Office Supply

Office Supply
Background information
Origin	USA
Genres	New Wave
Years active	2001 to present
Labels	Toaster Records
Members
Tim Kimble - vocals and keyboard Max Templeton - vocals and keyboard Tracy Phillips - keyboards and percussion

Office Supply is a New Wave band consisting of three keyboardists. The band has successfully released their debut album Work in Progress, on the independent record label Toaster Records on April 30, 2006. A re-release of the album is scheduled to come out in early to mid-spring of 2007 season.

Background

Office Supply started out as a joke band until a friend of the band created an account on Myspace.com using a boot-legged recordings of the band's song, "Ice Cream Man on Cocaine" on the bands profile. Before the account was made, the band did small gigs at small gatherings held by friends. The location of the band is not really certain, but many believe (based on the band's MySpace account) that they are from southern New Hampshire . Like many other bands such as The Gorillaz and Reggie and the Full Effect, the band uses aliases so that they have what they call "artistic freedom". All three members have chosen to use silhouette lighting during shows so they cannot be identified. Other times, discuises are used, with the intent of hiding their identities from their audience. According to a web blog posted by Office Supply's frontman Tim Kimble says they want artistic freedom, while ignoring the spotlight of the media. According to MySpace comments left by fans, despite never seeing the band's actual appearance, fans find themselves connected to band members.

Present

The band has developed quite a large following in the Northeastern United States, despite their sketchy sound, and messy performances. The large following led to Tim Kimble opening his own recording studio. He entitles the studio, Toaster Records. Kimble was offered to sign with multiple local record labels, but felt that opening his own was the only way he could protect the bands identity. The band started working on their album in September 2005, and completed it in March 2006. Despite the studio's laid-back approach to recording, the band shipped out 10,000 CD's to fans, and another 5000 digitally. According to the band's Myspace, Toaster Records relies on Office Supply's live performances as a source of income, rather than receiving royalties on CDs or downloads. Office Supply announced that they plan on making their 9 track album into a 16-18 track album, due out in the mid-spring of 2008.

Members

Like alias bands such as The Network and KISS, Office Supply has three members that have all made fake names. Some fans believe there is actually only one true member of Office Supply, while others fill in at different gigs, or record for the album with the one true member. Ignoring all of this, in the demands of what the band wants fans to believe, the band publicly says there are three members, who all play keyboard/synthesizer. Tim Kimble is the primary song writer, who basically writes and sings in every song of Work in Progress. Tracey Phillips is said to be the member who does back vocals while doing some layers of instruments in live performances. Max Templeton is the drum tech guru who deals with all the drumming aspects of the band. Unlike many modern acts, Max Templeton shuns using programs such as GarageBand or Fruity Loops. There have been many featured artists, but often these other featured artists' identities are protected to prevent disputes with record companies. Artists have been featured from bands ranging from A Subtle Goodbye to Away in Thought.

Criticism

When the band was first formed, all three members disliked the band. Tracy Phillips tried to play guitar and he was terrible at it. After some time, the band decided to go purely keyboard. Many people consider Office Supply a terrible band. Many critics argue that the band is too repetitive. Others say the band is just simply annoying. It really seems to be a hit or miss sound. Office Supply has a range of sounds that compare to annoying Nintendo sounds to helicopters landing. The bottom line is, many people boo Office Supply off the stage, while others praise them and their efforts. On October 6, 2005 Office Supply cut their 8 webpage flash website to one single Angelfire web page because hackers leaked a couple of their songs onto the net, taking advantage of the fact that Office Supply backed up their recordings on Angelfire's Webshell system. On December 1, 2008 Tim Kimble announced the shutting down of their website, claiming they could use Myspace for all future digital medium. Despite the criticism, Office Supply has received praise from many respected musical artist. They have been praised by Tony Fagenson of Eve 6, and Adam Manning of Action Action.

Current projects

Office Supply is spending the spring 2008/summer 2008 writing new material. According to a blog posted by Tim Kimble, new live performances may feature Max Templeton actually playing drums instead of using a drum machine. Also, Office Supply plans on doing a small scale Northeast tour in Fall 2008, assuming the album is produced by the end of summer of 2008.

Discography

• Work in Progress (April 30, 2006)

External links

• Office Supply Myspace