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Interview: The Envy Corps

19th May 2008 | by Ross Riley

There's often a reticence amongst the music press and fans alike to attach any credit to a band like The Envy Corps. By their own admission they don't want to inhabit anything that might be referred to as a scene, preferring to plow their own path of musical exploration.

After a few false starts the band are finally able to release their debut album 'Dwell' this week and are also in the UK for a hastily arranged tour.

StrangeGlue was able to catch up with Luke, Brandon and Scott from the band before their Birmingham show which, because of a few flight problems ended up being the first real show of their visit. Outside the Bar Academy there was already a queue of Kooks Fans pressed against the window, waiting for the show next door.

It seemed appropriate to ask what they thought of their musical contemporaries and how they saw themselves fitting in.

"We're really aiming at more longevity than just fitting into part of a musical scene, whenever we think about bands that we really respect, we always go back to people like REM, The Smashing Pumpkins, Wilco and Radiohead. 

"They're always bands that have developed their sound over several albums, getting better over time. We can see lots of bands around at the moment that are just not going to exist in a few years time, and that's because they fit into a very narrow scene of what is fashionable at the moment."

Moving onto the album 'Dwell' the band seem genuinely pleased that it's finally getting a release.

"We wrote most of the album in 2006, and then recorded it last year. The album has been pretty much completed and waiting to go since then, it's been delayed by a combination of record label stuff and Brandon's health issues, but we are pleased it's getting a release."

"We are a bit upset that because of the delays with the release that it won't get the attention we feel it deserves, but we're just gonna tour as much as possible and hope that people can discover the album."

Envy Corps initially came to attention when they were asked by The Killers to join them on their American tour, so StrangeGlue was keen to find out if the band could leak any top secret diva behaviour. Unfortunately we were out of luck.

"There wasn't really any partying on the tour, the only extravagance was a full size table tennis table, which travelled around the entire tour, just good old fashioned white boy fun really."

We asked about the experience of being part of such a big tour.

"I think we really learned a lot about how to work as a band, whilst The Killers aren't really our favourite band out there, we do have a lot of respect for them as a band, they've worked hard and they've taught us a lot about performing as a band."

Finally we asked Luke Brandon and Scott what their favourite track on the album was, and seemed to get a unanimous answer.

Luke summed up the consensus. "My favourite track is Baby Teeth, as well a being a powerful song, it's also one of the hardest to play live, but when we get it absolutely right it's also the most rewarding track to play and gets an amazing reaction from the audience."

With that we leave the band to prepare for the evening's show, you'd like to think that the growing crowd of Kooks fans that are gazing through the window will one day hear about The Envy Corps. 

Of all the bands on the live circuit at the moment they seem to have a confident assuredness that hints at greater things to come. Whilst the venues and audiences are small this time around the sound and atmosphere the band create are much more expansive than tonight's venue deserves.

You can read StrangeGlue's review of the album Dwell here. Pictures from the show are online here.