Being the “new guy” in a classic band is never an easy task. Take it from Travis Wills, who in 2023 was faced with the daunting task of filling the shoes of the iconic Crimson Glory frontman, Midnight. The decision, as you could imagine, was not an easy one, as you’ll soon find out. However, it ultimately paid off. Fast forward roughly 18 months later, and Wills is fronting the resurrected Crimson Glory to max capacity audiences worldwide. We had the pleasure of sitting down with Wills to discuss his musical background, the complexities of Midnight’s voice, Crimson Glory’s upcoming studio album, and the ongoing prog/power metal resurgence.
Greetings Travis and welcome to Defenders of the Faith! How are you doing today?
Travis Wills: I’m doing.
Same here. I want to thank you for taking the time to do this interview.
TW: Thanks for having me!
Most definitely. I’d also like to congratulate you on what was an incredible set at the Legions of Metal Festival last week.
TW: Oh, were you there?!
Right up front!
TW: Oh cool! Very cool!
I’d like to start with a little background on you. Growing up, who were your favorite bands and singers? Were you raised in a musical household?
TW: No, I wasn’t raised in a musical household. Drums were my first instrument. I was 12, 13 years old. I played drums and I got my first drum set from my music teacher. They had one in the back of the closet. I asked him, “What’s going on with that?” He goes, “We don’t use that.” I said, “Can I have that?” He was like, “Yeah, sure!” I took it to the local music store and they put heads on it and tuned it up. I started learning how to play drums. Then, I started taking lessons and ended up being in marching band and local bands around the area in Houston.
I actually started singing really late in the game. I’m playing shows from…I guess I started when I was 16. By the time I was about 25, I was having problems finding bands, so I decided to learn how to play guitar. I took lessons from a guy named Joel Gregoire who, if you’re not familiar with, was the guitar player with Stride. They played ProgPower many years ago. Gary Belin was on vocals. Anyway, I took lessons from him. He was taught by Paul Gilbert. I took lessons with him for about a year: Just enough to where I could play something and get my point across, so that’s what I did.
Then, I was like, “I really need a singer.” I had actually kind of started singing probably around 18 years old. It was a local band called Regime. Incredible band. That singer influenced me a ton, but I was never good enough to be in a band or anything. Then, I started taking it more serious when I moved here to Dallas in 2000. By 2006, I was singing in a Dokken tribute band. That’s it. That’s my early stages of music.
Were you a fan of Crimson Glory during their initial run in the ’80, and did you ever get around to seeing them live with Midnight?
TW: Oh yeah man. I worked at this club when I was 17 years old. I was a barback. They did live music. Prior to that, a friend of mine, my best friend back then, still to this day, he showed me the Transcendence album. I was like, “Oh my God! This is so great!” I saw that they had played at the club I was working at. Back then, they had these cardboard cutouts of the album cover. They would post them on the walls. I took one of those, took it home and put it on my wall. I was a fan. Now I had never heard their first album until actually I got in the band *laughs*. I had heard a few songs, but I never heard the whole album.
Well, better late than never, and you do a great job tackling those songs.
TW: Oh, thank you so much. Not easy *laughs*.
What events led to you getting the gig with Crimson Glory?
TW: In 2012, I put together a band called Infidel Rising. It’s a progressive power metal band. Around 2023, we put out our album Complex Divinity. I was just sharing songs on Facebook. (Bassist) Jeff (Lords) and I had been Facebook friends for a while. He heard one of the songs and he was like, “Hey, ever thought about doing a Crimson Glory song?” I replied, “Dude, I am no Midnight.” He goes, “Just give it a shot. Give it a try. I’m just curious to what you sound like.” I’m like, “OK!”
I went home and I did “Painted Skies”. He showed it to the guys and he was like, “Wow, everybody really liked it.” I’m like, “Really?! I can sing it way better.” *laughs* Wow, these guys really like me. I’m kind of getting accolades from Crimson Glory. He was like, “Yeah?” “Yeah, I can totally sing this way better.” I went back, re-sang it, and sent it to him the next day. They were like, “Yeah, we want to hear another song.” Prior to that, he said, “This is the deal. We’re looking for a vocalist.” “OK.” I think I did “Where Dragons Rule”, “Painted Skies”, and I think “Azrael”.
I sent those to them and they were really impressed with it. He said, “Here’s the deal. We’re looking for a singer. Everybody really likes what you’re doing. Is this something you would like to do?” I was like, “Wow, man. I was kind of scared. “I don’t know if I’m your guy or not. I’m not Midnight.” We went back and forth for a little bit. I had to really think about this because, for one, I’m jumping into the shoes of someone that’s a legend. There could possibly be tons of criticism and I don’t know if that’s something I’m prepared for. It’s the hardest metal vocal catalog there is.
Steve Perry is my favorite singer. That’s the hardest vocal catalog for regular singers. It’s like being (Journey singer) Arnel (Pineda) and trying to pull that off. You see how many singers Journey has gone through. It just tears up their voices. I finally got back to him and I was like, “Yeah, let’s do it.” They sent me an original song and I laid my vocals down. We just kept going.
You’ve been singing with the band for a couple years now. How does it feel at this point, and what are some of your favorite shows you’ve played thus far?
TW: My favorite shows…I really liked Keep it True. That was a lot of fun. That was the first show I did with them. Probably my most memorable show was Cyprus. I was actually sick that night and was like, “I’m gonna do this set.” I didn’t know how it was gonna turn out.” I was really glad how well it went. It was just a solid set vocally for me. That next day, I slept all day. Actually, the whole band got sick! Everybody got sick! It was rough. (Being in the band), I love it. I love being with the guys. We get along great. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. No complaints at all!
As you just touched upon, singing those classic ’80s songs are no easy task. As a singer, what aspects of Midnight’s vocals stand out the most to you, and what challenges come in the way of tackling such an iconic voice?
TW: What are the challenges? For me, I’ve gotta always concentrate on my placement when singing his stuff. His stuff is just a lot different than my previous band, Infidel Rising. I use a lot of chest voice in Infidel Rising. With the Crimson Glory stuff, I have to use a lot more head and I have to lift my soft palette. There’s just a lot more control that I have to focus on constantly when I’m singing, the way I breathe, everything. He was very well trained. I try to honor him as well as I can to land on some of those notes that he hits *laughs*.
When you revisit those old songs, he’s using his head voice, but he hits those high notes so clean and with such power. Vocally, has anybody touched Midnight since?
TW: Right, I agree. I would say when it comes to highs, Warrel Dane is a close second. It’s about resonance. That’s the main thing when it comes to those highs. You’ve got to find your placement in order to get the right resonance. There’s a slight distortion to those high notes that you got to pull in. It takes a lot of practice, a lot of work, for sure.
Expanding upon the last question, what are some of your favorite Crimson Glory songs to sing live and why?
TW: I love “Valhalla” because that part in the first verse where he says “rolling thunder” and he goes up real high. I love doing that part. It’s real fun. Probably my favorite song to sing would be “Masque of the Red Death”. I just love singing that song. I like singing “Dark Places” as well. What’s yours?
It’s so tough. You can pick any song off the first two albums, but I think I have to go with “Lonely”. Being right up front and singing along to that song with a few hundred other people was a life-altering experience. I never thought I’d hear that live.
TW: Oh wow. That song is very difficult to sing, believe it or not.
I could imagine, especially with those wild high and that huge chorus. The whole set was incredible, but that just pushed it over the top.
TW: Awesome! That’s awesome to hear.
At the end of 2023, Crimson Glory released their first single with you on vocals, “Triskaideka”. Could you give us some background on this song and tell us whether or not it foreshadows the direction to come from the band?
TW: Yeah, so that song and “Indelible Ashes” were already written, but had no vocals on it. Those were the first two songs they gave me to sing on. They told me the direction they wanted to go with the subject matter. I’m like, “OK!” I already knew what triskaideka was because growing up, my sister was so proud of herself at the age of 8 knowing what triskaidekaphobia was. I already knew exactly what triskaideka meant *laughs*. That song is just about superstition. The other song…oh! I guess I can’t talk about that one *laughs*!
I usually don’t like cutting my interviewees off, but if this is a case where I have to, I’ll do so!
TW: *laughs* You guys haven’t heard that yet. I forgot! *laughs*
At this point, where are Crimson Glory in the process of making their long awaited fifth album? Is it too early to ask for a tentative release date?
TW: They’re actually about three quarters of the way through. I’ve already laid my vocals down on the album. They just gotta go in. I actually sent in some more vocals this morning because they had completed a song. We’re hoping that it’s gonna be done by June. Then, however long it takes the label to put that out, it’ll be out.
Is that usually a 6 month process?
TW: Maybe 3. It depends on how they wanna do it because if it’s too late in the game, they won’t put it out, just because how record sales usually go. You hardly ever see new stuff come out in November or December, late in the game. It’s usually the first of the year and then slows down around September.
That makes sense. I only jumped to that conclusion because I can’t tell you how many artists I’ve interviewed where the album will come out and I’ll ask, “When did work start on this?”, and they’ll say, “Two years ago. It took a year for the label to put the album together.”
TW: You gotta also realize they gotta create artwork. They’ve got to get all that stuff done. Then there’s a 4 or 5 month wait on vinyl, unless they have their own company that does vinyl, but that’s the going thing, 3 to 5 months.
You mentioned to me that you operate your own studio. Will you be handling any of the technical aspects of this upcoming Crimson Glory album?
TW: I am not. They’ve got Jim Morris, who actually mixed all their albums, so it’ll get that Crimson Glory sound to it. Most of my stuff, it’s kind of modernized metal, progressive metal. We do vocals. We do everything. I do all the edits and I mix. It depends on who the label is. Either I’ll master it or I’ll send it out to get it mastered.
I feel it’s not only an exciting time for Crimson Glory, but the classic prog/power metal scene as a whole. You guys are back. Savatage is back. Nevermore is coming back next year. Do you sense Crimson Glory’s return is a part of something larger?
TW: Man, that’s a good question. I am so glad that all these bands are coming back. I love Savatage. I love Nevermore. I don’t know if it’s something bigger, but I think it’s definitely cool because over there in Europe, there’s so many fans that love those bands. If they got on the bandwagon late, then they’d never see them. Now they’re getting this opportunity to see them. When we played Poland, there was a little girl in the front row, probably 10 years old. Man, she was singing all the words. That was just so cool to me because I’m sure her dad grew up thinking, “Wow, I’ll never see them again.” Here it is. He’s at the show, and now it’s his little girl that’s able to enjoy it. It’s so cool to see that happen.
I largely fall into that camp myself, having discovered Crimson Glory in my pre-teens, and being 26 now, so obviously, I never got to see the band live. As far as I’m concerned, to have those opportunities now is great. It’s a testament to the music and the legacy. If a band can pull it off right, I’m all for it.
TW: Oh, absolutely. I can’t wait to find out who this singer for Nevermore is. I’m a big Warrel Dane fan. I love him, love his work. I’m excited to find out who that is. Having these bands resurrect is just so cool.
In closing, what does the rest of 2025 have in store for you and Crimson Glory?
TW: In a few weeks, we’re going back to Europe and playing some more shows. I think that we come back in the middle of June. Then, I think they’re trying to set up a Texas run with us and Helstar. That’s it. From there, until the new year starts up, we’ll be taking a break and wait to see how the album does after its release.
For more information on Crimson Glory, click here.
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