“And at the time, the Who needed an opening act, and he just put us up and said, ‘You’re opening for the Who,’ and I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ “We got management by a guy called Doc McGhee, who in the '80s and '90s managed all the big rock bands, all the hair metal bands, like Mötley Crüe and eventually KISS,” Rivera says. You are yourself in any endeavor, as opposed to playing a part, like we all do to a certain degree.” “If there’s anything I’ve tried to copy, it’s that personality trait.

But he’s a very normal person, and real, that guy who just calls it straight as he sees it and is who he is around you, the president of a university or a big director, anybody. “I would never dare compare anything I did to what he does. He was mentored by Emmy-, Grammy- and Oscar-winning composer Randy Newman (“Short People,” “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”), an experience that transcends his approach to creative work.

Speaking of songwriting, Rivera had the opportunity of a lifetime while a student at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. “It doesn’t matter how you tool yourself into a piece of music - whatever works at the time.” “I play piano to write, I play guitar to write, I sing into my phone,” he says. He might be slightly out of practice on guitar, but Rivera switches freely between guitar and piano during the early stages of composing. “We’re in a career where being young is not important, or as important.” And it’s not like the Olympics, either, where you’re like, ‘Next time I’m too old for this,’” he says, with a laugh. They’ll be back around, because they’re all freaking brilliant. It was like, ‘Look, it’s not your turn this time,’ that kind of thing. “What’s cool is, among all the nominees - I know them all in a way now - it never felt like a competition. Rivera says he became friendly with everyone who competed in his category, which sounds unlikely until one gets to know his laid-back personality. I can talk about it all day, because I was just as starstruck as anybody could be when they meet somebody they respect a lot. Rivera recalls meeting Beck during the Emmy-week events in L.A.: “He’s one of the top-tier composers working today.

It’s been really surreal, to say the least. And it was a tremendous hit because it’s such a well-made show. “It was so popular, not like I was the only one who liked it - millions of people saw that show. “I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m gonna win,’ because I loved WandaVision so much,” Rivera says.

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