[Xfire] matteox: Hello! We are very pleased to welcome everyone to the Music Week chat with Less Than Jake!  Please welcome our special guest, Vinnie,  who will now introduce himself and start taking your questions!

[Xfire] mbg: 10 T-shirts to give away at the end of the chat, so stick around!!

[LTJ] Vinnie: Hello everyone, this is Vinnie from Less Than Jake, presently in Boston, MA on tour with Reel Big Fish, Streetlight Manifesto, and Against All Authority

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question:  » Gari: Vinnie, what song means the most to you?

Answer: Each song holds some sort of special meaning to me,and the entire band, as the years have gone by, I think the songs have gotten more serious but as a whole they are all very personal, so there is no clear answer to that question

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: Whippoorwill: What other bands  are your inspiration for your music?

Answer: It varies from Iron Maiden to Snuff, to Descendents,etc. All the diferent members of theband pull in their own influences and we write as a group, it makes for a lot of diversity in the songwriting process

 

 [LTJ] Vinnie: Question: MEST ROCKER \\m/: most of your fans didnt like "in with the out crowd" me i loved that album ,how did you guys feel about it?

Answer: In 5 years I think people will have a different perspective on the record, we caught a lot of the same sentiment after anthem, but now people tell us how great that record is, I think it jus t takes time for some of the songs to grow on people

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: [Xfire] mbg: What is the best prop you have ever used at a show? My favorite was the leaf blower with the toiler paper roll on the end...

Answer: In the old days we used to have a guy thatwould blow fire at every show,I think if I had to pick a favorite that would be  it, I like fire, fireworks, etc

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: =FUCU= BulletTooth: what downsides have you faced in the music industry?

Answer: A lot has changed in the past few years with the advent of the iPod, high speed internet, etc. I think that the lack of cd sales has been a major downside, if you don't sell records it hurts your  relationship  with your label, but at the same time our fans have been loyal and kept on attending shows, so its a double edged sword, with the downside also comes a lot of positive things

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: ßÇ»§héèñ: What inspired the Price Is Right theme in your shows?

Answer: Well, Bob Barker recently retired from the  show,that was the main impetus.  We also like to keep our fans constantly participating in the live show, so this was a way for us  to have a little fun, and vary the live show from day to day, the contestants on the game show pick the set every night, so there are about 25 possiblities for the set every night, plus  each night is unique in respect to the stage show

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: Having been in Less Than Jake for so long, what keeps you pumped and excited, what keeps the day to day from getting old?

Answer: The fans are what keep us coming back.  As long as you keep wanting to hear what we have to say, and wanting to watch us play, we will do our best to continue touring and playing.  It never gets old because each day is a new experience... It could be a new town, a new friend made, whatever the case is, life on the road is full of surprises... both good and bad

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: [BF] Mr. Panda-=it=-: will you guys ever have a guitar tab book for your albums in the future?

Answer: We have a lot of ideas for future merch / memoribilia, this is obviously one of them.  Hopefully we can get something like this out soon, just don't know when

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: Guh: A lot of bands can give a lot of credit to the internet for their popularity. Have you been affected by the ever growing magic net?

Answer: This kind of goes back the whole record sales topic from earlier.  I think that as much as the  internet has damaged the music industry, it has also helped bands as well.  I think that even though sales as a whole are down industry wide, the way the internet has adversely affected record sales, it has also helped out the  lower and mid level bands

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: BFM_Knight †┌╦╤─ iPwn™: PLEASE ASK FOR LTJ DIE HARD FANS:  What happend to the 'Old Dude, Harry J. Reynolds'?

Answer: I think the last person who saw him was Chris, we aren't quite sure what happened to him, he is most likely still cruising around gainesville somewhere

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question:  rodgadala: Do you guys  play any videogames?

Answer: roger plays a lot of chess on his computer, other than that I think the only thing that has gotten major play would be guitar hero and guitar hero 2.  I personally prefer the Wii sports games though

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: <CNN>DGMurdockIII: Do you guys like internet radio  or do you still go for old fasion radio

Answer: most of us  only listen to whats on our iPod, but whenever we have access to SIRRIUS we love the  punk channel, other than that, we don't listen to too much radio at all

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: ßÇ»§héèñ: Any plans on a new album, and will you be returning to your old roots, or staying right where you are? (I love both)

Answer: We are currently writing for a new record, not 100% sure what the exact direction is going to be yet, but it isn't going to be anything like IWTOC, I think it will be much more reminiscent of our older material

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: SOS-Jolt: Xbox 360 vs PlayStation 3 vs Nintendo Wii - who wins?

Answer: Wii just because of the sheer fun of the interactive experience, but Xbox 360 is great as well. I have yet to see a Playstation 3 in action

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: «FS»WO«UF»=ÐFW=Strike: WHat kind of gigs did you guys start out with?

Answer: We have played everything from VFW Halls, to record stores, to birthday parties and basement shows, we have pretty much done it all

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: some_kid: Do you prefer playing for large crowds or small? (small as in a private birthday party i guess....)

Answer: There are a lot of advantages to playing both large and small shows

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: back in February we did 6 shows in  Florida where we played an entire album eachnight at the smaller venues we started outin

Answer: we all had a blast playing the small rooms again, but at the same time we had just done a few months prior a sold out  show in London in front of 5k kids

[LTJ] Vinnie: I think the smaller rooms you really feel the energy more, but the larger rooms get you excited just for the simple fact that there are that many fans there to see your band

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: Twisted Imp: You say you guys like Guitar Hero. Why don't you see if you can get an LTJ song on Guitar Hero 3 or even Rock Band. Guitar 3 is being made by Neversoft now, and you guys have had your songs in their other games.

Answer: if anyone has any knowledge of how to get one of our songs onto this game, hit me with an email, we would love to :)

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: some_kid: Would you guys every play a show free for fundraising events/etc?

Answer: We played a benefit for a friend with cancer right before we left for Europe last month.  All the  proceeds went straight to their medical bills, so theanswer is yes, and we have, and will continue to do so if the cause is worthy

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: «FS»WO«UF»=ÐFW=Strike: Have you ever gotten hurt by a fan while on-stage?

Answer: being back on the drums I usually don't get interfered with too much, the other members of the band have been beaten, bruised, bloodied, etc by crowd surfers, shoes, and various other random items

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: BFM_Knight †┌╦╤─ iPwn™: Is the recording studios in anyone's house?

Answer: We demo all our songs at rogers house, he has a pretty professional set up for a home studio, but Chris and Buddy also have studios in their houses

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question:  skywalker001(DOTS JACEN): What is the song that you all have played most live? (if you are about to say anchor, what other song?)

Answer: If I had to take a guess I would proably have to say My Very Own Flag

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: ßÇ»§héèñ: Will we ever see another knockout tour with you and Reel big Fish again? (Greatest pair ever)

Answer: I think we are going to be doing  more dates with them overseas this year, next summer we are hoping to put together another amazing lineup for everyone but I am not sure who it will be with yet

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: RoxxoR: Are you goung to tour in Germany in the near Future?

Answer: we just played 6 shows there last month,where were you? ;)

 

 [LTJ] Vinnie: Question: [SF]Geostrike{Mrl}: Do you think you have a tough competition with other punk bands?

Answer: I think that we are different enough from all the other bands in our scene that wedon't really look at anyone as "competition", but merely as friends in the same music scene

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: Rën&Stiмpy: what do you prefer whilst touring, a bus or van?

Answer: We all have a lot of great memories from days when we used to tour in a van, but being on the road for 9 months a year, I think the only way any of us have been able to retain any sort of sanity is by being on the bus, it makes touring just a little bit easier

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: age: Vinnie, what was your reason for creating Wünderland War (originally Monkey VS Robot) and Symptoms?

Answer: I have a lot of ideas that I can't always use Less Than Jake as a outlet for the ideas, so I figured why not do something that I have  complete control over, basically it is just another outlet for my creative thoughts

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: BFM_Knight †┌╦╤─ iPwn™: WHy did you guys chose the tour with RBF instead of Warped Tour this time around?

Answer: reason 1 being that we were on warped tour last year.  We usually try to take a few years off and do our own tours for the fans that really just want to see us play in a club

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: [SF]Geostrike{Mrl}: Are you satisfied with the band's succes nowadays?

Answer: I think that anyone that has the opportunity to do something that they love, while getting to see the world and not having to have a steady"day job" would be crazy to say they were unsatisfied with their success,so yes

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: I only have time for a few more questions, so send them in if you have anything else you are dying to ask

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: some_kid: Do you eat Ramen soup as much as i do?

Answer: I used to but I don't anymore, when i'm at home I try to eat at the local cuban restaurant or at burrito bros

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Question: MEST ROCKER \\m/: Would you ever plan on releasing a sifnature drum kit of your own?

Answer: Given the opportunity I would love to, I do however have a one of a kind kit that I had all my favorite artists do a different painting on, I used that kit all of last year. 

 

[LTJ] Vinnie: Thanks everyone for coming here.  I am sorry I wasn't able to answer every single question, but there are just too many of you to respond to each one.  Hopefully we can all do another  online chat sometime soon.

[Xfire] matteox: Ok, that concludes the chat with Vinnie from Less than Jake! Thank You Very Much to our special guest and thanks everyone for participiating.  Now onto the prizes: 10 Less Than Jake T-shirts  If you are one of the winners PM me for instructions on how to claim your prize!

[Xfire] matteox: 1. BCsheen

2. Whippoorwill

3. >> Gary

4. DG Murdock III

5. Somekid

6. Mestrocker

7. BFMknight

8. Skywalker001

9. Romdallasam

10. Twisted Imp.