Envy the West is a five-piece band from Roosendaal, The Netherlands and started in October 2001. Singer and guitarist Marcus van Slingerland got an invitation to play at a Lo-Fi festival but he didn't want to perform alone on stage so he asked some friends to form a one-off band. The specific gig never took place but after a few rehearsals all members had the feeling that this was more than an ordinary project so they decided to continue and kept on playing every Saturday afternoon in the basement of the local soccer-stadium. Besides Marcus, Envy the West counts another songwriter, Pim Derene. In the months that followed the number of songs rapidly increased so Envy the West began with their first gigs. They received some good reactions from the crowd especially because they sounded so different from the standard rock/punk bands in their local area. It's not easy to describe the music of Envy the West. The music characterises itself through modesty, tension, sphere and variety. Alt.Country combined with passages of subgenres like post-rock and slow-core. Influences from bands like Yo La Tengo, Migala, Low and other congenial musicians can be found in the songs but Envy the West succeeded in creating its own sound. The greater parts of the songs demand much attention from the listener. The lyrics are equally important to the music. In the Easter weekend of 2003 Envy the West went to studio 195 for their first recordings. In September they returned to the same studio to put some more songs on tape. Eight of these songs were released by Black Death in February 2004 as the 'Folding Fangs' CD.

the line-up: Pim Derene - Vocals/guitarGeriejan Rockx - BassRobert van Eck - Synth/vocalsMarcus van Slingerland - Guitar/vocalsAntal Derene - Drums