Jack R. Reilly Sucks: “I Was Really Wrong About Exercise”
Eora singer-songwriter Jack R. Reilly recently dropped ‘Best Guess’, a vibrant track that draws inspiration from a very unlikely source: the Jaws ride at Universal Studios Florida, which shut down in 2012.
It’s a whole thing: the track discusses conflict, filtered through the allegorical metaphor of Jack being attacked by the shark at the centre of the Jaws ride. In the ride, the shark attempted to terrorise all those who dared to board one of the ‘boats’ (you can get a sense of it all here, if you’re curious). Googling this ride while putting together the intro for this piece has left me with a couple of questions: 1. Who were the twisted minds that came up with this? and 2. Why do Australian theme parks not have rides like this? We really need to lift our game.
Clearly, ‘Best Guess’ is a song by someone that doesn’t have all the answers to life’s problems — but that’s OK. None of us do, really. We all deal with challenges in different ways. In Jack’s case, he’s written a song that is all-too-relatable: fighting with one another is (unfortunately) one of the cornerstones of the human experience… but I doubt anyone’s used a dormant shark ride to convey the nuances of conflict in their lyricism before.
This is Jack’s first single since the release of his 2020 album, Middle Everything, and you can expect more theme park ride-inspired songs from him in the near future. To mark the release of ‘Best Guess’, Junkee spoke to Jack about spending a lot of time on YouTube (relatable), the joy of staring out the window and his massive vintage t-shirt collection. If you’re after a tee that references your favourite pop culture staple, Jack’s your man.
Junkee: A mistake that turned into an opportunity?
Despite what my therapist says, I kind of feel like most of the opportunities that I have been afforded have come from a mistake on someone else’s behalf. “Jack’s playing the Metro?? Who the fuck let that happen? Somebody’s getting fired for this blunder!”
Cringe quote you used to live by?
There’s not really a “used to”. All of these cringe quotes I actually live by still to this day. (Cringe being relative; I actually have zero shame about sticking these on the fridge.)
“Never trust a person who; when alone in a room with a tea cosy, doesn’t try it on” – Billy Connolly
“We are here on Earth to fart around” – Kurt Vonnegut
“Failure is just success practice” – Kevin Smith
“Everything is wrestling” – Jim Ross
Worst advice you got and blindly followed?
Wasn’t personal advice; but a video about intermittent fasting and keto diets — fucked my shit all the way up.
The worst failure you’re up for sharing, and what you learned from it?
Faaaaar too many to name! Constantly failing, constantly learning.
Anything you used to be wrong about?
I was really wrong about exercise when I was younger. Turns out it’s heaps good.
Embarrassing internet habit?
My YouTube algorithm is so cursed. I watch a LOT of documentaries about pirates, the history of Halloween and ancient Egypt. I also can go through huge stints of watching Hotel Hell, Kitchen Nightmares and Dragon’s Den.
The other thing I do is watch HEAPS of theme park history and Defunctland. The new album (that ‘Best Guess’ will feature on) is all about those two channels.
But the worst thing I do is actively watch stuff that I don’t like, or make me cringe. The real bad stuff gets stuck in my head and I just have to watch it. It sucks. I can’t help it. Last month I watched that latest Megan Trainor song; like so much, and I really did not like it at all. I was also singing it and humming it like heaps. Absolutely no shade to Megan though — do your thing!
Ideal morning routine versus actual morning routine?
Definitely just waking up with not much to do. I love just sitting with coffee looking out of the window. I get a huge amount of satisfaction when I can do that. Normally I have to get up early for work though, and to keep my anxiety at bay I need to follow a fairly strict routine — especially if I’m on the early shift:
– exercise
– breakfast
– make coffee
– do my window looking sit and drink for about 10 mins
– meditate (5-20 mins)
– brush teeth
– say goodbye to Michelle
– walk to the station to go to work
– make sure what I’m listening to on the way is either overtly happy or doesn’t invoke too strong an emotional reaction
Something very off-brand for you?
At this point I’m not really sure what is on or off-brand for me; but I really wish I was better at communicating and conflict. That’s what ‘Best Guess’ is about. I used being attacked by the shark in Jaws the ride as a metaphor for how I feel about conflict.
Bad health decision?
I eat so much chocolate. So, so much.
What do you waste money on?
It’s not a waste because I love them — but I own like hundreds of vintage t-shirts. Mainly wrestling and theme park stuff — but also heaps of movies, comics and cartoons.
Worst procrastination habit?
Whenever a screen is on, I get mad distracted if I’m trying to do something. It doesn’t even really matter what’s on.
Jack R. Reilly’s new single Best Guess is out now.
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Illustration credit: Matt Lauricella, @pigeonboyart