Known for their creative music videos, GRAMMY winners OK Go recently stopped by the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles to participate in an installment of The Drop series. During a question-and-answer session, the band discussed how the Internet changed the landscape for music videos and their first viral video for "A Million Ways," among other topics. OK Go also performed a brief acoustic set, including "The Writing's On The Wall" from their most recent studio album, Hungry Ghosts.
"When the Internet came along with all these other outlets for the [videos] you make, suddenly all these things … had a home," said frontman Damian Kulash. "What we now think of as music videos, we didn't originally. The first one that really went viral was us dancing in my backyard [in] … the video for 'A Million Ways.'"
Chicago-based OK Go formed in 1998, featuring guitarist/keyboardist Andrew Duncan, drummer Dan Konopka, Kulash, and bassist Tim Nordwind. Following two independent EPs, the quartet inked a deal with Capitol Records and subsequently released their self-titled debut in 2002. Catapulted by the radio hit "Get Over It," the album peaked at No. 1 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. OK Go's sophomore effort, 2005's Oh No, also topped the Heatseekers chart. The band scored a breakthrough with the accompanying videos for the singles "A Million Ways" and "Here It Goes Again," which became trendsetting viral sensations, netting millions of views. The latter video, which featured the band members dancing on a series of moving treadmills, earned the group their first career GRAMMY for Best Short Form Music Video for 2006.
OK Go resurfaced in 2010 with Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky, which featured new guitarist/keyboardist Andy Ross, who replaced Duncan. The album became their highest charting album on the Billboard 200, landing at No. 40. The video for the track "All Is Not Lost" netted the group a second career GRAMMY nomination for Best Short Form Music Video for 2011.
Hungry Ghosts, OK Go's fourth studio album, was released in October 2014 via the band's independent imprint, Paracadute. The set features 12 tracks written by the band, including "The Writing's On The Wall" and "I Won't Let You Down." Filmed utilizing one camera on a drone, the video for the latter song features the band riding high-tech scooters, Japanese schoolgirls and twirling umbrella props.
OK Go are currently in the midst of a U.S. tour, with dates scheduled through May.
Upcoming GRAMMY Museum events Ravi Shankar: Celebrating A Life In Music (April 28), The Drop: Shelby Lynne (April 30) and The Drop: Milk Carton Kids (May 18).