Val Emmich

Val Emmich

Val Emmich on stage at The Saint, Asbury Park, NJ on September 28, 2012.
Background information
Birth name Val Matthew Emmich
Born 1979 (age 35–36)
Manalapan, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres Pop rock
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, actor
Instruments Guitar, piano, vocals
Years active 1997–present (actor)
2001–present (musician)
Labels Sony/Epic, Bluhammock Music, No Code

Val Matthew Emmich (born 1979) is a pop rock singer-songwriter and actor from New Jersey. In 2001 he became the first unsigned artist to be featured on MTV's Total Request Live. As an actor he has appeared in such television shows as 30 Rock and Ugly Betty.

Early life

Emmich was born in Manalapan, New Jersey. He is of Italian, Russian, and German ancestry.[1][2] He attended Manalapan High School where he played soccer.[3] At age 15, he was diagnosed with Lyme Disease and had to give up all strenuous activities. During this time, he learned to play the guitar and began to write songs.[4] In 2001, Emmich and fellow musician Andy Gesner founded Artist Amplification, a program to help independent musicians and bands gain exposure to fans and the music industry.[5]

Musical career

While attending Rutgers University, Emmich performed with various bands, including Awake Asleep and Ben Trovato.[6] His first band's name was Superband, and he got a demo into the hands of Andy Gesner, then promoting with New Brunswick Underground. Gesner put off listening to the demo because of the band's name, but put it in on a flight, and was hooked, starting their music collaboration. Superband changed names to Ben Trovato, and released one album. Emmich then formed a new band, Awake Asleep, with Gesner on Bass, releasing one album.

After graduating from Rutgers in 2001 with a degree in American Studies, Emmich recorded an independent EP entitled The 15 Minute Relationship.

Val Emmich in concert in San Diego, California

He then recorded Slow Down Kid, a full length independent album on Childlike Records produced by Wayne Dorrell. In November 2002, Emmich recorded his first music video, for the song "Shock", with his friend Matt Schumann, who went on to direct nearly all of Emmich's music videos. The video for "Shock" was featured at LA's Hype Fest and Toronto's NEXT Festival.[7] Emmich recorded a video for his song, "Privacy Attracts A Crowd." The video takes place in both his childhood home in Manalapan, and at the night club The Saint in Asbury Park, NJ. The video appeared on MTV's Total Request Live, making him the first unsigned artist to be featured on the show. He was then signed by Epic Records label Red Ink and recorded a new version of his Slow Down Kid album with four new songs, despite having already written and recorded an entire album of new material (entitled Scent and not released until Post Haste).[8] In 2005, Emmich moved temporarily to Woodstock, New York and recorded another independent album, Songs, Volume 1: Woodstock which was released in 2007. The Woodstock sessions eventually became the independent studio album Sunlight Searchparty. In 2007, a track from the album, "The Only One Lonely," won the best video category at the Independent Music Awards.[7] After recording Sunlight Searchparty, Emmich left Epic Records in 2006 due to artistic differences. In 2008, Emmich signed with Bluhammock Music. On May 27, 2008, he released his first single from Little Daggers entitled "Get On With It".[9] The full album was released on September 23, 2008. Emmich's music video for "Get on With It" was nominated for a Best Video Award at the 2008 Independent Music Awards.[10] He released Looking For A Feeling You Never Knew You Needed on September 21, 2010 in a digital only format. In June 2011 he announced his intention to use Kickstarter to fund his next album and in just under 24 hours he reached his goal of raising $7000; by the end of the month he had reached more than $15,000. The album was produced by Jason Cupp and was designed to capture the feel of a live performance. On August 16 the album was released digitally to Kickstarter backers and was later released to the general public on October 11. Titled Aide Memoire the 10 track album was recorded completely live to tape.[11][12] On August 28, 2012 Emmich released his album Bulldozzzer via Bandcamp free of charge. The 10 track album was kept secret from his fans until one week prior to its release.

Musical influences

Emmich has been influenced by a wide range of musicians including Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, The Beatles, Wilco, Björk, Radiohead, R.E.M., Bright Eyes,[13] Nada Surf[14] and Paul Westerberg.

Acting career

Emmich began acting in 1997 to finance his college education. In 2014 he was hired by United Airlines for their television ad campaign "your gateway to the world", created by McGarryBowen in New York. In this commercial Emmich has to respectfully mangle various languages as he travels the world on the airline.[15][16] He also has appeared in a television ad for the Got Milk? campaign as well as advertisements for Burger King and AT&T Wireless.[17] He has also appeared in small roles in the television shows Ed, Third Watch, and Hope & Faith. More recently, he has appeared in NBC's 30 Rock with Tina Fey in the seventh episode of the second season titled "Cougars", ABC's Cashmere Mafia with Lucy Liu and as a love interest of Betty Suarez on Ugly Betty.[18][19] In the summer of 2008, he shot his first film, playing the lead role in the independent feature Fighting Fish.[20]

Personal life

Emmich lives in Jersey City, New Jersey with his wife Jill, a teacher, and their daughter.[3]

Discography[21]

CDs

Records

Singles

Compilation

References

  1. ↑ A Quote and a Brief Q&A
  2. ↑ Val Emmich
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 La Gorce, Tammy. "A Rocker Who Rocks to His Own Beat (and CD)", The New York Times, December 2, 2007. Accessed June 8, 2008.
  4. ↑ Livingston, Jennifer (2008-05-28). "Aww Yeah! Val Emmich". ym.com. Retrieved 2008-05-28.
  5. ↑ Tarbous, Ken (2004-05-16). "South River, N.J., Entrepreneur Helps Music Artists Gain Exposure". Knight Ridder Tribune Business News. p. 1.
  6. ↑ Jordan, Chris (2008-09-25). "Art imitating life for rocker Val Emmich". Central New Jersey News. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Val Emmich's Music Video For 'The Only One Lonely' Wins Independent Music Award". top40-charts.com. 2007-12-19. Retrieved 2008-05-28.
  8. ↑ Ruhlmann, William. "Val Emmich: Biography". Mtv.com. Retrieved 2008-05-28.
  9. ↑ bluhammock Music (2008-03-02). "Val Emmich signs with bluhammock!". bluhammock Press Release. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  10. ↑ "IMA Finalists Announced". Music Resource Group. 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  11. ↑ Testa, Jim (June 1, 2011). "Jersey songsmith Val Emmich asking fans to fund his next album". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved June 1, 2011.
  12. ↑ Pfeiffer, John (October 19, 2011). "Shoreworld: Val Emmich and Sir Ivan". The Aquarian Weekly. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
  13. ↑ Stixx, Amanda (May 2007). "Interviews: Val Emmich". TheyWillRockYou.com. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
  14. ↑ Emmich, Val (2008-05-08). "Val Emmich: Diary". Official Val Emmich Website. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
  15. ↑ "United Commercial - Your gateway to the world". YouTube. June 3, 2014. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Q. and A. With Stuart Elliott". June 30, 2014. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  17. ↑ La Gorce, Tammy (December 2, 2007). "A Rocker Who Rocks to His Own Beat (and CD)". New York Times..
  18. ↑ From TV Guide (July 11, 2008)
  19. ↑ "Val Emmich". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  20. ↑ "Val Emmich". Official Val Emmich Website. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
  21. ↑ "Music". ValEmmich.com. Retrieved 2013-01-18.

External links