OFFICE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
AUGUST 13, 2007

CHICAGO 5-PIECE OFFICE ANNOUNCES FALL TOUR WITH EARLIMART

LABEL DEBUT, A NIGHT AT THE RITZ, DUE OUT SEPTEMBER 25TH

Scratchie/New Line Records are excited to announce OFFICE’s first national tour, in support of their label debut, A NIGHT AT THE RITZ, due out September 25th. The 18-date tour with Earlimart kicks off September 27th at Portland’s Doug Fir Lounge and ends October 23rd at the Casbah in San Diego. In addition to these tour dates, OFFICE will make special visits this August to New York and Los Angeles, to preview songs off A NIGHT AT THE RITZ.

Though their album is still over a month away from its street date, OFFICE has already been building an early buzz for their insatiably catchy indie pop and attractive boy-girl harmonies. The five-piece began the year as an URB Magazine "Next 100" band, with URB raving that, "Their confident blend of pop meets sweet sensibility partners up nicely in some seriously smart songs." NPR gave the band a “Song of the Day” feature, writing, “The white-collar world has rarely sounded so enticing.” In early July, OFFICE caught the ears of Idolator.com, which praised their "ultra-hooky" music in a "Stuck on Repeat" spotlight, and this Fall, the band looks forward to such honors as a Paste Magazine "4 To Watch" feature and a SPIN "Breaking Out" feature.

At home in Chicago, OFFICE is certainly no newcomer. Since making their way onto the local airwaves and stages in 2005, the band has gained a loyal fanbase, helping them sell out a month-long residency at Schubas (as well as the majority of their local shows since then), and giving them a slot on the Q101 Stage at the 2006 Lollapalooza. Local press has been more than supportive, featuring the band in the papers, magazines and blogs since their early days on the scene. Last year, Jim DeRogatis highlighted the band for the Chicago Sun-Times, writing that,“[OFFICE’s] music is fueled by the sunny, optimistic daydreaming of the temp worker who wishes he or she was anywhere else. It should be pumped over the Muzak systems of every company in the Loop."

OFFICE is also working its way onto the airwaves this Summer, with their first single, “The Ritz,” launching up to Number Four on the specialty charts after just two weeks, while A NIGHT AT THE RITZ  is making its way onto the College Charts. Meanwhile, last weekend, the band made their first music video. Keep an ear and an eye out for the band in the following weeks!

Tour dates for OFFICE are as follows:

August 17: Brooklyn, NY: Studio B
August 18: New York, NY: Mercury Lounge
August 25: Chicago, IL: Double Door
August 28: Los Angeles, CA: Cinespace
August 30: Los Angeles, CA: Filter’s Revenge of the Sunset Strip at the Roxy
September 14: Chicago, IL: The Metro

With Earlimart:

September 27: Portland, OR: Doug Fir Lounge
September 29: Vancouver, BC: Pit Pub
October 2: Minneapolis, MN: 400 Bar
October 4: Cleveland, OH: Grog Shop
October 5: Toronto, ON: El Mocambo
October 6: Montreal, QC: TBD
October 7: Boston, MA: Harper’s Ferry
October 11: Philadelphia, PA: Johnny Brenda’s
October 12: Baltimore, MD: Ottobar
October 13: Durham, NC: Duke Coffeehouse
October 14: Atlanta, GA: The Earl
October 15: Birmingham, AL: The Bottletree
October 16: Houston, TX: Mink
October 17: Austin, TX: The Mohawk
October 18: Dallas, TX: The Palladium Loft
October 20: Denver, CO: Larimer Lounge
October 22: Phoenix, AZ: Paper Heart Venue
October 23: San Diego, CA: The Casbah

More dates to be announced shortly!

LINKS:

Official Band Site: www.reachoffice.net
Press Tools: www.bighassle.com/publicity/a_office.html
Myspace: www.myspace.com/officemusic

*****

A NIGHT AT THE RITZ
*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
OFFICE’s debut album, A Night At The Ritz, has been five years in the making.  What began as a one-man sculpture/visual art project in London years ago has become a full-fledged musical sensation. The brainchild of songwriter Scott Masson, OFFICE has blossomed into a creative collective of like-minded artists and musicians working together to create some of the most unique and exciting pop music in America today. 

While it was the uncanny (and extremely prolific) songwriting ability of OFFICE that first attracted Scratchie Records label co-founder and ex-Smashing Pumpkin James Iha to the Chicago band, it was the cohesive energy and genuine camaraderie of guitarist Tom Smith, bassist Alissa Hacker, drummer Erica Corniel, keyboard/hand percussionist Jessica Gonyea and vocalist / rhythm guitarist Masson that prompted the rock icon to offer the band a home on his label. 

Officially signing to Scratchie/New Line Records in October of 2006, OFFICE effectively put an exclamation point on a year that included a sold-out, month-long residency at historic Chicago venue Schubas in May, inclusion in the coveted “free download of the week” spot on iTunes that yielded over 300,000 downloads in June (busting into the Top 20!), a slot on the Q101 stage at Lollapalooza in August, and accolades in nearly every local publication, as well as nods from such national outlets as Billboard, Magnet and NPR to name a few.

With A Night At the Ritz, the band shows no sign of slowing down. The project incorporates the very best of five years of recording with a host of freshly penned material. On the album, Masson muses, “This album has easily been the most grueling recording project I've ever been a part of, but also the most rewarding. It's not like this was setting up a band in the studio, and pressing the record button. There are tympanis, keyboards, concert percussion, electronic flourishes, broken machines, studio tricks, tape contraptions, choral vocals, and acoustic nuances. It was years of revision, reworking, rethinking, subtracting, adding, and re-recording until it got to where it is now.” He adds, “I feel like we live in completely surreal times, and this album is a reaction to that.  There are lovely things, and dirty things happening behind every corner.  The same idea can be applied to this music.”

Taking a few weeks off from the confines of the studio to put their stamp on Austin, TX, OFFICE packed their second SXSW experience with six shows in four days, including sought-after performance slots at the FADER Fort, The NYLON House, Metro’s 25th Anniversary party and, of course, The Scratchie/New Line label showcase, where they put on one of the most talked about performances of the entire festival. 

Recorded in various apartments, bedrooms and recording studios, OFFICE put the finishing touches on A Night At The Ritz in May at Scratchie co-owners James Iha and Adam Schlesinger’s Stratosphere Studios in New York City. The album will be released this September with extensive touring to follow. 

*****

For more information, please contact Sophie Smith at Big Hassle Media: or 212.619.1360 x 117.