Less Than Jake

The ska/punk band Less Than Jake hardly needs any introduction- they’re celebrating close to twenty years of success together in 2012 and are still making music and touring as much as ever.

I was very excited to get a few minutes to chat with lead vocalist and bassist Roger Manganelli when he came to Montreal with Warped this summer. After growing up around his bands’ music, it was so nice to see that he was this incredibly down to earth guy who was just having a great time with the outdoor festival. Less Than Jake are veterans by now on Warped, so it was a lot of fun to see Roger just relaxing, having a good time and ready to play a great show that afternoon.

CONFRONT: Do you mind introducing yourself really quickly?

ROGER: Sure! My name is Roger, I play in Less Than Jake. Yay!

CONFRONT: *laughs* How’s the tour going so far?

ROGER: It’s fantastic actually, we’re very used to the Warped Tour, we’ve done it a lot of times and everyone is really friendly that does the stuff behind the scenes. We get along really well with everybody, shows have been super good… It’s like summer camp!

CONFRONT: That’s cool! Do you have a favorite day on the tour so far?

ROGER: Hmmm…

CONFRONT: Is that a hard question to answer? I just realized it might be

ROGER: Yeah, it’ just kind of blends together. Yesterday was a really good show, but then 3 or 4 days ago there was a day where the crowd got really involved with our show and that felt really good. They’re all fun!

CONFRONT: Yeah definitely. Do all of the Warped Tours mix together or are they all different one year to the next?

ROGER: There’s definitely been an evolution, especially with the sponsors, the bands and the vibe. There was a few Warped Tours where there were a lot of hip hop bands because that’s what was popular at the time, Eminem was on one of them actually. Then there’s been kind of been tours like this year that have a more Metal theme. There’s always a punk rock band in there somewhere, but this year it just feels like we’re out there, there are a few other bands that you can throw back to old punk rock, but not that many. So it’s kind of fun.

CONFRONT: Do you find yourself discovering good bands each time you play Warped? Like have you discovered any good artists this time around?

ROGER: Yeah, there’s a band called Bad Rabbits that everyone is talking about- they’re like a 70’s groovy kind of band- I can’t really describe them. Insane amount of talent on stage at one time, it’s crazy. They’re really good!

CONFRONT: Nice! Do you have any pre-show rituals?

ROGER: Not really, I don’t know. For me playing shows is such a part of my life that it’s just like “oh I’m gonna play a show now!” I warm up during the first song- I’m not really nervous. I don’t have anything going on, it’s just like okay cool! Fun part of the day starts. I don’t get too pumped up anymore!

CONFRONT: Okay cool. Do you guys play a lot later on this tour or does it depend on the day?

ROGER: Well the Warped Tour is random, you don’t really know. Like the other day I got woken up and it was like “you’re on in 45 minutes!” I was like oh crap why am I sleeping this late?! But today we’re playing at a later slot, so we’re getting pretty lucky. Pretty random though.

CONFRONT: That’s cool. Do you every get used to the porta potties?

ROGER: Yeah…… That’s sad right?

CONFRONT: Not sad! You’re lucky, I can’t get used to them!

ROGER: It’s just one of those things that I’m just not bummed out on. Everyone is doing it and it could be a lot worse.

CONFRONT: Yeah that’s true. Do you ever get tired of things like not being able to shower every day?

ROGER: Oh yeah definitely. I could really use a shower right now, you might be able to tell! It would be really nice if you had those luxuries from home, but it’s a lifestyle. It’s a career choice.

CONFRONT: Yeah that’s true. Have you guys fashioned any tricks for the road to make it easier though?

ROGER: We have shower bags and we’ve done this tour so many times that we have a couple inside leads here and there. We’ve done this tour enough times that we know how to make it work. There are days where it’s like ‘it’s hot, it’s sunny, it’s summer, I’m going to be hot and sweaty anyway so I’m not showering.’ You do a little hooker bath in the sink, change your underwear and just go with it! As I always say, just enjoy the ride!

CONFRONT: Why not! You guys have been around for a really long time, any advice for up and coming bands?

ROGER: Just quit now, sell your stuff on Craig’s List, I’ll buy it. There are too many bands and you guys are terrible anyway.

CONFRONT: That is great advice. Gotta pass that on!

ROGER: It’s so true though, there are so many bad bands out there. They think like “oh I can just record, put some stuff on MySpace and we’ll be a real band!’ but it’s more than that! So just give up now.

CONFRONT: *laughs*

ROGER: I’m buying guitars now actually for my studio. Actually you know what? If you’re halfway decent then come to my studio and I’ll record you guys, tell you to take out the bad parts.

CONFRONT: There you go, you can help someone on their way!

ROGER: Yeah. Really though, just do your own thing, try not to follow the trends and just keep it about the songs. I think things get caught up with the technology, the fashion- like oh it’s fashionable to have a double kick drum and screamer so we’re gonna do that- just make it about the song and serve the song. Maybe you’ll get lucky.

CONFRONT: Yeah for sure. Do you have any favorite songs to play live?

ROGER: We just had a new EP come out a week before the tour started, we’ve been playing one of those five songs that we didn’t really rehearse very much before recording it, we just kind of did it in the studio, so we’re really breaking it in on the tour. Now I’m starting to feel this new song. At the moment I’m loving playing this new song. It came out good so I’m happy!

CONFRONT: Awesome! So what’s next after Warped Tour for the band?

ROGER: We’re not going to do too much, we’re gonna play the Fest in Florida which is this multi-day multi-venue downtown festival in our hometown. We’re playing that around Halloween, and we’re really not doing much else. We’re going to work on some new music, spend some time in the studio and do that kind of thing, but we don’t have any solid plans for touring, we just want to chill. Next year will be our 20^th year as a band!

CONFRONT: That’s insane! Congrats!

ROGER: I know right?! It’s either congratulations or I’m sorry… It’s like one or the other really! *laughs*

CONFRONT: *laughs* Yeah basically!

ROGER: So we’re going to do some stuff next year that’ll be special more than just ‘oh here’s a regular tour’. We’ll see what happens!

CONFRONT: Cool, well thank you very much!

ROGER: Right on, thank you!

To learn more about Less Than Jake you can visit them at:

www.lessthanjake.com

www.myspace.com/lessthanjake