interview with Rise of The Willing
Have any of you played in other bands? Yes Both of us Play and have played in other bands, Me Kyle Stratton I have played in Domiculumn, Atala and many various bands as a teen and early twenties. John Chavarria who plays drums in Rise of the Willing, also plays, in A'rk and Atala, we both like to do lots of creative stuff.
How is it that you started playing music? I personally have always played I have no formal training and can't read music but as a child I could always walk up to any instrument and play it, maybe not the proper way but, i could make it play how I wanted it to sound, which was mostly dark and abstract.
What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you? Kyle Stratton Guitar and lead vocals, John Chavarria drums and back up vocals
Have you had other previous members? Yes we have had rotating bass players since we began, Kent West, Dave Horn and Clint Cuningham have all recorded with us plus we have have toured with other various players on bass.
Did you make music even when you were young? Yes it was always something I did losing track of time, sometimes hours and sometime days, but in my early twenties music really started to take a lot of my life.
Where are you from? I grew up in Southern California United States, mostly in a city called Chino which is in the Los Angeles area, moved to The Desert in my mid Twenties to a small town called Twentynine Palms.
What year did the band form? Rise of the Willing formed in 2011
What's your style of genre? Doom/ Sludge with a twist of psycadellia
What inspires you? The world, war, politics, spirituality, death, dreams, spirit world, the best and worst in the human experience, basically I am onj a journey through this existence and my music is like a diary for me as I try and figure out what my purpose is on this plane.
How often and where do you reherse? I personally reherse everyday, but usually once a week with what ever band I am playing with but enjoy developing riffs and songs on my own.
How have you developed since you started with the music?I think, I have just really learned how to express my self through my guitar over the years I don't try and become a more technical player instead I focus more on sound and tone and really try and make my instrument sound more like an extension of my soul.
Do you have other interests of work outside the band? I tattoo, spray paint, paint on canvas, working on movies and I raise my two children as well as study the world the best I can. I am very interested in life's meaning and self discovery as well as developing an understanding of the outside world.
Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? We are currently working with a booking agent ADHD for north and South America with our active band Atala. For me anything or anyone who is a professional and can help us make more money off of our art is great, I am sure as we advance we will work with more people and bigger companies but at our level we are happy but very willing to hear offers from anyone who can help get us to the next level.
Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? We would like to be on the right label but are willing to be independent if we don't find a label who allows us complete creative and artistic control, we have learned a lot along the way but the right label can help us get to that next level, but for us it would have to be a good fit so we can still feel relaxed enough to create and have nothing get in the way of what we want to express.
What made you decide to make this music? I didn't decide I have always had to make it, if I don't create music it's like a piece of me is missing.
What are your songs about? I write songs about what ever I am feeling, I write about the human condition a lot, like war, politics, I am very against war and most forms of government control or religion that breads hate., I write about spirituality, I have written a song about a serial Killer, also Songs about letting go of damage, I have written about the Sun and how it gives life, also, about how are scars bring us strength, I have written about shapeshifters, and Gravity, or dreams and experiencing the other side, I like to write from an abstract perspective because my perspective is abstract.
Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? We compose together blending riffs and we create the structure and general vibe of the song, after the music is done I then ad the lyrics I like to use the music as to create the vibe then write the lyrics based off those feelings.
Do you start with the music or the lyrics? Music first.
Do you compose in a certain inviroment? I have a home studio we prefer darkness with colored lights
Have you done any covers live? NO
What language do you sing in? english.
What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? we have played in front of 3 people but have also played for 400 to 500.
What ages are most of your concert attendants? All ages but most venues we are booked at is bars so we mostly play for 21 and over
Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? No, we usually get a new set list for every tour as to keep it fresh for our fans we also very a couple songs so we play a slightly different set every night to keep it fresh for us and we have jam parts we always play a bit different.
Do you have a regular place you play live often? No we like to be on the road and meet new people and try and spread the seeds as far as we can.
What was your first gig like? it was alot of fun we played with a bunch of heavy bands we knew
What was your latest gig? We played a festival in Las Vegas Nevada last weekend as Atala at an place called the OMD Theater, was cool except some idiots got in fight at some point
Have you had to cancel a gig? NEVER
Where have you played live this year? As Atala we have toured all over the western United States, we played at the California Institute of abnormal Arts (Hollywood California), The Hood ( Palm Desert CA), The Loaded Hollywood ( Hollywood CA) The Compound ( Glendale CA), The Press Club (Scaramento CA), The Palms (Twentynine Palms CA), The Doll Hut ( Aniehiem Ca), The Rock ( Tuson Az) The Rogue (Scottsdale AZ) The Grand Royal Hotel ( Bisbee AZ), Studio 18 ( Farmington, AZ) The Metro Bar ( Salt Lake, Utah), The Shredder ( Boise, Idaho), The 3rd Street Pub (Bend, Oragon) and a bunch of other I have forgotten, we mostly Gig with Atala because we get paid.
Where do you plan to gig the comming year? again, with Atala we are going to tour further across the U.S. and plan on playing the Mary Doom Fest in June we are currently an Alternate for this show but are sure we will play, we really look up to alot of bands on that gig.
When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? we have been selling merchandise since 2012, we sell C.D.s, t-shirts, back patches patches.
Where can people buy your merchandise?www.atalarock.com
What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? I say download it and share it that's how the underground gains awareness.
How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? major record labels are scared because no one likes the crap on the radio and this helps spread the music from the underground.
What do you think of my work?I seems good, work like this helps bands.
How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? I am not sure but one thing I know is it can't be bad, anything that creates awareness is good.
Do you have any role models or idols? Yes I really like Buzzo from the Melvins and Matt Pike from, Sleep and High on fire, but there are far more, too many to list.
Why do you think that they exist? Destiny
Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today?I really like listening to older stuff, first because I don't want to sound like whats popular and second because I like older music better.
What have been your biggest obstacles?I don't believe in obstacles everything makes you stronger.
What advice would you give other bands or artists? BE REAL AND WHO CARES IF YOU MAKE IT, JUST MAKE ART!
How do you get psyched for a gig? I like to smoke pot and hang with my band, I don't go in psyched I prefer to go in calm
Do you have any new material? yes, we have and unreleased album for Rise of the Willing called " Ilusions of Control" we recorded in 2013, also we did Atala self titled in 2014, and our most resent we recorded with legendary Billy Anderson is Atala, "Shaman's Path of the Serpent"
What are your web sites?
How can people reach you?
909-636-1742
Do you have something to add? Yes our current active Band is Atala