OK Go have sprung forth from their indie punk rock origins, torn off their eccentric garb and put the treadmills aside.
With the new album Of The Blue Colour of The Sky, the band have settled into a funky, melancholic sound. Talking to hecklerspray, OK Go bassist, backing singer and all round moustached maestro Tim Nordwind spills the beans on the album and European tour.
Read it after the jump…
‘Spray: Hi Tim, is the gig warmer than last night? (Their first UK gig this tour in Norwich)
Tim: It's a little bit warmer than last night, last night was freezing! I don't see the logic in not turning the heating on when it's winter.
‘Spray:? How did you feel the crowd was last night?
Tim: I thought the crowd was good. Sometimes it's tough to read, we haven't really been in the UK for two and a half years. we're kinda feeling each other out from night to night. We've got all that new material that a lot of people don't know. I think for the most of it the crowd were very good and very attentive.
‘Spray: How did you feel the bells section got on (The band break the gig up with a segment playing hand bells)? Did you get the reaction you wanted?
Tim: Yeah, I thought the bells went over well. It's one of those that you don't jump around to, you listen to and enjoy. I felt like people were really listening. It felt like the response we got in the end, the applause we got at the end seemed, like, super-appreciative.
We've been doing the bells for a couple of months now, and people?s response to you is ?When did find the time to learn that??
‘Spray: When did you find the time to learn that?
Tim: (Laughs) It was actually in the studio ?cause we did a little hand bell solo on one of the songs ?While You Were Asleep? and while we had them there we just thought ?Oh wow, we should try and arrange one of our already pre-existing songs into a bell quarter?. We've watched bell choirs on YouTube and we were really impressed by the way it sounds and how it visually looks. It's just really fun to watch and it's such an active thing and it's a nice way to break up the set for us but keeps things interesting, I feel.
We prefer to put things like that in the set to keep people on their toes and to keep ourselves on our toes. I mean, it's sort of why we used to end every show with a choreographed dance, just because it wasn?t expected and it was something different. Now it is kinda expected, it is not so much fun to do and we wanted to find something else that was equally as surprising and interesting.
‘Spray: Well, lets get into your new album Of the Blue Colour of the Sky which is out here now; how would you say your sound has evolved from your last album Oh No?
Tim: It's a bit different. It's a bit different. I think one of the biggest differences is that a lot of the songs on the record are groove based in a way that we haven't really written before. A lot of them are more, I think, grooved up instead of a guitar quart progression. So a lot of times what we would do is just make beats and see what beats we liked and if the beats got us excited just on its own then we would go to the next level. The song usually came second after we had the rhythm and that was the way we were writing. We were really influenced by what we were listening to – a lot of Prince and a lot of Purple Rain.
‘Spray: Yeah, you could tell that, that there was a lot of that influence in it.
Tim: Yeah, there is a lot of Prince in it. There is also the other side of the record that is kinda on the porch sort of folksy kind of sound. The mood is a little bit different from previous records.
‘Spray: I think it shows a different side to you. It really broadens you out -?probably to a new audience.
Tim: Yeah, yeah, I think it opens it up to a new dimension of sound and song for us. Quite frankly it was really time to do that I think. We had done a lot of exploration of young-centric, upbeat music and yeah quite frankly we weren't feeling like that people and it wasn?t much fun to write that kind of music anymore. I mean the world has changed so much in the 10 years we have been a band and we wanted to be reflective of what was going on around us and what was going on with us personally and this record feels more like who we are and the world around us at this current time.
‘Spray: With your music, the other side it is the music videos; when you come about to your next music video is there a lot of pressure for you now?
Tim: I don't really feel like there's pressure. we're just so glad to have the opportunity to keep making videos like that and keep making records and we're just glad we have gotten ourselves that third chance to do all this stuff. More than pressure, it's just a great thing to keep making things – we're just going about our business as far as the videos go. We've already made two, we're making a third as soon as we are done with this European tour and we've got three more in early stages of development. We are kind of on our way to making an entire record full of videos.
‘Spray: Is there a music video DVD compilation in the pipeline?
Tim: Yeah, I think we?d be dumb not to at this point just because I think we?ll have a full DVD’s worth of material at some point soon, so I think it'll be a nice collection for anyone who likes the band. Personally, I'd like to see once we've done them all how they?ll stand up against each other and to see what they are reflective of.
‘Spray: I've heard that your next one has taken four months to plan and involves NASA? What's that about?
Tim: I don't want to ruin the surprise too much but they are building a machine that is trying to destroy us, more or less, and we have to kind of find a way through it. It's gonna be pretty awesome! Right before we went on this tour I went to the warehouse where they are building it and it looks spectacular – so, I'm excited. As soon as we get back from this tour we're going straight into shooting it.
‘Spray: Sounds like you're building a Large Hadron Collider?
Tim: (Laughs)
‘Spray: Any hint on what song it'll be?
Tim: This is actually going to be for the studio version of our next single This To Shall Pass. We already released the alternative version. we're going to have two videos for that song, with the one we did with the marching band and the other will be this crazy project with scientists.
‘Spray: I don't want to keep you too much longer so one last question: I know you have only just started your tour but what has been a stand-out moment for you so far?
Tim: I'm trying to think?stand-out moment so far?well it was kinda a lot of fun last night was the first night to try out the laser guitars in front of a large audience. Just hearing people gasp when we turn them on is pretty awesome. So I would say that was the standout moment so far.
‘Spray: You did look like you enjoyed using yours last night.
Tim: Yeah, it was fun!
‘Spray: Thanks Tim for talking to us. We think the album’s great!
Tim: Thank you. We kind of unanimously are very very proud of this record and think this is the best thing we have done to date.
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iO West Theater says
Tim Nordwind of OK Go will perform with the Armando on Monday, June 7th at 8 pm at the iO West! Tickets are just $20!
The Armando Show begins with one suggestion from the audience, which is then interpreted by that night’s Armando (OK Go’s Tim Nordwind) through a personal and truthful improvised monologue. Inspired by that monologue, a cast composed of veteran Chicago and Los Angeles alumni perform scenes which, in turn, inspire a response from Armando. This propels hilarious interchanges between Armando’s monologues and the company’s scenes.
Click here for tickets: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=2122905
This event is 21 and over. Any Ticket holder unable to present valid identification indicating that they are at least 21 years of age will not be admitted to this event, and will not be eligible for a refund.
The iO West is located at:
6366 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90028
Phone: 323.962.7560