In its breakthrough 2005 single “Here It Goes Again,” the indie rock band OK Go dances over a lineup of treadmills, wearing pink pants and patterned vests. The video, praised for its innovative style and creative choreography, went viral.
In an early 2000s world where online virality was only just emerging, the LA-based band figured its music videos had struck a chord with a nerdy subsection of its fan base.
One Best Music Video Grammy and 64 million views later, the band was catapulted to fame, and is now bound to release its seventh album later this year. In addition to its upbeat music, the band is recognized for its elaborate music videos and iconic choreographies, often credited with having revolutionized the music video industry.
Damian Kulash, lead singer and guitarist, says consistency in sound is hardly the band’s style. OK Go was influenced by artists like Prince and the Pixies to form what Kulash describes as Elvis Costello x Cheap Trick happy music. Finding the band’s identity was an “incremental slide into weirder and more unique things,” he says.
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“Our sound is kind of all over the place because our taste is all over the place,” Kulash adds.
Kulash met Tim Nordwind, the band’s future bassist, at a sleep-away arts camp when they were 11 years old. They had an art teacher who gave really vague instructions (and probably smoked a lot of pot, Kulash says). The teacher always said, “Ok, go!” at the end of his directions, which became an inside joke between the boys.
Nordwind and Kulash remained friends, keeping in touch through college. After graduating, OK Go became a reality and the inside joke became the band name. Nordwind had met drummer Dan Konopka in college, and guitarist Andy Duncan (replaced by Andy Ross a few years later) joined shortly thereafter.
When OK Go was invited to play on a cable access TV show, where musicians were expected to lip sync, they thought they should at least have as much fun as possible in the process. The result was the now famous “A Million Ways” music video, where the four men perform a choreographed dance routine in Kulash’s backyard. Wearing suits, the band dances simply and stiffly, featuring Nordwind’s chicken wing flap and even a simulated sword fight. While self-effacing, their confidence proved unforgettable.
“There’s this shamelessness of being like, ‘even though I’m bad at this, I’m going to try to learn it as best I can and enjoy it,’ and I think that’s really contagious,” Kulash says.
Beginning with “A Million Ways” and the famed treadmill video shortly after, the band is often credited for having ushered in a new era of music videos, one that expanded the idea of what choreography could even look like.
For OK Go, that did not mean better dance moves. What began as low budget, do-it-yourself videos turned into choreographic feats like a warehouse-sized Rube Goldberg Machine in “This Too Shall Pass,” thousands of pieces of laser-etched toast in “Last Leaf” and a zero-gravity plane in “Upside Down and Inside Out.”
Through the color bombs and choreographic chaos, Kulash says the key to OK Go’s videos’ success is the band’s ability to make viewers feel like they are in the room with them. The group’s creative process comes down to mixing and matching different chords until they find the right sound, and then visuals build off of that.
“Every once in a while, that spills over into this emotional place where you get something completely unexpected, and it’s not just a third sound,” Kulash says. “It is the feeling of jumping on your bed as a 12 year old, plus the feeling of heartache as a 17 year old, plus a little bit of wistful nostalgia.”
On its website, OK Go uses its videos to provide learning tools for elementary schoolers, like showing the principles of gravity in its video, “The One Moment” where paint-filled orbs shatter on beat with the music. The band also contributes op-eds about digital rights and net neutrality to media outlets like the New York Times and Rolling Stone.
As for its performance in St. Louis in July, Kulash says to expect a “fun, sweaty rock show.”
“The thrill of being in a big group of people and experiencing something that goes beyond words … there’s nothing like it.”
‘Rolling Stone’ Names , the Best Songs of 2024 So Far. Staff members at 'Rolling Stone' compiled some of their favorite songs of the year so far and even made a Spotify playlist for you to check them out. Beyoncé, "Ya Ya", "Her lyrics place her own family’s struggles against a backdrop of American economic, racial, and social hypocrisy, and wrap her anti-erasure gospel in a music that radiates freedom, resistance, and joy." –J.D. Kehlani, "After Hours", "She makes the groove her own, lighting up one of 2024’s finest summer jams." —J.D. Ariana Grande, "We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)", "Whether the song is about Grande’s relationship with the press, an ex, or both, its raw mix of hurt and hope has the kaleidoscopic radiance of club lights in wet eyes." —B. Stallings. Kendrick Lamar, "Not Like Us", "Of all the songs that Kendrick Lamar unleashed against Drake this spring in a paroxysm of pure contempt, this is the winner." —S.V.L. Kim Gordon, "Bye Bye", "Your favorite avant-garde twentysomething wishes they sounded this cool." —S.V.L. Megan Thee Stallion, "Hiss", "For longtime fans, it represented the down and dirty, no holds barred, UGK-studied rapping that made them fall in love with her. She herself credits it to her beloved ego, Tina Snow." —M.C. Olivia Rodrigo, "So American", "It’s a giddy pop earworm and an absolute rock & roll banger." —M.G. Hozier, "Too Sweet", "The song didn’t appear on his album 'Unreal Unearth' because it didn’t fit the mood, but it’s landed perfectly now." —J.L. Kacey Musgraves, "Cardinal", "To open her latest studio album, 'Deeper Well,' Kacey Musgraves looked to nature to set the tone." —J.L