Band of the Week: ReallyFastHorses

Welcome to Orlando Weekly's "Band of the Week." Every week, we highlight one of our favorite local bands. This week, we're pleased to bring you ReallyFastHorses.

ReallyFastHorses are playing twice this week: Aug. 29 at Iron Cow with Tongues of Fire, Top Nachos, and Fatties, and Aug. 31 at Will's Pub for Florida Underground Fest.

Just the facts:

When did the band form?
I [Jack Young] got hit by a drunk driver, had just been dumped in spectacular manner, and had a lot of emotions to process and free time. All my friends were in bands that I wasn’t quite ready to join, so I decided to do it myself. My first gig was August 30, 2016 on my own under the name ReallyFastHorses.

Dave, a friend of Jay and I's, suggested I should hang out with Jay and play music with him some time, as he'd just gotten a new drum kit. After a month or so of being too nervous to ask, I finally did, and a few weeks later we played an open mic at Austin's together.

That same night, Thomas was there to support us because he’s a pal! On our way out he continued to pile on the support and off-handedly mentioned “maybe jumping in on bass or something.” Asked him to join on the spot, flustered as I was. We continued as a three-piece for a while after that, just tightening up and playing anywhere we could.

Greg joined as a surprise for a show we had alongside Tongues of Fire a couple years ago, since he’d been learning guitar and really enjoyed both of our music. Now he’s a damn fine guitar player and I can’t wait to hear his inevitable rock opera he’s sure to write.

I am always apprehensive to add anyone to RFH, but Jay, Thomas, and Greg are the perfect additions who bring unique talents, experience, and knowledge to the table, which I feel translates to a better show.

Who's in the band?
Jay Yerkes - Drums, Production
Glen Arizona - Lead Guitar
Thomas Mack - Bass
Jack Young - Rhythm guitar, Vocals

Currently available releases:
Right now we have a couple singles and a split with some friends, Wet Breakfast and Sticky Steve, all of which can be found on our bandcamp! We were also lucky enough to land a spot on Godless America’s mixtape a while ago, which is definitely worth a listen. A real variety of artists on that!


Websites:
Our Facebook is where to go for concrete show info, which is the same as our Instagram, so find us at @reallyfasthorses

Or our Bandcamp.

Describe your sound in five words:
Self care meets self loathing

Five questions:

What has been your most memorable show so far?
That’s a wild one, because there’ve been so many with a slew of emotions attached. Some I remember, plenty I don’t. It’s a tie between Band Bingo 2016 (Jay and I’s unofficial first show together) or the Zap Dragon album release show because I cried a bunch, having to consciously stifle that while playing. Every member of that band, every band playing, everyone person involved leading up to that, it all compounded into being overwhelmed and swept up into the night. Definitely lucky to be a part of that one.

Which local band is your favorite one to play a show with?
Uncomfortably Sticky (Stephen Russo and David Yanik) because they’re little psychos but they’re definitely not boring, and we generally end up accomplishing our goals when we get together, which is nice.

What description gets used for your band that you would most
like to correct people on? Why?
Don’t call us pop punk? To be honest, I generally agree and appreciate the sentiment whenever I hear it. We’ve gotten compared to AJJ repeatedly, Modest Mouse, The Mountain Goats, one time woman at a bar in Sanford said we sounded like Jeffery Lewis which is probably not right, but I still own it, gonna put that one on the record.

What’s your favorite thing about being an Orlando band? What's your least favorite? Why?
Probably the multitude of interesting people I’ve gotten to meet and know. There’s a lengthy lineage of bands in this town all influencing the others, being influenced by others themselves, and it’s a blessing to learn a little bit about music and performance through them. I’ve actively gushed about my love for Alias Punch directly in front Jasper (guitarist of AP) without realizing who he was at the time. The fact that David Dondero used to play and live here with another local musician, Sterling Schroeder, who then, in turn, taught me many useful guitar skills, along with stories about other musicians. There’s a history, a growth, and it’s exciting to me for some odd reason.

My least favorite is probably the social politics and circle-jerk tendencies that some of us, myself included, fall into. Quit bickering, make something.

Any big news to share?
There’s a like 89% chance we’ll have a lovely EP ready in October! Also we submitted a new single to Godless America’s new mixtape, which is coming out soon, hopefully you’ll be able to blast it on the way to see us perform with Tongues of Fire and Fatties Punk on August 29th at Iron Cow! We’ll also be on a compilation tape for Florida Underground Fest!