OCR IS A LIE!
I used
t o thillk Less Than
Jake WJS an a~esome balld. ll W35111 however. till I
saw them live thatIrcali edtheirtrueureatlless.Not
only is the hand ureat hut the memhers are the nicest
most dow n to 1 artl1 ch3ps y ou ll lind. They are totally
appreciative ol their 13lls and exemplil~ humility - not somethinu
you d nornlally d in a halld on the v :rL~e ot hecominu hu~e. With a six
alhum deal on C;lpitol Kec(lrds in the sack the sky s the limit. As a
child one ol the Jake - stcrs h;ld a dou named... you uuessed it Jake.
Tl1c dou woul(l alw;-ys he thc hest led in the family puttinL~ dowll T-
honeseverymeal. Ihekids ho~ever Uø~ lessthanJ3ke. Itdoesnt
seem that they ll he ~ttin~ the short end ol this hone lor much lonuer.
With rouuhly thirty releases to their cr:dit. you miuht want to listen to
them now. Almost everythillu is sure to hecome a collectors item and
you can say you he;lrd em hefore Rollinu Stone shove them down your
throat. May my words ska-pw1k is the next hiU thinu for the
alternative media to exploit. 1 njo). I:uck you.
Rl: Nol that you guys rcnlly nccd an introduction but why don t
you sl;lrt thcrc and mcntion thc othcr mcmllcrs th~t arc not
prcscnt hcrc?
Chris: I m Cllris. I play uuit;u and I try to sillu. Vinny s ncxl to me.
Vinny: I plJ~ drums.
Chris: We ~ ot Kouer on the hass l~uddy on the trombone.
Jcssica on the alto sax and l)erron on thc baritone saxopholle.
I Ih t s at the present momcl1t.
t~l: How did you ~uys aclu;llly form? How long bavc you bccn
arollnd?
Chris: I knew Vinl1y since hi~h school. We had a hand hack home
touether. We used to live 1()0 miles outside of r3mpa in this small
little shit tOWI1. I hell we wel1t to college in the
sun1mer ol 91 and we kept in touch. We d
L~o hon1e alld we d do demo tapes on a lour
track. We d keep in touch all tlle time. We Uø'
loL!ether w ith ;n1otl)er hass player in the
summer of 92 that we d uet touether with
and start jammillU. Tllat's
hasically wl1ell we went
out and played live as Less
Than Jakc. Tllat was in
(iainesville.
Vinny: We were l.ess
l hall Jake helore that...
Chris:
l~ut
ollly
as a
name
ilself
We only had a few free demos but we had never
played out live. The hand really came touether in
Jal1uary ol l993 when we Uø~ Rouer and Jessica.
Rl: Did thc band st~trt out initi;llly as a ska/
pllnk band or W:IS it onc or thc othcr?
Vinny: Not rcally. We started out as a three
piecc power pop band hut on our demo tape
we did one ska punk sonU. We never
thouuht of doinu ska at all. We
thouullt of doing pop punk witl1
homs like Snlifl: When we tirst he3rd
~nult witl1 the tromhone we realized
that s wl1at we wanted to do.
Chris: I he last sonus on the CD are
actually on a lour track with me alld
Vinl1y I played the bass and did all
the uuitars. Tllat's how it W;15 initially.
I he lirst incan1ation of the hand never had homs. It
was just me and Vinny. I here s th3t one track on our new CD and a 7
to he released hy our friend David [llayesl from Too Many Records out
ol ~pokane Wasl1ill~toll witl1 some of that stufl: It sounds pretty true
to wl1ere we re at now witl1 our stull without the homs.
Vinny: 11 you listen to Too Many Records releases you ll realize that
there arc two thillus th3t he likes. Tl1ere s the l.ast Bay style of pop punk
and the cra~y
~; c 11 1 (1 11 U
~rindc(lre-to-
t'olk-music
type ol stutf.
I hat s wllat it
sounds like
hasically. It
sounds like
the w hole 1 ast
l~ay pop punk
Irom the era
o
Crimpshrille.
It's re;llly
luz .y hecause
~e recorded it
on a four
track. I f he
lik :s il enou~h
to pUl it
out...lle ll
prohahly do
only like a
thousalld 7
Look for
t/lo. ~ o/-
~ tl)~, o~
t ~ 1' tl)
ol ~
Rl: You g uys
ha~c 1)ll~ o
likc a million
rclc;uscs Is
~hcrc ;In cxac~ figllrc ;Is ~0 IIOW much stutryou actually havc put
out?
Chris: I here s thirty releases 3s of. . Itlle i111as inclc(/sc~las oftll~,u~ t-
i--,~,~/ Includillu comps 311d everytllinu there h3ve heen thirteen lahels-not
to mentiol1 that in (iainesville we found that someone had taken a son~ olt
a record and put it onto a CD. That s probably not the only bootleu out
there. I don t really uive a shit. All it does is to create awareness in places
th3t you re not knowll. Not only th3t. but this person actually
did this hecause he likes you.
Vinny: 'I'here's Ihirty rele3ses as ol'our Losers. Kinl~s CD ~vllicll is Ihe
Colllp Oll No Ide~ ~-ilh all ollr 7" tnd slull: 'I'h;t( ~- ts our thirtielll
release includilll! ColllpS ol';lll the stull'we h;ld pUt out. over the nexl
tno montlls we h;tve Crasll Course l;lr 13einL~ ;m Asshole ~-hicll is a
covers 7" comim (lUI oll Rhetoric Records. I le's also doinL~ a Pe~ Core
pictule disc :)s well ;~s the relull:lr vinyl versioll. Thell ~e're yoiny to
h.lve a Iree 7" that ~e'll he l~ivinl~ out tt our !iho~VS. I llCre'S ~()00 ol'
hose. Il's a split 7" ~ ith t halld called Pun ~. I o llin~:') I'rolll Gaillesville.
It'll also L!o mlt to people on our mailill~ list. 1'hell thele's Rock n Roll
pi~eri t ~vllicll is t one sided 7" etcllillys oll Ihe otllel side alld comes
in a pi~a hox. Alter th;lt we're L~oin)! to do Ihe Gre;lse soundtl-;lcx o
all 1 1'. We ~on't do the wllole 31hum hut we're I~Oilll! to do the hits.
We'll take out the Shallall;l stull:
Rl: You're mDkin~ it rcDlly h;lrd on collcctors! Is thcrc ~t rclson
wl~ ou vc dcDIt with so m3ny IDbcls '
Vinny: It's the best thinL~ to do. You don't underst~lld...Wllell you yo on
tour...An ex;lmple: Whil led Records Irolll Richmolld Virl0lli;l... we never
pl;(yed in Vir~ini;l hel;)re. 13ut this sumlller w: plll~ed there l;)r the lirst
time ;md thele's over a hulldred people ihere alld they kllCW our Stlll'l alld
they ~ere sin~illU our SOIlyS. It's weird th tt this one ~uy h ad heen pro-
motilll~ us in this trea. Now ~vllell we ~o h;tck more people ~vill he there.
We've yottell to sell our slull: A lol Ol'SOIlL~S ~ere duplicales. Whell ~ve
were lirsl slartin~ oul we didn'l h;lve Ihat many SollyS under our helts. I
thillk Licluor ~itores is on ;Ibout four or live dil'l'el ent comps. 11' Ihe~ 're
payill~ ior il alld Ihey
likc vou cnouyll lo ~sl;
y ou to he on their
comp... St3tisticall~
il' you liyure th;lt a
thous tnd or so
records ~ot sold. you
h;lve to renli~c th;lt
countless other pcople
.Irc listcnill~ to this.
I Im~ mally comp t;lpes
did this person m;lke'?
I Imv 111311y l'riellds did
this pCrSoll pl3y this
record to'?
Chris: As l:dr as I'm
concerlled, the more
labels the hetter.
1~1: 1~o ,~o1l g ~ s
huvc ;I r;lvoritc
rclc:lsc?
Chris: 'I'he 7"ers are
my favol ites. A lot
ol' it is the cover. I
like the ;trtwork on
some of th;lt stut't:
l'he l'e~ KinL~s 7" is
one ol' my 13vorites.
Vinny: I'd h;lve to
say th;lt my 1'3vorite
is the !iollL~s Ahoul
Drinkin~ 011 'loo
M;my Records. It's a
doUble l.P I aCI1
packaL~e w3s dill'erellt and that W;1S really cool.
Rl: 13y cvcrythin~ you tcll mc I would im:ll inc thut yoll ~ uys ;mc
rcco!d collcctors...
Chris: I just huy most ol'my SIUII ol1 Cl). RoL~er jS.
Vinny: Tlle mosl colleclahle thilly we l1;1VC jS 1l1;1l r~y ~UI1 WC ~ve
you. we ollly l nve some oul on our tour alld at sllows hut mc
Ihelll ;~re ~,OillL~ 1O l!O to collel!e r3dio.
mcmllcrs morc th;lll your ;I-cr;l~c rock
b;ln(l~ h-lw do yoll ~uys ~o ~hout w ritin~
music?
Vinny: I ~rite tll the Iyrics...
Rl: Yct yoll don't sin~ thcm. Is thcrc ;~
rcuson for th;lt?
Chris: lle's tone deal: hasic;llly. (l~m~lu
t ~
Vinny: I h tve al~3ys writtell Ihe Iyries
since we started the h;uld. It jusl never
ch mL~ed.
Chris: I'll come up witll 3 line an4 lhell
il'll yet 311 per erse and twisled~ So httsi-
cally I can't write Iyrics.
Rl: ~o hdsic;llly wh;lt you're sayin~ is
th~tt it's the i~nor;lncc orthc othcr han(l
membcr!i thDt h;ls Icd you to tlkc up
thc writin~ l:lsk.
Chris & Vinny (lu~mlller): Basic~lly!
Vinny: I lixe ~riliny Ihe Iyrics alld Ih;lllld;lll~ they come out w ith the
illt~lltioll ;IIld ~Illotioll Ill:lt I ~rol~ 11l~lll ~illl.
Chris: Wc talk ;Ihout them ahe3d ol' timc 31so. 1 never L~o intn a practice
not kno~ iny 3 thilly OINvll;lt ~e're uoinl~ to sinu ahout. We tllro~ 3round
ideas alld discuss thc idc;ls ~nd thell work somclllilly oul.
Rl: H3s thcrc cvcr bccn thc casc in which y~ll'vc s:lid "No. I wu n't
sin~ th;lt s nl !"
Chris: No. I~hou~ll he ~rites 99.9% ol'lllc soll~s I h;~c Ihe Ireedonl lo
l'uckuptll3t.1l)~0.Wccll3llyethillL~saroulldsonletilllcstolll;lketllillt~s~il
Rl: Thc l r;lncvinc h:ls it thut yoll'll bc rclcasill~ 3 full Icn~tll on thc
I~C3tlcs rccllrd l:lbcl. C;lpit- L C- uld !ou cl;lbor3tc?
Vinny: Wc arc yoilll! to. Rulllors h3~ e hecll ~1~ in~; 11 o~ er the intl:rllet alld
pUIlk UlldCIyroUIld SCellC, hut most ol'it is hc;(rs;l!. ()n our reccllt tour
pretty mucll we ~ere asked 3t every sho~ 3hout it. I 'm kin(J ol' tire ol' it.
Chris: Sollle ~ines h3ve 31ready printed it. Kulllols 11!. Wc h;l~ :n t rc;(ll!
had th3t mally e~ative re3ctions. Anyhody ~vll(l h;ls ~;mte~J lo colll. up
to me alld talk 3bout it I've been more th3ll h3ppy to t31k ah(lut it. I doll't
even p3y 3tlelllioll lo the rumors hec;luse there are too m;nly people Ih;lt
are L~oinL~ to he doiny th;lt. B3sic311y we yol 3 la~yer 3nd worked ever! -
thillL~ out. \~C never WCIll oul lookiny lor thelll. We don't h;lvr ;I hio or
allytllilly like th;lt. It's nol in us. Il's 3hv3ys hecn prelly much 3 I-ohh~
alld il alw3ys will l-c to us. It's somelllillLmve lovc lo do. 'lo m3kc ;
loll~ slory shorl Ihis yu! Irolll ~';)pilol nallled l.orne wllo's ;ul un-
delsludy to our A.5:R "U! wllo siLulcd us is ;- scoul ~vho ~ocs out...
I le kno~s cvcr~ ~ine oul Illelc. I Ic knows ~ines done l-y kids willl 3
rull ol' .ltl. I Ic's u l-3ld ~orkcr 3nd hc's 3ma~ . Any~3~ he kepl
seeinl! rcviews ol'us in ines. l Ic called ;Iroulld 3nd in Atl3nl3 yo our
1(l Solly S;llllplCr Irolll l)ill Kc-olds. Whell he
lislened to ib he L~ c h lo ~'r;liy oul A~Y:R ~uy.
alld lold hilll hc should he;lr Ihis. 'I'houyll hc didn'
likc ska he ended up lislenilly lo it 3nd likinL! us.
So in June or95' he llc~ oul alld saw our sho~
i(l G3illesville. 'I'h3l's pl clty much l-ow it slarted.
and he prctty much st;lrted
t31kin~ to us thcll.
Vinny: 'I'o clear thillL!s up
3nd lo m~ke IhillL~s casier 1(1l
the peoplc re3din~ Ihis, wc
h3vc no prohlcm l31killl~
3hoUI W1131'5 ill IhC COIl-
tract.
W c
11 3 v c
n o
with it. We don't want people to have misconceptions of what goe.s on.
I he contract basically boils down to the fact that Capitol touches NOTH-
I~fG. That means that they don't touch tours, they don't touch our mer-
chandise, they don't tell us what to do, when to do, or how to do it.
Basically, they say that at this point you [I.TJ] need an album. We're going
to promote and distribute that album. We're allowed to do indepeildent
releases. Bas'lcally, we're an independellt band that's on a major label that
gives us good distribution.
Chris: There are limits, also. There's also the fact that i f
they don't make money, "Bye, see you guys the fuck later.
We know that. They're are a corporation...
Rl: Are you guys on a one album deal or...
Chris: No. This is going to sound crazy, but...we're nu~
going to make it to six albums. It's a six album deal. That's
the way they sign contracts - six album, ten year deal. F~ut
after two albums, if we're not sellillg,
they're going to say
good bye to us fast.
Vinny: We have a
runningcount. We'll
be off of Capitol in
two years. We can
release an album as
quickly as we can
write it.
Chris: We're go-
ing to record as
early as April, but
more along the
lines of May.
Rl: Will they
help you in
touring?
Chris: If we
want them
to. It all has
to do with ad
these bands, like the early
eighties metal bands that did al I
the hotels and hooker thing and
gening two hundred thousand
dollar advances owe the label all
this money. They didn't know
whatthey were getting into. They
have to pay for all of that. We
asked the label every question
imaginable, and we went over this
forseven months before signingthe
contract, and we got what I think
was a fair deal.
Vinny: We got a deal thaL no one
else that I know got. We're allowe
releases. We can take the Capitol album and put it on vinyl on an
independent label. That's unheard of. I don~t know why they gave it to
us, but they agreed to it. People are saying that Less Than Jake sold
out. We just did a tour that had S and 6 dollar door charges. We sell our
stuffand will continue to scll our stuf l real ly cheap.
Chris: Bands out there on "the circuit" havc a rAentality that since they
are now playing to 800-1000 kids a night, they can sell their sllirts for
whatever, regardless. We know how much the shirts cost. Our shon
sleeve shirts cost about 5$ with shipping and the long sleeve cost
around $6.80 and we sell them for $7 and $9. Wc make al ound $2 a
shin.
shin.
R I . L e t s s a y t h a t e o r y y u
we've been told by our label to 'lay low'." They can't do interviews
with zines. I can see how that would piss punks off because these
are the people that achlally "made" them and put them in the
position to be where they're at, and they're turning their backs on
them. Now they have no control to talk to who they want to and
when they want to. Consider you sell a million records, how can
you guarantee your fans that something
like this won't happen. Can your fans be
sure that they won't be shit upon?
Vinny: We have 100% creative control. We
can do whatever we want.
Chris: At the same time, you really have to
think.. .Some of these bands go to Europe for
two months and then come back and find
this huge amount of business. Trying to
maintain that level would be difficult. There's
no doubt about it I'd just hope that we can
maintain it. We were in Wyoming, and this
kid sct up a show. I fe's 16 and totally into
DIY lle runs a label out of his house. His
parents are supportive and cool. He afso
does a zine When we were driving to get
something to eat, he asks us whether the
rumor of our signing was true. I fe shit
his pants. He was really put off by it at
first. We hung out with him that
night. Turns out that he got
ripped off at the door and only
had like $80. We had a guaran-
tee that night of $200. We told
them that we understood and
weren't biting his head off.
Vinny: You see, that's indepen-
dent from Capitol. Capitol has no
control of that.
Rl: But let's say you're sell-
ing a million records and your
shows are no longer 200-400
people shows, but rather 10,000
seat shows
v I n n y: We've been through that and have
thought about that. In Chicago we played this place
called the Fireside Bowl and sold it out. The yuy who
did the show asked us what we were going to do
the next time around. He didn't even promote it and
this many people came out. What's going to hap-
pen, and v e discussed this while on tour, is that
we'll just do two or three shows at that venue.
Chris: A lot of times we have to leave immedi-
aRer a show. But if l have time, I'll do as many inter-
views and talk to as many kids as I can. We won't be off hiding in the
dressing room. I'll talk to anybody. It's going to do nothing but help us
and benefit the scene and this kids magazine. These people are taking the
time out and actually want to interview IJS, for chrissake. Who are we to
shrug them off. Just because he's doing a hundred copies and giving them
out throughout his high school ..
Vinny: ...or have a label tell you that you can't do interviews because
you're just flooded.
Chris: Fuck that! We can talk to whoever we want to. They have no
control over that.
Vinny: It sa~s it in big bold letters on the contraict that we have 100%
CREATIVE CONTROL ON OUT SIDE OF TIIINGS. It's in good
faith, meaning that if we stick something in there like, "I'm going to slit
someone's throat" or something crazy like that, they'll sit with us and
tell us what they think of it. They can give us their opinion and tell us
up to us. lt's our choice of producer, also.
Chris: Right now we're kicking around a few ideas. Ultimately, I think
we can produce the album ourselves, but we don't know what we're
going to do yet.
RI: you guys play a lot with ska bands and puuk bands. Do you
consider yourselves one or the other? Who do you like to do
shows with more?
Chris: I like to play shows with everyone! We've played ska fests with
eight other ska bands, and they get annoying sometimes - hearing eight
bands with horns is a little too much. We've played with rap bands,
hardcore bands, straight edge bands, a Christian ska band in Denver.
We've also played with big band sounding ska bands.
Vinny: We play with an array of bands. I like it that way.
Chris: As far as the label of ska or punk... to tell you the truth, I don't
have much of a background in the Jamaican or two tone stuff. We
don't really think of it or plan it to have a ska sound. It just comes out.
We just sort of shit it out.
Rl: Who's the computer geek in the band? I noticed you guys
have a home page aud do a lot of stuff on the internet.
Vinny: As far as the home page and stuff... those are just friends of
ours who like us. At home we just have email that we check up on, but
the other stuff is done by friends. Adam is the guy who did the home
page. Mike is another friend of ours. When we got back from tour, we
found out he had started a computer newsletter. Adam and Mike are
insane. They're full time students at the University of Florida, and
somehow they find the time to do this and have never asked for a dime.
They just like doing it. They're totally supportive of the band.
Rl: What has been the most helpful for the baud? Have you guys
gotten a lot of fanzine coverage?
Chris: It's a combination of all our releases, comps, and zine reviews.
Sometimes we ' 11 play some places where they don 't even know we have
a CD out. They just know us from a comp and only know those couple of
songs.
Vinny: As far as zine "coverage"... interviews have been very sparse.
This last tour we did the most interviews. I guess it remains to be seen if
within the next couple of months these people get their shit together and
put something out.
Rl: Vinny, I know you started a record label. You could tell us some-
tbing about it and the reasons for starting it?
Vinny: Actually, it's not mine. It's the band's. That',
If the things
we vealwayswantedtodo,andwhynot.Ikn ~ people~who
from frat guys with polo shirts to crusty
punks. It was that much of a difference.
That's a privilege to us. They know the
Iyrics and they want to see us.
Rl: What do you guys do for a living
that you're able to tour so much?
Roger: Actually, we don't tour as much
as we want to. Vimny goes to school and
has another semester to graduate. Our
sax player is a school teacher. Buddy
graduated from college with a psychol-
ogy degree and sits around his house and
smokes dope with his parents. I sell (cen-
soredforfear of parental retribution).
Rl: What kind of promotional mate-
rial will you put out now that you're
going to have more money?
Chris: ('oefore If inished the question) Free records! The ray gun, of
course. We're working on a yo-yo. Anything that we can put our name on
that's funny. I'd love to do a lunch boxjust like Kiss did. We're also going
to do a skateboard. That's all going to be given out for free. We're not
going to a lot ofit. It's basically going to be for people who like the band
and who've done something to help us - like Brad from Rhetoric. He
distributes our records and will put out our records. We' re going to send
him a bunch of stuff and he can do what he wants with it. It's for friends
of ours.
Rl: With so many people in the band, how do you guys tour, and how
smooth are your tours?
Chris: To deal with it, we get really silly in the van.
Roger: We all have sex with each other, so it doesn't really maner any-
way.
Rl: Any horror tour stories?
Chris:WegotstuckintheeastofAtlanta.Youdon'twanttogetstuckin
~I,iens. 'e~pl~ept
w~ould ay, '~If~ow~ ~k th
had alie~;er~ a sti
~hat they ~ ve a
.on~l,
.ound ..~........
'hris.~pen~i ~
he I ~ppos~d~ey're rad! I want to Vinny: What~e'v~&lv~Y
do decent distributions, and putting o,~t a
something I've always wanted to do. I'~ot ex~ting anything
of it. . , ~
Roger: It's the bea-~y o~mding a b bndJ
~by ~band ~I~e is
t you reaUy
Id having
the east side of Atlanta at 2 in the moi~fing. We raced against a hurricane.
We also visited the strangest cit~Bl~by, Arizona. It's a replica of San
Francisco with 6Q0~le. It has ~uge hole in the middle of town.
We actually got~a ~e r~ayor th~king for having played there
and inviting us bac ~ E~rywh~e we'd ~ple would ask us, "You
ù~like our town?" Th Y~se~l~us ad~email ~dbook on how to detect for
the privilege of putting ~t their
We played with this band~alled
put out their record! We all
band... ~
Vinny: It's the same thi~nat NO laea In ~ ames~le cl~ ~pr ~ lt took
hey're rad! I want
; joy of hel~ng a
faith.
Rl: Do you plan on releasing anything by ~ours
label?
Chris: Probably not. Maybe something live and colle
Rl: Will the label be hauds off of Capitol, or is g~
Apple Records was for the Beatles?
Chris: No. I mean, if it ever came to that ~int~e'a alscuss lg DUI
it'll never get to that point. We're just goirig to release 7"ers.
Rl: Has Gainesville been supportive of you guys?
Chris: For the most part. That's a touchy subject.
Viuuy: Some of the punk elitist crowd won't come to see us. It's not
ve~ ~n yo~r
ing to be like
Decause ù_apllol or arymlng 1I s uAecause we play sKa. I ney wererl
ad already drank the water. They
Fyou'll ne~ r leave Bisby." Everyone
h it.~e~ e h3~fhousands of them
Vinny: What~'v~&lv~y~e~,to pi~
~Now th3~e haYe ~he label, w~'~ pr*~
~label.
with your
~k into the
y~c~œ~back into
Roger: lf the~e's niA, extr~ , we'n gll ~aF~ostumes for a
shaw or~
r~ls:~dia~all the
Ome. (laughter)
Roger:He'sanasshole(laughtev)Actually,Bobrocks!! He'sgreat! He
shares his sheep. (laughter)
Rl: Unless you guys have anything else to add, why don't you guys
give us your email address so computer geeks and psychos can
contact you.
Chris: Write to us at Itj~afn.org. You can also find us at http:ll
www.afn.org/~ltj or write to us at PO Box 12081 Gainesville, Fl 32604.
Take me back
Cause there's no place like home.