As much as people tend to disagree with one another, everyone has one common experience: they go through a lot of tragedy. It doesn’t matter where that tragedy comes from; people go through it all the time. While this is true for any one man or woman, it is just as true for a band. Fall of Envy has gone through its fair share of tragedy, and somehow, they have come out alive. And louder than ever.
The band began in 2005, and quickly found its place in the Orlando rock scene, playing hard rock music that was intense enough for the typical rocker and with a melodic edge that seemed to fit seamlessly into the mix. After many shows under their belt, including many notable performances at Downtown venues like the AKA Lounge and the Social, and a full-length album “Poetic Rage” (released in 2008), it seemed like the band was untouchable. Of course, in this life, it’s hard to find a totally untouchable moment.
In the summer of 2008, vocalist Michael Baker briefly left the band. All of this occurred just as the fivesome was picked up by CW Network to have their track “Fix Myself” played in promotions for shows like “90210”, “Supernatural”, and “The OC”. Although Fall of Envy recovered with another vocalist for a short time, it was clear at that point that this was not a band to let anything slow them down. Baker eventually returned to the band, and the original voice was restored. The band continued to grow in popularity, opening for many national acts such as Sevendust, Nonpoint, and a notable last-second addition to open for Papa Roach at the House of Blues in May of 2009. They were also named the official band of the Xstreme Fighting Championships (XFC) and their song “For You” is the tournament’s official theme song is played during all of XFC’s nationally-televised MMA events. The band was clearly not ready to give up their place, but as previously mentioned, life has a way of bringing people down.
In the summer of 2009, the band found themselves searching for a new bass player mere days after an excellent performance at the Hard Rock Live. While in the midst for searching to fill the empty spot, tragedy struck. The band also found themselves losing a guitarist with the sudden and tragic death of founding member Greg Harrington. The loss struck each member hard, but possibly none harder than lead guitarist Tommy Harrington, Greg’s brother. The band and their fans mourned the loss of Greg, as he is still missed to this day. However, perseverance took over, and the band has vowed to make it to the top, especially for their fallen comrade. The band returned with Baker (vocals), Harrington (lead guitar), and Brandt Frenchman (drums), and later added Chris Gaarlandt (rhythm guitar) and Dave Rickenbark (bass) to complete the line up.
The band lives on to this day, and with gigs coming soon at the House of Blues, the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa for an XFC event, and at Lyrica downtown with Nonpoint and Cold, there is one thing that is for sure: this band is not giving up until they are the loudest band that Orlando has to offer.
Visit Fall of Envy’s Myspace page for information, music, and shows at www.myspace.com/fallofenvy.
Comments
Long live Fall of Envy! We all terribly miss Greg but know he is behind the scenes orchestrating their success. He is still very much part of the band. Excellent article!
I really liked what Brix Milner did for "Fix Myself" as the lead singer. We got turned on to it during Supernatural and are disappointed that he is no longer with the group/how come? Isn't there a place for him?
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