Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
Joe Melillo I was born and raised, and currently reside in, Brooklyn, NY. I never decided to be an artist, it was my destiny. I realized too late in life that music is my true passion, but, once I fully realized it, there was no stopping me sharing the music inside me with the world! I think the point I fully realized it is when I met my vocal coach, Janie Barnett, who not only taught me how to sing properly, but exposed me to the songwriting process. I have since written over 100 songs of varying styles and quality, and keep writing.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
Joe Melillo: I wish I could take credit for it, but “Melillo”, the Italian word for “apple tree”, was the surname given to my father’s family in Naples, Italy many generations back. “Joseph” is the American derivation of my maternal grandfather’s name “Giuseppe”, and is in turn derived from Hebrew, meaning “one who adds”. While I do have great mathematical ability, my full name means “one who adds apple trees”, which is pretty much what Johnny Appleseed did. Therefore, I like to think of my name as indicating that the apple trees are my music, and I’m trying to enrich the world with it.
That sound a hell of a lot more interesting than “it’s my real name”, doesn’t it? (chuckles)
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Joe Melillo: I have given it away for free to online radio stations and blogs and what-not, who usually don’t pay for BMI insurance, so I don’t get reimbursed for that. It’s also streamable on my ReverbNation page (http://www.reverbnation.com/joemelillo4). It’s a fine line where you want to recoup the costs you incurred recording and printing CDs (I’m still old school like that), but you want to make the music available as widely as you can, so people who haven’t heard you become fans, and you can make that rock star money. I honestly don’t appreciate other people giving my music away for free without my authorization. I don’t think that helps me grow my fan base in the way I want.
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
Joe Melillo: Make no mistake. I’m STILL a start-up!! ReverbNation is your friend. Have your music available to anyone looking for new artists for any reason. Enter as many contest as you can. Grab as many gigs as are available to you, but make sure you can meet their minimum crowd requirements. It helps to have people lined up ahead of time if you can. Clubs and promoters with minimum crowd sizes won’t ask you back if you miss it even once.
Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?
Joe Melillo: Very badly, usually. (chuckles) Being a very open and honest person, I usually admit that I made a mistake, and make it very obvious that I did so. After I make it, though, I just plow through and continue performing, never to mention it again. I’ve had fans tell me not to do that, and just either mumble my words, or go with words I think fit, because the crowd won’t know. I’m starting to do that a little more.
Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?
Joe Melillo: I don’t count playing around New York as “touring”, so no. I did have a guy perform on the same night I did, and he came to New York from Boston, and was looking for a couch to crash on. I can’t imagine going to a far-away place to perform without knowing where I was staying after the show was over.
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Joe Melillo: Luckily, I have a lucrative enough day job that I don’t have to write music unless I have something to write about. Nowadays, I’ve written so much that sometimes I have to sit and think what I might want to write about, and sometimes it just hits me. Janie describes me as “a man of many passions”, so inspiration can come from anywhere or anything.
I write lyrics first. I might have a tone, mood, or tempo in my head to which I’ll try to write the lyrics, but then I usually let the words shape the music. I’ll sing the song for Janie as I hear it in my head, who uses her incredible ear to figure out what notes I’m singing, and what chords should go behind it. We collaborate on the details, and presto, we have a song!!
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
Joe Melillo: Here’s everywhere you can find some information on me, including ways to stream my music:
http://www.parkertheplatypus.com
http://www.facebok.com/joemelillo
Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?
Joe Melillo: Well, they’re not embarrassing to ME, to be sure!! I don’t get embarrassed very easily. But probably the fact that I have more of my own songs than any other artist’s (including my favorites Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel) can cause people to misconstrue that I like the sound of my voice better than anyone else’s, which is very far from the truth!! I just like to have my entire catalog handy, in case an opportunity comes up.
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
Joe Melillo: I’d probably come up with a master marketing plan to get my music and children’s books (which are based off my Parker The Platypus series of children’s songs) in the eyes and ears of as many people as possible, hoping that I wouldn’t have to go back to my old job after that year was up!!
Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?
Joe Melillo: I don’t’ have my own studio, because my literally-next-door neighbor is a recording engineer, with one of his own. For great professional recordings at reasonable rates, take a look at Empire State Studios: http://www.empirestatestudiosnyc.com.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
Joe Melillo: I do an open mic about once every two months, which, admittedly, hasn’t done much for my sales, but has introduced me to a lot of other cool songwriters. Other than that, it’s just word-of-mouth among family and friends. Social media helps me get in touch with more people than I’m able to on a face-to-face basis.
Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?
Joe Melillo: It’s actually a real goal of mine to perform with Billy Joel on the stage of Madison Square Garden at one of his monthly residence shows. He’s performed 28 shows on this tour, and I’ve been to 22 of them. I figure he owes me!! (laughs) I’ll be 14 rows from the stage in November, so I figure that’s my time to strike!
Other than that, performing with Bruce Springsteen at The Stone Pony, the Asbury Park, NJ club where he got his start, would be surreal. I saw him there about 12 years ago when he made a surprise appearance at a Nils Lofgrin show, and I was about 30 feet from him.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
Joe Melillo: Nothing huge coming up. I literally wrote a song yesterday, but I don’t even have any plans to release it.
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Joe Melillo: I seriously can’t imagine. I would probably throw myself into acting, which is another artistic expression I enjoy.
Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?
Joe Melillo: I honestly can’t swear that this is the FIRST album I ever bought, but it’s certainly the first one I REMEMBER: “Born In The USA”, Bruce Springsteen. Many religious Bruce fans consider the fact that this was my first exposure to Bruce makes me a poser fan, but I’ve more than made up for lost time since!! The music spoke to me in a way that no other music had ever spoken to me before. It was deep, just like the music on my Mom’s Billy Joel 8-tracks, but it moved me emotionally as well through the chords and the beat. It was probably the first time I really connected with music on my own.
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Joe Melillo: Horribly. (laughs) When I have a song I need to write, it has to be done then. Otherwise, as has happened to me many times before, it just leaves my head, never to return! This means I sometimes write at work, which, since I’m not one to shirk my work responsibilities, makes it difficult to find a block of cohesive time to come up with a song that doesn’t’ sound too disjointed. Luckily, I have a good memory, which helps on both the professional and artistic fronts.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
Joe Melillo: Your guess is as good as mine!! I may end up in a relationship for the first time in a VERY long time, which might mean a whole new muse for me to become a decent love song writer!! (laughs) My niece Sami, who’s the illustrator on all my children’s books, will be studying animation come September, so we could see new Parker The Platypus cartoons!! Wherever this crazy roller coaster ends up, the journey is as full of surprises for me as it is for my fans!!