OK GO is playing a show this Friday at the Bender Arena of AU with Snow Patrol and Silversun Pickups. And you know, they are everywhere these days, and “Here it goes again” was definetly one of our choice wake up songs of 2006 ….
So, we thought it would be sort of fun to interview them but it turned out Cale had some residual OK GO anger from college (when, and we quote “Damian tried to steal my girlfriend AND THEN BEAT ME at fooseball, and I mean- I am a pretty decent fooseballer myself”), Svetlana took the keyboard into her own hands and talked to Dan Konopka-their drummer (who, from what we know has no fooseball world domination intentions, but does love a hot air balloon when he sees one) about “making it”, being like Frosted mini wheats to Snow Patrol’s Cracklin Oat Bran and of course “it”.read.up.

BYT: Aside from the show this Friday, is there anything else you would
like to shamelessly promote: new single, collaboration, excercise video….?

DK:We do have a new video you can check out for the song, “Do What You Want.” goto youtube.com (type in “do what you want, wallpaper version”
and check it out!)

BYT: How is the tour coming along thus far. Snow Patrol and Silversun Pickups are both sort of more downtempo/melancholic bands, so how does it feel to sort of be the Xanax of the lineup?

DK: I look at this tour in a more of a breakfast cereal kind of way. SilverSun is like Cinnamon LIFE, then we go up and you get your Frosted Mini Wheat’s (new yogurt flavor), then SP is like Cracklin’ Oat Bran with a banana thrown in.

BYT:Who would be your dream touring partner (aside from Snow Patrol/Silversun of course)

DK:I’d love to tour with the Flaming Lips again.

BYT:In the last year or so you have gone from relatively unknown indie darlings to mass media superstars, are you experiencing any of the backlash along with the good things that come with mainstream success?

DK:Not really. But then again, I wouldn’t call us mass media superstars. The only perceptible negative I sense is the idea that we aren’t a
band. That we are some comedy troupe. Thats a drag.

BYT: What were you doing when you realized “you made it”? Do you
remember that moment?

DK:I remember hearing “Get Over It” -a song off our first record, on my favorite radio station in Chicago and the hairs on the back of my neck
stood up! That was very exciting. Overall though, I don’t think we’ve really made it yet. Hopefully, we’re on our way!

BYT: And what has been the most surreal thing about fame thus far?
(a choice japanese screaming teenagers moment description etc… would be appropriate here)

DK:For me… It’s the ability to take off my stage clothes, and navigate
through a room of 6 thousand people that you just rocked their butts off and not be noticed at all..That’s the blessing and curse of being a drummer. (I feel it’s a true blessing actually.)

BYT:Just how grateful are you to YouTube?

DK:I don’t think it’s quantifiable… ( I guess, more then we could ever
say in a million years.)

BYT:Tell us about your fan club, the Jugglers? They definitely seem like a
slightly more interesting bunch of peoples than your average band fan
base. Who came up with the idea for that?

DK:Jorge, our manager assistant and all around internet mediator. He’s amazing! And a dear dear friend. To tell you the truth, I don’t know much about our jugglers… They all seem to be pretty nice people though.

BYT: Speaking of Jugglers, OK GO seems to be one of the most activityminded bands around: the ping pong/table tennis programme, the elaborate dance routines for “A million ways”, the treadmills….how did this
personal fitness as an expression form thing come about?

DK:Oddly enough, there was never really a focused pursuit of a sporty
theme in our non-musical endeavors… We just wanted to make things that
we’re cool and I think these things just felt right at the time.
(None of us are really sporty…)

BYT: Do you have any future plans for videos of the same sort (we’re
thinking circus trapezes, jumping ropes, hop schotches, extreme
fooseball)?

DK:I would love to to do a choreographed (time lap photography) hot air balloon “dance” video to happen! (Note: That’s my idea, and I have a feeling we will NEVER attempt it.)

BYT: How much of it all is incorporated in live shows?

DK:We have a new video screen that goes up behind us at shows now. We spice up our songs with little video vignettes. You get a fair share of the
Ok Go style in those videos.

BYT: Do you ever get sick of playing “Here it goes”?

DK:Not really. That song plays itself. It’s a lot of fun to play.

BYT:I read somewhere that you wrote something like 60 songs for the
second album. How were you able to weed them out and are there any you
wish you were able to use and are planning to use in the future?

DK:True! We sat around a table and voted! It was tough. Some good ones got away… All of the contenders are still around though. Sometimes I get
a good laugh at the demos for that record…

BYT:The look and feel of OK GO is distinctly retro, but with a twist. I
heard earlier comparisons with Weezer are now substituted with mentions
of T.Rex and such.(obviously veering into the theatrical) Where do the influences lie, both styleistically and
musically?

DKWhen we first came out we didn’t have a particular style visually. T shirt and jeans mostly. This time we wanted to spice it up. Go a bit dandy… We don’t have to tell anyone that it’s FUN to get dressed up…
Musically though, we go with what moves us. The influences really run
the gamut. From Prince to the Pixies, from Depeche Mode to The Beach Boys. We are just trying to make the best, funnest music we can…

BYT: OK, so to keep things light and breezy we tend to do one of those
questionaire type things at the end of every interview that require not
much more than one word answers, and yet offer endless insight into your
souls (maybe).
For you, we prepared
a special:”either/or” session.
ready?
(Feel free to elaborate if you feel so inclined)

DKOh good! These are fun!
(we can smell the eye roll-ed.)

a. Beatles or Stones?
Beatles

b. Paris or Nicky?
(Me… ) Paris

c. Wes Anderson or Spike Jonze?
Wes

d. New or used?
New

e. Crunchy or smooth?
Crunchy

f. Shaken or stirred?
When I was in my 20’s, Vodka shaken… Now that I’m 32, Gin, should
never be shaken.

g. Gin or vodka?
See F.

h. Pepsi or Coke?
Coke

i. West or East coast?
West

j. MTV or VH1?
Neither

k. Masters of the Universe or the Transformers?
Transformers

l. and : Double or single creme?
If we’re talking Oreos… Single creme.

…………….

And finally and all importantly :

………
….
.
.
.(HOPEFULLY you all are enjoying the dramatic pause, as much as we are)

BYT: What is “IT” in “Here it goes again”?

DK: Man… I have NO fucking clue!

Fair enough. We just had our hopes up and there you go (again) crushing our dreams. Howevers, Thank you for indulging us and we look forward to seeing you this friday.

Thank you! See Ya!
-Dan Konopka