Jay Della Valle

Jay Della Valle (born August 19, 1979) best known for his documentary The Glorious Mustache Challenge,^[1] and for his role as Sue in the Independent Feature Film, "Mount Joy"- is an American filmmaker, recording artist, singer and songwriter.^[2]

Early life

Della Valle was born in Hackensack, New Jersey. He is of Italian, Irish, and Czech ancestry.^[3] He grew up in Wayne, New Jersey and attended Wayne Valley High School.^[4] Della Valle currently resides in Montclair, New Jersey.^[5]

Musical career

While attending New York University, Della Valle played with various bands including The Offbeats and Sex With Strangers.^[6] After graduating from NYU in 2001 with a degree from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, Della Valle recorded an independent EP called Best Years with bandmate Jon Crane and producer Chris "Gibby" Gibson (Quicksand, Rival Schools).^[7] He followed this with 2 other independent EPs before starting to record his first full-length debut album, Pink Elephants, in 2005 with producer Jon Berman (Ours, The Dandy Warhols, Avril Lavigne, Duncan Sheik).^[8] He then returned to Chris Gibson in 2008 to record Stay Gold with his band. In 2009, Della Valle toured the east coast with Stache Bash, Della Valle's own invention: a "mustache party rock n’roll tour" he cultivated from his films burgeoning following.^[9] A video for his single, Legs So Long It's Crazy, was made in early 2009. Della Valle's 2nd full-length album, The Terminology of the Situation Is.... was released in May 2011.^[10] In 2012, Jay joined up with former Della Valle keyboardist/violinist & singer Nicole DeLoi to form the sultry Folk Duo "Owls & Lions" who got their start performing at weddings. Jay's song "Head Above Water" can be heard in the upcoming 2014 Lionsgate film "My Man Is A Loser" starring John Stamos & Michael Rapaport. Jay was recently cast in the Independent Feature Film, Mount Joy- about a punk rock band from Pennsylvania his character fronts called Living Daylights. Jay Della Valle wrote all the songs for the band Living Daylights and this collection of "sailor pop-eyed drunk rock" anthems is available through ITunes.

Film career

Della Valle started acting in 1995 while still in high school. After graduating high school in 1997, he attended New York University to further pursue theatre and film opportunities. He worked on a number of independent films and theatre productions while still in college.^[11] After graduating NYU in 2001, Della Valle enrolled in the Maggie Flanigan Studio to study the Meisner technique of acting under the mentorship of Maggie Flanigan.^[12]

In 2006, Della Valle started to film his acclaimed documentary, The Glorious Mustache Challenge,^[13] which received press and attention from The Today Show, Good Morning America, Geraldo at Large, CNN, and The New York Times.^[14] "The Glorious Mustache" started when he dared a handful of friends to grow a mustache and not shave for one month.^[15] This experiment led him to have the idea to chronicle the experiences of men under 30 in their conquest to revive the "ill-fated" mustache trend.^[16] The making of the film quickly gained traction and press- garnering featured articles in Time Out New York and on the front page of The New York Times.^[17] and AM New York Upon its completion, film screenings took the form of "mustache parties" where the film would play, costumes and staches would be required, and inevitably, a mustache contest would be judged by Della Valle.^[18] Press from The New York Times caught the eye of Dr. Aaron Perlut and Dr. Dan Callahan, the leaders of the American Mustache Institute, who would later indoctrinate Della Valle as "Chairman Emeritus".^[19] AMI is the one and only institution that vows to protect the legacy of the mustache and the rights of all mustached Americans. As of September 2014, Della Valle serves as the Director of Academic Life Counseling at AMI.

“The Glorius Mustache Challenge” was available for purchase at Urban Outfitters and Hot Topic until 2009.^[20]

In 2007, Della Valle appeared on the reality show Miami Ink.^[21] While getting tattooed by tattoo artist Chris Garver, he discusses plans for his band's album in progress.

In 2012, Della Valle was cast as the lead role in the feature film, Mount Joy – directed by Jack Lewars. Jay plays "Sue," frontman for a band called the "Living Daylights," a local punk rock act on the brinks of critical acclaim. The film features a punk rock score written and composed by Della Valle himself. Mount Joy had a successful run in the film festival market, garnering several awards including a Leonardo's Horse Award at The Milan International Film Festival for Best Male Actor. As of July 2016-Mount Joy is Available to the world through Netflix.

Discography

Activism

Della Valle was the official MC^[22] and Host for Movember's annual "Mustache Gala" which takes place every November in New York City. Movember is an interactive charity that allows men to raise money for Men's Prostate Cancer Foundation & Lance Armstrong Foundation by getting sponsors to pledge money for them to rock mustaches throughout the month of MOvember.^[23] Jay has hosted and participated in various Mustache Challenges for Charity including "Mustaches for Cancer", "Mustaches For Kids" & "The Glorius Mustache Challenge."

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jay Della Valle.

• Jay Della Valle at the Internet Movie Database
• Official Website
• Della Valle Music
• Owls & Lions
• Spinners Entertainment
• Mount Joy
• American Mustache Institute