In a new interview with Altars Of Metal, POWER TRIP guitarist Blake Ibanez spoke about the Texas thrashers’ return to the live stage and decision to begin work on their first new music since the tragic passing of frontman Riley Gale.
POWER TRIP‘s longtime friend and collaborator Seth Gilmore has stepped in for Gale to handle vocals for the band. Gilmore is embedded in Texas’s hardcore and punk communities and is well known as the vocalist of SKOURGE and as the frontman of Dallas thrash metal band FUGITIVE, which he founded in 2021 alongside Ibanez.
Regarding how the collaboration with Gilmore came about, Ibanez said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, obviously, we started FUGITIVE and it was kind of just to experiment. ‘Cause Seth was one of my closest friends. He lives in my town, so I think it was, like, ‘Well, I don’t have anything to do. Do you wanna try to write some songs together for fun?’ And he had been fronting hardcore bands as long as POWER TRIP has been a band. But he just played hardcore shows and sang in those types of bands. So he wasn’t what you would call like — I don’t know how you’d put it — a professional, full-time band guy. He played in bands for fun. But he’d been around a long time and been doing it a long time, so I knew he had a natural ability and he was comfortable in that role.”
Blake continued: “I think I had mentioned to him, after Riley passed away, I had talked about, ‘Would you wanna mess around with some of this POWER TRIP stuff?’ And I think at that point it was so fresh and so new, it was just kind of, like, ‘I don’t know. Maybe down the road.’ And I was, like, ‘Yeah, I get it.’ He’s in a band called SKOURGE, which is a hardcore band that has some crossover influences, some death metal influence. So I’d heard the evolution of his voice and everything in that band. And I think around this time they had done a new EP or something, and his voice — he started to showcase what he could do, his depth to his voice, his range. And I was, like, ‘Whoa. Oh, I didn’t know you could do all that stuff.’ And not just that, but me and him having such a good relationship and him being such a nice guy that’s easy to work with, I was, like, ‘Well, why don’t we just try to write some songs and see what happens?'”
Ibanez added: “I’ve always been pretty involved when it comes to POWER TRIP in the studio. I didn’t write anything for Riley, but just me and him having to write songs together, we had to be on the same page and understand how to… He knew what I wanted him to do in terms of where I wanted things to be, and I know the formula and I know how I like to write songs and how we’ve always written songs. And I have some of those instincts as well. So I was, like, ‘Well, I’m gonna take what I know from what we’ve always done and what I did with Riley and everything I learned from him and we learned working together, and let’s try to write songs. I think we can do it.’ And so I didn’t know if it was gonna work at all. And then, obviously, we started working together and it was fun. And he’s a talented lyricist and singer in his own right. And there wasn’t the pressure of, ‘We’re making a POWER TRIP record,’ or something. It’s, like, ‘Let’s just start a new band and have it be different and have it be its own thing.’ And that kind of just led to playing more shows and bigger shows and having some success with FUGITIVE out of the gate and building his confidence — playing bigger shows and playing his own songs and songs with me. And I think over a couple years, I think by the next time the POWER TRIP idea came around, like, ‘Hey, do you wanna try to sing these songs and see what happens?’, he was ready and he was, like, ‘Yeah. Why not? I’m comfortable playing with you, and I feel good with what I’m doing right now. Why don’t we give it a shot?’ And he was down. And he had to be, because it’s a lot to put on your shoulders. And he has a good head on his shoulders.”
Regarding Gilmore‘s approach to singing the POWER TRIP material, Ibanez said: “It’s not about being him or being anybody [else]. Just be yourself. Just sing [the songs] with intention and with passion or whatever, and he does. So, I think it was a natural progression. And I think he’s done a really amazing job.
“You’re never gonna be able to replace anybody that was their own person, an individual, like someone really talented like Riley, but that’s not what anybody’s doing,” Blake explained. “He’s always gonna be a special person and a force in his own right. And I wouldn’t want anybody to replace him. But Seth is his own own guy, and he brings something different to the table. And we just are here to continue doing what we did and not let it die. ‘Cause I think that would’ve been even more sad. And I think to play the songs and say Riley‘s name on stage every night and have people remember how special he was and all the great songs we wrote, I think, is amazing. And it was really sad when we were in a time where it didn’t seem like that was gonna happen again. So, it’s just about kind of, like, let’s see what we can do now. And I think based on the relationship that me and Seth have and what we’ve been able to do, I feel really confident about writing more together and opening a new chapter that’s maybe not exactly the same, but it’s awesome and inspiring in a different way. And we’re gonna do the best we can to do that. We would never do anything that we didn’t feel supremely confident in and feel like it was the right thing. But none of that is ever gonna take away from anything Riley did or anything we did with him. That’s always gonna be special and always gonna be something we did with him. Those were his words and it was our music, and it’s always gonna be special. But as we’ve seen with other bands — AC/DC and VAN HALEN and all these other bands [who have changed singers] —you can do something new that’s different. It’s not the same, but it’s an exciting part of [a band’s evolution]… Something that could have ended tragically and never heard from again.”
Blake also talked about some of the pushback he and his POWER TRIP bandmates had initially received for deciding to carry on following Riley‘s passing. He said: “Obviously, there were some people that were terrible, people that decided to try to take advantage of whatever they could with whatever relationship they thought they had with him or whatever place they thought they had in our story. There were plenty of people that were awful to us and treated us like we were traitors because of just trying to play songs we wrote. But that was a very, very tiny part of the story. Everything else has been amazing. And people have been really receptive. I think most people understand the circumstances. We didn’t fire anybody. This was a horrible situation, and we’re just trying to continue doing something that can bring people happiness and can be fun and contribute something to the heavy music landscape.”
He continued: “I don’t know if I would say I was nervous in that sense, because I’d played with Seth so long, I’ve heard how he sang the songs, I know how he is, so I felt confident. It was just another show with him. And I think the energy from the people at the shows and everything and the feedback was so great that it was just hard to feel that way. It’s always in the back of your mind. You want to offer something that is good in a similar way, but that’s not really for me to decide. I can’t control that, because Riley‘s not here anymore, and this is what we have. So I can’t really dwell on it too much, because I can’t do anything to play with him again. But I love playing with Seth, and I’m gonna do that because that’s how we continue, that’s how we move forward. But I’ll always be thinking about how fun that was to play with Riley and how talented he was to write with and all that. I learned a lot. And the reason I’m here is that I got to be in a band with him. So, I’ll always, always cherish that.”
Asked if the new POWER TRIP material will be more “experimental” than what the band has done in the past or it will follow the “same recipe” as what he and his bandmates had done with Riley, Blake said: “I think it’s a little of everything you mentioned. Of course we’ll always honor him when we can. We are moving forward, we have to focus on the future, but that doesn’t mean that we’ll forget him or not honor him. Of course that’s always gonna be a thing that we’ll do and we’ll try to make sure of. But when it comes to moving forward, we’re gonna write music how we wanna write it. Obviously, like I said before, all the things and the elements of the formula that we’ve always had, I wanna try to keep those as much as I can, obviously, but Seth‘s a different person, he’s a different singer, he’s a different lyricist. So, is he gonna try to write lyrics exactly like Riley would? Well, I would hope he wouldn’t. Those were Riley‘s words, that was his personality. It doesn’t mean that we don’t believe in everything and still wanna be in that realm anymore — of course we do — but I don’t write the lyrics, so I can’t really control that. I want Seth to write about what he feels strongly about and what he wants to put his name on and sing every night. So that’s not really for me to decide. I think he’s his own person.
“We all come from the same world musically, and we have similar tastes and everything,” Blake explained. “We want it to sound like POWER TRIP, we want it to sound like something we would do. But I would never tell him to write about this or that. Riley, he was always thinking and changing, and I don’t know what he would be writing about in this day and age either. I don’t know what he would wanna talk about. I can’t really speculate on that. He’s not with us anymore, sadly. I would feel that would be like trying to fill his shoes, and that doesn’t feel right. I think he deserves that space. I think with Seth, he’s his own guy. He can handle his own thoughts and ideas. I don’t think we would do anything that would, for any reason, go in opposition to anything that he wrote about. But he’s not gonna try to write the same songs or anything like that, so it’ll be something different. But I can’t imagine it’d be anything that people that like us wouldn’t be interested in or be stoked on. But [it’s] not really my call.”
In announcing POWER TRIP‘s return to the live stage in February 2024, surviving members Ibanez, Nick Stewart (guitar, vocals), Chris Whetzel (bass) and Ulsh wrote on social media: “Nearly four years ago to the day, unbeknownst to us, we would perform for the last time as POWER TRIP. It has been a difficult road since then, marked by deep pain, grief, and everything else that came with losing our brother Riley.
“We know this can’t be undone, and it will always remain part of us. We have thought deeply about the future of POWER TRIP and what always comes back to us is that this band was founded on resilience, perseverance, and most importantly: a love for the music and for all of the people it has brought us closer to along the way.
“We’ll never have the words to convey our appreciation of the enduring support we’ve received over the years, and we feel as though the time is right to get back on stage for all of you who’ve been there throughout our existence as a band.”
Regarding Gilmore‘s addition to the POWER TRIP lineup, the band said: “It feels right playing our songs with Seth, who’s been a longtime figure in Texas hardcore, and we’ve had the pleasure of watching and playing alongside his bands since the origins of POWER TRIP. We’re grateful for his dedication to this project and can’t wait to see everyone.”
Gilmore stated: “I’m honored to have the opportunity to contribute to the legacy of POWER TRIP and deliver these songs to the fans of past and current generations. I would not be who I am today without the massive influence that both the band and its members have had on my life, and I look forward to celebrating their work alongside them while giving it my all to honor the spirit of Riley‘s memory.”
Ibanez, Stewart, Whetzel and Ulsh played a surprise five-song set with Gilmore on December 1, 2023 at Mohawk in Austin, Texas.
Riley died on August 25, 2020. An autopsy report for Gale ruled that he died from the toxic effects of fentanyl, while the manner of death was ruled accidental.
Following the news of Gale‘s death, a number of other artists shared tributes to the frontman, including members of CODE ORANGE, ANTHRAX and COHEED AND CAMBRIA.
Riley guested on the track “Point The Finger” on BODY COUNT‘s “Carnivore” album, released in March 2020, and BODY COUNT frontman Ice-T later suggested in an interview with Stereogum that Gale‘s death was opioid-related. Ice-T said in December 2020: “When we shot the video [for ‘Point The Finger’], he looked healthy. It was a good vibe. That’s why I got blindsided when I got the call from his dad, who said that Riley passed away. Apparently, he was dealing with the same bullshit everyone is — this opioid stuff. He’d gotten clean, and when you relapse, you go back to the same dose you’re used to and it kills you. It was a really sad thing.”
Gale‘s autopsy report noted that he died from pulmonary edema — a condition caused by excess fluid in the lungs. This was caused by “the toxic effects of fentanyl” in Gale‘s system. The fentanyl in Gale‘s blood was measured at 22.5 ng/ml (nanograms per milliliter),and he tested negative for all other drugs and alcohol.
The report went on to note that Gale had a “history of Xanax abuse” and a “history of depression,” and revealed Riley was found “unresponsive on the floor at home.”
In October 2020, plans were announced for the Riley Gale Library at the Dallas Hope Center — the city’s sole shelter for LGBTQ+ youth.
POWER TRIP released two albums on Southern Lord, 2013’s “Manifest Decimation” and 2017’s “Nightmare Logic”. A rarities compilation, “Opening Fire: 2008-2014”, followed in 2018.
“Nightmare Logic” peaked at No. 22 on Billboard‘s Hard Rock Albums chart.
POWER TRIP was said to be working on its third album at the time of Riley‘s death.
Photo credit: Adam Cedillo
