David Andrew Melillo (born June 12, 1988) is the former lead guitarist for

Anarbor Anarbor is an American rock band from Phoenix, Arizona that was formed in 2003. The band is composed of lead vocalist, bassist and only constant member Slade Echeverria, guitarist Adam Juwig, guitarist Danny Stravers, and drummer William Wilson ...

, and the former

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

for

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band

Cute Is What We Aim For Cute Is What We Aim For is an American rock band from Buffalo, New York. The band formed in 2005 and has since released two albums: '' The Same Old Blood Rush with a New Touch'' and ''Rotation''. The band was previously signed with record label ...

. His earlier material as a solo artist consisted of

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

-driven

acoustic rock Acoustic music is music that solely or primarily uses instruments that produce sound through acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means. While all music was once acoustic, the retronym "acoustic music" appeared after the adven ...

and piano-accented

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and ch ...

, somewhat in the vein of early

Dashboard Confessional Dashboard Confessional is an American rock band from Boca Raton, Florida, led by singer Chris Carrabba. The name of the band is derived from the songThe Sharp Hint of New Tears off their debut album, ''The Swiss Army Romance''. History Early h ...

and

The Rocket Summer The Rocket Summer is the solo-project of Bryce Avary, a multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and record producer based in Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas. He writes and produces every song on his records, and plays every instrument on them. H ...

Biography

David Melillo was born on June 12, 1988 in

Glen Ridge, New Jersey Glen Ridge is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough’s population was 7,802, reflecting an increase of 275 (+3.7%) from the 2 ...

to David A. Melillo Sr. and Gina A. Melillo. After moving to

Celebration, Florida Celebration is a master-planned community (MPC) and census-designated place (CDP) in Osceola County, Florida, United States. A suburb of Orlando, Celebration is located near Walt Disney World Resort and originally developed by The Walt Disney C ...

in December 2000, he learned how to play the

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, the

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

and the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and eventually began writing songs. While attending Celebration High School, he played in several ensembles, including the short-lived

garage band Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

Trexx. In mid-2004, Melillo formed the

Taking Back Sunday Taking Back Sunday is an American rock band from Long Island, New York. The band was formed by guitarist Eddie Reyes and bassist Jesse Lacey in 1999. The band's members currently are Adam Lazzara (lead vocals), John Nolan (lead guitar, keybo ...

-inspired

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band Arcana. While their submitted two-song

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

fell on deaf ears with

Drive-Thru Records Drive-Thru Records was a California-based independent record label owned by siblings Richard and Stefanie Reines. The label was partially responsible for popularizing the pop-punk/emo merger sound of the early to mid-2000s. After facing financia ...

, Melillo's solo material did not. Drive-Thru Records invited Melillo to play a showcase for the label and signed him immediately in December 2004, at the age of sixteen. Melillo made his debut on the Drive-Thru Records and PureVolume

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

Bands You Love, Have Heard of, and Should Know Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

'' (2005) with his song "Wait for It". Melillo spent the following summer recording with producer James Wisner in St. Cloud, FL. Melillo's debut EP, titled ''Talk Is Cheap'', was first released on April 17, 2006 as a free digital download from

mtvU MTVU (formerly stylized as MtvU and mtvU) is an American digital cable TV channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group, a unit of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel was first known as VH1 Uno from 2000 to ...

. The physical CD release was issued on June 13 through Drive-Thru Records, containing one extra track. After a falling out with Drive Thru Records, Melillo joined

playing rhythm guitar on the 2007

Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touring ...

. He toured with the band for the following 2 years on bass guitar and helped write/record the band's sophomore album "Rotation" alongside

John Feldmann John Feldmann (born June 29, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He serves as the lead singer/guitarist of the band Goldfinger. Early life Feldmann grew up in Saratoga, California. He started writing song ...

. In 2009, Melillo left the band for personal reasons, and formed a new band,

Nocturnal Me ''Ocean Rain'' is the fourth studio album by the English post-punk band Echo & the Bunnymen. It was released on 4 May 1984 and reached number four on the UK Albums Chart, number 87 on the United States ''Billboard'' 200, number 41 on the Canad ...

, with former members of

released three EPs: "Self Titled" in 2009, "Too" in 2010 and "Two Faced" in 2011. In 2010 Melillo shared production credits on several independent releases, most notably Leslie Mosier's debut EP/album and Set It Off's EP which preluded the band's signing with

Equal Vision Records Equal Vision Records is an independent record label based in Albany, New York. It was founded in the early 1990s by Ray Cappo, singer for the punk bands Youth of Today, Shelter, and Better Than a Thousand. The label originally existed solely to ...

. Melillo also began working as a pop/r&b songwriter in 2010 for several major labels and artists, with a focus on melody/lyrics. 2011 began with Melillo refocusing his efforts on his own music. He released a 4-song EP "Future Focused" in October to be followed by a 13-track mix-tape titled "Thinking Of You" in November.

Discography

EPs

*''Talk Is Cheap'' (2006) *''Future Focused'' (2011)

Albums

*''You've Got Potential'' (2022)

Non-album tracks

*"Wait for It" – released on ''

'' (2005) *"

It Ain't Me Babe "It Ain't Me Babe" is a song by Bob Dylan that originally appeared on his fourth album ''Another Side of Bob Dylan'', which was released in 1964 by Columbia Records. According to music critic Oliver Trager, this song, along with others on the albu ...

" – released on '' Listen to Bob Dylan: A Tribute'' (2005) *"All I Want for Christmas" – released on '' A Santa Cause 2: It's a Punk Rock Christmas'' (2006) *"The Ties that Bind" released on ''

Demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

'' (2008) *"Read Between The lines" released on ''

'' (2008)

Dave Melillo's touring band

*Dave Melillo –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

*Clark Spurlock –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

*Matt Mendes - Bass *Nate Mullins - Drums

References

External links

Official websiteDave Melillo's profile
at MySpace
Nocturnal Me's profile
at MySpace {{DEFAULTSORT:Melillo, Dave 1988 births Living people People from Glen Ridge, New Jersey Singer-songwriters from New Jersey American male singer-songwriters American rock singers American rock songwriters Drive-Thru Records artists 21st-century American singers 21st-century American male singers