Ok Go - What Independent Bands Can Learn from "This Too Shall Pass"

I expected the Rube Goldberg machine to lead into a typical shot of the band performing in a warehouse setting. Obviously, I was incorrect.

Ok Go released a video for the single "This Too Shall Pass" via YouTube on March 1, 2010. Within 72 hours it was watched over 2,800,000 times. It seems their logical argument over video embedding capability with EMI has been resolved - the video has become another viral hit. It's imaginative, suspenseful and inspirational.

Part of the chase in becoming a successful independent artist is how well you visually market yourself. The audio alone is a tough sell and we can only look at so many photos. Today the masses want video; preferably in short, digestible clips. More importantly - something they can easily forward to their like-minded friends.

Ok Go has a bigger video budget than most of us, but it wasn't always that way. Who hasn't seen their "Here It Goes Again" / treadmill video? That video was made for only a few hundred dollars. The biggest expense was the purchase, and ultimate return of minus a bullshit restocking fee, eight treadmills.

"This Too Shall Pass" immediately grabs hold of our attention span until the almighty question of "How does it end?" is answered. The video contains enough imagery that we have to watch it again. Curiosity makes us want to examine specific parts closer or look for things we missed the first time through. The pace of the action is parallel to the music and creates the ideal balance. This is most evident during the bridge as the excitement builds. Seconds later we are soaring through the final moments of the video which can best be described as controlled chaos. Things are happening.

Independent video director Patrick Murphy shares his opinion:

It seems to me that OK Go has essentially built their relevance through "viral" music videos. To my knowledge it started with the dancing, then the treadmill video, perhaps a few I missed and, finally, this very impressive Rube Goldberg device. All of their videos are impressive; the time and effort put into each one definitely shows.

Their work in the videos, in some senses, remind me of the work of Michel Gondry, who directed dozens of videos - from the crazy choreography and light show in Daft Punk's 'Around The World' - The Lego stop-motion in The White Stripes' 'Fell In Love With A Girl' - to the impressive effect used in Kylie's 'Come Into My World'.

I believe, what sets OK Go's videos apart from big-time music video directors, and what has made group such an internet phenomenon are two things:

One, is that the videos (at least the early ones) were not seen on television or through other common mediums. The only way you were going to see the video was by someone passing it along to you. People are going to be more interested in something shown to them by someone they know than by some advertisement. Your friend is sending you this video because they believe you will enjoy it; an advertisement is trying to sell you something. We've been surrounded by advertising tactics for so long that we've become numb to most of it, and we expect to be lied to through them. So, when something innocent and fun comes our way, without the feeling that investors have sunk millions of dollars into it in an attempt to sell it to us, we're more likely to watch and share it others.

Secondly, while there are hundreds of very impressive videos, with big studio budgets and tremendous CGI and special effects - the audience typically has limited knowledge as to how it all was done. With these videos we imagine super-computers, complicated lighting and camera equipment that is alien to us. In OK Go's case, we know how it was all done. In fact, with the time and drive, we could probably recreate them ourselves. (In fact, many have. There are hundreds of YouTube videos re-enacting the dance and treadmill videos) As an audience, we can relate to these videos in a much deeper sense than to, for example, Kanye West in some sort of space-tube; even if that space-tube is incredibly rendered.

OK Go's videos are fun and simple, and it looks like they had fun making them. That can't be faked, and people will respond to it. They didn't have the money, but like most internet superstars, they definitely had the time. ...and the tunes are kinda catchy, too.

Patrick Murphy's most recent video was for Psychostick and their song, "Girl Directions". The video was made for less than $300 with the biggest expense being the camera rental.

For an independent band a good video is more than just the visual representation of a song. It's the catalyst for bigger opportunities. We're constantly reminded to treat our bands like a business. Consider your video an investment.

More examples of low-budget, professional looking videos:
Psychostick - "Girl Directions"
Frightened Rabbit - "Nothing Like You"
Look What I Did - "I'm Majoring in Psychology"