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INDUSTRY REPORT # 34
CATCHING UP WITH
A Conversation with Chris DeMakes
August 18th, 2025 by Kevin Gomez
While the summer quietly comes to a close, Less Than Jake have been making sure this country has gotten its fill of ska-punk goodness.
The Gainesville, Florida band has been touring the country bringing along fellow ska greats Fishbone, Suicide Machines, Catbite, and Bite Me Bambi on what they dubbed The Summer Circus.
For over three decades and nine full-length albums, Less Than Jake have been bringing upbeat music you feel just as comfortable skanking to as moshing. I spoke with guitarist and co-lead singer Chris DeMakes about The Summer Circus, working with punk royalty, and how it feels to go through 30 years of The Vans Warped Tour.
While the band was in St Louis for the second to last show of the tour, DeMakes and I kicked things off by talking about some old school subjects that newer fans may not be familiar with.
Less Than Jake’s first hit, 1995’s “Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts,” remains one of their most popular songs to this day.
DeMakes said that around the time the song was written, someone was tagging desks at the University of Florida with the namesake Johnny Quest and one piece of graffiti stated, “Less Than Jake are sellouts.” Was it that they weren’t punk enough, or he merely thought ska sucked? The world may never know.
I asked about Howie J. Reynolds, an individual who became the band’s mascot in the early days and can be heard on the intro for “Automatic:” “This is the old dude, Howard J. Reynolds, and you’re listening to Less Than Jake!”
“He was a resident in our apartment complex called Park 16,” DeMakes explained. Reynolds would be by the pool every day and eventually the band invited him to parties. “Next thing you know, we’re throwing him in the van and taking him to shows at Daytona Beach and Jacksonville with us,” DeMakes added with a laugh. “Not too many people talk about him these days, so I’m really glad you brought him up.”
Less Than Jake has the distinct honor of playing more dates than any other band on the Vans Warped Tour, so it’s not very surprising that founder Kevin Lyman invited the boys back to play all three dates this year.
DeMakes continued, “We just played our 443rd show (in Long Beach),” DeMakes noted, “and we’re gonna do 444 in November in Orlando.” As a band who has been there firsthand to experience so many of those 30 years in person, I asked what it has felt like playing on these anniversary dates. “It’s awesome. There’s no crystal ball to know how long any of this is going to go on.”
DeMakes noted how Warped had its roots in Lollapalooza as Lyman was an assistant to Lolla founder, Perry Farrell. “At the time, Lollapalooza, Warped, and Ozzfest, those were the only games in town. We jumped on it and 30 years later, here we are. Nobody had any idea.”
We talked about his podcast, started in 2020, simply titled “Chris DeMakes a Podcast.” His guests have included everyone from Fat Mike and John Feldmann to John Oates and Huey Lewis. Of all the guests he’s had the one that stood out, at least at this moment off the top of his head, may surprise people – Toto keyboardist David Paich. “We broke down that song, ‘Africa.’ That’s one of my favorite episodes; he was just so fun to talk to.”
In 2018, founding drummer Vinnie Fiorello parted ways amicably with the band to focus on more time with his family. I asked DeMakes how this affected the band with their last two recordings as Fiorello was their primary lyricist. “We did ‘Silver Linings’ and the ‘Uncharted’ EP,’ and the only adjustment is now we have three people writing lyrics: myself, Roger [Lima, bassist/co-lead singer] and J.R. [Wasilewski, sax]. We’ve always written words in the past, but before the seed was planted by Vinnie, lyrically.”
I asked him what it was like to work with the legend Bill Stevenson of Descendents and Black Flag fame. “We’ve known Bill since the ‘97 Warped Tour that Descendents were on. They’ve been idols of ours forever.” Since 2000’s “Borders & Boundaries,” Stevenson has remixed just about every album since. “We had worked with him indirectly, but 2024’s ‘Uncharted’ is the first time we’ve actually set up at the Blasting Room (Stevenson’s recording studio in Colorado) and tracked an album from ground zero.”
OC Music News was fortunate enough to catch Less Than Jake’s Summer Circus at their stop in Riverside. I noticed some interesting song choices, most notably their cover of the “Animaniacs” theme song. “We thought it fit in with the circus theme. We originally recorded that off of our ‘TV/EP’ [where the band covered various kids’ cartoons and commercials].”
He continued, “I recalled that in Riverside they took a fan’s request to play “Anchor,” which I found pretty impressive to have in the chamber – a song from 1999. “We can play ‘Anchor’ in our sleep. We don’t need to rehearse that one. It’s only 30 seconds, which helps,” he added with a laugh.
At that show, DeMakes joked about all the kids in the audience by saying, “I’ve been saying for years, we’re cheaper than a babysitter. Thanks for bringing your kids!”
Photo by Todd Markel Rock Images for OCMN
We talked about how it feels that his fans are now bringing along the next generation of punk rockers to their shows. “Well, it’s great. I said that half-jokingly about the sitter, because I’d bring my own kids to a show.” DeMakes added, “We’re seeing more and more parents bring their kids out. It’s great.”
As was the case in Long Beach, I’m sure many more parents will be bringing their kids to the Orlando stop of the Vans Warped Tour over November 15th and 16th.
While the U.S. leg of the Summer Circus comes to an end, Less Than Jake will be doing the U.K. Winter Circus Tour in February 2026 featuring The Bouncing Souls, The Aquabats, and the Bar Stool Preachers.
TO FOLLOW
SID 250818 | TRACI TURNER | EDITOR
