Meet Valira Pietrangelo | Demon Composer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Valira Pietrangelo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Valira, what do you want people to remember about you?
While I do certainly want my music to live on past my vessel, I do hope that how I express myself and identify influences those after me. I want identity to be more of an open discussion not limited by societal norms.
I want to make an impact on how identity is treated in society and expand on what people can “transition” into. I want to create as much of this world that I wish I had now in hopes that those things will progress over time.
I want to be the demon that talked about identity dysphoria and identifying as non-human before it was more normalized.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am most proud of where I am now on my artistic journey. I would say that this is the most authentic I have ever been with myself and with my music. Since my identity is so different from others, I would say that alone sets me apart.
Getting to where I am now took many years of writing not so great music and being in and out of projects with other people before finally getting into the local scene and meeting far more professional and serious types where I could finally take the work that I put in and put it to use.
This journey has never been easy but once I had my own tools to make my own music and release it, the only thing holding me back at that point was myself. and honestly that’s the way I prefer it.
I’ve learned that waiting for other people to come into your life and do the things that you need is going to slow you down or get you nowhere. So, I ended up learning how to write everything and essentially take an album from conception to release on my own, which is something that I am very proud of and happy that I’m able to do.
There’s a big reason why Vesseles is as much of me as I can give. I want this project to be true to my identity and my story throughout. I make sure I have my hands in all creative elements to ensure it accurately reflects the message I want to get across.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well, I am a musician in the local metal scene so a lot of what gets me out is going to either local metal shows or seeing touring bands. So, that would be my first big thing. Otherwise, there’s a very eclectic assortment of restaurants around here since I live in a diverse area. I’ve got my go-to spots that I would take someone to. An escape room is a must but that’s just because I love escape rooms.
I don’t really do a lot of things that are special to this area. I spend most of my time writing music, going to band practice, creating band content or going to get milk tea with friends (while I am myself so that I also get to fulfill my identity needs).

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Despite how many people have impacted me in multiple ways throughout this journey, I would say the one thing that has impacted me the most significantly would be therapy.
Through therapy I was able to realize how important my identity is to me both through pushing social boundaries and through music. I have done things I never thought I would have done. I specifically created Vesseles as an outlet for my identity and that is thanks to therapy as a whole.

Beyond that, it’s anyone who has been supportive of my identity and music over the years. My bandmates in Vesseles mean the world to me as they are willing to directly support both aspects in many ways.

Website: https://vesseles.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valirademon/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Vesseles

Other: https://linktr.ee/vesseles

Image Credits
Watkins Media
ESB Studios
Allgood Media Productions