Off Minor were an American

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

band from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, United States. They formed in 1999 with Jamie Behar, Matt Smith, and Steven Roche, all former

Saetia Saetia (pronounced ''SAY-shuh'') is a New York City-based screamo band. Their name originates from a misspelling of the Miles Davis track "Saeta", from his album ''Sketches of Spain''. While relatively unknown during their initial existence, t ...

members. However, Smith later left and was replaced by Steven's brother Kevin on bass. The band was known for incorporating elements of

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

, and

math rock Math rock is a style of progressive and indie rock with roots in bands such as King Crimson and Rush as well as 20th-century minimal music composers such as Steve Reich. It is characterized by complex, atypical rhythmic structures (includi ...

, and they were heavily influenced by

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

, and

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

. Since their formation the band has released three albums and six splits/extended plays on several indie labels, including

Level Plane Records Level Plane was an American independent record label based in New York City that was founded in early 1997 by Greg Drudy for the release of Saetia's first 7". Drudy ran the label until it ceased to exist in 2009. It released records in a variet ...

, Golden Brown Records, and Paramnesia Records. Their last album '' Some Blood'' was released physically and digitally on a donation system. They have toured countries such as Europe, Australia, Asia, and the United States. They take their name from a

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", "B ...

song. Their 2003 debut ''

The Heat Death of the Universe ''The Heat Death of the Universe'' is the first full-length album by New York City-based hardcore punk band Off Minor Off Minor were an American post-hardcore band from New York City, United States. They formed in 1999 with Jamie Behar, Mat ...

'' was named as the 84th-best album released in the 2000s by

Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...

. Steven Roche owns and operates Permanent Hearing Damage Recording Studios in Philadelphia. Kevin and Steven Roche currently play in Bore War. Jamie Behar is practicing medicine in New York City and currently plays in Lytic. Members of the band have gone on to play in groups such as Yo Man, Go!,

Ampere The ampere (, ; symbol: A), often shortened to amp,SI supports only the use of symbols and deprecates the use of abbreviations for units. is the unit of electric current in the International System of Units (SI). One ampere is equal to elect ...

, and Ordinary Lives.

Members

Current

* Jamie Behar –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

(1999–2008) * Kevin Roche –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

(2001–2008) * Steven Roche – vocals,

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(1999–2008)

Past

* Matt Smith – bass (1999–2001)

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (January 28, 2003, EarthWaterSky Connection/Clean Plate) * '' Innominate'' (August 24, 2004, EarthWaterSky Connection/Golden Brown) * '' Some Blood'' (July 1, 2008, Parmanesia/Narshardaa/Purepainsugar)

EPs

* ''Off Minor/I Am The Resurrection'' split LP (2000,

Level Plane Level Plane was an American independent record label based in New York City that was founded in early 1997 by Greg Drudy for the release of Saetia's first 7". Drudy ran the label until it ceased to exist in 2009. It released records in a variety ...

) * ''Problematic Courtship'' CD (2002, Golden Brown) (features tracks from their split with I am the Resurrection as well as live recordings) * ''Off Minor/Life Detecting Coffins'' split 7-inch (2003, EarthWaterSky Connection) * ''Off Minor/St. Alban's Kids'' split 7-inch (2005, Appliances & Cars/Kickstart My Heart) * ''Off Minor/My Disco'' split 7-inch (2005, Golden Brown) * ''Off Minor/Killie'' split 2×CD (2008, oto) * ''Off Minor/Ampere'' split 7-inch (2008, Yellow Ghost)

Compilation albums

* ''The Heat Death of the Universe + Problematic Courtship'' (2002, EarthWaterSky Connection)

Compilation appearances

* ''Summertime'' (2000, Kordova Milk Bar) * ''Building Records Presents 60 Songs'' (2003, Building) * '' Keep Singing! A Benefit Compilation for Compassion Over Killing'' (2008, Exotic Fever)

References

External links

Off Minor myspace

Off Minor Level Plane page

Paramnesia Records

Permanent Hearing Damage

Bore War

Ordinary Lives
{{Authority control American emo musical groups Hardcore punk groups from New York (state) American post-hardcore musical groups American screamo musical groups Math rock groups