Deadly Serious: Envy & Other Sins

Seemingly the main spokesperson, Jarvey elucidates on his perception of music industry trends. “There’s two types of band: there’s the one that looks at who’s been successful in the past and goes ‘right, that’s what I’m gonna do’, and there’s the band that looks at who’s just been signed and goes ‘that’s what we need to do because we need to get signed and that’s the whole point of being in a band’. It’s not.” This point of view is heartening from a band who’ve just scored their first massive record contract. “You’re not in a band to get a deal; it’s an incidental thing that you need to be able to do it all the time. But it’s not the be all and end all to being in a band – making music is.”

And how do the splendidly catchy, jangly songs come together? Jarvey enlightens: “We don’t have a prescriptive way that we do things. Sometimes one person might bring a complete song and it’s done, other times we bring bits and pieces together and it just evolves.” The songs are simply magnificent even just based on the demos, and it’s not difficult to see them being chart/radio botherers with the addition of expert production. The album will be fully recorded by the end of February and the next step is a UK tour supporting The Hoosiers. So what’s the grand plan for 2008? “With our experience of what’s been happening recently, it’d be dangerous to make any predictions!” Mark resumes: “We’ll get the album finished, get it out and try and get some good reviews.” “This time next year, album number two,” offers Ali, “and increase our live following and build up our own community.” They’re not doing so badly thus far - it’s just been confirmed that they’re playing Summer Sundae this summer and the band are undoubtedly looking forward to playing to people who can sing their lyrics back to them – it’ll be novel.

“We want to make it clear that we’ve been a band for a lot longer that we’ve been on TV, and that the songs weren’t written on the TV show,” declares Jarvey. “Though it is quite interesting, it’s an unusual way for things to have happened.” Mark similarly verbalises: “There’s not been a massive drag between us doing something on TV and then waiting a year for some music. The album’s coming out in a month’s time.” Jarvey continues: “There’s this mentality that the industry’s evil anyway, and if you’re struggling and working away as an unsigned band, all you want is just to not have to do that day job stuff. And that’s what the record label’s doing for us. So the fact that we happened to get there via the TV show didn’t really make a great deal of difference. And we’ve got the same issues and worries about record labels as anyone who reads Gigwise… at the end of the day, how else can it be?”

It’s a fitting and accurate point to end the interview. Envy and Other Sins are coping admirably with everything’s that been thrown at them, there’s little mention of cabin fever, and with the exposure they’ve so deserved for at least the past two years, the world had better be geared up and waiting for a pop album of the finest calibre. Get ready, Sinners…