ILIA covers Halsey’s hit “Gasoline”

The career of ILIA is built on movement between scenes, collaborations and sonic identities and since rising from the early-2000s Seattle music scene, ILIA has spent years shifting between bands, projects and solo work with a distinctive alternative rock voice. Across each stage of that journey, experimentation has remained crucial, whether through electronic textures, industrial tones or guitar-driven intensity.

ILIA’s story begins in the Seattle music community and during the early part of his career he performed in numerous bands, developing his musicianship through a series of collaborative projects. Among those groups was The Hills Have Eyes, where he played alongside Thomas Erak of The Fall of Troy. Experiences like these introduced him to the collaborative energy of the local scene while allowing him to sharpen his performance and songwriting skills.

Eventually, that momentum led him to establish his own project, Red Museum, a band that allowed ILIA to shape a clearer creative direction while continuing to build connections within the alternative rock landscape. For a period he played in The Assassins alongside Michael Grant of Endeverafter and L.A. Guns and also briefly performed in a band with David Silveria of Korn, experiences that further embedded him in the broader rock and metal scene.

Years of experience across different projects eventually led him back toward a renewed solo focus and in spring 2024 he was selected as one of ten finalists to audition for The Smashing Pumpkins, recognition that highlighted both his technical ability and the respect he had earned within the industry. Later that same year he recommitted to his solo career, releasing three EPs alongside a series of visually gripping music videos that marked the beginning of a fresh creative phase.

Among those releases is his interpretation of “Gasoline,” originally recorded by Halsey, reshaping it through a darker, guitar-driven lens. His version blends brooding atmosphere with bursts of alternative rock intensity, maintaining the emotional context of the original while taking it into a new sonic space. Cut with buzzy lead guitar tones and moody atmosphere, ILIA’s commanding vocals spin the familiar melodic leads to craft an enthralling cover that swells with crunching guitars and pounding drums.

Paired with the cover is a music video that features ILIA performing the song with his band lit up on stage cut with shots of ILIA in the rain to mirror the intensity of the music. With releases like his recent single “The Ones You Think You Own” and his reimagining of “Gasoline,” ILIA continues to go from strength to strength with each move while bringing together industrial textures, alternative rock grit and modern experimentation, reflecting an artist who’s spent years forging his voice while remaining open to new directions.

Watch the music video for Gasoline below

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