Less Than Jake Interview

I’ll admit it, I haven’t listened to Less Than Jake since the days when I was coloring my hair with Kool-Aid just like Tai in Clueless did. However, my roommate could probably have her own Less Than Jake fan club so I let her take the reigns on this one while we were at Warped Tour in Ventura. Let’s see what she can do…

So, let’s start with your names and instruments.
LTJ: Our names are Roger and J.R. and we play bass and saxophone, respectively. We play with disrespect, but respectfully.

So, Warped Tour”¦do you have any thoughts, concerns or anticipations?
JR: I have an anticipation; that I anticipate not being able to take a poop in a nice clean toilet.

I saw your tweet about that!
JR: Yeah, it’s kind of a bummer. I also have hopes that it won’t be really hot all summer. Today is nice, if it was like this the whole summer that would be awesome.
Roger: Yeah, no, I concur.

Well, you first played Warped Tour in 1997, so what’s probably the biggest difference between then and now?
JR: All the crappy bands.
Roger: [laughs] Yeah, there’s a lot more bands, a lot more stages, a lot more really bad haircuts.
JR: But the catering’s better, the people with production are awesome, they’re really pro.
Roger: They have internet now on tour.
JR: And there’s internet. I don’t know if you’ve heard of this internet, it’s everywhere!

Yeah, it’s not like you guys know how to use Twitter or anything.
JR: Stop makin’ fun of me!

I spoke to you on your last tour and you mentioned it was the “No Johnny Quest Tour” ““ obviously that tour is over because you played it; what was the main reason for that?
JR: Cause Aaron Barrett* signed off on the publishing. He sued us because he said that we ripped off “Sell Out”
Roger: So we had to wait until it, like, settled in court so we could figure it out. I mean, we’re friends and everything, but when it comes to money”¦
*Aaron Barrett is the lead singer of Reel Big Fish.

I peed in his bathroom one time.
JR: I shaved his chest one time.

Yeah, that’s way more awkward.
JR: Yeah, he didn’t ask for me to do it though. Ask about that sometime.

You’ve actually been on a couple of labels, but now you’re kinda DIY-ing. How is that? Do you feel like you have more freedom?
JR: Oh yeah.
Roger: It’s a little more freedom, sort of, but it’s more work, too, to keep up with all the little things. It’s kinda worth it, I guess; nobody really buys CDs so it really doesn’t matter.
JR: Yeah, they just download them for free now.
Roger: Yeah, it’s really not that rad.
JR: It’s all right. Instead of having all little bitches do our work, we’re the bitches now.

So why should people come and watch your set at Warped Tour?
JR: Cause we’re the best band on Warped Tour. Straight up.
Roger: Well, because you’re guaranteed to see Buddy make some funny faces, you’re guaranteed that Chris will say something that is sort of out of line or inappropriate, and I’m gonna play a bunch of fuckin’ really fast bass licks, it’s gonna be great.

So is there anything else you want to add about Warped Tour?
Roger: Um, I would add probably a little bit of salt, and I like anything that has ginger in it, so I would put a little ginger into Warped Tour and it would be PERFECT.
JR: Yeah, a little dab of soy sauce, a little Asian flavor would be nice.

Less Than Jake is on Warped Tour ALL SUMMER!
Be sure to check them out!
— Erin Brown