I’m ashamed to admit that prior to very recently (like, um, today) I wasn’t a fan of the indie rock band OK Go. I was familiar with some of their songs although I had never seen any of their music videos – not even their famous treadmill choreography to the song “Here it Goes Again” that became an Internet sensation a few years back and which is inching its way to 50 million views.
This all changed when one of my coworkers directed the first edition of OK Go’s “This Too Shall Pass” music video, featuring the Notre Dame marching band performing live in one take and on a shoestring budget (OK Go’s specialty). It was pretty awesome. Awesomer still is “This Too Shall Pass” Version 2.0, the band’s official music video which features a Rube Goldberg machine and astounding feats of physics and the domino effect.
Seriously, I could watch the video forever. It’s incredible.
From YouTube:
Directed by James Frost, OK Go and Syyn Labs. Produced by Shirley Moyers. The official video for the recorded version of “This Too Shall Pass” off of the album “Of the Blue Colour of the Sky”. The video was filmed in a two story warehouse, in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA. The “machine” was designed and built by the band, along with members of Synn Labs (http://syynlabs.com/) over the course of several months.
The band also YouTube’d a series of “making of” 2 minute featurettes, entertaining introductions to the band and the Synn Labs team but they don’t reveal much of the months of creation and testing that must have gone into this three minute masterpiece.
I wish I could embed the videos themselves, but in an effort to make more royalties on YouTube, the band’s record label EMI has disabled all embedding on OK Go music videos. OK Go responded with an open-letter apology to their fans and an op-ed piece at The New York Times on how the embed restriction has actually dramatically decreased the band’s viral viewership.
In these tight times, it’s no surprise that EMI is trying to wring revenue out of everything we make, including our videos. But it needs to recognize the basic mechanics of the Internet. Curbing the viral spread of videos isn’t benefiting the company’s bottom line, or the music it’s there to support. The sooner record companies realize this, the better — though I fear it may already be too late.
In the meantime, OK Go’s “This Too Shall Pass” has already shot past the 1 million mark and is well on its way to becoming another Internet sensation. Despite the embed restrictions, the band can count at least one new fan among its numbers (me!). I sincerely admire their quirky, creative sensibilities and their catchy tunes and look forward to seeing and hearing their future work.
Stay classy, OK Go.
