Pet Envy captured their first award as Best Pop Band at the Nashville Industry Music Awards in Summer 2016. The quintet is winning over more fans and critics alike with their hybrid pop, rock, R&B sound. Their sophomore EP, produced by Josh Reynolds ( Little Big Town) features special guest appearances from Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews, Béla Fleck), Roy Agee ( Prince, Glenn Miller Orchestra), and Dr. Blum (Misterwives). Released in September 2017, Flowers for Your Brain is a sonic dream that will captivate audiences and keep hips shaking.
Here’s “Lunch Money” off of Flowers for Your Brain:
https://soundcloud.com/petenvy/pet-envy-flowers-for-your-3
Girl Gang got to ask Shelbi (vocals) and Emma (bass) about their experiences as women in the music industry, a common question we like to ask artists, but we dove in with them.
Shelbi began her answer by saying, “I’ve only ever been a woman so I have no real insight to the alternative. I know I feel lucky to be living in these current times where going out and getting a music career isn’t the most insane thing you’ve ever heard, and so we always have to be reverent to the sistas that paved the way for us to do so. These days, we’re pretty free to do what we want on or off stage.”
But she says that in business, things can get dicey from time-to-time, and lessons have been learned with time for her: “I think as females in this business, we’ve all encountered the type of ‘dude-guy’ that has no problem dismissing you from a conversation based on your age, or gender, or sometimes both. There were even some times, especially when I was younger, where I felt a little objectified. It just took some growing up to realize that’s what that uneasy feeling was at the time.”
Emma agreed to that point, and said that often the microagressions can be countless, “I’ve been discounted, interrupted, catcalled, underestimated as a female musician more times than I can count.”
Shelbi said,
“I’ve definitely had more than a few doors slammed in my face, been interrupted and unable to finish making my point countless times, and have had things I knew I knew more about agonizingly mansplained to me for no reason at all…”
She continued, “In this industry, like so many others, women are still expected to be at the absolute top of their game at all times for fear of being discredited, not paid fairly, or having their intellect or stability questioned. I feel we’re all getting much closer to having all of “that” not be such an issue anymore.”
But both Shelbi and Emma see the silver lining in the support systems of friends within the industry they’ve found. Shelby says she’s constantly feels “fortunate to have met and worked with so many great men” that understand her end goal, while Emma says she tries to turn the negative experiences into positive inspiration by working to help generate more opportunities and amplify marginalized groups’ voices. She says, “I’ve found so many inspiring female musicians to look up to, and so many incredible people to create with who get it and want to see the same progress in the world that I do. That’s what I choose to focus on when facing an industry that can seem overwhelmingly misogynistic.”
Keep an eye on these guys! Killer tunes + great conversation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow8yKBR5Dr8
Pet Envy’s Girl Gang Picks
Alex Winston – “Day I Died”
Misterwives – “Not Your Way”