What To Expect

Ryan Started the Fire was founded in 2010 by Alex Lepiarz and Evan Villarreal in Evan's parent's garage in Bedford Township, MI when the two were only 12 years old. Self taught on guitar they started have little jam sessions in the garage with various friends. These friends came and went but Alex and Evan continued to play. A few months later Alex's cousin Jacob Hayes (14) came to a session to play drums and the band was formed. They started by playing a couple of family events just playing cover songs. Soon after they began writing their own music and people started to take notice. They were being asked to play at local music venues in Toledo, including Frankie's, Headliners, and The Zodiac. A demo CD was recorded in the summer of 2011 called Wha. It included everyone's favorite song No Shirt, No Shoes, No Sheldon In the spring of 2012, Drew Yates (14) joined the band as the new bassist; this allowed Evan to move over to guitar giving the band a much fuller sound. They just finished their first full length album and look forward to it's release in early November 2012. Ahead of this album, in October 2012, they released the single Pixie Stix. RSTF has opened for many national acts including one of their favorite bands, Bowling For Soup, Amely, Windsor Drive, Patent Pending, The Dollyrots, Alien Ant Farm, and twice for Kingsfoil. Self described as a pop punk band with an alternative feel they are influenced by all pop punk music, including Blink 182, Green Day, New Found Glory, and Bowling For Soup. They also appreciate The Ramones and Nirvana. The band is made up of Alex Lepiarz (15) and Evan Villarreal (14) on guitars and vocals, Drew Yates (15) on bass and Jake Hayes (17) on drums. The have twenty plus original songs mostly written by Alex and Evan. Together the two songwriters try to write music that allows them to sing in a back and forth manner, much like Blink 182. The addition of Drew has also allowed the band grow vocally rounding out their harmonies. Drew's bass playing has really evolved since joining the band. Jake's continues to be the mainstay holding the band together with his awesome beats. They are currently working with a promotion team to get their music played on college radio and to tour Midwest cities. The band is currently unsigned.