I never remember the dreams that I have during my sleep but I will tell you that at 6:15 a.m. , the dream that I was dreaming was interrupted. I woke up suddenly and felt slightly uncomfortable before realizing what the time was. It felt odd to be up at that time of morning; it’s my day off, this is the perfect time to sleep and eat a gigantic bowl of Lucky Charms. Roughly 3 minutes passed and after retrieving my red flannel robe my mother gave me years ago, the 3/4 of a snack pack joint I smoked the night before and a black BIC lighter, I was headed out the door to get a gulp of fresh air. Accompanying me was my black, golden retriever/ Labrador mix, Moose. It doesn’t matter what time of day it is and being the great canine companion as he is, Moose always wants to go outside with me. I walked about half way down my drive to lean on the hood of my truck. At 6:20 a.m. the morning sun just peeking over the clouds, creating the lavender, pastel pink, orange and yellow colorful streaks across the sleepy sky. Another peculiarity occurred to me; unless it is a work day, I never wake up and step outside when the sun is barely awake, I wake up when the sun is fully awake and yelling at me through the bedroom window. I was searching on YouTube to find the latest skate video to watch before I placed my phone face up on the hood to light the joint. In that moment, I looked up towards my left at the sun and said to myself, “He’s gone, he’s not coming back”. Tears began to flush from my lacrimal glands and created a steady stream running down my cheekbones and onto the concrete. That was the moment that I’ve accepted the fact that Riley is gone. I was trying to deny that for the past 12 and half hours but I had to accept it at some point. I had to accept the one of the few individuals that was played a major role and is a great influence in the DFW hardcore scene has passed away.

It was towards the later half of 2006 when I started showing up to DFW hardcore shows. I was always into punk and metal every since my very early adolescent years but I didn’t get into hardcore until 2004. My introduction into modern hardcore were mainly Boston hardcore bands like Ramallah, Blood for Blood, Slapshot, Colin of Arabia, Death before Dishonor, followed by the infamous Boston Beatdown DVD. Myspace was the biggest thing for teens back then and that was how I found out about local DFW hardcore shows. At that time, I was fully aware of Deep Ellum, I was just oblivious to the local hardcore scene. It was a late autumn evening as a former friend and I were walking on Commerce St headed to Red Blood Club. A quick right down a short path and I was at the door of the bar, waiting to attend a show. I remember feeling not only intimidated by the ruckus going on but the excitement for something new. It was a refreshing experience to witness a hardcore show in the flesh. After that night, I decided to continue to attend local shows until I not able to.

The scene welcomed me with open arms. The prominent bands that I admired at the time were Bats & Knives, Decades, Hands of the Few, Fighting Chance, Reality Check, Scum Rush, and the pre- Power Trip band, Balls Out. Riley Gale, along with Andy Zarate, Jarred Holloway, Chad Green and few others were the first few gentlemen to speak to me in the beginning. The feeling of belonging to a scene and being welcomed by individuals like Riley that make up the scene was very special for me. It helped me understand that I wasn’t alone, that there are great people that are total strangers who are more than willing to accept another total stranger into something they built, whether they were aware of it or not and to feel like I can relate to them.

Photo shot by Christopher Thomas of Bored Magazine

There has never been a time where I have thought about or listened to Power Trip and not admired Riley. He was a very intelligent and polite guy that had a warm aura surrounding him. Similar to the DFW scene, he was a very welcoming soul that will hold a conversation with just about anyone. Whether it was a brief moment or a full conversation, I always learned something from him. At one point, I was stuck trying to figure out what book I wanted to read next. After a while, I let it go and moved on about my day. Later that night there was a show that Power Trip was performing so it was obvious as to why I should attend. I caught Riley strolling down the side walk asked him about his recommendation on what he book to read next. Although he didn’t give me a book of choice, he introduced me to the author, Robert Anton Wilson. Thanks to Riley, he catapulted the expansion of my mind and knowledge into a whole other world of mysteries and literary wonder I never thought existed. Even if you didn’t know him personally, it wasn’t difficult to tell that he had a good soul. For those who have no clue who he is other than he is the frontman of Power Trip, take a look at the loved ones surrounding him and you’ll get see how much of an impact he was.

There is no denying the fact that Riley has done a lot of the DFW scene. I’ll never forget the brief time he and a group of friends came together to open up the Tapatio Studios, a makeshift venue located on the corner of Caser Chavez and Hickory near Downtown Dallas. Touring acts like Trash Talk and Oddfuture showed up to perform and hang out there once. This was around the time that the scene had wild times at Queen City, I can’t remember if this was before or after Tapatio. His DIY work ethic was something that I looked up to for quite some time. It was the same work ethic that was also presented to me when entering into the hardcore scene and Riley was the perfect example of that in our generation. Watching the tail end of Balls Out and witnessing the very beginning of Power Trip is truly awe inspiring. Its amazing to think about Riley and Power Trip basically paving the way from modern Texas heaviness that has inspired many local bands and countless other bands that I am unaware of. The trailblazing journey on how Power Trip put DFW on the map comes with a sense of pride that I hold near and dear to my heart. I flaunt my Power Trip t-shirts everywhere I go like it is my uniform of war. The impact of Power Trip and Riley’s lyricism reached so many people on so many different levels, far beyond eyesight. Witnessing the younger generation of kids rocking out to PT and consistently wearing their merch is heartwarming to me. It always brings me back to the early days when we were young bucks in the scene.

The last time I seen was Riley was last year on stage at the Gas Monkey during the TNT Fest. I could’ve caught up to him many of times afterwards but you know, that’s what happens when you get caught up with so much in front of you, time passes you up faster than you know. We talked for a while that night before PT performed. As we were catching up on life, I told him about how I created Bored Magazine and we both agreed to get together for an interview before he went off on tour. I don’t hold or carry any regrets in life but there’s a sudden pain in my heart that represents the guilt of failing to follow through with the interview. Although it’s very difficult to me to accept that he is gone, the great thing about thing about this is he died a DFW hardcore legend. Riley and PT has inspired so many bands and individuals that for many of us he will never leave our hearts.

REST IN POWER RILEY, POWER TRIP LIVES