In Cedarburg, Wisconsin – a suburb of Milwaukee – it isn’t normal for kids to seek a career in music. While he had taken piano and drum lessons sporadically throughout his childhood, Jeffrey Melvin had thought that his musical pursuits would only be a hobby. It wasn’t until his sister showed him a Daft Punk concert DVD that music became more than leisure. After watching that Alive 2007 video, Melvin dove into production. Now a high schooler, he began to combine ideas from jazz piano lessons with electronic music. Melvin had no connections in the industry, so he released his early songs on the streaming website SoundCloud; his moniker online was Melvv. His music’s reception and global reach on the site came as a complete surprise.
Upon finishing his first year at the University of Wisconsin in 2016, Melvin dropped out to pursue music full time. Before completing his second semester, however, he went on his first tour with Big Gigantic and Louis The Child, culminating with a solo performance at the famed DoLab stage at Coachella. Melvv kept quietly working on his music in the meantime, developing his sound and curating collaborations as he continued to grow artistically. Following the release of singles “Not Me” and “Lifeline” under indie label Majestic Casual, Melvv caught the attention of Atlantic Records, with whom he signed in 2017. 2018 is set to be pivotal for Melvv, starting with a full North American tour with Hippie Sabotage, 12 festivals across North America, and plenty of new music, beginning with his single “Anything Else” on February 16.
