With a Grammy under their belt, a new incredible 3rd album, Of the Colour of the Sky (produced by Flaming Lips' David Friedman) and the highest record number of hits on a music video ever; their recipe for success seems to be working.
OK GO frontman Damian Kulash took a few minutes out of the band's super busy touring schedule to talk to me about their new independent label, Parachute Records, making awesome music videos and his take on "making it" in the music world.
REAX: Hey Damian, thanks for taking some time out to talk to me. So you guys recently left Capital/EMI Records to pursue your own label, Paracadute Recordings. Can you tell me a little about that move and what caused it?
OK GO: Well I think we were just really going in a different direction then the label. Ya know the label was very good to us over the years and enabled us to make some albums that we are really proud of but it was just time to part ways and do our own thing.
There are so many means of distributing music in this day and age and we were ready to explore some of those options on our own. It was the best move for everyone.
REAX: You guys produce all of your videos, where do those ideas come from?
OK GO: The ideas can come from anywhere, but usually either the band or our close friends. We know what we like and have learned to recognize a good idea when we see it. The treadmill video was a collaboration with my sister.
The Rube Goldberg video was dreamed up by us and then we found the right people to make it. The marching band video was a collaboration with the drummer from my college band, who is now a director. The WTF video was done by our good friend from L.A. So yeah, we kind of try to keep it in our close circle of friends.
REAX: Was video production something you guys had always been interested in? Did you envision it becoming a big part of the band's success when you all started this?
OK GO: Well we have always been the most interested in just chasing our creative ideas. I don't think we knew when we started the band how much effort we would put into producing these videos or how much success they would have. We don't think of them as marketing tools, we see them more as our artwork.
No one really knows what is around the corner for them artistically, you just chase down what is the most exciting to you and for us these ideas are just getting more and more exciting.
REAX: Where do all the sweet dance moves come from? Do you guys come up with the choreography?
OK GO: Different videos are by different people. My sister did the treadmill video. At the time we just kind of threw ourselves at the machines and luckily it turned into a pretty cool routine.
REAX: Were there any serious injuries while making that video? It has to take some skills to dance on a treadmill.
OK GO: There were definitely some scrapes and bruises but luckily no broken bones or hospital visits. That video was really fun to do.
REAX: OK GO has experienced so much success in recent years. Can you pick a sort of 'Almost Famous' moment thus far?
OK GO: Honestly, I don't think that those moments really exist. I mean we are very proud of all of our accomplishments but at the same time the things that excite us most are always in the future and not really in the past.
I don't think anyone ever really feels like they've made it, at least I hope I never feel that way. The things that motivate us are really our creative passions and we are very proud of what we have accomplished but I think you always strive for more.
REAX: What's next for OK GO?
OK GO: We are touring through out the rest of the summer, we are currently in the middle of a 7 week U.S tour and after that we will be in Asia and Europe for most of the summer. We are also making several new videos and collaborating with several different artists. We sort of have our hands in everything right now, we are even working on a clothing line with some people.
There's a handful of festivals we are playing this summer too, which we are pretty excited about. The Hangout Festival in Alabama should be a really good time and also Sasquatch Festival later in the summer. We are also re-releasing our record on our own independent label in the next month or two and then we will probably be putting out some new material around the fall.
There is so much going on. There's a really wide array of people that we feel very fortunate to be working with. Another really cool thing we are doing on tour right now is offering a USB drive with the show from that night on it after each gig. So five minutes after the show is over you can buy a personalized USB drive with the new album on it as well as the show you just saw, its pretty cool.
REAX: Cool indeed! Thanks so much Damian and we will see you guys in Tampa on May 14th!
Find out more about the show here
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