Rey Sparta - When Life Imitates Art.
I was recently on set one evening with Rey Sparta and his team at a creative studio space they refer to as “The Compound” and a compound it was. He was shooting video content for a newly released song called Wolfesbane.
If you're not familiar with Rey Sparta’s creativity as an artist, he is the epitome of “out of the box” and “creative risk taking” From the dreadlocks that are uniquely and meticulously assembled on the top of his head, to the geometric shapes painstakingly shaved into one side of his beard with the utmost precision, down to the smallest detail of wardrobe worn everywhere as this is his lifestyle, not just an onstage persona. Let us not forget the fully enclosed Sparta helmet that mimics that of Supermans “S” on his chest that goes everywhere with him. With this amount of effort and attention to his brand, what could he do next for his current single Wolfesbane that would push the envelope.
I found his camera crew on the furthest edge of The Compounds property. It was a dark, mosquito filled area where the property line and acres of woods are separated by a rusty chain link fence. On the other side of the fence are woods that have been uninhabited for years and honestly looks as if I walked straight into a horror film and I would most likely be the first one gruesomely murdered. At the time, I thought the full moon was purely coincidental. As I am wrapping my head around what exactly is going on, a figure emerges from behind a tree in pitch black darkness. A camera man shines a flashlight on it as if we were in the presence of a bigfoot sighting. The creepiness level was at an all-time high.
The figure notices me and walks closer to reveal that it's Rey Sparta, or what used to be Rey Sparta. This is now a completely different character. He is dressed in all black, with a heavy black trench coat, and rugged black knee-high work boots, his face prosthetically turned into some sort of creature that resembles a werewolf in mid transformation from human to creature. After exchanging pleasantries, I now understood I was speaking with Rey Wolfestein, a full metamorphosis into a persona that symbolized everything about the music he was currently promoting.
By definition, Wolfesbane is a drink that in folk lore allows werewolves to avoid a full transformation during the full moon. Learning this, the art begins to make sense. His look, the environment, the way he instructed the camera crew to shoot the scenes, all told a descriptive story and expressed the vision he saw in this song. It's dark, eerie, and mysterious with a perfect balance of calm followed by a chaotic, howling, and infectious like melody. Take a listen to the music, watch the visual content, and see for yourself if this isn't art imitating life, or is it the other way around in this case.
Take a listen.