Fun Facts

- “I own a huge movie theatre popcorn maker. Makes the authentic theatre kind”
 
- His grandfather was a concert pianist and his mother encouraged his artistic interests.
 
- He admits to have a sweaty hand problem. He was so nervous with the big makeout scene with Lucy Liu that he kept apologizing her for it. Confesses about seeing a doctor because it’s bad. Ms.Liu recommended to try acupuncture.
 
- First concert he ever went to was MC Hammer and opening up for him was Vanilla Ice. “No joke. I would not make up something like that".
 
- In junior high school he listened to a lot of hip-hop (Naughty by Nature, EPMD, 2 Pac). In high school he started listening to rock (Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Radiohead).
 
- Auditioned for J.J. Abrams’ “Fringe” on Fox but obviously didn’t get the part.
 
- Auditioned for a future show for Lauren Graham but the show didn't go anywhere.
 
- Question: Please share your strangest "only in New York" story. Answer:“I have just entered an elevator and am about to ascend upwards to my first real photo shoot. This was five years ago in the Chelsea Hotel. A hand comes through the closing doors to halt the elevator. In walks Ethan Hawke. He apologizes as he presses the button and we take off. Before he exits, he turns to me and says that he likes my pants. That's when I look at his and see that he has a giraffe stitched into his jeans. I thank him shyly and grin to myself as I exit the elevator and head to my photo shoot. Of course in my head I'm thinking "only in New York."
 
- “Pretty much as soon as I learned my first chords, I started writing songs. That has always been the main function of an instrument for me. Not to showcase that instrument but to showcase the song. When did I perform? I convinced my best friend to learn to play the bass. Then we sought out a drummer. There is this kid in my Spanish class who taps on his desk, maybe he is a drummer. Literally, a true story. Before long we were doing shows in people's garages and backyards. Then Battle of the Bands at our high school. I'm pretty impatient and so we did our first live shows way before we were good enough to be in public.”
 
- your underwear status (boxers or briefs?) VAL: Briefs.
 
- “Shock” video was filmed at a friend’s basement where Val stayed for a brief moment.
 
- John Mayer was first casted as Jesse in Ugly Betty but declined due to conflicting schedule.

- He has a split EP with the band, Hero Pattern, titled The Reception that was released in 2002.
 
- Val’s grandfather passed away 10 years before the album “Sunlight Searchparty” was released. He heard about a tape of his grandfather telling a story on a cassette and hunted it down. You can here him right before the track “If They Come Again” reciting a dialogue. And right before the track “I Don’t Get the Joke” is his grandfather playing the piano.
 
- “I have a Ben & Jerry scoop shop near my house and my favorite flavor by far is Coconut Almond Fudge. But they don’t sell pints of that flavor in normal stores so I have to go to this one store to get it. I love coconut based ice-cream”.
 
- “I was annoying on the playground as a kid. At least that’s what my brother and friends tell me. I was and still am super-competitive and so I’d always bark at people because I didn’t think they were playing hard enough. I hated losing. I’d yell at people for breaking the rules and shit. Pretty lame. I was always annoyed if whatever I was playing wasn’t competitive. But if I was courting a girl I would probably be giving her a pencil that I bought at a lunch fair which I did once. I think it was probably a pencil with a football team on it that she didn’t want but I gave it anyway.”
 
- Val is short of Valentine. His father’s name. Legally his name is Val.
 
- His most memorable role from those early days: playing a sleazy fratboy type who picks a bar fight and dramatically utters the line “This isn’t over!” on “As the World Turns.”
 
- “The Only One Lonely” took about a month to film and was filmed in Eric Micali’s place.
 
- The whole cast and crew in the video “Get On With It” are friends.

- he was known as Matt Emmich back in high school.

- for his honeymoon, went to Costa Rica and learned to surf