Background
David Melillo was born on June 12, 1988 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey to David A. Melillo Senior and Gina A. Melillo.
David Melillo was born on June 12, 1988 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey to David A. Melillo Senior and Gina A. Melillo.
His earlier material as a solo artist consisted of acoustic guitar-driven acoustic rock and piano-accented power popular, somewhat in the vein of early Dashboard Confessional and The Rocket Summer. After moving to Celebration, Florida in December 2000, he learned how to play the guitar, the bass guitar and the piano and eventually began writing songs. While attending Celebration High School, he played in several ensembles, including the short-lived garage band Trexx.
In mid-2004, Melillo formed the Taking Back Sunday-inspired indie rock band Arcana.
While their submitted two-song demo fell on deaf ears with Drive-Thru Records, 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 Bands You Love, Have Heard of, and Should Know (2005) with his song "Wait for lieutenant". Melillo spent the following summer recording with producer James Wisner in Saint Cloud, Florida. Melillo"s debut European Parliament, titled Talk Is Cheap, was first released on April 17, 2006 as a free digital download from mtvU. The physical Civil Defense release was issued on June 13 through Drive-Thru Records, containing one extra track.
After a falling out with Drive Thru Records, Melillo joined Cute Is What We Aim Foreign playing rhythm guitar on the 2007 Warped Tour.
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 Fledmann. Nocturnal Maine 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 European Parliament/album and Secretariat lieutenant Office"s European Parliament which preluded the band"s signing with Equal Vision Records.
Melillo also began working as a popular/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 European Parliament "Future Focused" in October to be followed by a 13 track mix-tape titled "Thinking Of You" in November.
Dave Melillo – vocals, acoustic guitar
Clark Spurlock – lead guitar
Matt Mendes - Bass
Nate Mullins - Drums.
In 2009, Melillo left the band for personal reasons, and formed a new band, Nocturnal Maine, with former members of Cute Is What We Aim Foreign