SPEED CHECK

You won’t be able to keep up with young Orlando band 0 Miles Per Hour

BY IDA V. ESKAMANI

“Ever since we started learning music, we’ve been playing together.”

The members of 0 Miles Per Hour — Chrissy McKeever, Dakotah Walker, Jack Dee and Jackson Bates — are on the road, somewhere between Gainesville and Jacksonville, headed to the first show of their spring break tour. They’re passing the phone around in their car, Zoom screen on, trading off who answers what questions from their hometown paper.

The foursome make up 0 Miles Per Hour, an Orlando outfit with an undeniable gravitational pull. They are the kind of band you hear about before you hear them. When you finally listen, you understand the hype and spread the word. And it all began in the halls of Whispering Oak Elementary in Winter Garden.

Bates shares how the band formed: “Me and Chris originally started learning how to play music around eighth grade … we started playing really small shows to, like, five people.”

He continues, “Chris has known Jackson since pre-K and then we were taking lessons from Dakotah’s dad for guitar. We needed a drummer and he was like, ‘My son’s really good at drums.’ And it just kind of stuck. So now it’s all of us.”

0 Miles Per Hour’s sound is hard to restrict to any single genre. When asked to describe their band — in the most col- laborative way — the four land on the term “energetic.” There’s certainly no denying that. Their stage presence exudes confidence, with nods to grunge and glam rock. Their sound melds surf, punk and garage rock; the lyrics are so personal they become universal. Fans know the words to most every song, and the inevitable pit can tug you in like a rip current.

This is a band of young people — Generation Z, the generation that is ready to save the world as long as the rest of us don’t get in the way. Walker is currently in high school; McKeever, Dee and Bates are freshmen at UCF.

They are all navigating school and jobs, life and an evertumultuous world; but the constant has always been each other — and music. The band remains their top priority, and even though they’re young, their years as a band have led to a level of seasoned assuredness.

Bates, keeping his eyes on the road, speaks to this dynamic: “It also helps that we started so young. We’ve had four years to figure out how to navigate it all. So it’s almost like it’s the beginning, but we’ve already been doing it.”

Walker echoed these sentiments, adding that ”seeing the progression of where we were and where we are now makes us want to do it even more.”

There are many more milestones and markers ahead for the band, including one particular rite of passage in the Lone Star State. “South by Southwest! We’re going to Texas, it’s going to be our first out-of-state show.” The band are set to play the venerable music fest as part of a showcase hosted by Orlando’s SmartPunk records.

“We’ve been trying to make it out of Florida for awhile now,” continues Walker. “And it’s a really cool way that we’re doing it. … We’re really excited. I’m really grateful to the SmartPunk guys for helping us out and sending [them] all a shout-out.”

We asked if they’re workshopping any tour survival tricks. “I think we’re still learning,” says McKeever. Bates offers the evergreen tip to “bring deodorant.”

The more we learn about the band, the more clear it is that they’re 0 Miles Per Hour in name only. The band just released a new single, “0214,” with more new music ahead, as well as collaborations and shows booked. They show no signs of stopping.

McKeever reflects on the surreality of the moment they’ve built as a band: “Sometimes I get impostor syndrome. Like, are we really that good? Or should people actually like us this much? Should we be getting these cool shows? … I have to remind myself that we’ve worked really hard to get where we are.”

The band harbors plenty of gratitude for their hometown. “Whenever we come back to Orlando, I’m reminded there is a crazy amount of really good artists and really supportive people that are just in this one town,” says Dee.

McKeever adds that “it’s a great town and I’m really grateful for the community we found ... and it has the biggest McDonald’s.” Walker adds, “And we have Orlando Weekly.” music@orlanodweekly.com

Damn straight we do. The kids, they’re alright.

Local Releases

With his evocative and versatile live prowess, Patrick Hagerman has been a notable riser in the Orlando Americana scene in recent years. But that’s almost exclusively been on stage. His recorded catalog has thus far remained nascent and secondary.

However, the folk troubadour has recently dropped a trove of four new singles: “Daffodils,” “Canisteo Catholic,” “Amen” and “Walmart Melatonin.” It’s his most prolific salvo to date and it’s a build-up to his big, fullband headlining appearance at Southern Fried Sunday’s 17th Anniversary bash (5 p.m. Sunday, March 19, Will’s Pub, $12 in advance or $15 day of show). Most of the songs showcase the quiet richness and soul of Hagerman’s plaintive side, with “Amen” being perhaps his most heartrending moment yet. Yet his wit and humor take the spotlight on the jaunty “Walmart Melatonin,” a brisk old-timey number that even name-drops Kaleigh Baker. All four songs are available on Bandcamp — as nameyour-price downloads, no less.

Also on the bill to celebrate the birthday of this cornerstone live institution will be St. Pete’s Matt Walker & the Galbraith Sisters, Orlando Americana power couple JUNOSmile, local band The Chotchkies and DeLand singer-songwriter Bryan Raymond.

Concert Picks This Week

The HVNZ, Doxy: Central Florida band the HVNZ have been emerging with flair over the past year or so with a stylish string of singles and videos. But it’s not until this upcoming Orlando show that they’ll finally make their official stage debut.

Fronted by Nik Talbot of standout garagerock duo the Dull Blades, the Space Coast trio specialize in a Killers-esque brand of indie rock that revives all the drama, bom-

Central Florida indierock band the HVNZ, fronted by Nik Talbot of the Dull Blade, have impressed over the past year or so with a stylish string of singles and videos. But it’s not until this week’s Orlando show that they’ll finally make their official stage debut bast and dance-floor energy of the 2000s. The HVNZ’s rise has been a concerted and visually splashy campaign that most recently culminated last year in their first collection, the solid six-song Everything Is Fine EP. Now they finally step up to fully unveil themselves in concert. (9 p.m. Thursday, March 16, Iron Cow, $10)

Street Fever, Ani Christ: In the world of electronic music, Idaho’s Street Fever lives down the dark alley where all the BDSM clubs are. More dance than industrial, their seductive sound mines an impressive spectrum of beat styles, from techno to breaks, and dresses it all up in black like synthwave’s goth cousin. Opening the show is Salt Lake City’s Ani Christ. (8 p.m. Thursday, March 16, Will’s Pub, $13-$15)

Clan of Xymox, The Bellwether Syndicate, Pressure Kitten, DJ Lavidicus: The wait for Dutch goth-pop legends Clan of

BY BAO LE-HUU

Xymox has been agonizing. It had already been ages since they played here, and then the pandemic knocked it back three more years. Now, they’ll finally be making their first Orlando appearance in about 15 years, give or take a generation or so. But maybe that means it’ll only be another year before they come right back again to celebrate the 35th birthday of their magnum opus Twist of Shadows, right? Maybe? Pretty please? Deepening the bill will be Chicago openers the Bellwether Syndicate. Led by the credentialed William Faith (of Faith and the Muse, Christian Death, Mephisto Walz, the March Violets and Shadow Project) and Sarah Rose Faith, they specialize in gothic rock that does much more than mope. Their melodies, though requisitely dour, are towering and pack some Sisters of Mercy octane. Local industrial-metal band Pressure Kitten and Memento Mori’s DJ Lavidicus will make it a full night. Who’s bringing the cloves? (7 p.m. Thursday, March 16, The Abbey, $25-$30)

Eli Winter, Jonas Van den Bossche, Fast Preacher: The general idea of guys with guitars at a coffee shop makes me shudder, too. But this is anything but that. Instead, this high-quality bill features a trifecta of guitarists all operating on interesting fringes. The experimental folk music of Chicago’s Eli Winter is at once familiar and strange, like a shimmering dream. The avant-garde tendencies of local Jonas Van den Bossche can range from free improvisation to pastoral pop, none of it predictable, while Fast Preacher’s Daniel Hanson is a homegrown psych-funk dynamo. Together, they’ll be a left-of-center kaleidoscope free of any sensitive-boy hackery. (7 p.m. Tuesday, March 21, Stardust Video & Coffee, $10 suggested donation) baolehuu@orlandoweekly.com