Following is a list of people who may or may not have worked with the Officials at some point:
Paul Brady: vocals, bass, keyboard;
Jakub Olejnicki: drums;
Tanya Neilsen: backing vocals;
Joseph LeBel: turntables, sampler, percussion;
Geof Holbrook: keyboard, melodica;
Sam Binette: bass, melodica;
Cogn8: rap vocals;
Jon Chan: long-distance guitar;
Bono: coffee-fetcher, floor-sweeper
Influences
The Clash, Sublime, the Police, Easy Star Records, Project Groundation, King Tubby, Lee Perry, Skatalites, The Specials, Soul Jazz Records, Sex Pistols, Horace Andy, Junior Marvin, Yabbi You, Bad Brains, The Urge, Ramones, U2, Beastie Boys, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Jackie Mittoo, WuTang, Roots Manuva, Jaga Jazzist, Sigur Ros, Pogues, Cibo Matto, Sly&Robbie, No Doubt, 311, The Ruts, Nick Cave, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, Jeff Buckley, Fugees, Radiohead, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Burning Spear, U Roy, Dead Kennedys, Kid Koala, DJ Vadim, KOS, Goldfinger, Suicide Machines, Toots and the Maytails, NOFX, Dub Trio, Portishead, Morcheeba, Miles Davis, Sinead O'Connor, The Cardigans, Sufjan Stevens, Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, Bjork, Nils Petter Molvaer, Quantic, Mos Def, The Beatles, Outkast, Brian Wilson and others
The Officials are a collection of disgruntled veterans of other local music acts down through the years. They are united by a common love of reggae music, and they are propelled by the tension arising from the fact that a love of reggae music is about ALL they share in common. Each brings to the table his own version of what to do with the songs, beyond GROOVE THEM.
Lyrically, macro, the songs are about love and politics; micro, about the alienation of living in a society dominated by the cult of MAMMON, balanced by burning indignation at the injustices it causes: with a heavy dose of reactionary hysteria thrown in! All The Officials' songs seem to somehow deal with BOMBS, whether literally, figuratively, or a combination of both. Overcompensating much? Perhaps. Armageddon complex, destruction as a purifying force? Definitely. Tongue planted firmly in mousetrap, of course.
The Officials hope you feel something when you listen to them, even down right pissed OFF.
Hi there the officials first of all we'd like to say thanks for being our myspace pal. We wanted to make sure you knew the reason incase we suddenly vanish off of your friends list. The movement we've started for indie artists has grown significantly and consumes all of our time these days. We seldom sign into our myspace account and this is making several people believe that we are ignoring them. We are not ignoring anyone, we wanted everyone to know that. What we're doing has become so busy we just don't have the time for myspace any longer, so in all honesty we are probably going to just close our myspace account.
Many people wanted to use us in the future so if you were one of those people make sure you bookmark the link below so that in the event that we do close our myspace account you won't lose contact with us. I wish you the best of luck in your music career. Thanks again for being our myspace pal.
We have also built a pretty big music community which you are welcome to join if you want to meet new artists like yourself!
hi fellas! we've got a show with some interesting out-of-town bands at Casa del Popolo, this Friday the 14th at 10PM. We'd love to see you there! Geof and Veronica
Hi the officials,
We just want to say thank you for being our friend and for the support. Aren't you curious???
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Bonjour,
On aimerait vous dire un grand Merci d'etre notre ami et pour le support. N'est vous pas curieux???
Word!
Welcome to the crazy and racey world of myspace, yo!
Good to "see" you guys, and good to hear you, too. We should get together for some beers - let us know when is good for you and we'll hook it up.
Cheers and all the best, boys.
