Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - The rock band Envy is set to perform this week at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville's annual Circlefest celebration. Soon, they could be reaching a whole new audience with a featured music video on an MTV channel.

With the help of its fans in Platteville and elsewhere, the band garnered enough online votes to make it to the final round of the "Best Music on Campus" contest. If Envy, which formed on the UW-Platteville campus in 2002, beats out four other finalists to win the competition, they'll ink a $25,000 record deal with Universal Records and shoot a music video for their featured song, "Burning Again." The contest is sponsored by mtvU, a 24-hour MTV channel that broadcasts on more than 700 U.S. university campuses.

With a final round of online voting taken into account, Universal Records executives and celebrity judges Akon and G. Love will determine the winner. Voting continues online (www.mtvu.com/contests) through Friday, April 29.

When Envy guitarist and UWP industrial engineering student Dan Faherty was reached for comment April 25, he was excited about the possibility of winning the contest. "It would be totally awesome. It would open up whole new avenues for us," Faherty said. "Now we've got a week to rally the troops. . . . It's the fans that got us this far." The band formed on the UW-Platteville campus in 2002 when Faherty met then-UWP student Jaek Pachniak, now a mechanical engineering alumnus. The two first played together at an open mic event in Dobson Hall, and shortly thereafter enlisted a drummer, bass player and vocalist. In additional to Faherty and Jaek Pachniak, the band includes vocalist Amanda Tvedt, a former UWP student; bass guitarist Paul Pachniak, a student at Marquette University; and drummer Nic Fugate, a student at UW-Milwaukee.

Winning the mtvU competition would be a huge step forward for the band that has been a staple of the UW-Platteville music scene events for three years, and has opened for national acts like Alter Bridge and Shinedown. "It's really exciting. The coolest part about it is it gives us a drive to keep going. I think we really got something going with this band, and this kind of re-affirms that," Faherty said.

Most of the current members are originally from the Milwaukee area, and after three years in the Platteville-area, the band is in the process of relocating to Wisconsin's largest city. "We're going to see what we can accomplish in a bigger market," Faherty said. "With something like this contest happening, maybe we can generate some interest on the national level."

But they'll be performing close to home this week. Envy will appear at 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 26 at UWP's Circlefest celebration, near Hugunin Hall, weather permitting. They will also host a CD release party and concert at the Gamehendge Pub in Platteville beginning at 10:30 p.m., Friday, April 29. Photos, music samplers and more information about the band can be found on the Envy website (www.envyband.com).

Faherty expressed thanks to the band's Platteville-area fans for helping them make it to the final round of the mtvU competition, and offered this final appeal. "Vote, vote, vote, and keep voting," he said. The winner of the mtvU "Best Music on Campus" contest will be announced Monday, May 2.

Contact: Dan Faherty, UWP student and member of Envy,dan@envyband.com Prepared by: Dan Lehnherr, UWP Public Relations, 608-342-1194,lehnherd@uwplatt.edu