The band that one day would become The Mighty Offbeats were formed in their original form of 'Ska'd For Life' in the early 1990's. The band started life as an 8 piece with three members on brass. They Played their first gig on 19 September 1993 in a little village pub in St. Day, Cornwall. Rather than becoming a run of the mill pub band like countless others, they found themselves with a huge following almost immediately. The first six months of the band's life was spent playing on the local circuit of the south west region, some of the highlights being two gigs with The Selecter in Plymouth and Desmond Dekker at Truro City Hall. The band recorded an album of covers, plus two of their own songs. Self titled 'Ska'd For Life', which quickly sold out.
Now steadily playing topacked houses almost four or five times a week, the band, at the end of it's first six months changed. Out went the brass section and in came a new sax player. Out went one of the guitarists, and a keyboard player was brought in. More gigs supporting the likes of The Toasters, Bad Manners, The Selecter, Desmond Dekker and plenty of their owngigs followed. Another album was released, it was a live gig recording called 'Ska'd For Life Live'.
On the back of this the band went on to start touring Europein their second year. Basing themselves in Antwerp, Belgium. This lead to 31 further European tours. Starting in small venues the band quickly built up a good fan base creating the need for bigger venues. The band continued to play to sell out crowds in Belgium, Germany, Holland, Czech Republic and Poland, during which time the band played to crowds of up to 7000 people.
The band were signed to a Belgian Label called 'Shut Up and Eat records'. They went on to record two singles and an album on this label. The singles were 'Streetlife/Pick It Up', a double A side, 'Do the Ska' and an album entitled 'Sober'. The single 'Do The Ska' made it in to the top Fifteen of the
While this was going on the band were also playing all over the U.K. playing as far south as the Scilly Isles and as far North as the Shetland Islands. The band had played almost 1400 gigs when the band went through another dramatic change losing the keyboard player and shortly afterwards departure of the bass player, the drummer and the guitarist, leaving the remaining members a mountain to climb. However within a year though the band was back on the road with the new lineup, getting stronger and stronger as each gig passed. This lead to highlights such as playing live national radio shows in Belgium, live spots on National Belgium Talk Shows and numerous support acts (playing with The Beat, Bad Manners and The Specials in 2007) as well as headline slots of their own.
After 14 years as 'Ska'd ForLife' the band officially parted ways in 2007 leaving way for a new band and a new name - The Mighty Offbeats were born!!!
As expected, after a few rehearsals in the local village hall, it wasn't long before the band were out gigging, the first of which was at The Mount Ambrose, near Redruth, Cornwall on 10 May, 2008. After only 3 gigs, the band had one of their live shows broadcast on the radio and on the internet too.
Lee - Vocals, Harmonica, percussion, and Tony - drums (previously 'Ska'd For Life members), were joined by John - Guitar, vocals, Selwyn - Bass, Cookie - Keyboards, Sandra - Sax, Nathan - Trombone, and Sally - Trumpet, to create the 8 piece band with a 3 brass line up enabling them to be a 100% live ska band. The Band also has its own Sound Engineer -Ian, and Roadie - Jon. The end of 2011 saw a personnel change as Sally and Ian left for pastures new. Steph was introduced on trumpet and Jon took on the role of Sound Engineer aswell.
Once described by local Cornish press as 'the most unlikely looking Motley Crew', the band play a mixture of covers by bands like Madness, The Specials, Bad Manners, The Beat, etc but also mix it with their own originals and a few tunes like you've never heard them before. The MOB continues to grow stronger and stronger and entertain crowds wherever they go. The Band were short listed in the South West Music Awards 2011 for Best Ska Act (the only one from Cornwall).
The band recorded their first single 'Beer Belly' in 2009 and are currently working on their long awaited EP,samples of which can be found on the juke box at www.themightyoffbeats.com
The Majority of the band work full time in Cornwall but come together to share their love of ska music with the crowds they entertain on a regular basis. Amongst the band there is a Postman, a Admin Assistant, a Website Administrator, two Accountants and an old folk's home resident. Some may argue that being a 'diva' is a full time job too - you would have to ask our lead singer about that....
Like many bands, The MOB have a full diary of gigs, but still give their time to the charities close to their hearts and have supported numerous events since 2008. Performance events to name but a few have included The Eden project for Breast cancer, Gaslights for Help the Heroes and Helsonbury 2011 for local Helston charities.
The band can be found at www.themightyoffbeats.com, facebook, myspace, twitter and youtube. They are always on the lookout for new venues to play so please contact them if you have any suggestions or would like to book them.