Remember that epic treadmill music video of the song “Here It Goes Again,” parodied by The Simpsons (major points)? It’s safe to assume every epic music video out there is probably OK Go (ahem, White Knuckles . . . those dogs!).
Bassist and vocalist Tim Nordwind discusses communication, overcoming anxiety, net neutrality, and their new album, Hungry Ghosts, available now.
REAL Magazine: What does your creative process look like?
Tim Nordwind: Whether we’re making music or creating videos, it’s essential that we have time to play with ideas, to let them grow and change. We chase what we think will be exciting and fun, and build emotional arcs out of those ideas. Hopefully we create things with an element of surprise that inspire awe and wonderment.
RM: What makes you come most alive?
TN: Things that make me come alive are comedy, love, art, science, animals, food, music.
RM: Name an obstacle you’ve faced and overcome.
TN: Anxiety can be a big obstacle. Anxiety is hard because it can make the easiest things—eating, getting out of bed, smiling—seem really hard. Over the years I’ve learned some good cognitive and coping skills, like meditation, to help curb anxiety and depression.
RM: What inspires your work in the world?
TN: A desire to connect. Making things is highly therapeutic. Nothing is more satisfying than communicating an exact feeling or emotion. And getting to share that work feels great.
RM: If you could say one thing to everyone on the planet, what would it be?
TN: “Love and respect yourself.” Seems easy, but isn’t always.
RM: Do you support any causes or organizations?
TN: A big issue for us at the moment is net neutrality. A large part of our early success was in part due to the fact that we had a free and equal space on the Internet to share our work, both music and video. Communication companies now want to charge for access to the Internet, like cable TV, which would highly curb the makers and innovators who have great ideas, but not always the money to get those ideas to the world. So we’re interested in keeping the Internet an equal space for people to create and share ideas freely.
RM: What do you have coming up and how can we support you?
TN: We have a new record. People can go to pledgemusic.com/okgo to order the record and also become a part of our rewards campaign, which includes things like hand-designed Converse, visiting our sound checks. We’ll pick you up in our bus and take you to our show. And my favorite; we’ll make a documentary about your life based only on fake facts.
