Fastest Land Animal is an energetic punk rock band consisting of native New Yorkers, Screamin’ Jack Novak [vocals, guitar, synths] aka John Cusimano, Alfonse Castillo [guitar, bass] aka Jonny Blaze and Shark Samuels [drums] aka Andrew Meskin. Formed during the worldwide shutdown, FLA took recording into their own hands, writing and laying down tracks from their respective homes before releasing their self-titled debut in 2021. Their latest album, East Coast, West Coast, In Between was written and recorded remotely via video chats resulting in 12 tracks that combine glorious gutter punk, revved-up rock ‘n’ roll, and off-kilter pop which has captivated their ever-growing fan base who has already produced nearly 10 million YouTube views.
 
 Fastest Land Animal is opening for Tesla at The Andrew J Brady Music Center on Wednesday, April 26th! We had the pleasure to sit down with Screamin’ Jack Novak prior to the show next week!
 
 What can one expect when seeing Fastest Land Animal live?
 A Fastest Land Animal show feels like racing from 0 to 60 in 2 seconds — your head will be pinned back as you get pummeled with a bullet train of high tempo ear worms that will make your heart race and booty shake while the band swings for the fences with breakneck speed drums, searing guitars, and soaring vocals.

 Tell us about the recording process for the recent album, East Coast, West Coast, In Between…
 Much like our first eponymous album, “East Coast, West Coast, In Between” was recorded remotely with the band members and producer Don Gilmore (Linkin Park, Lit, Eve 6) recording from our respective home studios while communicating via online video conferencing. It’s a process we relied on out of necessity during the pandemic and given that each of us live in different corners of the country, it became a very efficient way to record ECWCIB as well.

What does it mean to be on tour with Tesla?
 As members of another band, we had been touring with Tesla for a few years since before the pandemic and as FLA played our very first shows after lockdown with them. Being back out on the road with Tesla feels both familiar and exciting at the same time. The energy from Tesla fans is rocket fuel for us and we take seriously our obligation to give those fans everything we’ve got every single night.

What is next for Fastest Land Animal?
 We will continue to tour throughout the summer and fall while writing new material for the next FLA album.