The Verve Pipe emerged in the late 1990s as one of Michigan’s most popular bands. Band members Brian Vander Ark, Donny Brown, Brad Vander Ark, A. J. Dunning, and Doug Corella recorded their first RCA album in 1996 with Jerry Harrison, formerly of the Talking Heads, as producer.
The “Villains” album contained a new version of one of Verve Pipe’s early songs, “The Freshmen.” In an interview with the MMHP989 podcast, drummer Danny Brown revealed that he didn’t like the way it was recorded, and he felt it lessened the song’s impact.
(L to R) Doug Corella, Brian Vander Ark, Brad Vander Ark, Donny Brown, A. J. Dunning
Their RCA record label felt the same way and wanted them to go back and do a better version of the song for a single. The band recorded the new and improved version of “The Freshmen” with Jack Joseph Puig at Ocean Way Studios in Hollywood where the Beach Boys and many others had recorded.
It took three days to make the what became the hit version of “The Freshmen.” Boosted by radio play and an impressive video on MTV, the single climbed all the way to # 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Spurred by its success, sales of “Villains” increased dramatically. The album was eventually certified platinum in 1997.
Donny Brown grew up in Saginaw, the 6th of 7 kids in a house filled with lots of instruments and records around. His father was a musician and both of his parents loved to sing. He was influenced by his older brothers and sisters who exposed him to different genres of music through their record collections. He attended Webber Junior High and developed his drum skills in the school band.
He formed his first band in high school. Called ‘Chunks,’ a name inspired by ‘blowing chunks,’ a high school term that referred to puking after drinking too much. Typical of most young bands at the time, Chunks practiced in the garage and played at friend's parties.
While still in high school, Brown got a chance to play drums with Mick and Tony Furlo’s band in local bars even though he was underage. It morphed into the Mick Furlo band, and Brown was playing five nights per week. It was the golden age of live music on Hamilton Street in Saginaw. 
Donny Brown
Brown first saw Water for the Pool at the Old Town Saloon in Saginaw while playing with Mick Furlo. After Furlo’s band broke up, he played drums for two years with Mirage, a Bay City classic rock band.
Following his stint with Mirage, Brown joined Water for the Pool as the band’s drummer. The band embraced what might be described as ‘new wave’ music, covering bands like Gang of Four and INXS, while composing songs that encompassed a variety of contemporary musical styles, including alternative dance and post-punk. The band developed a large following, and they began to record an album.
In the meantime, Brian Vander Ark’s band, Johnny with an Eye, had signed a production deal with Thomas Jansen, owner of Station C Studio Inc. The band had formed in Grand Rapids in 1990 and was led by brothers Brian and Brad Vander Ark. After Jansen produced, recorded, and mixed all of Johnny with an Eye’s tracks in Grand Rapids, he felt that more was needed from the band. At this same time, Jansen was courting Water for the Pool to come over and record the rest of their album at Station C.
In a conversation with Vander Ark, Jansen advised him to call Donny Brown and ask him to join his band along with guitarist Brian Stout. The bands had become acquainted after they had co-headlined an event in Kalamazoo. They were both experiencing internal problems as well. Certain members of Water for the Pool were not getting along, and some band members in Johnny with an Eye were having drug and alcohol issues.
Brian Vander Ark
This led to a meeting between Brown and Vander Ark at the Wendy’s on Grand River, located near the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing. After they agreed to join forces, it became the task of Jon Frazier to engineer Brown’s drums and vocals along with Stout’s guitar and vocals on Johnny with an Eye’s songs, and Vander Ark’s guitar and vocals on the Water for the Pool songs. Frazier also did the mixing, but the band needed a new name before the album could be released.
Brown revealed on the MMHP989 podcast that they were trying to come up with a name and originally it was going to be Elemental Pop. It was soon eliminated for the band, but ended up as the name of their management company. He credits former Water for the Pool member Mark Smith as the source for the Verve Pipe name. Smith had a pair of jeans with writing all over. One of the sayings was Industrial Verve, another was Subliminal Pipe. Stuck for a name, they put them together and came up with Verve Pipe.
The first Verve Pipe album, containing ten songs, was titled “I’ve Suffered A Head Injury,” and it contained the original version of “The Freshmen.” A seven-song EP of songs from the album was released later, but it did not contain the original recording of “The Freshmen.”
Verve Pipe’s first gig was in Chicago, and the next was on Mackinac Island he following day. That meant a long drive and then a ferry ride. Long van rides between gigs soon became a pattern for the band. Brian Vander Ark performed “The Freshmen” solo at that time. The band quickly developed following, especially in the college towns of Kalamazoo, Mt. Pleasant, and East Lansing, often staying in the apartments of fans who came to the shows.
In the fall of 1993, the band released a second album, “Pop Smear.” They worked with Jansen again for pre-production and basic tracks and Frazer for overdubs and mixing. A.J. Dunning replaced Stout on guitar for the recording of Pop Smear and remained in the band for their three RCA albums. Brown had played with Dunning for a short time in Mick Furlo’s band.
Pop Smear album
“PopSmear” featured the popular tracks "Spoonful of Sugar" and "Victoria," and they and the album helped the Verve Pipe gain a devoted following in their native state of Michigan which led to their eventual signing with a major label in 1995.
The band was firing on all cylinders. They played gigs in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and St. Louis, Missouri, building a fan base and selling albums at independent record stores like Schoolkids, Warehouse, and Rock-A-Rolla. They often did acoustic sets at the record store before shows. It was a good way to interact with fans and market the band.
They also began working with Gregg Latterman of Aware Records who help promote bands through his compilations. The Verve Pipe went to an Aware showcase and impressed several labels with a great performance. This led to offers from Atlantic and RCA.
They first met Jerry Harrison when he was producing the Crash Test Dummies. Harrison was sent to see them play at a club in Milwaukee by RCA.They ended up choosing RCA because the label didn’t have a lot of young bands like the Verve Pipe on their roster. RCA then hooked them up with Harrison to produce the band’s first album for the label. 
Villains album
The resulting “Villains” album it was done at a great time. The band was open to different sounds, but all of the album’s songs were written by Brian Vander Ark. Despite having several writing credits on “Pop Smear,” Donny Brown didn’t have any songs on “Villains.” Looking back during his podcast interview, Brown said that he was doing a lot of day-to-day things for the band and neglected his songwriting. He regrets it now because “The Freshmen” single drove the sales of the album, making all its songs million-sellers.
Because of the success of “Villains,” the Veve Pipe had become one of the biggest bands in the state, and they felt the weight of expectations while recording the next album. They had been on the road for two years, and RCA was putting on pressure for the follow-up. The second RCA album, “The Verve Pipe,” was produced by Michael Beinhorn, who had produced hit albums for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Soundgarden. 
The Verve Pipe album
Possibly beause of the pressure to produce another big hit, the experience of working with Beinhorn was not relaxed, and the self-titled album’s dark, grunge-pop sound did not connect with record buyers in 1999. The album cover that featured a diagram for a frog dissection probably didn't help matters, and some creative differences between Brown and Brian Vander Ark had also started to appear. Vander Ark wrote “Hero,” released as the lead single from the album; but it received only sporadic radio play and “The Verve Pipe” album sold poorly.
The band’s next album, “Underneath,” came out in 2001 and was produced by Adam Schlesinger, the bassist for Fountains of Wayne. Schlesinger co-wrote songs with both Brown and Vander Ark, and he encourage them to add things to their compositions to bring the songs alive. The album’s power pop sound was a departure from the darker, textured sonics of their previous album, and Brown’s “Never Let You Down,” the lead single from “Underneath,” was one of the Top 50 Most Played Songs for Adult Top 40 radio in 2001. In addition, Vander Ark’s “Colorful” appeared in the 2001 film, Rock Star, and he even had a small part in the movie. 
Underneath album
Although Billboard praised the album’s return to power pop territory, the tour supporting the “Underneath” album was low key, and ticket sales were slow. The Verve Pipe didn’t go into the studio again until they recorded a four-song Christmas EP called “A Homemade Holiday” in 2007. Only Donny Brown, Brian Vander Ark, and Doug Corella from the RCA lineup played on the release.
In 2009, Brown and Vander Ark along with several other musicians released “A Family Album,” a children’s album supported by Meijer Inc. All ten songs were co-written by Brown and Vander Ark. They followed it up with “Are We There Yet,” another children’s record in 2013.
From that point on, Vander Ark and Brown worked on solo projects, until Vander Ark put out “Threads,” new Verve Pipe rock album in 2021. Donny Brown was no longer involved. Brad Vander Ark rejoined the band in 2025 for its latest release, “Reconciled.”
The Verve Pipe was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2025.
Sources:
Donny Brown interview 2021 for the Michigan Music History Podcast 989.
Wikipedia entries: The Verve Pipe, Pop Smear, Villains, The Verve Pipe, and Underneath.
