7Envy

Genre: Rock

7Envy’s MNotez Interview:

7Envy: Kelly Bennett on Vocals, Jose Valencia on Guitar, Dan Bulich on Bass and John Curcio on Drums

7Envy: Jose and Kelly have been writing music for over three years together. We began with Jose playing a riff that he wrote long, long ago. Kelly just started vamping over the riff and the melody of Sanctuary was written. Dan, Jose and Kelly all graduated from Kean University’s music school as classically trained musicians. John joined via Craigslist – the portal for all bands to complete their membership.

MNotez: You have a very unique name in 7Envy… what’s it mean? Any story in how it came to be?

7Envy: Well, the official story is that we are all horror movie fans – Jose and Kelly especially. While Jose and I (Kelly) were watching Se7en for about the millionth time, it came to us. We came up with the name during the scene where Gweneth Paltrow’s head arrives in a box to Brad Pitt and Kevin Spacey tells Brad Pitt that he envies him. Because who doesn’t like the idea of Gweneth Paltrow’s head in a box?!?!?! That probably isn’t very nice…

MNotez: Who were your musical influences, idols, or bands growing up that have helped mold you into the musicians/band you are today? Or helped mold the music that you play?

7Envy: We all grew up listening to the grunge rock bands of the 90’s – Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Hole, Smashing Pumpkins, and the like. Jose started playing guitar via the influence of Billy Joe in Green Day. Kirk Hammett inspired Jose to expand his styles as he grew as a guitarist over the years. Dan was always really strongly influenced by Nirvana – he wasn’t one of the members that listened to Hole. John grew up listening to Led Zeppelin and other great 70’s rock bands, which we always feel is very apparent in his playing style. Kelly’s dad made sure that she listened to the classic rock of the 60’s and 70’s as she was growing up. Singers like Grace Slick and Janis Joplin really formed her view of chicks in rock music. Kelly also grew up singing parts in musical theater, which ultimately helped her develop her ear and vocal style. Classical vocalists such as Anna Netrebko and Renee Fleming remind me (Kelly) to keep the vocal lines true to lyrical melodies as well as our gritty rock style. I absolutely love Brahms and Debussy’s art songs. Schubert wasn’t too bad either.

MNotez: What’s the greatest concert any of you have ever been to or performed?

7Envy: When I (Kelly) was twelve, my dad brought me and my eight year old sister to see Lollapalooza with Hole, Cyprus Hill, Sonic Youth and apparently Moby, who I didn’t really remember seeing. It was pretty much the coolest show I could ever imagine. After that though, I wasn’t allowed to go to concerts by myself for a long time. My next show wasn’t until I was about eighteen. But that was ok because Lollapalooza at twelve definitely leaves a lasting impression. As far as the shows that we played, every show has been an amazing experience – they all have their good points, and we take something very personal away from every performance.

MNotez: If you could play with any other musician or band… who would it be? (past or present)

7Envy: Jose would like it to be known that he would play with Hendrix. Dueling National Anthem’s at dawn anyone? As a band, we would bring back Freddie Mercury and rock out with Queen. No one could command an audience like Freddie, and they were all classically trained musicians – like us. They would definitely be super epic to play with.

MNotez: What’s the ultimate goal you want your music to achieve, or for you to achieve in your career as a musician? Any particular message you wish to send?

7Envy: We just want to get our music out there. We know that may sound kind of generic, but we really just want to see if we can reach people. We look back on how personal our musical experiences were growing up, and we want to bring that back to our fans. Creating a real connection in our digital age is becoming more and more difficult as most interactions only last a second, if that. We want to make those connections and bring personal experiences back to rock music.

7Envy: As half of the band was born and bred in New York, we would love to play the Garden – but we’ll settle for the Prudential Center in Newark. (joking!!) Ok seriously, we would love to play at Madison Square Garden. It’s just such an icon to us. Every time we take the train into Penn Station for a gig or any other reason we always say that no matter what it takes we will get there, and it will be amazing.

MNotez: Out of all your songs or albums… do you have a favorite? What is it? And why?

7Envy: We currently only have one EP available to the masses, Sinder. That makes Sinder is our favorite by default. Kelly’s favorite song is always whichever the newest is – she’s very excitable. Collectively our favorite song is Disgrace. It was one of the first songs that Jose and Kelly ever wrote together. It combines elements of rock and blues that come so naturally to the group as a whole. We always end the show with it. It’s actually about a girl that Kelly knew who was getting off heroin, but she kept doing these things that made it really hard for her to stay clean. This girl felt like her whole life was a disgrace. It is really personal both musically and lyrically.

MNotez: : How do you believe the internet helps the music industry or you as a musician?

7Envy: Two words – Mindless networking. If you play your cards right, you can get your music into the hands of anyone without the bank account of a major label. Or maybe, the internet just provides false hope. Either way it keeps us enthusiastic about what could happen next. It’s like the universe’s most interesting wildcard – music is no longer only in the hands of the corporate executive. Kids with street smarts may just have the upper hand for once. And that makes us feel good.

MNotez: What’s your process to writing music? Anybody designated as the “songwriters”?

7Envy: It used to be, and sometimes still is, Jose and Kelly sitting down with an acoustic guitar and making some magic. Kelly generally writes the melody and lyrics, so she is the technical songwriter. As our live set gets tighter, we have been writing as a group in practice until we find useable riffs that we can turn into songs together. That has been working very well for the new material which will be released under the name Sinder as a full album, extended from the original EP.

7Envy: Our fans are so amazing – we love seeing you out at shows and can’t believe how supportive you all are. We couldn’t possibly be here without you! As far as our music, we all agree that contemporary rock has lost its edge. We plan on bringing it back.