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We jumped in studio with The Envy Corp in Omaha to see what...
October 2001: ISU student (and still teenager) Luke Pettipoole founds The Envy Corps, with David Yoshimura, Peter Bovenmyer and Derek Powers.
December 2003: Scott Yoshimura (David’s brother) joins the band, starting on bass. Bovenmyer and Powers quit within months of each other, and Scott moves to drums and David to bass.
February 2004: The Envy Corps releases its debut album, “Soviet Reunion,” on the Ames label Bi-Fi Records.
September 2004: Former To My Surprise member (and Slipknot guitar tech) Brandon Darner joins the band on guitar.
March 2006: The Envy Corps headlines the first Gross Domestic Product in Des Moines, and releases the EP “I Will Write You Love Letters If You Tell Me To.” The EP contains several songs that are later featured on “Dwell,” including “Rhinemaidens” and “Story Problem.”
June 2006: The other members of the band talk Pettipoole into rehab to deal with alcoholism. As a result, The Envy Corps cancels its scheduled performance at Juice’s first birthday party.
July 2006: The band signs a major label record deal with Vertigo Records, a division of Universal Music Group.
February 2007: Micah Natera starts working with the band on keyboard and guitar.
March 2007: The band finishes recording “Dwell,” the band’s first and only major-label album.
May 2007: The Envy Corps opens for Vertigo label-mates The Killers in front of a sold-out crowd at the Val Air Ballroom.
August 2007: Darner, then 30, suffers a stroke on stage in London. When a tour starts two weeks later, Darner performs with the band.
September 2007: “Story Problem” is used in the film “Run, Fatboy, Run,” starring Simon Pegg and Hank Azaria.
December 2007: David Yoshimura leaves the band to teach English in Japan. Natera eventually becomes his full-time replacement.
April 2008: “Dwell” is released in the United Kingdom. The album gets a digital-only release in the United States three months later.
November 2008: The Envy Corps is released from its contract with Vertigo. The decision is a mutual one between the band and label.
June 2009: The Envy Corps releases its independent EP, “Kid Gloves.”
July 2010: The Envy Corps’ song “Gnats” is featured on an episode of HBO’s “Entourage.”
August 2011: The band releases the digital version of “It Culls You” a week earlier than intended, due to a glitch in the pre-order system.
2012: The band will start a U.S. tour.
