation re music labels and their artists etc, it juz seems really unfair for OK Go not to be appreciated for the fact that they've escaped the system, but instead be criticised for "trying" to venture off in the words of the author :( x

DJRose

Yeah, it's a shitty opinion, and he does raise a few valid points, but what bothers me most is that Robbins doesn't recognize the fact that Damian will be (and has been) the first person to say that bands NEED labels to start up.  The venture capital necessary for a band is a high risk and the labels are still very valuable in that regard.  It's just that the labels don't want to adapt to the current climate and so they are dying out, putting the whole business in danger.

I saw how it said Robbins was "a gifted songwriter" in his bio at the end of the article, and I thought "Hmm, I've never heard of him" so I looked him up on wikipedia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darren_Robbins. ; I'm fascinated by this.  How can someone who was so obviously screwed over by the record industry cling to it so deeply?  I mean, he got good reviews in Rolling Stone, but never got to release his albums, and is tagged with the dreaded "may not meet the notability guidelines"?  How is that right?  If he were doing this today, with a little creativity he could have found a fan base and made a living at this, rather than toiling away in obscurity and bitching about the kids who found a way around the system. 

Aleatory

I really, really like the first question that was asked on the Hypebot interview. I liked the way the interviewer phrased it instead of the standard "Do you think your videos overpower your music?" Also, judging from the first comment, I thought that maybe they should have mentioned the fact that they were super grateful to the label for getting them off the ground; they seem to mention it during most interviews and I guess it makes it a lot clearer for everyone reading.

Does anyone else think it's funny that Tim and Damian very nearly say the exact same things during interviews? I know they're supposed to put up a united front and, you know, say sort of the same things idea-wise because they have the same views, but more than once I've seen that Damian and Tim use the same expressions when expressing the same ideas. Maybe this is a result from knowing each other for twenty years but it's a little funny. I sort of imagine Dami telling Tim what to say; I don't know why, but I just do.

And the other opinion article makes me a little bit angry. He does raise some valid points. OK Go probably would not be where they are today without EMI. This is true. But the most important thing that he fails to mention is that Dami constantly says this, and always says that the label treated them well and it was an amicable split. Almost every interview where the interviewer asks, "are you mad at EMI" or something like that, Damian says that they were completely grateful that the label took them along so far.

And when he said "one can watch any of the band’s videos with the sound off and derive the same amount of pleasure" I laughed. Isn't that really sort of the point? Yes, the music is great. Dare I say, awesome. The music videos are great. Together, they are a super-sonic-geo-spatial party. But if someone can watch an OK Go video without listening to an OK Go song and still feel happy and think "wow this is cool," doesn't that make it even better? The whole greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts thing applies here.

Arguing this point is kind of pointless; I mean, everyone here agrees with this side, and we'd probably win in a debate. But I still like getting my feelings out there. And Rachel, he's probably just bitter that an up-and-coming but still-sort-of-here band found a way to do exactly what they want in the music industry pretty much all the time.

And calling Damian the "delusional self-appointed champion of indie rock" was just mean. 

ChristelAdina

Aleatory said:

And the other opinion article makes me a little bit angry. He does raise some valid points. OK Go probably would not be where they are today without EMI. This is true. But the most important thing that he fails to mention is that Dami constantly says this, and always says that the label treated them well and it was an amicable split. Almost every interview where the interviewer asks, "are you mad at EMI" or something like that, Damian says that they were completely grateful that the label took them along so far.

And when he said "one can watch any of the band’s videos with the sound off and derive the same amount of pleasure" I laughed. Isn't that really sort of the point? Yes, the music is great. Dare I say, awesome. The music videos are great. Together, they are a super-sonic-geo-spatial party. But if someone can watch an OK Go video without listening to an OK Go song and still feel happy and think "wow this is cool," doesn't that make it even better? The whole greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts thing applies here.

Arguing this point is kind of pointless; I mean, everyone here agrees with this side, and we'd probably win in a debate. But I still like getting my feelings out there. And Rachel, he's probably just bitter that an up-and-coming but still-sort-of-here band found a way to do exactly what they want in the music industry pretty much all the time.

And calling Damian the "delusional self-appointed champion of indie rock" was just mean. 

---

I wholeheartedly agree with your thoughts about the videos-with-the-sound-off comment. As for the mean comment, my first thought (as it usually is when people attack Damian's style/energy/personality) was that he (perhaps intentionally) misinterprets "confidence" and "genuine excitement" as "delusion". Happens to me all the time. People are taken aback by enthusiasm, and they feel they must give it a negative spin (so they label it egotism). My second thought on the mean comment was that Damian didn't necessarily position himself to be the "self-appointed champion of indie rock". The media did it for him. He's just savvy (confident, excited, enthusiastic) enough to recognize it as an opportunity and a platform. Anyway, who else is going to fill that role? Ten years ago, the savior of indie rock was Conor Oberst. Who is it now, if not OK Go?

Boy. Having just read that back, I really wish I had had the health, stamina, etc. to write the articles on this subject (and rewrite the one I lost) that I had planned to submit for the Village Voice. Of course, my original article was perhaps too close the Damian's WSJ piece from last week, but I have other thoughts on the issue. Deadline is tomorrow and my hand has gone numb just typing this reply.

ChristelAdina

Forgot to mention, re: Rachel's reply:

I contemplated this right away, once I realized it was Robbins who authored the article, but the venom he spit specifically at Damian might be personal in nature. It wouldn't be the first time, it seems, that the backlash against OK Go's success stems from some sort of personal jealousy, rather than strictly professional envy.

On another note (), Darren Robbins Steals Your Girlfriend is a pretty good album. My friend Craig has played cuts from time to time on his radio show.

ugh

Now that's some seriously transparent jealousy. HOLY cow.

Tempe Arizona

Aleatory said:

And calling Damian the "delusional self-appointed champion of indie rock" was just mean. 

---

Someone should turn that into a motivation poster as a tongue in cheek stick it to Robbins.

"They’ve long ago proven that music is secondary in the “OK Go experience”, as one can watch any of the band’s videos with the sound off and derive the same amount of pleasure."—-I think what we aught to do is take Mr. Robbins to an Ok Go show so that he can have a genuine experience with the band, see them in their element and how much effort is put in to give the audience a great rock show. Of course, he'd probably just end up thinking the whole thing is kitch.

Mr. Robbins does seem to have some jealousy. Some of his points are valid. At least, he raises most of his points in a professional sort of way without a lot of name calling. I think he is the type who would call a band a sell-out for becoming popular, like when Green Day got big or when T.Rex went from accoustic to electric.

ChristelAdina

He's probably been to an OK Go show, Tempe, albeit an early one...

{looking for the perfect photo of Damian. You know, the one that properly says "delusional"! I'm sure it's a smirker!}

ugh

I left a response for him;

Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius.
- Fulton J. Sheen

laeticia

DJRose said:

Yeah, it's a shitty opinion, and he does raise a few valid points, but what bothers me most is that Robbins doesn't recognize the fact that Damian will be (and has been) the first person to say that bands NEED labels to start up.  The venture capital necessary for a band is a high risk and the labels are still very valuable in that regard.  It's just that the labels don't want to adapt to the current climate and so they are dying out, putting the whole business in danger.

---

I agree with you, Rachel. And pardon me, for I am not as eloquent as you ladies, but fuck this shit. He clearly did not understand the basics of what Damian was talking about.

The things he says about "oh so apparently no need of a label, but working with sponsorship by samsung and state farm is not selling out". I mean, really, wtf. EMI did not gave them all the credibility they have just for being a "label material". their most successful videos were taped by them, without permission from EMI and released by them so EMI could go "Oh yeah, this is good." after all the shit went down. EMI did not plant in people's heads OK Go and their ideas, their videos did. and yes they made promotion of it, but it was not ONLY the promotion that made the video sell. and excuse me sir, but if it was up to EMI to make all creative decisions, we'd be trapped watching videos directed by Francis Lawrence and Dave Meyers for the rest of our lives, i.e, half naked girls dancing, Damian wearing over the top make up and Andy with pink hair. What I mean with this is - don't fucking give EMI all credit for OK Go's success.

Damian's point, from what I understood was not saying that "oh hey, we can work outside the system cuz we're awesome, we don't need a label to go on", and yes saying that they NO LONGER NEED someone to say "ok, you can do this", for what they think it's alright for OK Go to do. It's just as simple as that, they left so they wouldn't have to wait until someone decided what should be their next move. EVERY artist, with the most minor project he could possibly have that would not be possible to be done by himself would need help from somewhere. State Farm did not come to OK Go and said "hey, we want to sponsor you because you are from a huge label". They said "What are you guys next creative project, we want to be a part of that". Sponsors are not stupid when it comes to the main fact: their videos fucking play a lot everywhere. and that is not EMI's credit. It was not a "we don't NEED you" attitude from Damian, it was a "okay, we'll just try this our way then". How can he be so dumb to think Damian is being pretentious about this situation? 

and why the hell is he being so protective of labels? nowadays, we all know - labels only think about themselves, and we don't punish them for that, it is their job. it's just that if you have the opportunity of doing things your own way, at your own time, with help from people that will not, by a silly contract, say 'no' to their creative decisions, why stay with a fucking label?

and fuck that, I'm not a fan of OK Go because I keep watching the treadmill video over and over again. If it all just came to that they would eventually fade out - the music remains and that's what's important, at least to me. Videos are just a bonus. 

sorry, I just wrote a bunch of no sense at all.

laeticia

Forgot to mention, the Hypebot interview: REFRESHING TO SEE THAT THE INTERVIEWER DID NOT SAY 'TREADMILLS', NOT EVEN ONCE.

beckysioux

I wonder if Robbins read Damian's first thoughts on the whole EMI/video embed thing. Probably not.

And if you haven't, you should:

Open Letter From OK Go

And by "you", I mean anyone reading this thread right now.