Pet Envy Takes Aim at Music Industry Gatekeepers with “MiddleMan”

“MiddleMan” from indie band Pet Envy, takes a shot at music industry gatekeepers who seek to control the artistry, until that artist realizes he can make strides on his own.

For the newly released music video, (and a song that is decidedly darker than some past Pet Envy offerings), the villain is shrouded in a paper bag, representing how the industry middlemen wear many faces and may show up in a variety of forms. A yummy three-part co-lead harmony vocal is dynamically delivered by Pet Envy’s Diggity, Albert and Lambiase.

In a statement released by the group, Pet Envy says that “Middleman” is not intended to bash the ‘game’ that we’re all participating in or its players. Rather, the band says, “It’s a song about a group effort to completely take back control of a situation we hadn’t even realized we’d lost a grip on: our combined figure as a group. We wrote most of the song as a result of experiencing some inevitable losses along our musical journey, and the rest fell into place as our ambiguous group writing antics took over. We wanted to write something that paid a respectful tribute to our last three years as a band. It’s for the times when it felt like we heard ‘no’ way more than ‘yes.’ We aimed to sum up how it really feels to pick yourself up after someone you look up to knocks you down, and what comes after you realize you can do things yourself.”

Established in 2015, Pet Envy is a pop-rock quintet based in Nashville, TN consisting of Shelbi Albert (vocals), Jake Diggity (vocals, guitar), Emma Lambiase (vocals, bass), Jordan Klatt (keys, synth), and Matthew Singler (drums).

The band has released two EPs. The studio team for “MiddleMan” includes Pet Envy’s co-producer Joshua Reynolds  (Little Big Town, Dancing on Tables). The tune was mastered by Nathan Dantzler (Ellie Goulding, Niall Horan).

Pet Envy has worked with Roy Agee (Prince), Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band) and Nathan McLeod (Ron Pope) to make up the horn section of some of their performances.

Check out “MiddleMan” on Spotify and YouTube.