Vinnie Fiorello is the drummer and chief lyricist of Less Than Jake, which is, to put it mildly, only one of my absolute favorite bands of my entire freaking life. I’ve enthusiastically consumed Less Than Jake’s music for more than 20 years. I’ve seen them live more than 10 times. And I still can’t believe I got to sit down with one of them for more than 40 minutes and ask him about this work I adore.
This episode is an example of my life philosophy: Give someone a chance to say yes. People are often waiting to say yes to a question they don’t know they’re going to be asked. Give them that opportunity. Pose the question. Open the door. I knew I was going to Grand Junction with three of my best friends to see Less Than Jake play with Face to Face, so I figured why not ask to interview them? I gave him the chance to say yes, and to my delight, he did.
And it’s a great show! Vinnie tells us how the band has stayed together with no hiatus for 26 years, shares his insights into what it’s like being on different types of record labels, the songs that don’t get enough love from fans in his opinion, and in my favorite part of the show, goes into depth about what is probably Less Than Jake’s most maligned album, In With the Out Crowd. He tells me what he likes about that album and what he doesn’t, why it’s often painful for him to revisit it, and more. It’s incredibly personal, and made me look at and listen to the album in a brand new light.
It’s not every day you get to talk to someone that’s made music you love for more than two decades, so this is definitely an all-time episode for me. I hope you enjoy it, too.
Download it on iTunes, stream it on Stitcher, or listen at the Jon of All Trades homepage.
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Loved the interview. Love Vinnie. He has answered a couple of my “thanks for playing in my town” emails over the years, like the next day, which I find very cool and very surprising. I have a picture of my best friend (seen Jake together 15 plus times) with Roger hanging in my high school classroom so the students can see a bit of what cool is….they have no clue in general. The only thing I wish (here it comes) is that you had asked him is does he write lyrics with both guys voices in his head, or does it just organically divide up that way when they work up the arrangements…Great Interview! Thanks, Michael Mead. Chandler AZ