Few Great OKGO articles

violetchaos364

Laeticia, you're totally preaching to the choir here, girlfriend!  

And why did that all go in bold?

violetchaos364

beckysioux said:

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.

---

Everytime I find a new thing to be a fan of, I experience and learn new things. For example, liking Hugh Laurie in the TV show "House" led me to his bestie Stephen Fry, who led me to Oscar Wilde and PJ Wodehouse, Blackadder and the list goes on.

Through OK Go (and the boards!) , I've learned about net neutality, thingamagoops, what aleatory means, that Japan has the best food, and here, the music business. (AND the list goes on and on)

SO wish interviewers would read what Damian wrote, just in this one post. I knew nothing about the music business, except a vague sense of needing to hate labels. I understand a bit now. Why can't music interviewers get it?

Becky's right – GO READ IT!

Christel! Go interview the guys! You can figure out a way!

ChristelAdina

If you guys can help set me up with an actual working (and workable) phone recording system, I'm ready! I can't afford anything at the moment and the phones I was given (to replace the the ones I couldn't afford to) don't have inputs or speakers or anything so I can't even do interviews the old fashioned way.

Needless to say, I can't do interviews the other old fashioned way right now because of the whole ongoing chair issue.

But, I'm wondering what makes you have confidence I can do much better than these other interviewers? I mean, sure, I know a lot about music and the industry, and I pay attention to details and I wouldn't ask the same 5-year-old questions, but there's also the chance I'd get the giggles and not be able to complete the interview. I'm painfully excitable, you see.

laeticia

That was the 2nd thing Damian wrote that I read (1st was about net neutrality). It's so good that he can write 20.000 words and when it's over you still have the feeling of understanding...damian does that, it's magical.

I finally understood what all this 'not embbedable' bullshit was all about.

Totalgeek42

So what's fantastic about that is that it's a complicated issue that he explains so that people can understand it.  If I didn't know any better, I'd say he had my English teacher.. she's always trying to get us to think that way.  Sounds much smarter, even, than tryign to explain a complicated issue in a complicated way.. and then nobody ever wants to read it anyways, so it doesn't do you any good.  xP

Not enough people get that though.. oO

Gods I'm such an English language geek..

DJRose

laeticia said:

That was the 2nd thing Damian wrote that I read (1st was about net neutrality). It's so good that he can write 20.000 words and when it's over you still have the feeling of understanding...damian does that, it's magical.

I finally understood what all this 'not embbedable' bullshit was all about.

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Bingo.

I read a LOT of discussions on the music business, internet and copyright policy, that sort of thing.  It gets dull VERY quickly, and I love this stuff.  Damian's style of writing is informative, yet never bombards you in a way that glazes over your eyes.

Aleatory

violetchaos364 said:

beckysioux said:

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.

---

Everytime I find a new thing to be a fan of, I experience and learn new things. For example, liking Hugh Laurie in the TV show "House" led me to his bestie Stephen Fry, who led me to Oscar Wilde and PJ Wodehouse, Blackadder and the list goes on.

Through OK Go (and the boards!) , I've learned about net neutality, thingamagoops, what aleatory means, that Japan has the best food, and here, the music business. (AND the list goes on and on)

SO wish interviewers would read what Damian wrote, just in this one post. I knew nothing about the music business, except a vague sense of needing to hate labels. I understand a bit now. Why can't music interviewers get it?

Becky's right – GO READ IT!

Christel! Go interview the guys! You can figure out a way!

---

I feel the exact same way. Through OK Go and their intense love of the Pixies, I got into the Pixies. (remember, I'm kind of young here, although I'm well-versed in good bands.) I got into the Zombies. I got into a lot of new stuff via my OK Go and SDR stations on Pandora. Hell, everything I know about net neutrality and the music industry I learned, directly or indirectly, through OK Go.

@Amber: I also rode the whole Hugh Laurie -> Stephen Fry -> A Bit of Fry and Laurie  discovery-train too.

Also, I'm glad I could add another word to your lexicon.

violetchaos364

ChristelAdina said:

But, I'm wondering what makes you have confidence I can do much better than these other interviewers? I mean, sure, I know a lot about music and the industry, and I pay attention to details and I wouldn't ask the same 5-year-old questions, but there's also the chance I'd get the giggles and not be able to complete the interview. I'm painfully excitable, you see.

---

Hmm, how about: You know a lot about music and the industry, you pay attention to details and you wouldn't ask the same 5-year-old questions, and besides, you would ask them informed questions and have awesome follow up questions.

But, erm, yeah, the risk of the giggles. Or, in my case, an extreme "herp!derp!" of thought.

@aleatory - The first time I heard of the Pixies was my first OK Go concert in April when Damian sang "Debaser" Instant like! And, always up for new words! A Bit of Fry and Laurie WIN! I'd quote it all the time but NO ONE would know the reference. Ah well. SOUPY TWIST!

Totalgeek42

http://theblacksheepagency.com/blog/index.php/site/deets/ok_go_not_your_run_of_the_treadmill_viral_campaign

So.. this article kind of annoys me for a few reasons.

1) They clearly haven't actually read the critic's ideas of OK Go's music.  I mean maybe I'm just really good at finding the people who only compliment it and call OTBCOTS one of the best albums of the year, and Oh No really good, and really bad at finding people who -don't- think it's fantastically creative and fun and a must-listen, but everything that I've read (aside from that one whatshisface guy that has some weird grudge against them) shows that the critics love their music as much as, if not more than, their videos.

2) They didn't even do enough research to realize that it's OK Go, not Ok Go, and that just bothers me.

3) How many times do they have to say that they write music first, come up with videos as a second concept, and then figure out which music goes with which video?  In pretty much any interview ever you can hear them say that.. yet these people are convinced that they write the music to fit the video.  Research, people..

Sorry for the rant, I just really had to share my annoyance at people who don't bother doing RESEARCH for their articles.  Which is, by the way, the first way to lose your credibility as someone whose articles are worth reading..

I mean I guess the point of the article is to show that there are other ways to make money now, but they're totally lacking in the correct sort of evidence for that.. OK Go's a great way to show that and all, as proven by any of the articles written by Damian, but not in the way that this website is trying to..

laeticia

Why are people so worried about their music sales?? They are doing just fine the way things are now, geez lay off it, will you...annoying reporters. 

Who cares where the money is coming from? If they were to rely just on sales they would be freaking broke by now... people don't buy music anymore. How long will it take 

The truth is, Ok Go is a new breed of band that doesn’t necessarily see their first artistic motivation as the music itself. Nor do they seem to care that they are financially dependent on secondary revenue. While many mediocre bands like them have come and gone because they haven’t had the musical panache to differentiate themselves, Ok Go is still out there making music. And, even if the video counterparts are stealing the show, they’re still being watched and allowing them to get attention and exposure.

I'm sorry, this whole article just sounded confused. Saying that they are 'mediocre' was just pure mean.

I don't see how worrying about more things besides their music is a bad thing. Since when relying on something other than record sales is a bad thing? WHY can't they just have the whole package, why does this type of people still think that you have to focus on just one thing?

OK Go is an artistic band, they have other ways to express themselves. People should just deal with it.

Aleatory

My counterpoint to that article is just that if they're sort of mediocre, then why do they have that many hugely dedicated, awesome, smart fans who appreciate more than the music? Sure, Justin Bieber and Nickelback (and, ahem, Stone Sour)  have a ton of fans, but did a Bieber fan ever make a mini light up laser guitar for Justin? Did a Nickelback fan ever get to show their cover of a song to them and have them say it's fantastic? Did Stone Sour ever have a geo-spatial-sonic parade party and ask their fans to make art with them?

NO.

Yes, this may be preaching to the choir, but I think OK Go, as a band and as people, are pretty damn awesome. If someone doesn't like them, no big deal. That's their loss, and they'll never get to experience the pure joy that is an OK Go show (and maybe a hug from Damian afterward).

Also, since this is the absolute PERFECT context....

Sweetheart, you'll find that mediocre people do exceptional things all the time.

violetchaos364

Yes, this may be preaching to the choir, but I think OK Go, as a band and as people, are pretty damn awesome. If someone doesn't like them, no big deal. That's their loss, and they'll never get to experience the pure joy that is an OK Go show (and maybe a hug from Damian afterward).

Also, since this is the absolute PERFECT context....

Sweetheart, you'll find that mediocre people do exceptional things all the time.

---

Ab-so-lut-ly perfect. And there are reasons the choir is the choir.

People are trying to jam OK Go into a rock band box, it doesn't work, and people don't know what the hell to do with that. IMHO. They are more like performance artists, in a way, I think. That may be a better way of describing their very broad scope of awesomeness that they do.

And we, the discerning choir, are here to experience it.

Also,

"...then why do they have that many hugely dedicated, awesome, smart fans who appreciate more than the music?"

Another thing the ubiquitous "people" don't understand is that our boys are hugely dedicated, awesome, smart men who appreciate US, the fans. 

Poor OK Go-less people.

ugh

 "People are trying to jam OK Go into a rock band box, it doesn't work, and people don't know what the hell to do with that."

so true

Totalgeek42

Not to mention is clearly works for them, seeing as they're the most succesful independent label band -I've- heard of.  xP

DJRose

Well if you want to get into it, Arcade Fire and Spoon are both on Merge which is an indie label that gained stature because of those (and other) bands.  That's just off the top of my head.  There are LOADS of bands on indie labels that are significantly more successful than OK Go.  But that's really neither here nor there.  OK Go is one of the most innovative bands out there right now and they deserve the credit.  They are blazing their own trails, plowing past gatekeepers, and rocking our faces off along the way.  If their videos get more attention than their music does, so be it, but there will always be people (namely us and future boardies) who appreciate them for what they really are - a kick ass band.  There is No band in the history of music that appeals to everyone.  Not The Beatles.  Not Elvis Presley.  Not Beethoven, or Mozart, or Bach.  So what if this Robbins guy (whom I actually pity a bit) doesn't get it?  We do.  As long as the guys keep finding ways to pay their rent doing this, then I see no problem.

Totalgeek42

DJRose said:

Well if you want to get into it, Arcade Fire and Spoon are both on Merge which is an indie label that gained stature because of those (and other) bands.  That's just off the top of my head.  There are LOADS of bands on indie labels that are significantly more successful than OK Go. 

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Fine then.. they're the most succesful band I know of that runs their own label.  xD

(Dayumm.. 22.. closee)

Taciturn

I believe Becky had posted the original article for this a few pages back in this thread, so I'll just put this here.  The North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco won the Yahoo! Bus Sop Derby and win a free block party with OK Go ontop of a roof!  I'm just wondering if there are other Bay Area boardies.

Congratulations team North Beach for your valiant victory in the world’s first Bus Stop Derby. Well played. Your 363,650 points and over 150,000 game plays got you first place, with the Tenderloin in close second with 329,625 points. We don’t know how many buses you missed, but the sacrifice was worth it: in addition to citywide bragging rights you get to host the rock block party with OK Go!

The entire city is invited to rock out on the rooftop at the SF Art Institute, from the toughest competition (Mission and Tenderloin—so close!) to the slightly less tough (Noe Valley, thanks for playing). Come enjoy a variety of street food, games, and mingle with your fellow neighbors on February 5, starting at 3:30pm. Concert doors open at 5:30pm—but come early, since only the first 800 people will get wristbands to the show.

P.S. Take the bus. Parking at the block party is very limited so hop on the Muni (nearby lines: 45 Union/Stockton, 30 Stockton, and 41 Union) or ride your bike.

Article link: http://www.busstopderby.com/?p=272

laeticia

Well,

when OK Go came to Brazil besides a few interviews that Damian does nothing more than just looking cute (kidding, he always does more), he gave an interview to a some sort of friend of mine (we know each other, we're always nice to each other and we meet and we hang, but we never hang out much...because well...she's too cool and I'm a nerd).

It's for an alternative press magazine called Noize, and I translated it back to English so my followers from Tumblr could read it ('cause I was bored). I liked it because it doesn't seem like it was cut. So we have the whole Damian speaking until he gets to the main point process, haha. Well, the only thing that kinda made me bite my lips was that it says that they had to leave the label to record the album (which as far as I know it's not true, because they left EMI a lil bit later, innit?)

So, here  it is, hope you'll like it and sorry for my English if anything's wrong.

beckysioux

OK Go's dog tale leads band to Flat Tail

The article talks about their time in Corvallis when they were filming White Knuckles and what their current plans are.

“We had done a video there, but it seemed like our time was
incomplete because we didn't get to play,” Nordwind explains. “We’d
been hoping to find an opportunity. Then we got an offer for this
show. It was a no-brainer: We must return and finish what we
started. It’s our ‘Return of the Jedi.’ This completes our
training.”

Oh Tim, I love it when you talk nerd.

laeticia

I actually really liked this interview!

and didn't your eyes just sparkle when he talked about A SHOE LINE?

HAHAHAHA #crazymerchfan