The Obelisk Questionnaire: Willy Rivera of Spiral Grave
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Willy Rivera of Spiral Grave
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I’m Will Rivera and I’m the guitarist for Spiral Grave as well as a principal songwriter. Spiral Grave came together after both Iron Man and Lord had ended with the basic idea behind the band being to write great heavy songs w/strong hooks and powerful vocals in the vein of Dio-era Sabbath, Candlemass, Mercyful Fate, Trouble and Metal Church.
Describe your first musical memory.
My first musical memory would probably be my mother always having music on in the house. She has very broad taste so you would hear anything from Santana and Miami Sound Machine to Van Halen or The Bee Gees. She’d also have MTV on all the time so a lot of my initial musical exposure was from ’80s music videos and back then it wasn’t a foreign concept to have Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Quiet Riot and Culture Club played in the same hour so it was incredibly eye opening and influential.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
I have so many great musical memories but the most recent would have to be playing to a packed room at this year’s Maryland Doomfest and having the crowd sing along to a guitar melody that I wrote on my beat up couch at home on an acoustic guitar. Nothing can prepare you for that feeling, you couldn’t knock the smile from my face that night, haha. It was truly vindicating after all the hard work we’d put in to get this band going.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
A firmly held belief was tested? Oooh, that’s a tough one… I guess the best example I can come up with to fit this scenario would be my life pretty much unraveling midway through 2018 when my relationship at the time had dissolved, Lord ended acrimoniously after 13 years, I needed a place to live and I had transferred to a new store… all in the span of two months. There was a lot of upheaval going on that was testing my conviction but when it seemed to be easier to just give up, I moved forward with a new band and in a matter of months, the other facets of my life fell into place. Taking the road less traveled really paid off and I was going off the hope and intuition that this new project would actually pan out. It was all about maintaining faith in the vision and not giving up on it despite distance, lack of convenience or anything else…
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
I feel artistic progression always leads to expanding your palette of tastes and adding to your musical arsenal. You should always be in a state of challenging yourself and gradually improving or striving for something uniquely your own.
How do you define success?
I define success as being satisfied with yourself and your work. You can’t put a price on vision and the need to follow your muse. Most of my heroes are cult artists at best so it’s not much of a stretch to see that future for myself but as long as you’re satisfied with your output or are heading in the right direction, that’s success to me.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
The utter disregard for empathy, common courtesy or just plain decency in people’s behavior these days. It’s not everyone, I’ve seen many instances that have given me hope but it was disheartening to see so many people turn on each other or treat each other horribly due to difference of opinion. It was also disappointing to see people with access to all the information in the world at their fingertips, be so willfully ignorant.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
The next song… it sounds so cliche but I love to see ideas come to fruition. We’ve already written our second album and I’m a bit bummed cos the most exciting part was the writing for me but I look forward to watching these take shape in the studio and take on a life of their own.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
The most essential function of art to me is expression. To give a voice or an outlet to things that you can’t express through speaking or the written word. I’d be lost without it. Music, art and film has saved my life and sanity at so many points of my existence that I consider it my true savior. I’m not a religious man but I believe that art and sound can have a profound, lasting and almost spiritual impact on a person who allows themselves to be affected in a way that frees their consciousness and opens them up to a feeling of a elation… like touching the universe with your soul. It can be otherworldly.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Most of my life revolves around music but I’ve been very excited to be able to go see movies in a theater again. It seems so trivial but after not being able to do so for a year, I cherish the experience that much more. I love being able to lose myself in the experience and get sucked into a whole other world for two hours…
https://www.facebook.com/SpiralGrave/
https://spiralgrave.bandcamp.com/
www.argonautarecords.com
www.facebook.com/argonautarecords
