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 37–38) Manalapan, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres	Rock
Occupation(s)	Actor, Musician, Writer
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 an American actor, musician and writer. He's had roles on HBO's Vinyl, NBC's 30 Rock, Showtime's The Big C, and ABC's Ugly Betty. His debut novel, The Reminders, will be published by Little Brown in May 2017 and has been optioned for a film.

Emmich was born in Manalapan, New Jersey. He is of Italian, Russian, and German ancestry. He attended Manalapan High School where he played soccer. 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. 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.

While attending Rutgers University, Emmich performed with various bands, including Awake Asleep and Ben Trovato. 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.

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. Emmich recorded a video for his song, "Privacy Attracts A Crowd." The video was shot at his alma mater Rutgers University in New Brunswick, 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).