|
Hire. This. Girl. |
|
The Beacon Weekly
Val Emmich article from November 2003 “Oh please, for the sake of humanity, hear me out.” (“The Boy Who Cried Wolf”) Freehold has Bruce Springsteen, Sayerville has Jon Bon Jovi, and soon Manalapan will be recognized for giving rise to Val Emmich. At only 23 years-old, the New Jersey native has a promising musical career ahead of him. At this year’s Asbury Music Awards in October, the singer was nominated in five categories and took home four trophies: Top Local Release (Slow Down Kid), Top Male Vocalist, Top Live Performance, and Song of the Year (“Privacy Attracts A Crowd”). As someone not part of the local musicians click, Emmich was not entirely accepted by the crowd each time he received an award. Sitting outside The Saint in Asbury Park a week following the event, Emmich reflected on the crowd’s reaction to his acceptance speeches and told his side of the story. “I'm actually pretty shy, so I didn't know what to say. Maybe I came off arrogant 'cause I was just like, 'Thanks, I really appreciate it,' and then left. Maybe people were like, 'Dude, that fuckin' dick doesn't even say anything.’ Then every single time I got up there, I was like, ‘I gotta say something.’ I eventually thanked the other bands. I was nervous and I think I was just being defensive. But it was bad because there were people there that I needed to be on good behavior for.” Emmich was grateful just to be nominated, let alone win multiple awards. “It's always nice to be recognized for something you do. It felt really good,” he said, continuing, “With every award that I won, I was just happy that I was nominated 'cause I was never nominated before. Even though it was just the Asbury awards, it's still nice. But with each award, I felt like people were getting more and more pissed, just 'cause people are competitive I guess, just like I am. So they were fuckin' bashing me and I couldn't take it. But anyway, it was really cool.” It may have appeared like Emmich came out of nowhere and stole the spotlight. But, he’s been performing in local bands, most notably Ben Trovato (with whom he opened for REM), since he was in high school. “I was in bands since I was 15. I was a sports kid and then I got into music and playing guitar. It felt really natural to write songs. I found writing was really natural to me. Playing guitar wasn't, but actually making a song out of it was. So I've been doing it ever since I was 15, playing in crappy bands. Then, somewhere when I was in college at Rutgers I decided that no one cared about the bands I was in as much as I did. So I said ‘I'm just doing it myself.’ I thought no matter who comes and goes, that I know that I'll be playing no matter what. So I became my own little thing,” he said. “Think Carefully Before You Speak” (“Shock”) During the course of the interview, Emmich paused for a few moments before responding to questions, as he carefully planned his answers. He spoke of how music helps him cope with life. “The only time I feel alive is when I write a song,” he explains. “The biggest thrill is building something out of nothing. For me personally, music is about taking a negative situation and building something positive about it. I wouldn’t call it fun; it’s really just a survival thing for me. The thing with the Asbury Park awards was I was having a fuckin’ tough time. I don’t see myself as an entertainer. It ain’t the Rolling Stones. I’m going through my own shit, if you’re into it, that’s cool. If not, whatever. I feel kinda bad about that night.” The song writing process consists of three steps, beginning with a musical idea and a melody, which Emmich describes. “This always stems from an emotion that I’m feeling. It’s not a mental or mechanical thing. Then, I write the lyrics based on what the music and melody is saying to me. I often tape myself humming the melody over the musical idea and drive around in my car writing the lyrics. The lyrics are the most important part to me, but they usually just spill out of me very easily. It’s what I’m feeling or what someone close to me is feeling or what I’ve been thinking about, but never had the chance to say. Then, the third part is totally cerebral and mathematical in that I just try to screw around with the structure of the song I’ve written, making sure it’s as impactful as it can possibly be as far as dynamics, song length, arrangements etc.” Emmich writes intimate songs that burst with emotion. The most specific example is the tear-jerker “A Voice.” However, the songwriter would prefer the inspiration behind these lyrics remain a mystery. “I don’t want to give too much away about this one,” he said. “It’s probably the one song on the record that people feel the strongest emotional connection to and I don’t want to take that away from people who feel some sense of ownership of it. It’s pretty obvious that it’s about losing someone really close to you. That’s all I’ll say of it.” He will give a more in depth look into his single, “Privacy Attracts a Crowd,” saying It’s just about the ideas that people want to know about things that are kind of off limits or secret. It makes it more enticing. For me, I remember hanging out as a kid in the woods with my friends. My town wasn’t really developed and we had a lot of wooded areas. And that would be our little private spot where we’d do all kinds of delinquent shit. But then they knocked down all the trees and built houses and we lost our little retreat. That’s just one personal example of privacy attracting a crowd, but I’ve experienced other cases of it all throughout my life and I think it can be attributed to a lot of different things. That’s why I thought it would be worth writing a song about.” “I wish you didn’t have to see me this way” (“Panic Attack) Dramatic songs such as the ones Emmich writes are not always easy emotionally to perform live. “This isn’t a job. I can’t turn it on and off. I feel like if it sucks, and maybe I’ll get better at this as I go, but I feel like maybe you come to see me one night and you get lucky and the other night I might be like shit ‘cause I’m not in the mood. I don’t mean that to say I’m a temperamental artist. I just have a really tough time, since I do write emotional music. There’s a song on the record called “Panic Attack,” and I had panic attacks for a while. I made the song because I couldn’t deal with it. It really helped me scream out of me the kind of fear that comes along with it. Some nights I’m into the song, and some nights it’s really not fun to play that song. That’s what I mean by it not being fun.” “My heart is barely beating ‘cause it’s always under pressure” (“Rat Race”) Slow Down Kid is released on Childlike Records, an indie label out of New York City. Emmich co-released his last two CDs, (Slow Down Kid and The Fifteen Minute Relationship) on the label. “I wanted control, so I had some money saved up and I did half-way with the label, so I could have more say over what was happening. Right now, it's looking like we're gonna re-release Slow Down Kid with some tracks taken out and some new tracks on another label.” The title, Emmich says, is “introspective thinking about the shit you’re going through and telling yourself to relax.” He admits to being an extremely worrisome person. “I put a lot of pressure on myself and set high standards. I’m a bit of a perfectionist and when things aren’t right, I really get panicked. So the song “Slow Down Kid” was just me trying to tell myself to chill out. I never listen, but it’s worth a try. I don’t think the fact that things are going well right now has added to the pressure. I think the main pressure that I feel is a constant anyway ‘cause I give it to myself. Music relieves some of that pressure.” “They wouldn’t be dreams if they were easy to achieve” (“Slow Down Kid”) Emmich’s biggest dream is to succeed as an artist on his own terms. “People aren’t just judged by their music nowadays. They’re judged by the whole package. It sucks. Certain people want to bash people before they even hear the music. I would rather never, ever show my face again, and have people get the music and realize that’s all that matters, then talk shit. I think that would help a lot of artists. That’s why you don’t really see my face on the front or back cover. It’s there, but it’s very obscure, like a shadow. The only point of me saying this is that I just want people to know that it’s about nothing for me except the music. When I listen to music, I put it on because it makes me feel alive. I take it seriously and I just want to be associated with those kinds of artists.” Now that MTV has discovered Emmich, he is going to have to deal with those issues. He first appeared on the network’s show Advanced Warning, and then a pre-taped segment on TRL introduced him to the masses. “I was really worried about TRL. I feel like if you go on TRL, you’ve gotta be established. I would rather establish my audience first and have them know what kind of artist I am and then be selected to go on there, then to go on first and people be suspicious and be like ‘Dude, I saw this kid on TRL, he fuckin’ blows.’” TRL brings images of screaming teenage girls and heart-throb boys to mind, something that this musician would rather pass him by. “It’s uncomfortable even talking about this, but it’s something I have to deal with more and more. It’s a real worry for me. The fact is that things are the way they are and I have to adjust to it. My way of adjusting is from this point on, I’m only going to put myself out there in certain ways. It’s going to be music first and all that shit later. I don’t care if I have to go with a bag over my head.” When he began college at Rutgers University, Emmich was unsure of what career path he wanted to go down. So, he majored in American Studies, which allowed him to dabble in a bit of everything. When he was 18, he fell into acting. In between classes and practice, he would head into New York City for gigs. He’s since done numerous commercials (Sony MusicMan, Got Milk?, AT&T Wireless) and guest appearances on shows like Hope and Faith, Third Watch, and Ed. “I never wanted to pursue acting seriously, but I was making money off of it. So when I graduated college, I didn't have to get a real job because I had acting gigs. Acting is my day job, which sounds kinda disorganized. I shouldn't say that though. I don't really want to be known as an actor-turned-musician, or an actor/musician. I really consider myself a musician who occasionally dabbles in acting. For some reason, people are more likely to accept a serious musician like Henry Rollins or Bjork, doing a little acting, then a serious actor trying to have a band. And I'm sure we all know which ones are laughable.” Acting has taught this coffee addicted singer a thing or two. He says “I learned how to be less shy and more comfortable with myself. I got to forget about myself and be someone else, and tap into my funny side. I’m too serious all the time. I just learned a lot about the process of filming TV shows, and commercials and crap. All in all, I really didn’t like it. It wasn’t real enough for me. Plus, I don’t like reciting lines someone else wrote for me.” Hear and watch: www.valemmich.com
|
