mission freak!

 

Say what you will about yet another band digging into the styles and sounds that Radiohead introduced on The Bends and Coldplay perfected for the mainstream on A Rush of Blood to the Head, the fact remains: the Envy Corps kills it live (remember: they’re playing Wednesday at the Picador.) One of the most exciting bands in Iowa and certainly the best one flexing Brit-Pop muscles, these Ames, Iowa natives have been hard at work prepping their major label debut and touring with the Killers. We caught up with frontman Luke Pettipoole for a brief interview in which he talked the new record, playing the Glastonbury Festival, and the up and downs of trying to win over the punters and slappers in the UK. <Click the link to read the interview>

 

Mission FREAK (MF): What’s it been like touring around the UK?

 

Luke Pettipole (LP): At times amazing and at times insufferable. We’ve toured the country five times the crowds do get better every time - but when you’re trying to win over people that have never heard of you and there is a huge cultural gap it can get frustrating. The country is beautiful in small doses and playing legendary venues like the Astoria and festivals like Glastonbury I certainly wouldn’t trade away.

 

MF: What was it like making the new record, going from recording stuff on your own to working in bigger studios? Was it daunting at all?

LP: There was very little difference, actually. We worked with the same engineer, Matt Sepanic, who we mixed our self-released EP with, and we decided to produce the record ourselves so in reality very few things changed. Matt had just finished his new studio so there was quite a bit more gear to work with, I suppose. Everyone had the chance to quit their day jobs so we could focus…basically it was the most comfortable scenario possible. Looking back maybe too comfortable…

 

MF: What are your plans for the future? Some US touring? More recording?

LP: We’ve begun the first steps in demoing for the next record, just messing around, trying new approaches and seeing what comes off as interesting to ourselves. We’re trying to sort out the whole US side of things as well. We’re on Universal, which is probably the label most scared about the whole downloading thing, so it’s all a bit of a headache to be honest. We are much more excited about the possibilities in the US than the UK so as soon as we can we will focus our attention here.

 

MF: What’s the process of writing an Envy Corps song? Where does it begin and how does it get to its final form?

LP: It varies. Some of the time I come in with a fairly finished idea and we tweak and tweak until it’s right. Other times I’ll work off an idea from rehearsal - “Wires & Wool” was written around a drum beat Scott ripped off a Christina Aguilera song. I finish the vocal melody and lyrics at home, but anything other than that is generally a product of hot, sweaty debates during practice.

 

 

Catch the Envy Corps at the Picador this Wednesday, Dec 12th w. Headlights, Grand Ole Party, DRI, Caleb Engstrom

Download: Envy Corps - Keys to Good Living

Download: Envy Corps - Rhinemaidens