Matricide/ Physical/ King's Road

Office were an Edmonton art-rock group whose music combined progressive rock, punk, new wave and theatrical pop. Active from 1981 until late 1982, the band featured Malcolm Swann on vocals, electric harpsichord, guitar and string synthesizer, Jeff Sawatzky on bass, synthesizer pedals and vocals, Vincent Evans on guitar, synthesizer, “vibro slide” and vocals, and Phil Young on drums, congas and vocals.

The group became known throughout Edmonton and Calgary for unusual stage presentations that matched the sharp humour and elaborate arrangements of its songs. The performances were theatrical and deliberately provocative, but the musicianship remained central. Synthesizers, electric harpsichord, processed guitars and an active rhythm section gave Office a sound that moved freely between art rock, progressive rock and punk-informed new wave.

Office gained a prominent opening slot for Duran Duran in Edmonton on July 18, 1982, during the British group’s first major rise in North America. The Edmonton appearance formed part of the Canadian leg of Duran Duran’s 1982 tour, immediately before a Calgary performance the following night.

In July 1982, Office recorded its only vinyl release at Mo Marshall’s Woodbend Studios near Devon, Alberta. Produced by the band with Mo Marshall and issued through Switch Records as OFF 666, the three-song EP contained ‘Matricide,’ ‘Physical’ and ‘King’s Road.’ Malcolm Swann wrote ‘Matricide,’ while ‘King’s Road’ was composed by Jeff Sawatzky with lyrics by Swann. ‘Physical’ was the band’s tongue-in-cheek interpretation of the Steve Kipner and Terry Shaddick song made famous by Olivia Newton-John.

The record captured several sides of the group. ‘Matricide’ paired domestic imagery with resentment and emotional estrangement, while ‘King’s Road’ offered a sardonic tour through fashion, consumerism and London street culture. ‘Physical’ brought the band’s humour to the foreground, reshaping a major pop hit within its angular and theatrical style. The song received Canadian campus-radio airplay and entered college-radio charts.

The EP was produced by Office and Mo Marshall, with layout and design by Vincent Evans. It was manufactured through World Records and cut, mastered and pressed at Columbia Records’ Don Mills plant. The sleeve and insert extended the group’s visual identity through stark red printing, stylized photographs, hand-drawn graphics, lyrics and references to the television series The Prisoner.

Later in 1982, Office were invited to record at CBC Radio-Canada in Edmonton, an unusual opportunity for an English-language underground group. At least two songs were recorded during the session, including ‘Kristallnacht.’ Recordings from the session, along with remastered material from the EP, have since been preserved and made available through Jeff Sawatzky’s Office and Voice archive.

Office disbanded in late 1982. In 1983, Malcolm Swann and Jeff Sawatzky formed Voice with keyboardist Dwayne Goettel and drummer Sherri Leigh Iwaschuk. Built around synthesizers, drum programming, live percussion and Swann’s expressive vocals, Voice carried forward the electronic experimentation and theatrical sensibility Swann and Sawatzky had developed in Office while moving toward a more melodic, shadowy sound shaped by intricate sequencing and post-punk atmosphere.

The earliest Voice material circulated on a limited 1983 cassette featuring ‘Holiday,’ ‘Smile’ and an alternate version of ‘Lime.’ Sawatzky later preserved live and studio recordings from the original lineup, including material recorded at Edmonton’s Primetime club. After his departure, Voice expanded to include Rod Wolfe and Bill Damur and released the four-song 12-inch EP Anno Di Voce in 1985. Goettel subsequently became a defining member of Skinny Puppy and helped shape Canada’s industrial-electronic scene.

Members of Office also participated in the 1982 recording of Karla DeVito’s ‘Santa Claus Is Coming to My House.’ Jeff Sawatzky played bass and Phil Young played drums, with Vincent Evans and Malcolm Swann also contributing alongside DeVito, Robby Benson, Tommy Banks and saxophonist Jim Pinchin.

Although Office left behind only one independently released EP and a small number of surviving radio and live recordings, the group occupied a distinctive place in Edmonton’s early-1980s underground. Its combination of progressive musicianship, synthesizers, satire and confrontational stagecraft connected the city’s art-rock past with the emerging punk and new wave scenes. The transition from Office into Voice also placed Swann and Sawatzky at an important point between Edmonton’s theatrical art-rock culture and the electronic music that would emerge from the city later in the decade.

Malcolm Swann died on July 9, 2026, at the age of 65. Jeff Sawatzky, who had known him for 45 years, recalled first meeting Swann when the other members persuaded him to join Office in 1981.

-Robert Williston