So this is the second half of my interview with Less Than Jake. I stopped the first half on the subject of the relationship with a band and their label and picked back up asking JR how the label business has influenced them… (You can read Part 1 here)

Z: Your drummer, Vinnie, helped support the label Fueled by Ramen which was originally based out of Gainesville, but has been relocated to New York. Do you think Vinnie’s involvement with Fueled by Ramen has influenced the way you guys understand the relationship between a label and their bands?

JR: Yeah, you learn as you go. You can go to school and take classes and whatnot, but theoretically versus realistically are two totally different things. In theory, this is what the contract is suppose to read and what you’re suppose to get to, but in reality you don’t always get there…cause, I mean…there’s a lot of intangibles that you just don’t know about.

So with Vinnie having experience with starting a label…it’s just like…starting from the ground up…starting a label is just like starting a band – you gotta tell people about it. And hey, if you get lucky and sign that one band…say Fall Out Boy… you’ll get off the ground pretty quickly.

Z: Since this interview will be featured on industry’s site for musicians, managers, and indie labels to gather insight, I think this is a smooth transition into the music market. Since you’ve joined the band LTJ has primarily worked with Sire, a major label, and Sleep It Off, a minor label, how would you describe your experience about working with minor labels like Sleep It Off compared to working with major labels like Sire?

JR: I mean they’re all the same and they’re all different whether you work with a major or you work with an indie. There’s an infrastructure and you have to follow certain protocol to get certain things done. It doesn’t matter if you do it yourself or through an actual label. And a lot of times the artists think it doesn’t land squarely on [their] shoulders, but you can sit around all day but really it’s your band.

Z: Yeah, they just help stitch the bigger picture, or quilt to complete the metaphor [hah.]

JR: For sure. They’re facilitators, you should be able to come with an idea and they should be able to help you get you to that next step… maybe…or at least that’s what you hope for. But like I said this is Vegas…being in a band is Vegas, it’s gambling…it’s crapshoot. And everybody’s like, “Well how did that band…” and I can’t tell you…maybe the alignment of the stars [hah].

This is for people who are aspiring to be better off musically. Sure, you’re working with managers so sure you’ll get frustrated, but no one has doing anything wrong. You do the best that you can… People just don’t like the same things you might like. Music is subjective…it’s like art.

Z: Did you feel you had a different amount of creative control on one label over another label?

JR: Of course, on a major level, they’re cutting the checks so they can tell you ‘Yay’ or ‘Nay.’ And they will tell you what they think and that can definitely put you up in a corner…and they could say ‘We are not going to do this unless you do this’…in which they could just say ‘Screw off’ if they don’t want you anymore. I know some close friends who are in bands that that has happened to – and it is currently happening to. Their stuff is just shelved. The label can do that because they’re the ones with the power…the power is your music. That’s all the artist has is their art.

And like I said, the label can’t survive without the artist. And I’m willing to bet there is thousands of bands out there that look and sound like you so it would be easy to replace you – there are just some bands that are expendable.

Z: So you think bands are willing to compromise what they want in a record…

JR: Of course! For success, for fame, live the dream or frickin…whatever…hold on to your beliefs…but beliefs don’t sell records. [This came as a surprise to hear. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of truth to it.] I hate to say it. And maybe that’s un-punk rock of me to say, but this is what it is…I’ve seen it. I see it everyday. It’s kind of gross – and not to steal a term from Bad Religion but it really is – infected.

Z: Less Than Jake has definitely been a prestigious forerunner for the ska punk community given their lasting accomplishments since ’92. What would you consider to be the band’s most effective ideas for getting you guys to where you are now in your larger musical careers? And do you still use the same ideas to maintain your successful status?

JR: Change with the times…without changing. Stay the course. It’s worked thus far. There are certain things that you can change…I’m not gunna make a new boat…we can change who’s in the boat or who’s driving the boat, but we’re not building a new boat. This boat is great. I love this boat. We all love this boat. There’s so many bands you see that just try to keep building new boats and they end up sinking after a few years.

We are who we are. We’re not gunna jam ourselves in tight jeans…with comb-overs. MTV’s not gunna play us…the radio’s not gunna play us. Okay! So we are who we are. People like are band or people don’t.

Z: And they respect that. Has Less Than Jake, in any way, changed their methods of networking to adapt to the change of how people receive information?

JR: Oh, we have to keep up with technology. Yeah, it’s so immediate now with things like Twitter. It’s our fondness of the immediate rumor-mill. A perfect example would be when our shows in Portland and Seattle got canceled and we were able to post on Twitter to let kids know about the relocation of the show and then the show went on. So it was awesome. Shows back in the day were just canceled because there wasn’t much you could do except put a sign on the door [hah]. Networking these days affords you many…many more opportunities. And it freaks me out cause if this networking was around fifteen years ago…good god…what a different place my band would be in. We’re old men playing in a young man’s sport.

Z: Do you think this change enabled bands to become more creative with the way they market themselves or produce music?

JR: Honestly, no, it’s just made it easier. And it just makes being good looking a benefit – a huge benefit. Cause damn, man [hah]…if you’re a bunch of ugly dudes, people…girls won’t even give you a shot. And even guys want to see the guys/girls in bands be attractive these days. But it kinda reminds me about how when you’re a kid and you get a present and it’s wrapped in newpaper…you’re not as stoked.

Z: I hear ya. Do you think this change has been a positive or a negative impact on the musical community?

JR: Meh. I’m indifferent. I think that a lot of the charm of music is gone now. You don’t hear about people sleeping in front of record stores to buy tickets or their new favorite record to come out. No one is excited for records to come out anymore. Music is vast, but no longer as sacred as it used to be it seems.

Z: Yeah, my huge gripe is that the music environment isn’t intimate. There’s no intimacy in our era of immediate gratification.

JR: Yeah, and then there is stealing. If you download music without paying for it, it is stealing. I do it. We all do it. And I posted about it the other day and kids were trying to justify their stealing by saying, “Well, I don’t have money. I didn’t mean to do…” If you can just admit it then you can move on. It’s wrong.

Z: Agreed. On a lighter note, I was told Cage wasn’t allowed to play tonight because of the whole contract business that HOB has with Disney which states that Disney is allowed to read over the lyrics of the bands playing and if they think their lyrics are too vulgar then they don’t let that band play. I know when Shai Hulud was on tour with New Found Glory they were not allowed to play HOB (Orlando) either for this reason. What are your thoughts on Disney’s power to kick off a band like that?

JR: Well, I think it’s an abortion to the First Amendment. I don’t agree with it at all. I think it’s ironic because Shia Labeouf is doing a movie based on the life of Cage and he [Shia] got his break through Disney…there’s a possibility that the movie about Cage might get put out through Disney. But like I said, to me, either it all works or none of it works.

We’re gunna play Cage’s album in between the set up time of The Swellers and us. So take that, Disney!

Z: Let’s loop-swoop and tie the knot by talking about your newest album, “GNV FLA.” From personal experience, I know how different the writing process can be from album to album. Some times the juices flow and sometimes there’s just that writer’s block for bands to find new avenues to create new music. In a recent interview about GNV FLA, you mention the concept behind the album basically stating that, “We should do what we’ve always done, and do what we do best.” Did this help smooth out any indecisive bumps of the writing process?

JR: [hah] No. The creation aspect is never easy. If it was easy…then everyone would do it. We’d be like “Puhh Ftttt, hey we’re already done!” [hah] Of course it’s not that easy, but it definitely helped us focus on what needed to get done. The direction was just to write some songs. We didn’t want to do anything that was too rock based. We just wanted to do what we do best which is ska and punk rock. The new record is a reactionary record. The record prior to that was more pop based and the fans didn’t like that…so we said alright we’ll figure something out.

Z: What were some other influences for the title and music of the album?

JR: The title was a fight up until the very end. We didn’t know what we were going to name it up until the last day. It’s kind of a statement of stability for us saying that we started here and we’re strong enough to have kept things together in this town. It’s what it is. The next portion of career…the next half of our career will stem from here.

Z: Any last comments or promotions for the album that didn’t get touched on? Any comments on what the fans can flirt with about any upcoming plans and material?

JR: Nah…I don’t have any secret information about music. You guys will hear about it when it happens though.

Z: Well, it’s been a pleasure getting your insight on Less Than Jake and the music industry. Take care. Have fun out there.

JR: Thanks. I appreciate that you actually did research and put work into your questions. It made me want to work and give you good, solid answers. Someone once told me that time is one of our most valuable things, you can’t get time back like you can with money or possessions and if someone puts together a quality interview then I don’t mind giving them my time. So thank you.

For more on Less Than Jake:

• Less Than Jake Offical Site
• Less Than Jake on Tiwtter
• Less Than Jake on Amazon

This interview was conducted by Zach Frmmel, a senior at UCF majoring in English Literature with a minor in Humanities. He plays in an indie band, GreatFriendofMine, and you can check out their music on Bandcamp here.