The Envy Corps return to ISU campus to show new strengths
80/35 music festival. Photo: Laurel Scott/Iowa State Daily
October 14, 2009
The last time The Envy Corps played outside on the ISU campus was alongside the Plain White T’s in the 2006 Freeman Spring Concert.
“This was before [Plain White T’s] blew up,” said guitarist Brandon Darner. “All I could think at the time was what a terrible name they had.”
The Envy Corps will headline the fifth annual ISU Homecoming battle of the bands concert Thursday evening, which is to be held on Central Campus.
In the past year, the band left Vertigo Records and released the “Kid Gloves” EP, and the group started work on writing and recording a new full-length project, tentatively titled “Palawan Scops.”
The members describe the writing process as getting underway, then slowing down to take stock of the project thus far, paying attention to the small details before picking up again.
Sam Summers, founder of First Fleet Concerts, sets up many of The Envy Corps’ Iowa shows and describes them as a band that makes music for itself rather than attempting to be what people want it to be.
Student involvement co-chairpersons Alex Menard, junior in anthropology and Spanish, and Jenna Mollenhauer, sophomore in elementary education, stated jointly “while we were looking at viable bands, we understood that The Envy Corps had a large fan base on campus. We knew that they were local, but had traveled internationally and opened for The Killers.”
All of The Envy Corps’ members have ventured into side projects as well. Both Darner and lead singer Luke Pettipoole have produced albums for other area acts, such as Radio Moscow, Cashes River and Bright Giant, while keyboardist Micah Natera has been a studio engineer.
Drummer Scott Yoshimura has ventured into a solo project called Menlo, which Darner says “will blow people away.”
Darner describes their musical work outside The Envy Corps as outlets for expression that draws each of them back to the group with new ideas and strengthened chops.
Even Darner’s experience as a technical adviser on the set of the film “Janie Jones” provided new inspiration.
The Envy Corps has been in the movies before, with their song “Story Problems” being the first song chosen for inclusion in a scene on “Run Fatboy Run.”
“We were thrilled to be a part of it because of [the film’s star] Simon Pegg,” Darner said. “It’s really cool to think that even if our record isn’t available everywhere, you can walk into any Blockbuster on the planet and find our music in a movie there.”
But The Envy Corps’ albums have been selling well, with “Dwell” and “Kid Gloves” topping the charts throughout the summer at ZZZ Records in Des Moines. The band emphasizes physical copies out of a love for the whole package, from the music to the artwork.
Each member has been working day jobs while home from touring: Natera and Pettipoole both at the Apple Store in the Jordan Creek Town Center, and Darner has his own cleaning business.
The group members all reside in Des Moines, while Pettipoole is the only one from Ames.
“It used to be Ames was the place to play; Des Moines now has a wealth of venues for bands to play, allowing bands to flourish,” Darner said.
He said Des Moines has gotten “a lot cooler in the past few years.”
“[Thursday night’s] set will be long enough that there will be a good mix of everything,” Darner says, although the band is worried about weather conditions.
The show will likely contain plenty of new material. Darner thinks most of “Kid Gloves” will be played, as well as an unreleased track entitled “Make It Stop.”
The Envy Corps are:
Brandon Darner, guitar
Micah Natera, keys
Luke Pettipoole, lead vox, guitars, piano
Scott Yoshimura, drums
All members often change whichwhat instruments they play live.
5 bands playing the battle of the bands:
One31
Lancelot,
The Curse of Hail
Bombardier
Tempest Rose (last year’s winner)
