OK Go

OK Go is an American rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois, now based in Los Angeles, California. The band is composed of Damian Kulash (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Nordwind (bass, vocals), Dan Konopka (drums and percussion), and Andy Ross (guitar, keyboards and vocals), who joined them in 2005, replacing original guitarist Andy Duncan.

The band is known for its quirky music videos which are often elaborately choreographed to be filmed in a single long take and make extensive use of practical effects and optical illusions.

The original members formed as OK Go in 1998 and released two studio albums before Duncan's departure. The band's video for "Here It Goes Again" won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video in 2007.

The band's lead singer, Damian Kulash, met bassist Tim Nordwind at Interlochen Arts Camp near Traverse City, Michigan, when they were 11. The band name comes from an inside joke developed at Interlochen; their art teacher had an often high assistant who would repeatedly say, "OK... Go!" while they were drawing. They kept in touch after camp, often exchanging mixtapes which influenced each other's musical tastes and the band's future sound. They met the band's future guitarist and keyboardist Andy Duncan in high school. Nordwind and Duncan moved to Chicago for college, and, with drummer Dan Konopka, formed the band Stanley's Joyful Noise. After graduating from Brown University, Kulash moved to Chicago. The quartet formed OK Go with the name being "an obvious choice for us" according to Nordwind.

The band marketed themselves aggressively, putting up posters all around Chicago and touring heavily. Within a year the group had shared the stage with international artists such as Elliott Smith, the Promise Ring, the Olivia Tremor Control and Sloan. At the end of 2000, the band was invited by radio host Ira Glass to serve as the house band for live performances of This American Life. Glass also helped the band creatively after asking Kulash the question, "Do you see yourselves as being earnest or clever?" Kulash struggled with the question before deciding that the answer was earnest. "I wanted to write a full-on rock song, one that made me feel like Queen songs made me feel", after which he wrote "Get Over It".

The band self-released two EPs, titled Brown EP (2000) and Pink EP (2001), which were culled from an album's worth of songs recorded in February 2000 with producer Dave Trumfio, to serve as demos.^{[citation needed]} The demos did not land the band a label deal, but got them the attention of booking agent Frank Riley, who booked them as the opening act for a few shows by They Might Be Giants. OK Go eventually opened for the Giants on five tours; singer John Flansburgh briefly sought to co-manage them.

In 2001 the group moved to Los Angeles, although they considered their Chicago roots important even a decade later.

In April 2001, the band signed with Capitol Records, forgoing offers from bigger labels because they believed that, as the first signing by newly hired label president Andy Slater, they would get more attention and support.