Music

OK Go On the Road Pushing Latest Album

by AUX staff

Even though their newest record Of the Blue Colour of the Sky was released within the first two weeks of 2010, Chicago rockers OK Go have been through a whirlwind of activity in the short time since their album hit store shelves.

They parted ways with their long-time label EMI, formed their own record label (Paracadute), and created three more viral video hits, one of which (“This Too Shall Pass”) has wracked up an astonishing 11+ million hits on You Tube. In other words, they have almost lived through an album’s complete life cycle in just over four months.

Although their parting from EMI has been portrayed as amicable by both parties, one has to wonder if their former label hit a dead-end in terms of trying to figure how to turn the group’s massive viral video success into physical record sales.

“It could have been a source of frustration for them,” OK Go’s Tim Nordwind hypothesizes. “But people just aren’t buying CDs anymore and I think all record labels are trying to figure out how they can continue to exist with the old fashioned distribution models crumbling on them. Labels are going to have to adapt and figure out ways to pay the bills and keep the lights on while continuing to invest in music. There is no easy solution for sure.”

Nordwind says with the band founding their own label, they are hoping that it will be the distribution arm of whatever whim the band feels is worthy of release – everything from music to videos to even OK Go barbecue sauce! Alright, so the barbecue sauce might be a stretch but it shows the group’s mind frame at the present time – all options will be considered.

“We got into this band 11 years ago to chase our wildest ideas,” Nordwind says. “A lot of times those ideas are going to come in the form of an album, other times it is going to be a video.”

“EMI’s bread and butter is from selling CDs and while we love getting our CDs out to as many people as possible, there are many other things we are interested in sharing with our fans. Via Paracadute, we will be able to share everything we want to do creatively.”

With the next six months of their lives bookmarked for touring the world (including an April 23 show at the Mod Club in Toronto), Nordwind understands the importance of being on the road to promote their record. At this crucial juncture of their career, he admits that the group is hoping to more evenly split their time between the road and the recording studio.

“We definitely understand the importance of playing live for those 60-90 mins every night but I think we might move towards a model of touring half the year and being creative for the other half of the year,” he said. “Obviously, touring is important and we are going to do all we need to do but we also want to be sure that we remaining creative in the time that we are not on the road.”

“There was a three year gap between our debut and Oh No and then five years between Oh No and our latest record. Those long gaps between records have largely been because we’ve been on the road. I think it is safe to say that we really want to shorten the gaps between records from here on forward.”

Visit www.okgo.net to stay up to date in regards to all things OK Go.

By Ken Kelley