It is hard to say what the next big band to come out of Iowa will sound like. That’s why Brandon Darner, guitarist for local independent group The Envy Corps, has spent a lot of time at his day job thinking about it. In fact, he admits all his company time is spent pondering music and plotting the next step toward signing on with a record label and leaving the work-a-day world behind.

The next brilliant idea can come any time, at any building, in the greater Des Moines area that requires professional cleaning attention. So, when a “Eureka” moment hits, it is more than just music history – it is a double-entendre.

“I call the guys up talking a mile-a-minute,” Darner said of taking a moment off from his self-owned cleaning business to advise bandmates of his latest brainstorm.

The Envy Corps, the rock quartet which began with Ames native Luke Pettipoole – now joined by Darner and brothers David and Scott Yoshimura – have been prominent figures on the local music scene for five years. In its current incarnation, the band has tasted growing recognition, infiltrated the airwaves and hopes to soon share its music with a national audience.

At least in name, the group has existed in some form since Pettipoole’s days at Ames High School. He said that although the name came before the actual band, the most important part of The Envy Corps has always been an unflinching determination to succeed.

“Some people like music as a hobby,” Pettipoole said. “My idea with this band has always been to go for broke and really try to make it my career.”

Making a career has meant years of practice and determination to refine a sound able to attract a spirited following. However, members said raising a band above and out of the Iowa corn rows takes more than onstage prowess and a dedicated local following.

Daring to self-promote and create publicity noise plays almost as important a role as making music onstage.

“If you allow people to say ‘No’ to you, you will get ‘No’ every time,” Darner said. “A lot of bands think that if they are good, all these things will just happen to them.”

Hints at impending success have been mounting for The Envy Corps. Its radio single “Rhinemaidens” was 105.1 KCCQ’s 15th most-requested song of 2005. The band’s new single “It’s Here” has been receiving lots of airplay since its recent release. The Envy Corps boys were even invited to tour with national group The Killers. Perhaps most encouragingly, on February 24, The Envy Corps headlined the second-ever sold-out show at the Vaudeville Mews in Des Moines.

The band members said they believe their upcoming EP album will springboard them to even greater success – when it is finally completed.

“I think the album is going to be titled, ‘When is the Album Coming Out?'” Pettipoole said, commenting on the number of inquiries his band has received about the release.

Every resource and numerous locations have been tapped in the effort, with band members pulling together every moment of common free time to record and tweak the final product.

To accommodate a budget, elements for the album have often been recorded on borrowed instruments in basements, living rooms and even a church.

When recording drums in a house of God, the band decided even rock ‘n’ roll has to wait for a praying parishioner. The band was halted in its quest to record in a cathedral for “natural reverb,” finding themselves forced to wait for a man to finish conversing with God.

“We were waiting for a really long time, too,” Darner said, “It was only Monday. He must have been really bad over the weekend.”

Members said the constant questions are a welcome contrast to the profound lack of clamor that preceded their first album. Although they are unwilling to be held to an exact date, they thank their fans for their patience while the band prepares a product they are completely satisfied with.

“I think no song will be released if it’s not the best representation of our band at that time,” Darner said.

Making a deal and cutting an album aside, The Envy Corps said they are appreciative of their fans, whose enthusiasm has made the band’s ambitions possible. Darner said he feels their audience is more devoted because they have remained interested despite limited access to the band’s music on MySpace and the radio.

“We have made it so tough for our fans, but they have kept responding well,” Darner said. “I think it means more of a real connection.”

Members said they began to notice larger attendance for local shows following their return from a southern tour through Texas. They said they are encouraged that crowds for their shows have been not only sizable, but diverse, as well.

“We will see people who look like they have office jobs at the Principal [Financial Group] or something,” Darner said. “They are not scene kids, or people who frequent the Vaudeville Mews.”

The ecstatic homecoming was the triumph of an otherwise less successful tour. However, members said venturing into territory where their name hasn’t yet penetrated helped test band determination, as well as providing one of their most unique group portraits.

After a New Year’s Eve show in Canton, Texas, The Envy Corps was invited to stay overnight in a room near the concert site. The band members and friends were led down an Old West-style boardwalk to a room that had limited sleeping space and flamboyant decoration which made it more photogenic than hospitable.

“They opened up this room and it was like Nickelodeon,” Darner said. “It was all rainbow colors.”

All four members climbed into one of the rooms single beds and took a picture tucked-in under the “Technicolor” floral-patterned sheets.

“That was just us at three in the morning being stupid,” Darner said.

The Envy Corps is looking forward to bringing the show to the Maintenance Shop this weekend, a venue they say they have long revered.

“The first time I played there, getting up on stage with the stained glass windows behind me was a personal triumph,” Darner said. “They treat you like a total rock star at the M-Shop.”