Led by the energetic and enigmatic Riley Gale, Dallas metal-punk trio Power Trip has been stuck in a creative lull since releasing the killer Armageddon Blues EP back in 2010. However, since changing drummers and getting the guitarist to commit full time, Power Trip is once again forging ahead, having just returned from a short tour. Speaking from his home in Richardson, Gale talked about his band's new EP and their first full-length due, at the end of the summer.
How long have you been involved in the local scene? For 10 years.
How has the Dallas scene changed in that time? It has grown exponentially. The strange thing is that the scene has never identified with one genre. A few years back, there seemed to be a big indie push, but there has never been a strong underground identity. Something has been there, but it hasn't leaned towards one spectrum like metal or punk. It's all across the board.
What's the best thing about Dallas? What's the worst? It's so big that there's something for everybody to enjoy. I hate all the $40,000 millionaire yuppies though.
With a new EP just released and a full-length coming out in August, this would seem to be the high point for your band. Absolutely, we feel that after we put out the full-length, we will tour heavily and take a shot at being a legitimate band. We lost our drummer after our first EP and it took us a while to get things back together. Another reason we haven't been able to get out that much is that our guitar player [Frank Ibanez] is so young. He's nearly six years younger than me and he has been involved with high school and college. He's getting to the point where he can be part-time in school and part-time in the band. But now, it's time to take a shot at it. We will be full-time in the fall. Hopefully, there is more to come. If we fail, we fail. We'll just come back home and get day jobs.
If you weren't playing music, what would you like to do? I would definitely write and edit. My dream job would be an editor, either online or print. That's what I would like to do.
What is your current day job? I actually got laid off a few months back, so it's been kind of hard lately.
You once worked for Bank of America. I am assuming you really stuck out there. I haven't worked there in over a year, but there were plenty of people who worked there that had tattoos. I don't have any tattoos. I just have long hair. I am also a pretty subdued guy. I save most of that anger for on stage.
You are kind of like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? I wouldn't go that far. Chris Ulsh, our drummer, is here with me. Do you want to ask him any questions?
Ask him if he would hit on your girlfriend. That's kind of a tricky question seeing that his girlfriend and mine are close friends. But he says in a random world he would.
Does he even like you? No, he says he loves me.
What band do you love that he hates? That's a tough one. He is trying to think of someone. Usually, we are on the same page. I listen to Rihanna and he says he hates her. There's one.
What song of hers would you cover? Is that song called "Yellow Diamonds"? That's the only one I would play. I think that's what that song is called.
How would you describe your band in 10 words or less? Skipping class and grabbing ass since 2008.
What's better, punk or metal? The best metal is rooted in punk.
Why do so many punk bands turn into metal bands? They either want to play more complex music or make money. For a long time, it was make money, but I don't think that's true anymore.
What does the typical Power Trip fan look like? Like one beautiful motherfucker.
Power Trip plays with Crowbar, Prong, Witchburn and Hellgoat tonight, April 5, at Trees.
