Less Than Jake Was Never a Sellout

Chris DeMakes discovered the fountain of youth isn’t necessarily a magic elixir, but a conscious shift in lifestyle.

Now 51, the founding vocalist and guitarist of veteran ska-punk crew Less Than Jake remembers the glory years of being a rockstar and everything that came along with it.

“When I was out in my twenties and thirties, we were touring nine months out of the year and drinking and partying all night long, not getting much sleep,” he recalls.

Of course, it eventually took a toll, so he made the decision to stop doing all that extracurricular stuff.

“I used to laugh when I’d see fifty-year-old guys jogging at 7 a.m. and you’d be coming home from the party, going ‘What is wrong with that dude? That’s the last goddamn thing that I’ll be doing.’ Well, here I am,” DeMakes adds.

And it’s working to his and the band’s benefit, as he credits the new off-stage approach to Less Than Jake’s longevity and vitality.

“I think we’re bringing one of the coolest shows around in the punk-rock world. I get a kick going out there and having people tell me they think the band is better now than it was twenty years ago, and I think we are,” he says.
“It’s like, ‘Do you want to be the guy who can’t move on stage, is out of shape and phone it in?’ You can phone it in as long as you want, but people see that. I take pride in what I do. I take pride in the songs,” DeMakes continues. “I know that they’re a soundtrack to a lot of people’s lives because people tell me every day and every night at our shows. I see the faces, and we’re still having a great time as a band.”

Less Than Jake — which currently includes original bassist Roger Lima and trombonist Buddy “Goldfinger” Schaub, along with sax man Peter “JR” Wasilewski and drummer Matt Yonker — is also still putting out great music. The group’s latest EP, Uncharted (released last November via Pure Noise Records) was recorded locally, up in Fort Collins at the Blasting Room with owner and Descendents drummer Bill Stevenson.

“We feel like he’s family. We’ve known him for going on thirty years, touring with ALL and Descendents. It felt very familiar, but at the same time, we hadn’t worked with him in that context,” DeMakes shares, adding that Stevenson made sure to squeeze the best of him and his bandmates.

“I was pretty convinced we’d have a great time, and I was pretty convinced Bill was going to bust my balls in the vocal booth. And everything came true,” he says with a laugh.

“I think he knows when he can push somebody. It has been years, and I’ve had producers push me to the brink of losing it. With Bill, it was like I’ll sing until my voice gives out,” DeMakes continues. “If he’s hearing something, cool. My feelings aren’t hurt that he’s not hearing the vocal he wants to hear. In that aspect, I stayed in there and got my butt whooped, but the record sounds great.”

Indeed. Such songs as “Walking Pipebomb” and “Sunny Side” are trademark Less Than Jake, all upbeat punk and soaring horns.

The band is currently embarking on its Summer Circus tour with support from Fishbone, the Suicides Machines and Catbite. The carnival rolls into the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday, August 9.

Coming together in 1992 down in Gainesville, Florida, Less Than Jake rode the emerging ska-punk wave at the time. Albums Hello Rockview (1998), featuring hit “All My Best Friends Are Metalheads,” and Anthem (2003) with the reggae-leaning “The Science of Selling Yourself Short” (the Cheap Trick cover that ends the album is cool, too) cemented the band’s place as one of the hottest acts doing it. It’s crazy to think it’s been over three decades at this point, DeMakes admits.

“If someone asked me when I started, ‘Hey, you going to be a band in five years?’ Five years? You can’t even think that far into the future,” he says. “There was no gameplan. It was just one gig led to the next gig, and somehow, we’re still here.”

It helps that touring feels easier nowadays, too. Plus, Less Than Jake never sold out either, despite what Johnny Quest thinks, and keeps all its business in house, so there’s no more answering to major labels or pressure to watch record sells.

“I think what’s cool now is there are kind of no rules. We’re kind of making it up still as we go along. We’re learning,” DeMakes says.

“It’s interesting navigating these seas when you’ve been a band for 33 years and you started out when cassettes were still the music format,” he concludes. “I think keeping an open mind as we have is part of the reason we’ve been able to stick around this long.”

Less Than Jake, with Fishbone, the Suicide Machines and Catbite, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, August 9, Fillmore Auditorium, 1510 Clarkson St. Tickets are $49.