Does It Offend You, Yeah?

Does It Offend You, Yeah? were a British dance-punk band from Reading, Berkshire. They played their final show on 12 December 2015 at the Electric Ballroom, Camden, London.

History

Does It Offend You, Yeah?, named for a quote from the BBC television series The Office, were formed in 2006 in Reading, UK by James Rushent and Dan Coop and soon joined by Rob Bloomfield and Morgan Quaintance.^[1]

They released their first album, You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into, in Spring 2008. It was written and performed by James Rushent, Rob Bloomfield and Dan Coop. Death From Above 1979 vocalist Sebastien Grainger performed the lead vocals on "Let's Make Out". In 2008, Does It Offend You, Yeah? was accompanied on stage by guitarist Morgan Quaintance.

Does It Offend You, Yeah? were the ninth most-listened-to new band of 2008 on last.fm^[2] and were included in the best alternative music list of 2008 on iTunes USA. They were announced as a Rolling Stone breaking Artist in 2008.^[3]

In 2009, Chloe Duveaux (from Elle Milano) and Matty Derham (from Fields) joined the band. Their follow up album, Don't Say We Didn't Warn You, was released in 2011, and peaked at number 3 in the UK Dance chart and number 11 in the Indie chart.

Some have compared them to dance acts like Daft Punk, Justice, and Digitalism,^[3][4] as well as others like Rage Against the Machine.^[3] NME compares them to bands like Muse due to their heavier, more "live" sound.^[4] The group is known for its raucous live shows, which often end with stage diving and broken instruments.^[3] Vocalist James Rushent would sometimes destroy the drumkit by running and diving into it.

The band have appeared on US television on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Last Call with Carson Daly. They have also appeared on British television programmes Sound (BBC) and Transmission (Channel 4). They also appeared alongside artists Pharrell Williams, Santigold, Julian Casablancas, MGMT and Karen O as part of The Converse Century Celebration advertising campaign.

Lead singer James Rushent co-produced The Prodigy's top five hit "Omen", as well as their song "Invaders Must Die".^[5] Rushent has also remixed songs for acts such as Muse, The Raconteurs and Bloc Party. Bloomfield has remixed songs for 50 Cent, dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip, and P Diddy.

In April 2012 the band released a statement via Facebook that they are now on 'indefinite hiatus'. The statement also revealed that both James Rushent and Dan Coop are working on an electronic music project.

In November 2015 a new EP with the title "How To Kiss a Dragon and Walk Away From It" was announced on Facebook for early 2016. When asked if the band had broken up, the band clarified in the comments that the status of the band was "complicated, not as black and white as people may see it." The band said that if most people think of a band as "start writing, do an album, major label promotion wheel starts up, do a tour/sell the t-shirts, have a holiday, start writing, do an album...then yes, we've broken up." The band then went on to clarify that if others think of a band as "a couple of mates fucking about when we have enough time from our day jobs, and have enough tracks for an EP...then yes, we're still a band."^[6]

Tours

In 2008, Does It Offend You, Yeah? completed a headline US tour which reached its climax at the historic Troubadour club in Hollywood. At the show, lead singer James Rushent broke his leg during their last song, although he managed to hobble back on stage for an encore before being rushed to hospital.^[7]

At the start of 2008 they went on the NME Awards Tour, alongside The Ting Tings. They then completed their own headline tour of the UK supported by South Central and Lets Talk Tactics

They went on to open for Bloc Party^[8] and Nine Inch Nails^[9] on their respective 2008 North American tours. They were also the opening act for The Prodigy on the last date of their UK 2008 club tour.

Does It Offend You, Yeah? have made festival appearances at Coachella, Lollapalooza, South by Southwest, Glastonbury, Reading / Leeds Festival, Summer Sonic, Wireless Festival, Monolith, Global Gathering, Street Scene, Pukkelpop, Dour, Printemps de Bourges, Les Eurockéennes, Vieilles Charrues, Hurricane, Southside, Oxegen, Lowlands, Gatecrasher, Jersey Live, Parklife, V Festival, Pohoda, Exit, NASS Fest and Melt! Festival As well as Strawberry Festival and Zebra Festival in China.

The band supported The Prodigy on their Australasian and Irish leg of the Invaders Must Die Tour and played at the Warrior's Dance Festival in Milton Keynes, England.^[10]

They toured with Linkin Park on the A Thousand Suns World Tour UK leg in November 2010 and completed the tour alongside The Prodigy and Pendulum in Northern America.

The Band embarked on a headlining UK tour in March 2011 to promote their latest album Don't Say We Didn't Warn You. They were supported by Hounds and Tripwires.

In August 2015 the band announced a final, one off gig at the Electric Ballroom in London on 12 December 2015.

DJ projects

Does It Offend You, Yeah? also DJ at various clubs and festivals across the world. They have done so on the same bill as acts such as, Justice, Peaches, MSTRKRFT, Simian Mobile Disco, Steve Aoki, DJ AM, Ladytron, Samantha Ronson and 2 Many DJ's.

Final show

The band shared a transmission via their Facebook on 11 August announcing they will play their final show at the Electric Ballroom on 12 December 2015. Setlist included all songs from "You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into" and most of "Don't Say We Didn't Warn You", as well as new songs "Let's Go" and "Stormy Weather". The band closed with "Epic Last Song".

Band name

The band revealed the origins of their name as being from British sitcom The Office.

Everybody thinks the name is some kind of statement but it's a quote from David Brent in an episode of The Office. "When me and James Rushent first started writing music together we decided to put it up on MySpace. We needed a name to put as our profile name so just put what was the first thing that was said on TV, we switched it on and Ricky Gervais said "My Drinking – Does it offend you, yeah?" so we just went with that. No thought went into it whatsoever.^[11]

— synth player Dan Coop, NME.com interview

Members

• James Rushent – lead vocals, bass guitar, synthesizer (2006–2015)
• Dan Coop – synthesizer (2006–2015)
• Rob Bloomfield – drums, backing vocals (2006–2015)
• Chloe Duveaux – bass guitar, backing vocals (2009–2012)
• Matty Derham – guitar, backing vocals (2009–2015)

Former members

• Morgan Quaintance – guitar, synthesizer, backing vocals (2007–2009)

Guest musicians

• Sebastien Grainger – lead vocals

Discography

Albums

EPs

• Live @ The Fez (2008) – Live digital download EP included with every pre-order of the album.^[13]
• iTunes Live: London Festival '08 (2008)
• iTunes – Live at Lollapalooza 2008: Does It Offend You, Yeah? EP
• We Do Our Own Stunts (2016)

Singles

Remixes

• Bloc Party – "The Prayer" (Also featured on Need for Speed: ProStreet)(Wichita) Rushent / Coop
• Muse – "Map of the Problematique" (Warner Bros) Rushent / Coop
• 50 Cent – "Do You Think About Me" (Interscope) Bloomfield
• dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip – "Cauliflower" (Sunday Best) Bloomfield
• The Raconteurs – "Steady, As She Goes" (White) Rushent / Coop
• The White Stripes – "Fell in Love with a Girl" (White) Rushent / Coop
• Hadouken! – "Crank It Up" (Atlantic Records) Rushent
• The Faint – "The Geeks Were Right" (Saddle Creek) Bloomfield
• Air Traffic – "Charlotte" (Unreleased) Rushent
• Muse – "Uprising" (Warner Bros) Rushent
• Linkin Park – "The Catalyst" (Warner Bros) Bloomfield
• Natalia Kills – "Zombie" (Interscope) Bloomfield
• Escape The Fate – "Issues" (Interscope) Bloomfield
• The Naked and Famous – "Does Being Famous Offend Nudes (Punching in a Dream Remix)" Bloomfield

Covers

• "Whip It" originally by Devo – Played live and a live recording was included on the NME Awards 2008 souvenir CD which came free with every issue of the edition of 27 February 2008 of NME magazine.^[14]

Song appearances

"We Are Rockstars" featured in the theatrical trailer for the 2009 movie Fast & Furious. The trailer was watched by over 95 million people during the 2009 Super Bowl commercial break. It was used for the theatrical trailer for the 2010 movie The A-Team and as the title theme for BBC Three's sketch show Horne & Corden. It appears in the video game Saints Row 2. It has also appeared on EastEnders. Its latest appearance is in the hit E4 drama series Misfits.

"Attack of the 60 ft Lesbian Octopus" was used in the 81st Academy Awards ceremony in a specially commissioned Wall-E short watched by over 36 million viewers.

"With a Heavy Heart (I Regret to Inform You)" appears in Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. It was also used in the American TV series Gossip Girl. Was also used in a televised trailer for Fox's television series Human Target.

"Dawn of the Dead" appears in the film American Teen, and was used on the final of Big Brother 2008.

"Weird Science" appears in Chuck episode 104, "Chuck vs. The Wookie".

"Epic Last Song" was used on the Channel 4 teen Drama Hollyoaks.

"Battle Royale" appears in The Sims 2: Apartment Life and is often used on The Howard Stern Show as a theme for J. D. Harmeyer.

"Let's Make Out" appears in the video game FIFA Street 3.

"All The Same" appears exclusively in the video game Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.

"Wrestler" appears in an advert for E4's online episode of "Misfits: Vegas Baby!".

Music videos

• "Weird Science" – 2007
• "Let's Make Out" – 2007
• "We Are Rockstars" – 2008
• "Epic Last Song" – 2008
• "Dawn of the Dead" – 2008
• "We Are the Dead" – 2010
• "The Monkeys Are Coming" – 2011
• "Pull Out My Insides" – 2011

References

External links

• Official website
• Does It Offend You, Yeah? on Twitter