| VAL EMMICH |

Actor, musician, writer based in Jersey City, NJ, USA

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Recording a little vocals. #newalbum2016

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I missed you, audience. Thanks for listening to my existential jangle. Photo @splitpea (at The Strand Theater)

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4/13 Radio Interview & Performance

I’ll be doing an in-studio interview and performance on WBJB 90.5 The Night tomorrow Wednesday, April 13 sometime between 3-4pm EST. If you’re not in central New Jersey and can’t get the station on the dial, never fear. Tune in online by going here. 

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I had the fortune of dancing with the beautiful and talented @junotemple on last night's episode 9 of @vinyl. Might there have been a tiny bit of alcohol consumed in the making of this scene? I cannot say.

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Lost my buddy today. Found her in 2009 from a rescue shelter that was located next to an outdoor gun range. When I visited, I heard the shots sound off loud and close and I swear I saw Missy flinch in her cage. Maybe it was just those sad mascara eyes. At any rate, I said, "She's coming with me" and I drove away with this strange beast. We weren't keen on the name Missy because it's the name of one of our friends and we had this idea that a new name might make for a new start. We tried to call her Missy Elliot with the hopes of eventually dropping the Missy and having her respond only to Elliot. She wouldn't have it. She was a defiant one from day one. Never went along with any plan we tried to make for her. She hated cameras & doorbells & the sound of the dryer & skateboards & bikes & other dogs & men & most women too. As a result, most people in our lives didn't like her back (with a few exceptions, thank you). She came from the island of St. Croix and, upon arriving in the States, burned through half-a-dozen owners. We almost sent her back, too. My wife had never owned a pet before Missy and Missy was a dog that baffled even the professionals. We went through three trainers, all of whom had high hopes at the start, but eventually failed to help us "manage" her. Having guests was a pain in the ass because it meant sticking her in our bedroom and hearing her bark her head off. But when it was just our little family and no one else was around she was a dream dog. Never tore up anything in our house or grabbed food or jumped on people. She mostly just slept and hung out. And then we had kids and our elderly rescue dog was all of a sudden reborn as a puppy. She was vibrant again and then came the cancer. All told, she had three surgeries to remove five mast cell tumors and she also had a splenectomy. Sometimes we wondered why we even kept her around with all the downsides, but of course we had no choice. She was ours, mine mostly, and she was wildly imperfect, down to the strange cow spots on her coat and the unruly sheep hair, and that's why I adored her. She was her own thing. I loved her. And now it's hard to keep my eyes dry.

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Nigel is my sage. #newalbum2016

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From last night's episode 8 of Vinyl on HBO in which I sang a song about wearing my grandmother's wig & stuffing my sister's bra. Watch now on HBO Go or On Demand.

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Alex returns to @vinyl @hbo on Sunday for episode 8 & he's packing.

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playtime #newalbum2016

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New Music Update

The more you know, the harder it is.

I’ve been trying to record this thing. It’s an album, I suppose. Haven’t released one of those since 2012. 

It started with a little part I was playing on the piano last summer. I started envisioning this whole collection of songs. This unifying sound. And then I got busy--shooting Vinyl and finishing up my novel--and all that was so great and rewarding (and grueling, too). But now I’m back to this musical project and I can’t do it. The scary part is that I’ve never had this problem.

It’s not that I don’t have the passion for it. I’m excited about these songs. I’m excited about how I’m treating them, which is slightly different than how I’ve handled songs in the past. The problem is that I can’t get them to sound the way I hear them in my head. That’s always been the case with every single recording I’ve ever done, but this time it’s bothering me to the point where it makes me not want to do it. I think it’s called losing your mind.

I’m doing the recording myself, which I’ve done plenty of times before. I’m dealing with limitations both in know-how and equipment, but those limitations have never derailed me too much before. I’ve made those limitations work for me instead of against me. But now these obstacles seem insurmountable. 

Fun fact: I’m still using the same recording hardware and the same one microphone I bought in 2003. This is not a good thing.

I could go to a real studio and work with a real producer but then the project becomes something else. First, it costs money. Second, it can be a slow process. Third, I give up control. Fourth, I give up on the idea that I know what I’m doing. Fifth, the chances of the album sounding like I’m imagining become even less likely because that’s how the collaborative process works. 

Did I mention time? I have so much less of it than I used to have when I was churning out music more regularly. And see, I’ve got time today, but I’m not taking advantage of it at this very minute because I’m typing.

Why am I typing? And to whom am I typing? And why do I suddenly hate the word typing? It seems too secretarial for what I’m doing. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a secretary. A secretary can experience existential woes. In fact, they may be the ones most prone to them. 

And so on. You see how neverending it all becomes.

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This Sunday I make my debut on HBO’s Vinyl. Check out this preview for Episode 6. That’s me at the :16 second mark.

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Best of 2015

Thrill: Being a part of HBO’s new show Vinyl (Premieres Feb 14, 2016)

Discovery: Ruby red grapefruit covered in extra virgin olive oil & flaky sea salt 

Songs:

‘Pretty Pimpin’ by Kurt Vile

‘Water’ by Ra Ra Riot

‘Downtown’ by Majical Cloudz

‘Where Do I Begin’ by Wilco

‘Don’t Wanna Fight’ by Alabama Shakes

‘Should Have Known Better’ by Sufjan Stevens

‘Radicalized’ by Desaparecidos

‘Billions of Eyes’ by Lady Lamb

‘Blank Space’ by Taylor Swift

‘I Know It's True’ by Ben Talmi

‘Depreston’ by Courtney Barnett

Wake Up Call: My longtime friend & mentor having an aneurysm, nearly dying, still not home all these months later. Love you, E.

Realization: I probably need therapy. Art is not enough.

Books: 

I Called Him Necktie by Milena Michiko Flasar

The First Bad Man by Miranda July

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

The Disaster Artist by Greg Sestero

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

Quicksand by Steve Toltz

Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues by Martin J. Blaser

Tweet: Man pissing at me in the street, wearing a bike helmet. #safetyfirst @eviewyld

Perspective: Scott Kelly's Twitter feed. @StationCDRKelly. While we're shooting each other & buying more shit, this guy spends an entire year in space and takes the most gorgeous photos of our spinning home you've ever seen.

TV: 

Transparent

Mad Men

Game of Thrones

The Jinx

Togetherness

Nathan For You

Better Call Saul

Bachelorette

Shark Tank

Leisure Time Activity: Listening to Howard Stern. (5 more years!!!)

Advice: 

News: This!

Films: (With two young kids, my moviegoing has taken a hit.)

Inside Out

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief

While We’re Young

The Wolfpack

Moment: Anytime my daughters are happy. 

Photo: From ‘94 but it found me in ‘15.

Quote: “No matter how inspiring some article about humans might be, the comments section will let you down again.” --Jemaine Clement

Case Scenario: All the bullets go missing.

Happy New Year! Thanks for the love.

VE

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After years and years (and years!) of work, I'm thrilled to announce that my debut novel will be published in early 2017 in the U.S. & Canada by Little Brown and also in these foreign territories: U.K. (Picador), Denmark (Politikens), China (Horizon), France (Mosaic), Israel (Kinneret), Italy (Piemme), Germany (Droemer), Brazil (Intrinseca), Holland (Ambo Anthos), Poland (Pascal) and Taiwan (Delight Press). More territories on the way! I know 2017 is a long way off but if you'd like to receive updates about the book & learn about promotional opportunities, sign up at here.  P.S. Please sign up. Not only will I greatly appreciate it. I'll also need your help when this thing comes out. Although I always believed getting published was the finish line, it turns out that having people read the thing is also important. 

P.P.S. Thanks for the help you've supplied already. 

P.P.P.S. Holy shit.

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Here’s another trailer for Vinyl, which premieres on HBO on February 14, 2016 at 9PM EST. This newest trailer does a great job of showing the tonal range of the show. And if you like playing the game “Where’s Val Emmich?” take a look at the dude playing guitar at the :45 mark and the long-haired freak running across the screen at 1:16. 

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I’ll be performing solo acoustic this Friday 11/6. 

I’m on first at 8PM SHARP! Don’t be late! 

Get tickets here! 

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That’s my name, see. 

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In January 2016, you can watch me on Vinyl, a new drama series, coming to HBO, from Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger and Terence Winter. For now, catch a glimpse of me in the new trailer. That’s me with the long black hair, shredding in front of the wall of guitars, at the :30 second mark. Blink and you’ll miss it!