First off, the name: Does It Offend You, Yeah? It’s always slightly uncomfortable to utter it to people who haven’t heard of them, because you know exact what reaction you’re going to get. All you can do is shrug and reassure them, “Just trust me; they’re good.”

Here’s the skinny: In the early days, the group was much slimmer, consisting only of Dan Coop (synths) and James Rushent (bass, vocals). They were contemplating a name simply so that they could put their music online. They decided to switch on the television and use the first line they heard. It was the British version of The Office, and Ricky Gervaise (playing David Brent) said, “Does it offend you, yeah? My drinking?” And there you have it.

As quirky as their name is, taking in one show or giving a single listen to their debut LP, You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into will prove that the stylistically indefinable Reading, England group is breaking new ground, both musically and in their following.

DIOYY has been spending a great deal of time on this side of the pond. Kaffeine Buzz met up with the group at Austin’s South by Southwest festival this past spring, again in Denver at the Bluebird earlier in the summer, and tonight we sit down with the lads at San Francisco’s Fillmore, where they are opening for Bloc Party.

The boys in the band in SF with KB's Jef Hoskins.

From those early days, the group formed and evolved slowly, which, Rushent explains, is much of the reason for their genre-flexing. “At first Dan just gave a lot of honesty to it. He said, ‘Hey, I’m just going to go with what I feel like doing.’ And then we brought Morgan Quaintance (keys) aboard, and Rob (Bloomfield, drums) came aboard; and each one of them brought something else.“

The formulation of the band was a rather intuitive process, based as much on personality as style. “You know when you meet somebody and you just like, ‘You’re the fucking guy?’” asks Rushent. “When we first decided that we wanted to form a band, and we were looking for a drummer, I just immediately said, I know the guy. And then we met Morgan, and were like, ‘He’s the guy.’ When we met them, we just knew that they would bring so much to the band. And we had to fight for a fucking long time to get them; we’re so lucky that they said yes. Without them we wouldn’t be anywhere.”

Playing a broad mix of electro-punk-hardcore-metal, DIOYY does a spot-on job of combining all of these influences, while cranking out amazing live shows, engaging their audiences and inspiring raucous dance parties with their very diverse audiences.

According to Rushent, the band doesn’t have any way of describing themselves either, and they rather prefer it that way. “We can’t really categorize ourselves,” he tells us. “It’s kinda like putting limits on what you can do in the future. On the last album, we were doing electro, and we were doing rock; and we’re heading slightly into metal and grunge. If you limit yourself to electro rock, that means if we suddenly fall in love with country in two years—which I’m sure we won’t—we can’t incorporate that.”

“With this album, we did it as honestly as we could. With some bands, they get a certain sound and then their label goes, ‘Right; you have to write eleven tracks that sound exactly—but a bit different—from what you’re doing.’ What we do today might be completely different from what we did yesterday. But we have to be honest: you can’t push yourself down this road.”

Morgan entertaining the Denver kids off stage.

For a British band, DIOYY has been in the U.S. more than at home over the past eight months. Bloomfield sums that up quite easily. “Your country’s so big!” True enough. After all, how much can you tour Britain? “In America, you spend three weeks here and you’ve only been to like four of the major cities.”

Coop adds, “Our management thinks that the more time we spend touring in the United States, the more likely it is that we will be successful.”

When asked if they feel like it has diminished their band’s presence to be in an opening spot on the current Bloc Party tour rather than playing the headlining gigs they’re accustomed to, Coop also gives a succinct reply. “When we play headlining shows, we’re playing mostly for people who already know us; but with these Bloc Party shows, we’re expanding to get other people to know us.”

The expansion of the band’s popularity is becoming quite apparent. They recently appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Performing their latest single, “Dawn of the Dead” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTnTfbCABsU).

Kris is still smiling, but Morgan's sayin', "It's 5am! I done already!"

A rather tame number compared to their more hardcore work, the song appears to be about a girl named Dawn; but lending more to the band’s edgy style(s), they show up on stage decked out in make-up that mimics the original gore film that is the song’s namesake.

Coop also informs us that, “The person who did the make-up for us was actually the person who did the make-up for the ‘Dawn of the Dead Film.’” The Kimmel performance also included zombie cameos from friends of the band, including their merch man, Kris Seegmueller. Clearly, they are getting acclimated to fans ‘across the pond,’ and likewise.

Does It Offend You, Yeah? will be performing at the Monolith Festival at Red Rocks in Colorado September 14, 2008. Along with the rest of the amazing line-up there, this two-day event is shaping up to be one you’ll never forget.

Check out the Kaffeine Buzz Monolith home for more information on the festival and the performing artists.

www.myspace.com/doesitoffendyou
www.doesitoffendyou.com
www.monolithfestival.com

Jef Hoskins | August 19, 2008