Last week the band OK Go unleashed another homemade video, this time for "Here We Go Again" (see it in WM, RA or Quicktime). It's already got the band an incredible amount of attention. The video was played on CBS' "The Early Show," entered into rotation at Fuse, debuted at #11 in the VH1 Top 20 Countdown and has received write-ups in The LA Times, Spin, Pitchfork and Entertainment Weekly.

Last year the band attracted attention -- and a lot of YouTube views -- for its similarly made video for "A Million Ways" (WM, RA, Quicktime).

I asked Jorge Just, OK Go's manager, if the new video is a confirmation of the power of grassroots marketing or was made cheaply as a matter of necessity. "We've been really intent on doing as much grassroots Internet stuff as possible," he wrote, "out of both interest and necessity. Necessity because the label wasn't going to release another single or make a video, that much is clear."

But the popularity of the video has made Capitol concentrate on the song, and Just says "they're working incredibly hard on the band's behalf."

"And so we've been doing it for a long time, with varying degrees of success," he continued. "Some of it is grassroots marketing, but a lot of it is simply figuring out how to get people to interact with each other and also with the band. They've got a fun, loyal, interested fan base, and it's kind of a joy to come up with ways to entertain them that go beyond just buying the album. It's entertaining for the band, as well, if sometimes a little mindboggling."

Just pointed to the audio blogs being one by bass player Tim Nordwind as a good example of how the band engages its fans. Before each show, Tim posts an audio message on the band's MySpace page asking people to bring him a certain item to the show -- a request for a hand-drawn picture of their grandparents, for example (listen to MP3 here).

"If you're cynical,' explains Just, "then it's grass roots Internet marketing, but if you're not, it's community building, and bottom line, just another cool thing to do, both for the band and for their fans, and another way for people to stumble across the music."