Office is a Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

-based pop band that formed in 2000.

History

The band began as a public performance outlet for songwriter Scott Masson while attending Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan

Kalamazoo, Michigan

The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...

. Masson has maintained the band as a collaborative musical project since, with various friends and performers as collaborators.

Office has developed a cult following in the last decade, particularly in the Chicago community, promoting a sound that has been described by Spin

Spin (magazine)

Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...

 as "handclaps and sunny harmonies", which is ironically the opposite of what the band writes about. Their song "Wound Up" was downloaded over 322,000 times as the Single of the Week on the iTunes Music Store in May 2006, helping their 2005 album, Q&A

Q&A (album)

Q&A is an independently-released album by the Chicago-based band Office in 2005.-Track listing:# "Wound Up"# "Oh My"# "The Big Bang Jump!"# "If You Don't Know By Now"# "Busy With Other Things"# "Q&A"# "Until 6PM"# "Not Her Style"...

, reach number 14 on the iTunes album charts, briefly beating Tom Petty and Neil Young in the Top 20. Q&A held a spot in the iTunes top 100, while the band was performing shows at South by Southwest

South by Southwest

South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...

 music festival in 2006 and 2007, CMJ, Mobfest, Midwest Music Conference, a set at Lollapalooza

Lollapalooza

Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...

, and many more high-profile showcases. In October 2006, the group signed with Scratchie Records

Scratchie Records

Scratchie Records was an independent record label founded in 1995 by James Iha and D'arcy Wretzky , Adam Schlesinger , Kerry Brown and Jeremy Freeman....

, an independent label owned by James Iha

James Iha

James Yoshinobu Iha b. March 26, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois) is a Japanese American rock musician. He is best known as having been a guitarist and co-founder of the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins and for his eclectic musical projects of recent years, most notably being a permanent...

, former guitarist of the Smashing Pumpkins.

The band's first record under the Scratchie label, A Night at the Ritz, was released on September 25, 2007. The album contains both previously unreleased and older material from the group's extensive catalogue, which has been remastered and remixed for commercial release.

Masson moved back to the Detroit-area in late 2008, and is currently recording and performing around the mid-west under the name Glossies, as well as producing records for other artists, painting, performing and recording with 800beloved, as well as other bands throughout the Detroit-area. Erica Corniel continues to write songs with Jojo Yang, and Justin Petertil writes music for the band Love Raid.

Office signed with Ann Arbor-based media conglomerate Quack!Media in January 2009, releasing "Mecca" on limited-edition vinyl and digital download. For several months, the album was available for free via the internet.

Recently, Office's song 'Dominoes' was included on the indie compilation Indiecater Volume IV in August 2009. The song "Enter Me, Exit You" was licensed by Abercrombie & Fitch

Abercrombie & Fitch

Abercrombie & Fitch is an American retailer that focuses on casual wear for consumers aged 18 to 22. It has over 300 locations in the United States, and is expanding internationally....

, and Hollister Co.

Hollister Co.

Hollister Co., sometimes advertised as Hollister or HCo., is an American lifestyle brand by Abercrombie & Fitch Co. The concept was originally designed to attract consumers aged 14–18 through its SoCal-inspired image and casual wear. Goods are available in-store and through the company's online store...

stores across the US and UK.

Collaborators

Past and present collaborators include: Scott Masson, Alissa Noonan, Tom Smith, Jessica Gonyea, Justin Petertil, Erica Corniel, Jamie Harper, John Martin, Brad Minor, Toby Worscheck, Jen Collier, Colin DeKuiper, Jody Weinmann, Thea Nichols, Sarah Jean Stevens, Shawn Rios, Jackie Phillips, Kip Donlon, Jeremy Freer, Jeffrey Freer, and more.

Office (2001)

1. "Traffic Jams"
2. "Cash/Money Killionaire"
3. "Paint the City and Faces With Yellow"
4. "Squeeze the Distance"
5. "Bizmox"
6. "Gas Mask"
7. "Wireless"
8. "The Program"
9. "Toy Piano"
10. "Cakeheads"
11. "Message Machine"

The Ice Tea Boys and the Lemonade Girls (2002)

1. "Loverdriver"
2. "Plus/Minus Fairytale"
3. "Weathermaker"
4. "Superfoolfantastic"
5. "Reaching For A Laser Beam"
6. "Company Calls"
7. "Bar Yellow"
8. "And You're So..."
9. "The Ice Tea Boys and the Lemonade Girls"
10. "Until I Find You..."
11. "Mosquito"

Glass Corvette [unreleased] (2004)

1. "Introduction"
2. "Q & A"
3. "Glass Corvette"
4. "The Remedy"
5. "Poor Rich"
6. "Into Your Network"
7. "Wicker Park Party!"
8. "Reality TV Show"
9. "Busy With Other Things"
10. "Until 6PM..."
11. "Suburban Perfume"
12. "Good Cops"
13. "Twelve Months"
14. "Pulmonary Lounge"

Q&A (2005)

1. "Wound Up"
2. "Oh My"
3. "The Big Bang Jump!"
4. "If You Don't Know By Now"
5. "Busy With Other Things"
6. "Q & A"
7. "Until 6PM"
8. "Not Her Style"
9. "Ordinary Offices, Extraordinary Proposals"
10. "Had a Visit"
11. "Dominos"
12. "Possibilities"

A Night at the Ritz (2007)

1. "Oh My"
2. "If You Don't Know by Now"
3. "The Ritz"
4. "Company Calls"
5. "Wound Up"
6. "The Big Bang Jump"
7. "Plus Minus Fairytale"
8. "Paralyzed Prince"
9. "Had a Visit"
10. "Q&A"
11. "Dominoes"
12. "Possibilities"
13. "Suburban Perfume"
14. "Walking the Cow" (iTunes only bonus track)

Mecca (2009)

1. "Sticky Dew"
2. "Nobody Knows You"
3. "Ridiculous Plans"
4. "Enter Me, Exit You"
5. "Dr. Drako"
6. "Sleepwalking"
7. "Everything You've Witnessed"
8. "Trainwreck DJs"
9. "Double Penetrate the Market"
10. "Aphrodisiac Missles"
11. "The Silent Parade"

External links

• Office Official Website
• Office on MySpace
• Office on Twitter