One would think that after 25 years as a band playing music and being on tour would become boring but Less Than Jake still seem to be having a ton of fun every time they hit the stage. Maybe it’s their catchy blend of Ska, Punk, and Pop. Maybe it’s their sense of humor. All I know it’s going to be a fun time when they hit First Avenue next Monday 2/6 as part of their North American Tour with PEPPER. Tickets can be found HERE.
We had a chance to ask drummer Vinnie Fiorello a few questions.
You have a new EP “Sound the Alarm” being released just a few days before your show at First Avenue. What can you tell your fans about it?
It’s 7 new songs produced by our bass player Roger Lima and mixed by Jason Livermore at the Blasting Room. 25 years in song writing and song structure takes all of the influences and all of the ways we write and record and we continue to blend them. Lessons learned type thing.. for sure.
Less Than Jake has managed to stay together in what’s pretty much your original lineup for 25 year continue to create new music. What’s your secret?
We pushed ourselves to keep a very solid foundation when we first started the band, we were and still are very hands on in what happens to the band and at this point we are like family. There’s always ups and downs in everything but what we have we built ourselves and that is a very strong glue.
It may be weird, but I love your “TV/EP” EP where Less Than Jake crammed 16 TV themes and commercials into 10 minutes. What was the motivation behind that EP?
We always talked about that idea and we were between EP release so we wanted to do something fun so we finally dusted off the list and started recording them. It’s a blast to listen to. We did an 11 minute video to go along with that.
You guys spend a lot of time on road, especially with Warped Tour. How has your touring experience changed since you started?
It’s become a whole lot easier I’m a lot of ways, traveling by coach not a van, getting hotels instead of sleeping on floors, having cell phones, using gps, have a logical laptop to do other work from. The technology leap helps too to keep connected to friends and family. That was the huge hang up about touring a lot when we first started, finding a working pay phone was really the only way to keep in touch.
Speaking of Warped Tour, at the 2015 Twin Cities stop you pulled a fan from the audience and shaved his head on stage. Was that a one time thing, or are you guys planning a second career as stylists? Did you stay in touch?
We did that a bunch of times but we like to do some funny ( atleast to us ) things while on stage and make it or try to make it fun for everyone, to keep that energy and connection with us and fan. No future stylists here just grown men playing music and still having a great time 25 years later.
Photo Credit: Jodi Cunningham
Tour Dates:
Feb 02 The Complex Salt Lake City, UT
Feb 03 Ogden Theatre Denver, CO
Feb 06 First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
Feb 07 The Rave / Eagles Club Milwaukee, WI
Feb 08 Concord Music Hall Chicago, IL
Feb 09 Royal Oak Music Theatre Royal Oak, MI
Feb 10 Stage AE Pittsburgh, PA
Feb 11 Agora Theatre Cleveland, OH
Feb 12 Upstate Concert Hall Clifton Park, NY
Feb 15 State Theatre Portland, ME
Feb 16 House of Blues Boston Boston, MA
Feb 17 Playstation Theater New York, NY
Feb 18 The Paramount Huntington, NY
Feb 19 The Fillmore Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA
Feb 21 Rams Head Live! Baltimore, MD
Feb 22 The National Richmond, VA
Feb 23 The Fillmore Charlotte Charlotte, NC
Feb 24 The Masquerade Atlanta, GA
Feb 25 St Augustine Amphitheatre St Augustine, FL
Feb 26 Revolution Live Outdoors Ft Lauderdale, FL
Feb 28 Jannus Live St. Petersburg, FL
Mar 17 Rawhide Event Center Chandler, AZ
Mar 18 Rawhide Chandler, AZ
