Musician/actor/writer Val Emmich is launching a campaign on Kickstarter.com to fund his next albumVal Emmich
is ready to make a new record. And he’d like you to help pay for it.
Tonight, when the Jersey-bred singer/songwriter performs at Maxwell's in Hoboken (opening for the neo-emo act Secondhand Serenade,) Emmich will officially launch a campaign to fund his next album through Kickstarter.com, a website that allows artists to solicit donations from fans.
Although he’s still a young man, the multi-faceted Emmich – musician, songwriter, actor, and author – has seen it all in his ten years in the music industry, from a brief (and disastrous) stint on a major label and national tours to intimate performances in his fans’ livingrooms. “I’ve tried each and every single avenue to put out my records, including straight up begging and bartering with friends,” Emmich said. “People have been asking when I’d do something with Kickstarter but I had to wait until I had a project. Now I think I’m ready.”
Emmich tried something similar with his last full-length, “Looking For A Feeling You Never Knew You Needed,” by auctioning off what he called “extra’s” to his fans, which ranged from personal phone calls to autographed memorabilia to in-home performances. “I don’t think it was a success though, and it was a lot of work,” he said. “And I think the sites like Kickstarter are successful enough now that I can give it a try.”
Other area artists, including Brooklyn chanteuse April Smith and Asbury Park rocker Anthony Walker, have successfully used Kickstarter.com to fund albums. The artist sets up a website and announces a fund-raising goal. If the goal isn’t met, any donations that were received are returned.
For his project, Emmich is going to put a little twist on the usual Kickstarter campaign. “I’ll be recording with a new band,” he noted. “The only member I’ve worked with before is (bassist) Ralph Fitzgerald. And we’re going to record it in Omaha, at Bright Eyes’ studio. Jason Cupp, who recorded my album ‘Sunlight Searchparty,’ is going to produce it. We’re going to record the entire album in 7 days - live, no overdubs, no keyboards. It will be a guitar record. Then we’ll mix it in three days and give it to the fans a week later."
“I built the schedule in a way that doesn’t give me any leeway,” Emmich said. “I have to fly out of Omaha the day we finish recording. I’m trying to save myself from myself. I know my mind can get crazy. And when you work on your own stuff, you can fiddle. The less I fiddle, the more real it becomes. I’ve always wanted to make an album that totally captures the feel of a live performance. I think with this record, we’re going to come very close to that.”
“I have a nervous excitement about it because I have no idea if it will work,” Emmich added. “ I put down a deposit on the studio because I was so excited about it, but if I don’t make my goal, I don’t get a dime. So I’m really hoping this works. I’ve never seen anyone do this where they promised to have the record in the hands of the people who donated by a certain date. If anyone contributes to the Kickstarter fund, they are going to be able to download this record on August 16. Everyone else will be able to buy it in September.”
Most Kickstarter campaigns solicit donations at different levels, and Emmich will follow suit. “The people who donate in the higher tier will get more than just the record,” he explained. “Im going to give away my notebook that I wrote all the songs in. So if you want, you’ll be able to own that and read all the turmoil and thoughts that went through my head when I was writing the songs. I’m giving away one of my older acoustic guitars And we’re giving away the original oil painting that will be on the CD cover.”
“I found this painting by an artist named Mike Ferrari on his Facebook page,” Emmich explained. “I went to Rutgers with him and he went to Mason Gross School of Fine Arts. And I saw this one painting he did of this little boy dragging a sailboat, and he’s dragging it away from New Jersey heading west, walking over a map. And it just coincided with the songs I’d been writing. This is going to be sort of a concept album, based on the idea of memory and about comparing your life as it turned out to what you thought it would be when you were young. So I asked him if I could use the painting and then I started writing even more songs that were about getting away from yourself and in the general theme of leaving what you know behind.”
Even if you don’t know his name, you might well recognize Emmich’s music or know his face.
"MTV's been really supportive," he noted, playing his songs on the soundtracks to shows like "The Real World" and "The Hard Times of RJ Berger." And Emmich has enjoyed a successful second career as an actor, most notably with a recurring role (as a struggling musician, no less) on television's "Ugly Betty" and in a widely seen Macy's commercial (he's the jaunty sales clerk who rummages through the warehouse as celebrities like Diddy, Martha Stewart, and Jessica Simpson primp their brand-name merchandise.)
"I just shot a commercial in Slovenia for Mountain Dew that had me doing some crazy stunts in the air, and I have a part in an upcoming Showtime drama called 'The Big C' with Laura Linney," Emmich noted. An unreleased feature film that he shot back in 2007, "Fighting Fish," will also be screened on June 22 as part of the Visionfest Film Festival in Manhattan.
“It’s a very, very dark film,” he said. “It was a rough summer doing that. I had never been in a character that long. I actually got kind of depressed myself and I didn’t realize until later that it was just because I was getting into the character. I was just down all the time and I realized it was from doing this movie.”
But now, Emmich said, he’s excited to be launching this Kickstarter campaign and, if all goes well, whipping through the recording and release of his next album. “It will be less than a year since my last record came out and that’s one of the things I’m really excited about,” he said. “Usually it’s a couple of years between albums, often because of things you simply can’t control.”
This time around, it’s all up to his fans.
Val Emmich will be performing tonight, June 1, at Maxwell's (1039 Washington St., Hoboken) with Secondhand Serenade, Matt Bellis, and Sailing In The Clouds. Showtime is 7:30 pm and admission is $15. For anyone interested in donating to Val's Kickstarter campaign, visit www.valemmich.com for more details.