Hailing from Los Angeles, Powerflo combine the passionate, chaotic, and authentic urgency of a brand-new band with the unrivaled experience of its trailblazing members. Formed in 2017, all band members are genre giants who shaped heavy music and hip-hop and continue to innovate with a new album, Gorilla Warfare, out now via New Damage Records. Comprised of vocalist Senen “Sen Dog” Reyes (Cypress Hill), vocalist/guitarist Billy Graziadei (Biohazard), bassist Christian Olde Wolbers (ex-Fear Factory), and drummer Fred Aching, their collective creative fingerprints are all over subculture, including early mashups of hardcore and rap, metal and industrial, and more.
“We pieced together the first album from songs I had done with Billy and Josh Lynch, and we brought Christian in, and we had all the music formulated,” says vocalist Sen Dog. “With the second record, they said, ‘We know you can rap, but what else can you do?’ That confidence in my singing was put in me through the band. We’re more comfortable and more confident because we had done it once, and it worked out. Now we can experiment and put some more punk in there.”
Gorilla Warfare was produced and recorded by Billy and mixed by Tue Madsen (Meshuggah, Dark Tranquility, Sick Of It All). The band’s second album came together with even more confidence, ambition, and fearlessness than 2017’s self-titled debut. On Gorilla Warfare, Sen Dog says that the record’s harder sound is a function of the band’s evolution “and knowing where we sound strong.” Experimentation won out over trying formulaic musical styles for this album.
“They knew I could rap, and they were impressed with that. As a singer, you always want to be able to match what your instruments are doing and how they’re playing. I found that lane, and I stuck with it.” Some of this new sound can be found on the title track and the single “Drinkin’ Beer and Getting Loud,” a song that Sen Dog wrote “around the studio scene,” quipping “You know how it is with the homeboys coming over and all of that.”
For Sen Dog, Powerflo was a side project that blew up. “I was doing Cypress Hill, and I would go and do the tour and come back home. When there was a lull in the action, I started hitting up friends and seeing who wanted to write with me. One of the first guys to hit me back was Josh Lynch who had access to a free recording studio that would close in six or seven months. The owner gave it to him and said, ‘Record in it; just do what you want in it.’ So we had a studio to write in for that much time, and we started writing songs.
“At first, it was just me doing songs; I didn’t think about a band or any kind of project. The further along I got, I figured that I needed a band for this. My idea was to get together with a DJ and do hip-hop formats, but I started saying, ‘How cool would it be to have guitar players around?’ I started making moves and seeing which one of my friends was available, and one of the first guys I reached out to was Christian Olde Wolbers. At first I wasn’t sure if he was into it or not because he was rehabbing from his motorcycle accident, and then he listened to the vocals, and I told him that’s me that’s singing.” The other members were added after Billy Graziadei agreed to join the fledgling band. As for exchanging rapping for singing, Sen Dog had to get used to it, but he’s happy with the ultimate results. “It was weird to hear myself singing at first, but at the end of the day, I liked it.”
After succeeding in different musical genres, Sen Dog of Powerflo feels like he has ended up exactly where he wants to be and believes in the power of believing in your abilities. “No matter what anyone says, you just have to go for it. At my age, where I’m at, and the history that I have, I have no time to BS around. I know what I wanna do and how I want it to sound, and I just wanna go ahead and do it.” Sen Dog goes on to say that he thinks that some of the greatest musicians who have ever lived were told to get a regular job at one point or another, pushing them to put their passion to the side, and the best advice to ignore the naysayers. “Anybody that talks negatively, just don’t bring them around while you’re doing what you’re doing. (laughs) It’s not going to work. Have confidence in yourself, and work with others that have the same ideas as you do.”
As for touring, Sen Dog says that plans for supporting this album are still in the works. “We do want to get out there and tour. When I perform with Powerflo, I have a blast. It’s energy that’s hard to describe, but when I hear the sounds coming and moshing, it’s so much fun. We still have a lot of work to do in terms of presenting the band in that manner. Everyone’s down for it, so we’re going to put our helmets on and meet whatever challenges come up.”
Sen Dog wants to accomplish being on the same bill as Guns N’ Roses and Iron Maiden again, having opened for both bands previously. Being able to have the option of touring and being in this band is something that the vocalist is grateful for, as it gives him an option to not go back to his day job and is a respite after medical issues and the pandemic sidelined the band for a while.
“Before this, I worked in a UPS warehouse moving boxes around, and I don’t want to go back to that. I want to get out there and perform more.” After many years away from the road, Sen Dog says it feels like the band is starting over again, looking at playing smaller venues and building their audience up. “I was hospitalized, and I moved out to Las Vegas, and then we had a member leave, and then COVID hit, so it was one thing after another. Then I got this thing in my head that said, ‘Just wait; your time is coming.’ I stopped throwing fits, and I was going to wait for my time to come. My time is here and now; the record came out, and we have an incredible label in New Damage Records. They believe we’re for real, so everything is ready to go. We have to go out there and go do it.”
Gorilla Warfare is out now, and you can order your copy from New Damage Records. Follow Powerflo on Facebook and Instagram for future updates.
Photo courtesy of Powerflo
