Ahead of the curve
Well-known ska punk band focuses on gratitude and graciousness
Vinnie Fiorello is handling the wet weather in Florida.
“Ah, it could be much worse,” he says during a recent interview. “We’re about to leave on tour and then we’ll have all the elements.”
Touring life isn’t something new for Fiorello as he’s been on the road with Less Than Jake since 1992.
In those 26 years, Less Than Jake has become one of the best-known bands in the ska punk genre, and has released eight full-length albums in that time.
Fiorello says the band — which includes Chris DeMakes, Roger Lima, Buddy Schlaub and Peter “JR” Wasilewski — has only grown stronger over the years.
“The only thing I can say is that doing anything for 26 years, you have to have the ability to see beyond the horizon line,” he says. “Be ahead of the curve and in music, it was seeing the oncoming collector boom. We were able to see that.”
Less Than Jake is back with a new EP called “Sound the Alarm” that was released earlier this year.
Fiorello and crew worked on the album for about six months.
“We had other songs and we were aiming to record a full length,” he says. “Then we decided, these are the seven songs that were going to be released. It’s not exactly a full length and it’s longer than a usual EP.”
Fiorello says the band always tries something different when working on new music.
“The record is a snapshot of a time in our lives,” he says. “Because we’ve always wanted to do something different, we listen to a lot of music and take in a lot of different influences. As you grow as a writer, there are different perspectives that get looked at. It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come as a band.”
One thing is for sure, Fiorello says it’s important to surround yourself with a solid foundation of people that care about you.
“You have to come to grips with the fact that you need to realize that there’s a certain amount of graciousness,” he says. “We are thankful that we’ve been able to take our career this far.”
After the headlining tour is complete, Less Than Jake will jump on the second half of the final Vans Warped Tour, which has been a staple for them during the previous summers.
“We’ve played the most Warped Tour shows of any band and it’s a big part of who we are and who we became,” he says. “For me, it’s going to be great to ride out the last summer of this tour.”