- 4/23/2025
Chris DeMakes from Less Than Jake talks with Marisa, Matt Lindenmuth, and Nick Murphy about his podcast, Chris DeMakes A Podcast, and Less Than Jake going back on tour.
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00:00Les and Jake is going to be at the Atlantic city beer festival this coming
00:03weekend. Plus there is another show in how do you say it's Stroudsville?
00:07Stroudsburg. No, it's not Stroudsburg. Oh, Stroustown. Oh, at the racetrack.
00:11Yeah. Yes. Next to Shartlesburg. In the, in the middle of nowhere.
00:16I don't know if I want to play a place called Shartlesburg, but anyways,
00:20it's in the middle of nowhere. You'll have a great time.
00:24The best part is it's only like an hour from the city.
00:26So anybody can make their way out there. Krista makes thanks for joining us
00:30today. Thank you for having me. And AC beer fest is fun.
00:34You guys are going to have a blast down there.
00:35We were actually just in Atlantic city this weekend. And so we,
00:38we warmed the town up for you guys. It's, it's it's,
00:43they are itching for some live music.
00:46There hasn't been a good ska punk scene since the last work tour,
00:50which was now two summers ago, which is very sad.
00:52Yeah. We did the AC beer fest, I think in 2013.
00:56And it was really funny because that was our first time only,
00:59only time prior to this one playing it. And they did two sessions that day.
01:03The first was like from 12 to four.
01:06And then the second session was like five to nine that night. And so we got
01:10there a little after four to the load in for our show.
01:12And everyone was pouring out of the convention center at that time.
01:15And they, I've never seen people that drunk in my life.
01:18Yeah. It was like my college days times 10, you know?
01:22Well, I think it's going to be a tenfold this year since everybody's going nuts
01:26with, with everything open in New Jersey post quarantine.
01:32So it's, it should be a hell of a weekend.
01:35Yeah.
01:35Your lesson, Jake is going to be a lot of people's first concert back.
01:39Like that's going to be something you talk about for years.
01:41Yeah. We're, we're excited. You know, I think that, you know,
01:44it's interesting. My friend of mine and I were talking today and we're
01:48knock on wood, not trying to get any bad vibes, but man,
01:51I think once you, we open wide back up like this, I, it's going to be hard.
01:55God forbid of another virus or something came along to lock people down
02:01because yeah, just cause you know, people have been,
02:03been cooped up for 15 months.
02:05And I think that once the floodgates open, it's going to be pretty crazy here.
02:08Now does AC beer fest kick off a summer long tour for you guys?
02:13Is this the first show back?
02:15No, we're actually we're playing the day before playing June 4th in the
02:19middle of Pennsylvania.
02:20There's a summer concert series that that's in Bethel, Pennsylvania.
02:24It's in the middle of middle of I think it's between like Allentown and
02:28Harrisburg or something. So kind of middle of nowhere we're doing that.
02:32It's like a outdoor show. And then we play at the beer fest and that's it.
02:35It's only, only two shows. We don't have anything else.
02:38We have some other tours lined up at their way, way down the road.
02:40That's a good way to dip your toe back in the water.
02:43Yeah. You know, I seen some bands that are kind of like, Hey, we're back.
02:46We're doing 30 days in a row, but you know, we, we definitely just, you know,
02:51I think we wanted to kind of wait and see how things play out. You know,
02:54you don't, it'd be hard to, to go from at this point,
02:57from I think city to city and this state's wide open and then go to the next
03:00state. And it's like, what do you do? You know?
03:03Yeah. Well, I have a,
03:04I have a question for you based on Atlantic city. And since you,
03:08you guys have obviously done the beer fest in the past,
03:11but also we've been listening to your podcast.
03:14And so I've been dissecting some of your songwriting and,
03:18and I wanted to see, well, I want, I wanted to see, I know,
03:22I know Mark Hoppus is listed on the credit as well, but the rest of my life
03:26lyrics, is that about Atlantic city?
03:29Because you start the song off saying that you fell asleep last,
03:34last Saturday underneath polluted skies.
03:36You walked alone on those Jersey nights and saw the boardwalk start to fall.
03:41And that just brings AC to me.
03:45Yes. If you want to believe that, that's
03:47I think our drummer, I always say that about lyrics too. Cause you know,
03:53even though if I know something's a certain thing, I talk about this on my show,
03:56you know, you never, you never want to hurt someone what they think it's about.
03:59Come on, man, you wrote that song about my dad. It's like, yes, yes, we did.
04:05But no. So less than Jake's first drummer, Vinny,
04:09he was the primary lyricist in our band.
04:12And I believe that he wrote that about Asbury park,
04:16the boardwalk down there, but in honor of this weekend and AC,
04:20we're going to say it's about AC.
04:22Sounds good.
04:23Close enough. Big warp to our city too.
04:25And I saw Mark Coppice is credited on that as well.
04:28Was he writing songs with you guys or with Vinny at the time?
04:31Mark came down to, yeah.
04:33So when we did the record in with the out crowd,
04:36this would have been 2005, we decided that we were going to do some co-writing.
04:40So I wrote some songs with Butch Walker wrote with Mark wrote a song with
04:45and I'm blanking on his name.
04:47He sang for, I think it's Adam, maybe from our lady piece.
04:50And then there was a couple of other songwriters we did some stuff with,
04:54but yeah, and had known Mark forever, you know,
04:57two of them would link all those years.
05:00And Mark came down and Mark wrote the melody and the chords.
05:06And I think Mark might've come up with,
05:09it's going to kill me for the rest of my life.
05:11I think that's the only lyric he might've come up with.
05:13Then he wrote the rest of the lyrics.
05:14The song is literally one chord progression for the whole thing,
05:18except the bridge part, which our sax player wrote.
05:21JR wrote the melody and wrote the music to the bridge part.
05:24So I had nothing to do with it,
05:25except give the vocal performance of my lifetime, of course.
05:30But yeah, no, I, you know,
05:32it's funny because not having really had a hand in it.
05:36I've always kind of been objective about songs.
05:39Like if it's for the best for the band or it's a great song, you know,
05:43whether it's a cover song or whatever,
05:44I have no problems if my heart's in it to get behind it and sing it.
05:48So I've always embraced that song and have had no problem that,
05:52you know, I didn't write it.
05:54I love that.
05:54So what have you guys been doing during quarantine,
05:56getting ready to go back on tour?
05:58Is there like zoom sessions like this practicing?
06:01Are you together in a studio?
06:02Yeah, we, we zoom,
06:04been zoom zooming once a week through this whole thing.
06:08Every Wednesday is our zoom day where we have band meetings,
06:12but no, we didn't really practice like this.
06:14You know, we did a live stream a couple of days ago,
06:18so we were together and we practiced leading up to that.
06:21So we, we, you know, kind of have our chops up, but you know, we're you know,
06:26we kind of all at this point,
06:27having been together almost 30 years, put our big boy pants on.
06:30It's like, Hey, rehearse on your own and don't get here and F up, you know?
06:34And if you do, everyone's going to be hammered anyway.
06:36So it doesn't matter.
06:37Well, for AC beer fest, I was, it really doesn't matter.
06:39I could probably get up there and make armpit fart noises when,
06:41you know, the whole time people, people are going to love it.
06:44Great.
06:45Well, you guys have been doing it for a few years,
06:47so you should be able to just, you know, cruise right,
06:49right back into the flow of things.
06:51Yeah.
06:52There's an element and not in a bad way, you know,
06:54there could be automatic pod where the band just phoned it in,
06:56but there's an element of automatic pilot of you just, you know,
07:00a lot of our catalog and songs are just,
07:02we know as soon as we start playing and the audience is going to go crazy.
07:05That's a great position to be in, you know?
07:06So you don't have to, there's some songs you don't have to think about as hard
07:09as others.
07:10I'm actually like just getting this level of excitement,
07:12just thinking about Saturday.
07:14Cause it is, it was on your website.
07:16I don't know how often,
07:16like somebody goes and writes a bio on a website about a band,
07:19but it's just talking about like, you guys are the party band,
07:21whether it's a sweaty room or an awesome festival,
07:23like you just light up the stage and it just goes.
07:26And that literally is the excitement we all need right now.
07:29Yeah.
07:29You know, thank you.
07:30We that's one thing we've always prided ourselves on.
07:33And one way that we've stayed out there for,
07:36for as long as we have is we're a live band.
07:38You know, we were never that band that sold, you know,
07:4110 million records.
07:42We just, you know, or sold out stadiums.
07:44We just kind of, I always give the example.
07:46It's the, the, the turtle, the tortoise and the hare, you know,
07:49and we're just kind of cruising along at our own pace.
07:51And we built up a great, great fan base and following.
07:54And, and we go out and our live show is what's kept us out there.
07:58People love coming to see us play.
08:00One of the greatest compliments is fans that their parents would come to the
08:05show and say, man, I can't stand anything.
08:07My son listens to you, but I like your band.
08:09I like your show.
08:11Wait, I have to ask how many people tagged you in the meme of the toilet
08:15paper gun at the beginning of quarantine saying we figured out why we're all
08:19the toilet paper one.
08:20And it's just less than Jake on stage with the toilet paper gun shooting.
08:23There was a few.
08:26Yeah.
08:27It's all your fault.
08:28My God, that was, it feels like 10 years ago, but it was only what?
08:3112 months ago.
08:33Yeah.
08:33Yeah.
08:34I mean, you guys put, you guys recorded a new album last year.
08:37Right.
08:37So like, what was that process like, uh, compared to like all the albums
08:41before?
08:43Um, really the same, you know, we, we actually recorded that record in
08:47November, uh, the latter half of November into December of 2019.
08:51Oh, okay.
08:52Oh, right before.
08:53Yeah.
08:54And it was supposed to come out last April and our label said, well,
08:56let's shoot for June and then certainly things will open up by August and
09:00certainly it'll be open by, by October.
09:01And they actually wanted to shelve the record till, till spring of this year,
09:05which wouldn't have mattered again, because we were still, no one was doing anything a
09:10month or two ago.
09:10So we wanted the album to come out because it had been long enough.
09:13So we released it.
09:14And the, you know, as far as the process, the only thing that was different was it was our
09:17first record with our new drummer, Matt, you know, and, uh, Vinny's no, no longer with
09:22us.
09:22So it was, um, you know, obviously different in that respect, but the process of making
09:28the record was just, it's just the same.
09:30You know, we all have our own home studios that we, um, demo, uh, our stuff in, which
09:34has been for some time now, which, you know, you don't have to actually be in the same
09:38room together.
09:39Uh, so, which, which is good for us because, you know, we want to kill each other sometimes.
09:43So, um, but no, but, you know, being able to send our stuff back and forth and collaborate.
09:47And then, you know, once we get together, we pretty much know what, uh, what songs we're
09:52going to do and go, go through the process.
09:54And everybody in the band's written lyrics over the years is just, you know, we've always
09:59kept the vision and the voice of the band.
10:01They were through Vinny's eyes all those years.
10:04And, uh, you know, now that he's not, not with the band, we had to step up and each
10:08right lyrics and me, our bass player, Roger, and our sax player, JR, uh, did that for
10:13this record.
10:14That was, that was a question of mine because I have read that Vinny kind of stepped away,
10:18but I, I've read it as touring.
10:21So I wasn't sure if he was going to stay involved with, uh, with behind the scenes, uh, lyric
10:26and production work, but he's, he's, he's, yeah, he, yeah, he stepped away.
10:32You know, he's got, uh, a bunch of projects going on and, you know, he, he didn't want
10:36to be on the road anymore.
10:38That was the, that was the first thing.
10:40And he's got his record label and his toy company, which he's been doing both of those
10:43for years.
10:44And now he's working with a new band called the Inevitables.
10:47So he's been put that project together with some other folks and, you know, he's, he's
10:51always been busy, but, uh, you know, he's, he's, uh, still, still, still busy.
10:56Well, and, and speaking of Vinny, I have to ask since we got you on the hook right now,
11:00who's Jake, was it Vinny's family parrot or an English bulldog?
11:07I've heard numerous stories.
11:08I used to tell the story that it was a parrot.
11:10It was his, it was his parents' bulldog.
11:12Okay.
11:13The bulldog, uh, he was only seven or eight.
11:16He died, he died in like 95.
11:20But, uh, because basically we were less than Jake because the parents would like feed the
11:24dog steak and lobster and Vinny would be like eating peanut butter and jelly in the corner.
11:27So I'm serious.
11:28They'd go like out to eat and bring the dog home steak and cut it up and put it in its bowl.
11:32And, uh, yeah, he was a big old crazy, you know, slobbery jowl, uh, bulldog, uh, crazy
11:39full energy, 80 pound bulldog.
11:41I once saw him literally hop a couch like a horse.
11:44Uh, yeah, he was, uh, full of vinegar, but yeah, he was the band mascot.
11:49We were also less than Jake because we'd be practicing in Vinny's parents, uh, spare bedroom.
11:53That's where our, our, we, him and me and Vinny would jam when we first started the band.
11:58And inevitably we'd get two or three songs in and his mom'd be banging on the door.
12:02What mom?
12:03Jake, stop.
12:04Jake can't handle it.
12:05He didn't like it.
12:06The dog would be whining because of the noise.
12:08So we were less than Jake.
12:09That's great.
12:11So I hated the name at first.
12:13I thought it was a joke.
12:14We put a demo tape out and Vinny, Vinny was still living in down South.
12:17I was in Gainesville or, you know, Florida and he had mailed me that he said, I'm going
12:20to mail you some of the cassettes up.
12:21You want to pass them out at shows?
12:22Yeah, it'd be great.
12:24Less than Jake.
12:25What the hell does that mean?
12:26I called him up.
12:27I'm like, what is he?
12:28He's like, well, I don't know.
12:29Just we're less than the dog.
12:30I didn't, couldn't think of anything else.
12:31That's the name.
12:32Like, that's brilliant.
12:33We'll change that down the road.
12:35We'll stick.
12:38So is this the infamous podcast studio?
12:40Is this where you, uh, record, which by the way, the best name ever for a podcast,
12:44Kristen makes a podcast.
12:45It just writes itself.
12:47Yeah.
12:47That, that stemmed from me growing up.
12:49It's, it's my, uh, my big middle finger to, uh, you know, Krista makes a pizza.
12:54Krista makes a pie.
12:55Uh, okay.
12:55So yeah, I'll show you one day, but yeah, Krista makes a podcast.
12:59But, uh, yeah, this is, uh, this is my, my home studio.
13:03So in front of me is, uh, all my equipment.
13:07Well, there's guitars over here.
13:09You can't turn it.
13:10Yeah.
13:10You can see some of the guitars.
13:12Bank of guitars there, but all behind me is all, um, all less than Jake band memorabilia.
13:18I've collected one of everything the band ever put out.
13:21So it's pretty, pretty, uh, obsessive.
13:25It's great.
13:25No, it's great.
13:26And because now that we're all adults, we actually have places to put them and not just
13:29like in a Rubbermaid container in our parents garage.
13:32Yeah.
13:33This has been, uh, I, I had all my stuff in, in bins like that.
13:38And then finally I was living in Atlanta about 20 years ago and I finally started to put everything
13:44together.
13:44And I went, so I'd already been keeping scrapbooks that are in chronological order.
13:48Every ticket, stub, guitar, pick sticker.
13:51Like, it's crazy.
13:53Like I chronicled everything.
13:55So, and basically one of these days I'm going to give it to my kids and they're not, they're
13:59just not going to know what to do with it.
14:00By that time it'll have no value.
14:02So here's dad's crap, you know?
14:05So does that mean there's going to be another, uh, coffee table, uh, book of memorabilia,
14:10like your, uh, like your tour photos?
14:12It's funny you say that.
14:13Yeah.
14:13We have a, there's a talk of, of doing a memorabilia book of kind of everything we did
14:18with the stories behind.
14:20I, I touched on some of that in the book.
14:22There was merchandise items in there and what have you, but, but yeah, there's been, been
14:26some talk of that.
14:28You guys always have great cover art for all your stuff.
14:30I mean, like, how do you guys decide on like where that comes from?
14:35Do you, do you just kind of.
14:35Lots of arguing.
14:36Like, yeah, I feel like every band's the same here.
14:42Yeah.
14:43Uh, we've been really lucky to have amassed a huge, uh, I don't want to call my, our, our
14:50artists and our friends, uh, a collection, but, uh, we've amassed a huge, uh, array of
14:55different friends of ours that are artists, you know, over the years, just a group of people
15:00that, you know, and a lot of them are our go-tos, you know, like Pete Wansowski, uh, Peter
15:05did our last album cover silver linings.
15:07And he, he actually came up with the evolution kit, our mascot back when he was 15 years old,
15:12like in the nineties.
15:13So, yeah, so he, he's been around with us for ages and, and it just kind of keeps going
15:18from there.
15:19Like a lot of times, you know, now with social media, we'll get fan art from someone that
15:24will draw something and be like, Holy crap, that's really cool.
15:26You know?
15:26And, you know, do you do other stuff?
15:29Can you, can, can you just draw a picture you see, or can you actually draw like, you know,
15:33something that we want you to create and then we'll make a, make a new artist friend.
15:37Oh, that's awesome.
15:39I'm assuming you've seen lots of tattoos of your art.
15:42Yes.
15:42Has there been any weird ones that just like freaked you out?
15:45Oh, the dude that has my face and it's, it, it, I look really bad.
15:55Like I, I can't, I don't want to say what I, just imagine like, I look sick.
16:00I don't look right.
16:01I look like I'm not right.
16:03And it's on his thigh.
16:05Oh yeah.
16:06And it is, let me see if I can find that.
16:09I want to show you this.
16:10It is, it is repulsive.
16:14All, I mean, I'm the girl here thinking that like, if you're in that area too, you're just
16:19staring into your eyes the entire time, Chris.
16:22Well, that's funny.
16:24You should say that because he was with a girl last time and I, I said, I can't find
16:32it, but anyway, it's, it's bad.
16:34It's the worst thing ever.
16:35And I'm like, you know, and, and they kind of were joking about it.
16:38Like, you know, when, when you're naked with her or naked with him, you, you have to look
16:43at me every time.
16:43So, but there's also another woman, a fan of ours that on her left butt cheek, I'm not
16:53kidding you.
16:54The letters are like two inches long.
16:56It's less than Jake in our logo in black, her left butt cheek.
17:01She used to come to the shows and moon us and stuff.
17:04And I'm just thinking of like her boyfriend or husband or someone like, you know, what if
17:09they don't like the band?
17:10You know, like that'd be a bummer.
17:12Or that'd be like me with someone that has that, you know, insane clown posse across
17:15her breasts or something like, can I, you know, you just got to embrace it or most of
17:22the other butt cheek, whatever.
17:25Yeah.
17:27Look at the bright side, right?
17:28Yeah.
17:29So there's been definitely some, and there's been other tattoos that are just, it's horrendous.
17:33Just like, but at the same time, it's an honor because who the hell would ever think
17:37that, you know, like, I don't think there's any band out there when you start the band,
17:41and you think, A, anyone's even going to like your band, B, that they're going to want
17:44to buy your album or t-shirt.
17:46And then like, now they're getting like, you know, your, your art etched in their skin.
17:50It's a pretty big honor.
17:52That is pretty cool.
17:53That is pretty cool.
17:54Back to the podcast, because I have been talking about butt cheeks.
17:57Right.
17:57Well, I could do that all day.
17:59I think you can listen to their show.
18:03A lot of fart jokes.
18:04A lot.
18:04We actually get people get a tattooed on them every week.
18:08It says Preston and Steve somewhere.
18:09It's an honor.
18:11We've been on Mount Rushmore.
18:13You read your face.
18:14We've been Mount Rushmore.
18:16I've been a pinup on someone's arm.
18:19There is the last supper, like the entire radio station, all the DJs, some classic ones,
18:25but this podcast, I'm, I'm like geeking out because literally it started a year ago.
18:29Congratulations.
18:30Right.
18:30It's been a year.
18:31Last year.
18:32Right.
18:32A year today.
18:34So I listened to you and John Feldy and I grabbed Matt.
18:36I was like, we need to listen to this thing again.
18:38And it's amazing.
18:38Like he's just telling these great stories about being a shoe salesman before, you know,
18:43Goldfinger started and everything like that.
18:45So how are you racking up these?
18:47Are you just calling your friends and you're like, dude, I started a podcast.
18:50You got to come on with me.
18:51Yeah.
18:51You know, at first, so my producer partner of the podcast, his name's Chris.
18:57He, he plays bass in the band Punchline.
18:59And so Chris, uh, he's also, uh, manages me outside of less than Jake.
19:04And we started working together last, uh, April.
19:08It's been a little over a year now.
19:09And he's the one that said, you know, I have a bunch of different things I think you should
19:13do.
19:14And one of them was a podcast and I was completely dismissive off the bat.
19:17I said, no, I'm like, everyone has a podcast.
19:19Most of them suck.
19:20I don't listen to podcasts.
19:21I hate them.
19:22I, you know, and he's like, but no, yours will be different.
19:25I'm like, how, and you know, how am I going to be unique and different?
19:29He said, because you're not going to go on and just have like, you know, a lot of the
19:34podcasts, a lot of the music podcasts, just like, Hey, what's going on?
19:37Not much.
19:38What are you been up to?
19:39Cool.
19:39Where'd you get the band name?
19:40And, you know, all the, all the questions you're going to ask someone in a quote unquote
19:43typical interview.
19:45And Chris said, no, we have to have an objective every show.
19:48It has to have a theme.
19:49And I want it to be songwriting because I had been doing, I've been doing custom songs
19:53and jingles for a couple of years now, um, for people and for businesses.
19:56And he's like, this, this would be a great way to promote your songwriting.
20:00And you know, a lot of people, and it could be interesting.
20:02You'd break down the song and I'm like, all right, you know, I'll think about it.
20:05And I slept on it and I just woke up the next morning and I'm like, without even telling
20:09Chris, I just texted like 12 people, John Feldman being one of them.
20:13Like, would you be on a podcast if I did it?
20:14It's about songwriting.
20:15I want to, I want to break down these songs.
20:16And, uh, in the first week I did 10 episodes in one week.
20:21Wow.
20:22Yeah.
20:22So I just started stockpiling them.
20:24It's nice because with podcasts, it's just, it's just this, it's like literally, and you're
20:27just talking to your friends.
20:28I love it.
20:29Yeah.
20:30Yeah.
20:30It was the perfect year to start it, obviously with being stuck at home as well.
20:35Well, that was the, that was the other reason, uh, that I, I was hesitant because I had
20:40told Chris, I said, man, cause people were just coming out of the woodworks.
20:43And I know because I, I work with a, my rep at a Sweetwater is a music company where
20:48I buy equipment from my rep over there.
20:49I was talking to him early in pandemic.
20:51He said, our business is up 150% and we're selling podcast kits.
20:56Basically they call them.
20:57It's a microphone and an interface.
20:59And, you know, you don't know how we're, we can't keep it in stock because everyone's
21:03sitting at home, but it's been a great way.
21:06Um, not being able to go out.
21:08I mean, I live in the middle of nowhere in Tennessee, so there's nothing to do where I live.
21:13I just know if I, if I wanted to go see a show, I got to drive 90 minutes round trip,
21:1745 minutes down to Knoxville.
21:19So basically, you know, but I'm, the band has never stopped touring.
21:24So I'd be home for a week, two, three, band goes back out.
21:27So my social life is on the road, seeing people.
21:30So what the podcast did for me was this, it actually made me feel like I was still hanging
21:36out with my friends.
21:37And once a week or so, I was able to get that, that human interaction that, you know,
21:42we all, we all kind of need.
21:44It was a treat for us.
21:45Cause we felt, uh, like we were hanging out with you guys.
21:48It was a, it was a really neat, uh, experience for us.
21:51Are you going to continue producing the podcast, even though, uh, it's life on the road is going
21:58to pick up?
21:59Oh yeah.
22:00I mean, the, the podcast now at this point, you know, it was a vehicle for me to push all
22:05my other stuff, my book, my songwriting.
22:07I do, uh, video consultations where I produce or rain songs, field questions about the music
22:12business.
22:13So I had all these projects, but what's happened is, is all the projects that I've been doing,
22:18they are all to promote the podcast.
22:21It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's the other way around to where now, um, I'm getting
22:26about, uh, uh, 15 to 20,000, uh, listeners plays a week, uh, for, for each episode, plus
22:33the back catalog that sits out there, the back episodes each week.
22:36So now it's getting into where I'm, uh, I'm getting interest, uh, from advertisers and
22:40such.
22:41Right.
22:41Oh, it's actually turned into something that, you know, my Chris couldn't have been more
22:45right.
22:45And I couldn't have been more wrong about the whole thing.
22:47So we're going to take it, uh, we, we both have said, we're going to take it to when
22:52it's no longer fun.
22:53And the great part about it is to answer your question, Marissa, earlier, you had said,
22:57we had, would you start calling your friends initially?
22:59Yes.
22:59And now the great part is, is we have publicists and people writing us.
23:03So it's taken the weight off of me every week going, okay, who am I going to find now?
23:07You know?
23:08Hey, Dickie, want to come on this week?
23:10Yeah, exactly.
23:11Exactly.
23:12Which is so great.
23:12Has there been any surprises that even got you some stories or song lyrics or anything that
23:18have blown your mind?
23:19A ton of them, you know, there's just Mark McGrath from Sugar Ray comes to
23:23mine, the episode with him, because, you know, people had this and he, and he really was
23:27self-deprecating and can make fun of himself.
23:30And, uh, I, I gained a true friend, like Mark and I text and we talk now he's really funny.
23:36And we both come from like the eighties metal background.
23:39We have a lot to talk about a lot in common, but the fan reaction to his episode, they all,
23:44everybody, I can't tell you how people was like, man.
23:47And even these are Mark's words.
23:49Yeah.
23:49I'm just the bleach blonde, blonde tip, uh, hair peroxide douchey guy, you know?
23:53And they're like, we all thought he was that until we listened to the episode.
23:56He's, he's so much more than that, you know?
23:58So just things like that, just, um, being able to stump artists, you know, being able to tell
24:04Mark Hoppus that, uh, you do realize we're only 23 seconds into what's my age again.
24:09And we're already at the chorus and to have him just like start laughing.
24:12Oh my God, really?
24:13I'm like, yeah, you know, just things like that, that people that wrote a song 20, 25
24:18years ago that never, ever, you know, never thought of that.
24:22And, you know, that, that, that's the cool part is being able to every week also at the
24:26end, nine times out of 10, the, the guests saying to me that was different and that was
24:32cool.
24:33Like I could do, I could do another hour of that.
24:35It didn't, you know, didn't bore me and didn't, you know, it wasn't the same old
24:39same old.
24:40Wait, I'm looking up the, what's my age again lyrics because I actually brought it
24:43into work the next day.
24:45Um, because what was the first line that none of us knew what it was?
24:49Oh, the cologne line.
24:50Yeah.
24:50You guys talked about this for, I always thought it was I walk alone, but it's, I
24:54work alone.
24:55All of us.
24:56We've been listening.
24:56We've been playing that song.
24:58They've been playing it since Y100.
24:59So since it came out and I just played it, I was like, what do you guys all hear?
25:04Yeah.
25:05I work alone.
25:06I work alone to get the feeling right.
25:08Yep.
25:08Yep.
25:08It's blowing my mind.
25:09We've all been singing it indirectly for two decades.
25:12And now that I think about it, I don't think I've changed what I sing either.
25:15Yeah.
25:16And that's the crazy thing too, is just the, the lyrics, uh, when you do a internet
25:20search, you know, Google or whatever, like the lyrics are always wrong.
25:23So I have to go through with a fine tooth comb and it was really hard on an episode
25:27I did recently with this New Zealand band called the Beths because when they sing, they
25:31have an accent.
25:32So I'm listening and the lyrics are all messed up online.
25:36And I'm going through it and, and I just continued to flub this woman's lyrics.
25:39Liz, I just kept messing up and she's laughing.
25:42And I'm like, I'm sorry.
25:43I'm like, the internet's wrong.
25:45And I'm even worse than what was on the internet, you know?
25:47So it's, it's sometimes, sometimes a challenge, but it's, it's a fun challenge.
25:50Very cool.
25:52Well, kudos.
25:52You definitely, uh, do your research when you do those podcasts and it comes across
25:56and it's awesome.
25:56And it sounds great.
25:58And somebody who's been listening to these types of interviews and doing these types of
26:01interviews for years, uh, like you said earlier, everybody thinks podcasts is easy.
26:05We all noticed it when like every comedian in the world started a podcast and they would
26:09sit around and just, just like you said, Hey dude, what's going on?
26:13So the other thing too, as you guys know, radio is not easy.
26:17You know, I've had 30 years of practice of being a front man in a band.
26:21I can talk and command an audience, but coming over here.
26:25And that was the other thing I told Chris is, um, on the show, maybe early on, there
26:29was a couple, but I don't even as much as say hell or damn on the show.
26:33I wanted to complete one 80 of who people think I am.
26:36And I've, that's been the greatest comment.
26:37She was like, I can't believe it's the guy from less than Jake talking, you know, it doesn't
26:41seem like, you know, the, what the crazy stuff I say on stage, I didn't want it to be that.
26:44I didn't want it to be eighth grade potty humor, which I think is hilarious.
26:48I'll always laugh at the fart, but I didn't want that to be, to be part of the show.
26:51I wanted it to be, to be different.
26:52And, uh, what's also cool now is what's happening is, uh, had, had some comments, uh, every once
26:58in a while now, uh, every week or two will come in and say, this is my favorite podcast
27:02or I love this podcast.
27:03And, uh, I had no idea this was the same.
27:05I had, I've never even heard less than Jake, you know, which is really, which is really,
27:11really interesting because now I'm able to have another vehicle on another way to promote
27:17the band, which I never thought that that would happen either.
27:19So again, tip of the hat to Chris.
27:21Yeah.
27:21It's such a cool thing to, you can really get really nerdy and like, really like, you
27:27know, really wonky about all these things.
27:28And it's cool to like expand upon that stuff.
27:31Cause it's so, like you said, it's so like quick that you're like, Oh, I want to really
27:34want to like figure out this part and figure out where this comes from.
27:38And you can get like in the real, like nitty gritty of all that stuff.
27:41It's really love the concept.
27:43It's so cool.
27:43You know, and I, and the other thing, as I straddle the line, I try to keep it in layman's
27:48terms.
27:48I try to have, and I've had this comp, this is another nice compliment I had as people
27:52say, I don't know one thing about music.
27:54I hardly even knew what a chorus of a song meant, but I can, I can follow and get through
27:58an episode of yours, which is why I stopped short of, I did a podcast recently with ultimate
28:03guitar and they were going, it was called a rig rundown.
28:06And they had me go through all my equipment and my guitars and stuff.
28:08And the guy even said, man, I love your podcast.
28:10Why don't you get into gear?
28:12I said, because you do a gear podcast.
28:14If I get into gear, people just turn it off.
28:17They're just be like, if you don't know, like, yeah, I'm using a humbucker pickup and a 64
28:20strap through a, you know, orange amplifier.
28:23Like, no, you're going to lose people.
28:24So I have to keep it kind of, you know, it can still be nerdy in, in, in, uh, in a way,
28:29but it, it, it can't fall too far to the other side to where you, I mean, Marissa and
28:33I love music.
28:34We grew up in the, in the ska punk world, uh, Nick as well.
28:39Yes.
28:39But, uh, we don't know, we don't know music.
28:42Yeah.
28:42I play an iPod really well, but I don't know anything when it comes to gear.
28:47So you would lose, you would lose us on that, but we're, we're fascinated with the, with
28:52the music.
28:53Um, and, uh, it's, it's pretty cool.
28:56Like you said it earlier that you thought Vinnie's naming of the band was kind of a joke
29:00and, and with the cassette tapes in the beginning.
29:04And we've heard that through different documentaries.
29:06It was always sort of the, the theme of, of that Scott movement was, it was just all potty
29:12humor, joking around, goofing around.
29:14And you bring the serious element to the podcast that really breaks down, uh, and, and shows
29:21people, Hey, there's some really good talent behind, uh, this music.
29:26It's not just guys joking around.
29:28So it's, it, it, uh, funny, you know, you know, you coming from the genre that we, that
29:34we do, and we got lumped in with a lot of those bands, but, uh, the, the ska bands of
29:38the ska punk bands of the nineties, a lot of them had wacky lyrics.
29:41And we, we had some songs of course, that were joking and wacky, but there was always a
29:45serious undertone to, to our lyrics.
29:47And I think that that's kind of why we've had, we've stood the test of time too.
29:50There was a little more substance there than just party on a Saturday night, let's skank
29:54on a Saturday night or whatever, which is cool.
29:56That's fun.
29:57But you know, there's a, there's a little bit more depth to what we were singing about,
30:01which I think resonated with people.
30:03Yeah.
30:03Uh, yeah.
30:04Cause you guys are approaching 30 years, right?
30:07Yeah.
30:0830 years next, uh, next Tuesday, July 14th, 1990.
30:12Wow.
30:13Was that your first gig or just like when you went into the garage?
30:17In Gainesville, Florida.
30:18No, the, so the tracings of the band go back to about November of 91, because that's when
30:24Vinny and I did that first four track demo that I then took to Gainesville and I started
30:27passing out probably in January, 92, but we played our first show as less than Jake in,
30:32in, uh, July of 92.
30:34That's awesome.
30:35I saw, I first saw you in 97 warp tour, which I think you guys also hold the, uh, the title
30:43of most warp tours.
30:44Yes.
30:45I was just on, uh, the warp tour podcast with Kevin Lyman.
30:48We, we, we talked about it.
30:49Yeah.
30:49We did, uh, to date, we've done 441 warp tour shows way over a year of my life.
30:57And I wonder why I'm, you know, clinically insane.
31:02Oh God.
31:02But like, that is, it's literally how we can define our lives, our generation.
31:07It's just like, we're a warp tour generation, you know, it's like right above the MTV generation.
31:13Yep.
31:13It was our summers.
31:15Uh, you know, that's, we, we, we were the, we were the fan base chasing you guys around
31:20the country and it's fun.
31:21Yeah, no, I mean, I, I, I lived it, you know, and, and I have nothing but good memories.
31:25And I know that that's a big reason of why the band is still doing what we're doing.
31:30Cause every, uh, every two years we were, you know, cultivate, I always say it's like
31:34a farmer tilling the soil or out there, it's another group of 13, 14, 15 year old kids are
31:39going to their, going to their first concert.
31:41Like it, it continued to keep our fan base, uh, uh, going and, uh, yeah, it's great.
31:47Matt's not going to say it, but he was on warp tour for a little bit too.
31:49So I skated on warp tour for a little bit.
31:52So I, I, I was, uh, I was touring with you guys for a couple of those years, but, uh,
31:56Before the liability insurance got too high and it took the skaters and they took the,
32:00they took the vert ramp away, uh, hot dog stands in here and come on Verizon.
32:04You can set your tent up over there.
32:06You know, we got room now.
32:07Wait, is that what happened?
32:09Yes.
32:09It was basically, they got rid of the vert ramp.
32:11They got rid of the motor props.
32:12You started having knuckleheads.
32:15I woke up one morning, I didn't see this happen, but I woke up one morning in, uh, Denver,
32:19Colorado, and they would get local guys to come out.
32:23And this local guy decides right when the ramp gets set up at eight in the morning, that
32:26he's going to gun it.
32:27And he goes over this ramp and he came down and the handlebar went up through his neck,
32:33through his cheek.
32:34And I'm glad I missed that one.
32:36No, they basically, basically impaled him.
32:38And that was, that was, I think 2001, I think that was the last year for the motocross that
32:42they did it.
32:43Yeah.
32:43Too much liability.
32:44It's, uh, and they probably make more money off the hot dog stands.
32:48It's true.
32:49And merch booths, all the merch booths.
32:50Us humans just can't have nice things.
32:52Yeah.
32:54They took those away from us a long time ago, uh, because of our stupidity, but, uh, no,
32:59it's, uh, it's going to be really fun to see you guys in AC.
33:04And, uh, yeah, we're excited.
33:06It, it's, it's just feels good to have live music back.
33:09Yeah.
33:10There's just something about like being in a crowd and feeling safe around people and
33:13getting vaccinated.
33:15And we're like on a good path to, to wellness.
33:19Yeah.
33:20I think everybody is, uh, you know, there, I kind of been saying this all along that I
33:26don't know if there's going to be a gradual, I think it's going to be, you know, an AC now
33:30that the, I guess the mask mandate has been lifted in, in Jersey, I think it's just going
33:34to feel like it did 15 months ago.
33:36I think it's like, it's not even missed a beat.
33:38That's, that's what I think.
33:39I think it's just, we, we can account for that.
33:41We, uh, like we said, we were down, uh, we just got back actually from Atlantic city
33:45and, uh, mask mandate is lifted and it's a shit show.
33:49It is get ready.
33:50So it's, uh, it's like, they're, they're just going to shoot you right into 15 months
33:56ago.
33:57Like nothing ever happened.
33:58So it's going to, it's going to be good.
34:00It's going to, you know, plan, uh, plan in the middle of a field the day before, uh,
34:05is going to be easy because people are going to presumably there's nothing else to do in
34:08the middle of Pennsylvania.
34:09We get hammered.
34:10Uh, and then everyone's going to be drunk when we get on.
34:12So these aren't even really shows.
34:13They're just going to be, I said, all I got to do is show up and stand there, you know,
34:17but we know you guys won't, you know, you will, you guys will bring it and we'll all
34:21be excited.
34:22And like I said, we'll all be talking about, you know, what was your first show back?
34:25It'll be less than Jake.
34:26Yeah.
34:27Well, thank you for joining us.
34:29Uh, really, really appreciate you hanging out with us today.
34:32Um, I do have one request or one suggestion for the podcast.
34:35I should say, if, uh, you need like a really big episode, I think get Keenan and Kel and
34:40talk about the good burger song.
34:42You know that we actually, uh, Kel Mitchell is the one that wrote the lyrics.
34:47So that stop it.
34:47Really?
34:48Well, I'm a dude.
34:49She's a dude.
34:50Kel wrote the lyrics.
34:51Um, I wrote the song, so I would love to get Kel on that's been talked about.
34:56So I'm going to try to do Keenan had nothing to do with it, but if he wants to sit in,
35:00I doubt we'd get him.
35:01He's a, he's, he might be too big for his britches with his SNL gig, but I think TV
35:05show now.
35:06I think Kel Mitchell might be attainable.
35:09I think I saw him in a commercial recently.
35:11I think you're good.
35:14Or we'll get a Kel sound alike to come on.
35:16There you go.
35:17Yeah.
35:18It's podcast.
35:18It's all fair.
35:20Very cool.
35:20Awesome.
35:21Well, again, thank you.
35:22We look forward to seeing you a Saturday, Friday night in Bethel and Saturday in Atlantic
35:27city.
35:27That's right.
35:28Looking forward to it.
35:29Looking forward to seeing you as well.
35:30Yeah.
35:31Oh, and a live stream.
35:32Wait, I just saw this.
35:33You, Jarrett from Bowling from Soup and, uh.
35:37Ian Gristroff from Newfound Glory.
35:38That's it.
35:39Yeah.
35:39And you're doing like a trivia.
35:41Yeah.
35:41So it's going to be Saturday, July 12th.
35:43It's our year, uh, celebration, a year birthday party.
35:46Uh, it'll be at 12 PM Eastern time.
35:48Uh, there's my, my, uh, my time zone, uh, anal retentiveness showing again, uh, Eastern
35:54time.
35:55Uh, you can go to the, uh, find it on the, uh, Chris makes a podcast Facebook group and
36:00it'll be posted in other places.
36:01So.
36:02And you guys just like music trivia to try to stump each other.
36:05Yeah.
36:05So Chris, uh, the producer, Chris Ophalios, Chris is going to host it.
36:08And me, Jarrett and Ian are going to be the contestants and I'm sure it'll be ridiculous.
36:12And I don't know much about it because Chris, Chris has all the details ironed out, but
36:16he didn't want to give me too much.
36:18I don't know anything more than Ian and Jarrett do because he wanted to be an even playing
36:21field.
36:22So.
36:22Okay.
36:23Well, good luck to you.
36:24We obviously will be rooting for you.
36:26You'll be walking into shark infested waters, but we'll see.
36:30All right.
36:30We'll be watching and we'll see you next weekend.
36:32Okay.
36:32Thanks.
36:33Thanks.
36:33See ya.
36:34Bye.
36:35Have a great day.
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