Here OK Goes Again
American rock band OK Go has been on the road for almost two years behind its second album, Oh No, after getting a boost from some handmade videos, particularly the infamous “treadmill video” for the song “Here It Goes Again.” In the video, the four band members — frontman Damian Kulash, bassist Tim Nordwind, drummer Dan Konopka and keyboardist/guitarist Andy Ross — do a synchronized dance routine on moving treadmills. The fun video concept became the talk beyond music circles. Kulash and Nordwind talk with Zeeks about the phenomenon they created.
Zeeks: When you’re doing an interview, do you guys bet how long it will take the interviewer to ask you about the treadmill video?
Kulash: We should, although it would be a heavily favored bet towards about three seconds.
Zeeks: How much money?
Kulash: Ten dollars.
Zeeks: Didn’t it cost 10 dollars to make the video?
Kulash: No, the treadmill video for “Here It Goes Again” actually cost a few thousand dollars. It’s still incredibly cheap for a video, but we had to buy the treadmills and then return them, and they charged us a pretty hefty restocking fee.
Zeeks: So in the aftermath of the video do you have people coming up to you on the street doing impromptu dances?
Nordwind: Paula Abdul does that a lot.
Kulash: She’s been following us around; it’s kind of creepy.
Nordwind: She’s jealous that she didn’t come up with this routine herself.
Kulash: She was a very successful choreographer in her time, but it’s like, ‘Paula, step aside. It’s time for a new era and we have brought it in.’
Zeeks: What about dance-offs with other bands such as the Foo Fighters?
Kulash: The Foo Fighters, that’s like easy-pickings. What we need to do is go head-to-head with somebody like J.T. Justin Timberlake is obviously a very powerful and talented dancer, but I’ve never seen him on a treadmill. We could do it with our hands tied behind our backs if it would help him, or we could remove the treadmills. I think we could beat him on solid ground at this point.
Zeeks: From watching that video and the one for “A Million Ways” with your backyard dance, how on earth do you not laugh?
Kulash: “We’ve actually had several muscles in our face surgically removed.”
Nordwind: “The honest answer to that question is we actually take this stuff pretty seriously. We spend a lot of time rehearsing these things and it’s pretty disappointing when we screw up.”
Zeeks: Does it bother you that now, in a way, these things have taken away from asking about the all-important music and songs?
Kulash: “To tell you the truth, no, because while we’ve been repeating our answers to these questions a million times — well, never to these ones [particular questions] — today we’re really on a roll lying a lot — at least treadmills are something that most people don’t ask about, and to answer questions about songs over and over again, like when people say, ‘Well, why are you into music?’ ‘Cause music’s awesome,’ it’s sort of fun to have something else to talk about.”
Zeeks: Do you think one day you’ll hate dancing and ban it like in that movie Footloose?
Kulash: “We will not ban dancing. We’re not a dance band. We’re a little indie rock band that made a funny video. We’re not a comedy troupe. We get this reputation for being wacky and crazy, and if you listen to our music, we’re a rock band. We make rock music. We enjoy ourselves. A lot of it is upbeat and fun, but a lot of it’s not. The videos are things we do for fun.”