Celebrity Jobber with Jeff Zito - Chris DeMakes from Less Than Jake

Summary

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Celebrity Jobber Podcast with Jeff Zito

Episode: Chris DeMakes from Less Than Jake

Date: September 5, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this episode, host Jeff Zito sits down with Chris DeMakes, singer/guitarist of the long-running ska-punk band Less Than Jake, to discuss the theme of a “jobber” — someone who’s a journeyman in their field. The conversation centers on DeMakes’ earliest jobs, his rise in music, the evolution of the music business, and the significance of life’s little moments and personal connections. They reflect on the importance of family support, DIY ethics in music, and what life might have looked like if “the big break” hadn’t happened.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction & Mutual Connections

(02:33 – 04:40)

• Zito and DeMakes reminisce about Port Charlotte, Florida, where they share roots and mutual acquaintances.
• Zito recalls meeting Chris’s dad and being struck by his pride for his son, setting the stage for family influence on Chris’s career.

2. Chris DeMakes’s Path into Podcasting

(04:47 – 08:14)

• Chris describes how, after starting a songwriting business just before the COVID-19 pandemic, a friend pushed him to do a podcast focused on songcraft and artist interviews.
• He emphasizes that for him, podcasting is “a passion project” and a platform to maintain engagement with fans. It also helps promote Less Than Jake directly to listeners without the constraints of social media algorithms.
• Notable Quote:

  “[Podcasting is] not huge money. That’s not why I do it. It is a passion project at this point. Everything feeds back into it. … It gets me out of bed, too, when I’m off the road.” (Chris DeMakes, 09:34)

3. Early Life and First Job: The Dishwashing Incident

(11:05 – 15:51)

• Chris recounts getting his first job at age 15 as a dishwasher at China Fair, a Chinese restaurant. He describes being required to “train” for three days unpaid and the fallout when his father discovered this.
• His father marched him down to the restaurant and demanded payment from the owner in front of customers.
• Chris never returned to that job, but soon found dishwashing work at a nearby Italian restaurant, which lasted “for a number of years.”
• Memorable Moment:

  “He marched my rear end out to the car, get in the car, and we barrel down there. And I’ve never seen my father this angry … He was our biggest cheerleader. … I saw Papa Bear in action, and it scared the hell out of me.” (Chris DeMakes, 12:56 & 15:51)

4. The Formation of Less Than Jake and the Gainesville Scene

(16:04 – 18:01)

• Chris describes his connection with Vinnie, Less Than Jake’s original drummer, and their move to Gainesville, Florida, which led to the band’s formation.
• Early days involved mailing cassettes, networking with other bands, and organizing tours without Internet convenience.
• Zito and DeMakes both note how life and music business technology have evolved.

5. Breaking Out as a Band: Small Wins and DIY Touring

(18:48 – 24:33)

• Chris stresses there was “no big break”—just a string of small victories, from packed local shows to snail-mail networking.
• Their first major U.S. tour (1995): 48 shows in 51 days, lots of DIY merch, and the challenges of making things work pre-digital era.
• Notable Quote:

  “We came home with $3,000 on that tour in 1995. No bands come home with money. We were hand screening our shirts after shows … It was hardcore.” (Chris DeMakes, 21:32)

6. The Power of Word-of-Mouth and Fanzines

(22:01 – 24:08)

• Chris and Jeff reminisce about the pivotal role of fanzines, local scenes, and physical media in building Less Than Jake’s following before mainstream recognition.

7. Soundtrack Success and Industry Anecdotes

(25:20 – 28:27)

• Zito mentions hearing Less Than Jake’s “I Think I Love You” on the Scream 2 soundtrack.
• Chris shares a story about meeting David Cassidy in Vegas (with his dad’s help), describing how surreal and awkward celebrity interactions can be.
• Quote:

  “You’re the band that did the cover? Yeah, cool. Like, get the … out of my dressing room. That was the vibe.” (Chris DeMakes, 27:31)

8. The "German Compliment" and Fan Interactions

(28:21 – 29:04)

• Chris jokes about fans with no filter, e.g., “You were good today, but better last time I saw you”—a.k.a., “the German compliment.”

9. Taking the Leap: College, Family Support, and No Backup Plan

(29:35 – 32:15)

• Chris reflects on leaving college for music, family pressures, and the lack of a fallback plan.
• His major at University of Florida was telecommunications—chosen for being math-light and “the easiest.”
• Jeff reflects how communications degrees, though mocked for their simplicity, led both of them to lifelong careers in…well, communications.

10. The Enduring Value of Human Connection

(32:15 – 33:19)

• Chris champions “analog” communication: shaking hands, making eye contact, and forming genuine relationships, skills he fears younger generations are losing.
• Quote:

  “That human connection will go farther than any digital form ever, in my opinion.” (Chris DeMakes, 33:19)

11. Life Beyond the Band

(34:04 – 35:38)

• Outside of music and the podcast, Chris keeps busy volunteering, coaching his son’s little league, supporting his daughter’s dance pursuits, and staying active.

12. Local Radio, Opportunities Missed, and No Regrets

(35:38 – 38:06)

• Jeff reminisces about Fort Myers’ alternative station “claiming” Less Than Jake as local heroes, but laments that they didn’t fully embrace them during their rise.
• Chris reflects on the hard realities of the business: limited playlist spots, industry politics, and the gratitude he feels for still being able to play.
• Quote:

  “I tend to look back as fondly as I can about those times, and I’m still lucky to be playing live to people.” (Chris DeMakes, 38:06)

13. If He Could Do It All Again…

(38:11 – 39:11)

• Chris wishes he’d “stopped to smell the roses” more during Less Than Jake’s rise, but admits, “I don’t know if I was capable of slowing down at 21.”

14. The Present & Family Legacy

(39:11 – 41:53)

• Less Than Jake are “busier than ever” in business terms and still draw devoted fans of all ages.
• Chris’s parents were working musicians and always supported his dreams, though the odds seemed slim.
• Quote:

  “They didn’t see it. We didn’t see it. But they were looking at the bigger picture … and all I could think about was, hey, they offered us free beer at the pig party tomorrow night.” (Chris DeMakes, 41:53)

15. Closing Remarks

(43:08)

• Both Zito and DeMakes express gratitude for finally having an in-depth conversation, highlighting the power of local scenes and family in shaping careers.

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Memorable Quotes

• “If 4,000 people are listening to your podcast, all 4,000 of them are going to know about the new Less Than Jake record or the Less Than Jake’s playing Fort Myers tonight.” (Chris DeMakes, 06:36)
• “We used to tour like maniacs—and we still do, to a degree—but … we’re not out for more than two and a half, three weeks at a time … But it’s a good spot to be in.” (Chris DeMakes, 10:26)
• “There was no plan for tomorrow. … I just remember looking at them like: There is no fucking backup plan.” (Chris DeMakes, 29:35)
• “Build on what’s centric to my world. That’s why the podcast—it boomerangs back to the band, the band ricochets back to the podcast, back to the songwriting…” (Chris DeMakes, 32:15)
• “The odds of making money in the music industry are … it’s tough. It’s a tough business out there. But they weren’t rooting against us. … And all I could think about was, hey, they offered us free beer…” (Chris DeMakes, 41:53)

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Useful Timestamps

• 02:33 — Start of conversation; reminiscing about Fort Myers/Port Charlotte roots
• 04:47 — Chris’s transition into podcasting
• 11:05 — Chris’s first job at age 15 and family involvement
• 15:51 — Moving on from first job, lessons learned
• 16:04 — Formation of Less Than Jake
• 19:24 — Early touring, DIY ethic & work
• 22:01 — Importance of fanzines, word-of-mouth pre-Internet
• 25:20 — Story behind Less Than Jake’s “I Think I Love You” cover for Scream 2
• 29:35 — Leaving college, career risks, family’s role
• 32:15 — On the importance of analog human connections
• 34:04 — Life today: family, volunteering, balance
• 38:11 — Regrets and wisdom from the journey
• 41:11 — Parents’ music business influence and support

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Episode Tone and Takeaways

Conversational, nostalgic, and honest, this episode offers a meaningful look at the winding road between odd jobs and fame, how DIY hustle and family support shape careers, and why it’s vital—then and now—to “connect the dots” in your own way.

For fans or newcomers, Chris DeMakes’s relatable stories and Jeff Zito’s local perspective make this an insightful listen on music, growing up, and how a “jobber” can, sometimes, beat the odds.

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To hear more of Chris DeMakes's stories, check out his “Chris DeMakes a Podcast” (all platforms) and follow Less Than Jake on Instagram for updates about upcoming tours and projects.

Transcript

[Chris Demakes]

Foreign.

[Jeff Zito]

Hey, it's Jeff Zito and thanks for checking out another episode of the Celebrity Jobber podcast, number one on the Apple Podcast music interviews chart. Thank you so much for that. You can listen via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, wherever you stream your podcasts. Or you can go back and check out past guests and and episodes [e-mail] and please don't forget to subscribe. We'd love a five star rating and of course, leave a review. We're pretty much taking a look at these celebrities before fame and what life was all about, what direction they were headed in, you know, maybe their big break in life. And I'm really excited to get into this episode because my next guest is actually someone who, who I've kind of known for 25 years. Well, let's back up and say we've kind of known of each other, but we don't know each other. I did a radio show in his hometown of Port Charlotte, Florida. It was Zito and Garrett on WJBX 99X in Fort Myers pretty much right down the road. Regardless, over the years, we may have bumped into each other once or twice. We have some mutual friends and I do know his dad. In the mid-90s, when the punk scene exploded, Chris D' Makes and his band were right there in the thick of it. His band, Less Than Jake, has an upcoming European tour on Instagram, essthanjake or Less Than Chris D. And I just so happen to be a fan of Chris Podcast, which is called Chris Demakes a Podcast. And he talks to artists about particular songs and why they wrote them, what they wrote them about. And I really, really love it. So I hope you check it out. And for the podcast on instagram @chris demakesapodcast chris demakes from Less Than Jake is my guest this week on Celebrity.

[Podcast Announcer]

Jobber, the Celebrity Jobber Podcast with Jeff Zito. If you like what you hear, please subscribe, give a five star rating and leave a review. Check out all our past episodes on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you po. What if these celebrities weren't famous? What would they have become? What was their first job? We're about to find out.

[Jeff Zito]

Chris, how are you?

[Chris Demakes]

I'm good. Is this Jeff?

[Jeff Zito]

This is me.

[Chris Demakes]

How you doing, buddy?

[Jeff Zito]

I'm doing. I'm doing great. You know, it's funny, I really appreciate you doing this for me and I know, you know, we've known of each other for a while, but we've never really had a conversation. You know, we've got mutual. Yeah, we've got mutual friends and been, you know, in the business for a while, but we've never had the opportunity to. To have a chat. We met. I think we met, you know, like one. I think we met one time a long time ago.

[Chris Demakes]

But yeah, we want to say you came to a Less Than Jake show in Fort Myers, but that's. That sound, right?

[Jeff Zito]

Yep. Sure does. It sure does.

[Chris Demakes]

Okay.

[Jeff Zito]

And what's even funnier. What's even funnier than that was, you know, back in the early. Or, I'm sorry, In the late 90s, when I first got to Fort Myers to WJBX, you know, we had a morning show, Zito and Garrett, it called, and Right. Port Charlotte. And you know, far away from. For 30 minutes, 35 minutes from. From Fort Myers. But, you know, back in the olden days, which I call the late 90s, you know, whenever we, you know, we came to Port Charlotte, it was like the, the circus was coming to town. Like, it was crazy. Like people wanted to come out and hang with us. And I remember meeting your dad very.

[Chris Demakes]

Oh, yeah.

[Jeff Zito]

Very early on. And I know he was. He was involved with, you know, listening to us, and it was just a. He was a really. He was a really cool guy and he told me about his son and he was really proud back then. I'm sure he is still now. How is he doing?

[Chris Demakes]

My dad passed away three years ago.

[Jeff Zito]

Oh, man, I'm so, I'm so sorry to. I'm so sorry to hear that. Well, he was a. I'm so sorry to hear that. He was a really, really cool.

[Chris Demakes]

Yeah, no, no, he, he, he. He lived 10. 10 lifetimes. So.

[Jeff Zito]

Yeah, he was a really fun guy, man, and, and actually came to a lot of our station events when we were in Port Charlotte and was. And approachable and really sorry to hear that, man, because he was a. He was a really good guy and that's what I remember most, you know, about those early days.

[Chris Demakes]

And he was our. He was our biggest cheerleader. It's funny you mentioned him because I'm going to talk about him. I'm going to get into the jobs, so.

[Jeff Zito]

Oh, right on. Awesome, dude. Well, you know, so, Chris, let's. First of all, I'm a real big fan of your podcast and you've been doing it for a while now. You've got great guests and a catchy little theme song. I hope to maybe convince you to do one of those for me one day. But when did. I love to. Oh, man, I would love that you have no idea how long you've been doing the podcast for a long time. How'd you get started with it?

[Chris Demakes]

Yeah, it's been about five and a half years. I, you know, just prior to Covid, I had started a songwriting business and I was doing jingles for businesses and I was writing custom songs for fans. Like if it was your birthday or anniversary. Anniversary, if you wanted to get a song for a loved one, or I wrote songs for people that hated their boss. You name it. I was writing all kinds of songs, and I wanted to put together some kind of promotional video. And I had seen this animated video a buddy of mine did, and he plays in this band called Punchline. And one thing led to another over the course of this week of putting the video together, and he just kept hammering me about, you should do a podcast. You should do a podcast. And this is about four months into Covid, where it seemed like every lead singer of a band was. Was doing a podcast because there was nothing else to do. And I was like, oh, man, I don't want to be that guy. And he's like, no. It'll be songwriting specific. You'll pick one artist who has an iconic song, their most iconic song of their career, and you'll break it down top to bottom with the artist. You'll get the story. It'll be documented. It'll be like a song Wikipedia. It'll feed back into your songwriting or feedback into your band. There'll be no. No governor on you, so to speak. Meaning like Instagram and Facebook, they throttle you. They want you to throw money at your ads.

[Jeff Zito]

Yes.

[Chris Demakes]

Like, you know, if. If 4,000 people are listening to your podcast that day, all 4,000 of them are going to know about the new Less Than Jake record or the Less than Jake's plan for Myers tonight.

[Jeff Zito]

Right.

[Chris Demakes]

And I slept on it. I woke up the next morning and I was sold. And June 1st of 2020 was our first episode. We release a brand new one every Monday. We have not missed a and a half years.

[Jeff Zito]

I mean, it almost seems like you do more than that. You just once a week or sometimes twice a week, right?

[Chris Demakes]

Yeah. Yeah. So the main feeds once a week on Thursday. We do a throwback Thursday where we dust off an older episode and we'll do new, new notes at the top. And it kind of, a lot of times it'll. It'll send the base or the people that listen to us. It'll, you know, like, they'll look at that go, who? I missed that episode because we're hovering around 300 episodes now, so we do that and we got a couple other chestnuts that we put in there. We sprinkle in. During the year, we do this game show segment called Defeat the Makes, where people that are part of our patreon, we randomly select a person that can come on and they can challenge me to rock and roll trivia. Okay. And we've done a, done a couple, a couple of those episodes that we throw out. So it's, it's been a lot of fun. It. I again, never fashioned myself a podcast host prior to doing this podcast. I don't, I don't think I ever listened to a podcast all the way through you. I'd always find the sweet spot. Someone would say, you know, and blabber mouth or something. I'll go to the 34 minute. So here we are.

[Jeff Zito]

I gotta say, though, man, I think, I think now, I think podcast. Podcasting has changed quite a bit over the course of, you know, not only the last five years, but, you know, I remember getting back into it like 15 years ago and really going nowhere, Just kind of begging, you know, singing for your supper, having people send you money. And it really didn't. It wasn't as evolved as it is today. And what I like most about it is, you know, it's not. Don't think of yourself, like, don't think of it as being that guy. It's very interesting for people to, you know, that they admire, they listen to. Maybe they're a fan of their music or maybe you're just a regular person. It's really interesting to listen to other people's thoughts and original ideas and your thought and original idea about the songwriting. One of my favorite episodes of Chris DeMake's A Podcast is Mark Hoppas. I thought that was so great. I thought that was so great and very, very interesting. You know, how you were like, where were you, you know, when you first heard the song? Where were you when you wrote the song? I was, I was very impressed by the whole thing. So I hope you're proud of, of this work because I think it's really, really good.

[Chris Demakes]

Oh, yeah, you.

[Jeff Zito]

You.

[Chris Demakes]

You hit the nail on the head. Okay. You know, minus the, The Joe Rogans and the Mark Marin's of the World, there. There's. Podcasting is not huge money. That's not why I do it. It is a passion project at this point. Everything feeds back into it. You know, I can go on there and I can say, hey, I got this lesson Jig tour Coming up, I can have that embedded at the top of my podcast. I can have it embedded again in the middle, you know, so my, you know, knowing what's going on with me and it gets me out of bed, too, when I'm off the road gives me a reason every day, whether I'm lazy or not. Okay. I took the kids to school, you know, Do I have other work to do? No. But, hey, I always got stuff with the podcast, so. It's great, right?

[Jeff Zito]

It's almost like it forces you to take a shower, which is good, you know?

[Chris Demakes]

No, it does. You know, for a long time, I wasn't. I wasn't honing my craft. When I was home, I'd be like, okay, I just got off the road. And the reason for. We used to tour like maniacs, and we still do to a degree, but, you know, we're not out for more than two and a half, three weeks at a time, and then we're back home because we're all older. We have families and whatnot. But it's a good. It's a good spot to be in. It's awesome.

[Podcast Announcer]

The Celebrity Jobber Podcast with Jeff Zito. The Celebrity Jobber Podcast with Jeff Zito.

[Jeff Zito]

So tell me, let's rewind all the way back here. Growing up in Port Charlotte, you're in high school. Was it Charlotte High School or was it Port Charlotte?

[Chris Demakes]

Yeah, I went to Port Charlotte's. I was over the river in Port Charlotte. Charlotte's over in Pontagora. Right. So, okay, I was. I lived. I lived 0.7 miles from the high school. So it was. It was right up the road. And I wasn't even 16 when I got my first job. Really? No, I was.

[Jeff Zito]

How. Well, how old were you when you got your first job?

[Chris Demakes]

Well, that's the thing. So I was 15. I was, like, maybe two or three months shy of my 16th birthday. And my friend Glenn told me, he said, hey, you know, I'm washing dishes at the Chinese restaurant. You don't have to be 16. You just have to be 15. I'm like, okay, so I gotta go down there. And I kind of was tiptoeing around my father at this point, right? You know, he's like, what's this job all about? It's fine. It's fine. So I get dropped off there, and the owner tells me, says, and the owner's name was Sam. The place was called China Fair right there. Right there on U.S. 41 in Port Charlotte. And he told me, he said, you have to train for three days. You do not get paid. Well, I'm 15 years old and I'm like, okay, you gotta train for a job. Why would he pay me to train, right? And I washed dishes that night and I go home and I'm filthy. I remember just stinking the high heaven. And my dad's saying, so what's going on with work? He starts pressing me for questions. And I'm doing the dance. I know he's not going to be happy with the answer. And I told him, I told him that, yeah, I. I work for free. For free? What are you talking about? He marched my rear end out to the car, get in the car, and we barrel down there. And I've never seen my father this angry.

[Jeff Zito]

Oh my God.

[Chris Demakes]

I mean, he let loose on this guy. I was scared and I was like, like shaking, you know. And he's just like, you're gonna pay my son. You're gonna pay him right now.

[Jeff Zito]

So dad, your dad gets pissed off when he finds out that you're training slash, working for free gets you back in the car. He drives down to the Chinese restaurant. What, what is going through? Like you're in the parking lot now of the Chinese restaurant and your dad's about to go inside and rip Sam a new asshole. So, I mean, what, what, what are you, what's your feeling inside, right? Do you have that, that lump in your, in your throat or in your stomach when, like a girl, you're having girl trouble or.

[Chris Demakes]

Yeah, it's. It's all that. I'm a complete stress ball. I actually had a pretty decent night because I had never done anything like that before. So it was kind of interesting. I'm. I'm working with a dude that I went, I went to high school with. At some point, the end of the night, I'll never forget, he takes out his wallet. And it was one of those Velcro wallets because it was pretty busy that night. And he clears a bell and he takes out a five dollar bill. Now a five dollar bill back in 1989 was a decent chunk. I mean, you could go to the movie for like 350 and have enough left over for something, right? So five bucks. I was kind of. I was in heaven. And now my dad's barreling down South 41, hauling ass back to the China Fair and he's gonna. And I don't know what he's gonna do, but when he goes in, he just lights a. Lights a concussive bomb off.

[Jeff Zito]

Oh my God.

[Chris Demakes]

Yeah, he's letting loose there's still people in the joint. He's like, you're gonna pay now. And, like, the dude went in the register and, like. Like, gave me, like. I don't know what it was. Like, nine or ten dollars, right? You know, for. I think minimum wage was, like, three bucks back then.

[Jeff Zito]

And so that was it. How was. How was it. How was the very next time that you went to work? Tell me. Tell me how nervous you were to go to work the next time after this situation.

[Chris Demakes]

Oh, I. Well. Well, first of all, let's make something clear. I did not go back to China Fair. That was. That was.

[Jeff Zito]

That was one.

[Chris Demakes]

So that was one and done. That was. That was. That was rung up. There's no way I'm going back there. I mean, I don't even. I don't even know if I would have went back there if my dad would have let me. I would have been afraid, like, you know, the guy's gonna kill me or something. So, no, I got a job. I got a job, literally. I don't know, two or 300 yards from there. There was an Italian place that I ended up getting a job washing dishes. And I did that for. For a number of years. But, yeah, that was my first experience with a job. And, you know, my dad could talk a big game like he used to. You know, if my brother and I piss off enough, he could raise hell and get pretty pissed. He wasn't violent. He never hit us. But someone messed with his children, and I saw Papa Bear in action, and it scared the hell out of.

[Jeff Zito]

Oh, my God, I bet it did. So. So this was. This was back in the late 80s in Port Charlotte. Tell me a little bit about the band and when you first started playing music.

[Chris Demakes]

Yeah, so I knew our drummer, Vinnie, who stepped down from the band in 2018. He was our original drummer, lyricist, and him and I knew each other from Port Charlotte, and we went to high school. He was a couple years older than me. I graduated in 91, and I went off to the University of Florida. And the interesting part was Vinny was going to school at Manatee Community College, and he ended up getting his associate degree, and he, at that point, could have went to any university he wanted to. And lo and behold, the woman he was with, who ended up being his first wife, she pretty much could have told him she wanted to go anywhere, and he. I think he would have followed. But lo and behold, she got accepted up in Gainesville, and a year later, he moved up there. And this whole time, him and I were kind of sending cassettes back in the mail, because that's what you did in 1991. Sure did. And we moved up, like I said, about a year after I got there, and we, you know, that's where we met the rest of the band, and here we are today. I don't know how 1992 turned into 2025. I. I literally blinked. Blink. I blinked my eyes, and here we are.

[Jeff Zito]

I know it's. It's pretty crazy, and it's just so many things have changed. You know, I think. I think for us being, you know, around the same age, so much has happened. You know, back in 1992, there was. There was no Internet, and there.

[Chris Demakes]

There.

[Jeff Zito]

There was, but, I mean, it was a very. The Internet back in 1992 is the. It's very infinite stages, and there's so many differences. And I would imagine when you're in the music business, I mean, there were some. Because of the lack of the Internet back in 1992, there were some great things that happened to you, and then probably also some. Some not so great things because. Just because of technology, you know, as far as the music business as a whole, changing.

[Chris Demakes]

Oh, my gosh, yes. I mean, well, it's kind of the same with radioactively. 20, 20, 25. 30 years of radio's dead. The format's dead. Terrestrial radio's dead. And. And here we are. Here we are pivoting, man. Yeah, you keep pivoting.

[Jeff Zito]

You have to keep.

[Chris Demakes]

Yeah, you jump. You jump to the next toadstool. And. And all the while you're doing that, you're careful not to jump trends or, you know, we've all seen it as an interest to see that band. And, like, the lead singer is, you know, 50. He's got that haircut or dressed like he's 14. You're like, come on, man. Right? Alice Cooper and Nikki Sixx can pull it off, but there's some guys that just can't. Right?

[Jeff Zito]

They're one of one, no doubt.

[Podcast Announcer]

The Celebrity Jobber podcast with Jeff Szeto. Celebrity Jobber.

[Jeff Zito]

So it's in Gainesville, Less Than Jake actually starts. You. You knew Vinnie kind of in high school and. But really at the University of Florida is where things started to take shape. Can I. Can I say the term big break? Was there a big break that happened to you while you were in Gainesville? Or, you know, was it just like a series of things that happened before maybe, you know, everything changed for you? And Less Than Jake isn't just a hobby or a garage band. It's a business. It's a real thing.

[Chris Demakes]

Yeah, that's a, that's a crazy question. I've been asked that before, and there's really no one way to frame it again. It. It was a series of small, small little victories, small little explosions, one domino effect, you know, our shows and games that were starting to get crazy. 93, 94. When I say crazy, you know, we were, we were playing the punk club that could have comfortably held 100 people, but they were cramming to 200, 300 people in this place. And we were constantly having a line around the place. We were starting to get fan mail from Daytona, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers. And you know, we were starting to take weekend trips and trying to align ourselves with bands from those areas. And all the while, from 92 to 95, we were snail mailing people calling different record labels that would have their numbers in the back. And we're connecting dots. So when we went on our first U.S. tour in 1995, you know, we did want to say it was 48 shows in 51 days. Yeah, it was crazy. We were stuffed in the van going along and yeah, you know, we had our duds. There was probably a dozen shows where there was no one there. Bartender and the sound guy and, and you know, the local, local weirdo dancing on a Tuesday night. But for the most part, we had mapped it kind of. We did the way we did Florida. It's like, okay, we're playing Wisconsin. We're gonna play with, With a band that has a draw there. Maybe we were on a compilation with this band. Cool. Maybe the other bands were on the cobble play. And now we're at a VFW hall on our first tour in Wisconsin playing to, you know, two or 300 kids. So we, yeah, we came home with $3,000 on that tour in 1995. No bands come home with money. We were hand screening our shirts after shows. We'd be in a parking lot or a rest stop. We had our ink back there. As long as there was a fountain, we could wash our screens out. I mean, it was hardcore. And I, I say it too, that I met the right people. I met. This isn't cut out for everybody, you know, sleeping in the van, sketchy situation, you know, I remember all calling, calling home back in the day. I'd be at some payphone and you'd look left and there'd be like a dope deal going on. You'd look to the right and it wasn't much better. And dad be like, he'd always say at the end, you know, how's things out there? Everything's safe. Yeah. I'd say, yeah. And he'd always leave me with, all right, you know, I love you. And he would say, hey, son. I'd say, yeah. And I knew what was coming. Say, no precarious positions. Which meant, if it's sketchy, get the fuck out. And meanwhile, I'm looking over my shoulder going, it's about as sketchy as it can fucking get.

[Jeff Zito]

Oh, my God, dude. And you got to realize, I mean, you realize this, but maybe for some people listening that don't realize you're talking 1993, 94, 95. Internet is very basic. You're finding out about Less Than Jake in, in Wisconsin, not by the Internet, but by like fanzines and word of mouth fanzines for people that don't know what those are. These local rags, these local magazines about local bands and, and the scene where, you know, whatever town you're. You're talking about this fanzine. And so I just, I always find it so amazing how people, you know, how you got the word out and, and people knew who Less Than Jake was. Back in 1995. I mean, I just, you know, I was talking to Robin Zander from Cheap Trick. He was telling me the story about going, going to Japan to record the, the Budokin album and, and how he thought, like, the president was there, but they were there to see. See him. And I was like, wow, it just blows my mind. That was 1978, you know, where there's zero, none of this stuff. So your situation still very similar. The Internet was nothing at the time. And you're going, no.

[Chris Demakes]

And I trip out on that. I really do. I'm like, I think about that and then part of me goes, yeah, but people were just a little bit more savvy and resilient and they had to figure it out, right? You know, I joke about, I joke about this. I love to do a reality show. It's a two week tour. It's a band. They're in a van. No gps, no cell phones. Here's your map. Good luck.

[Jeff Zito]

Here's your triptych.

[Chris Demakes]

We're not even gonna give them the old map quest you had to print out, okay? You just get your ass in the van and you start going. I mean, and not to be like the old guy, like, oh, the kids today, but everything's at your disposal on this device. I think people had to think a little bit more and they had to connect the dots Themselves. And let's remember back in the early, you know, the. We're calling the punk community or the Scott community. It just wasn't that big yet.

[Jeff Zito]

Right.

[Chris Demakes]

You know. Right. Green Day and Blink and Offspring and all that stuff hadn't. Hadn't hit the airwaves or MTV just quite yet. And we were just on the cusp of that. So, again, to your. To your point earlier, it was like these series of little. Little things that happened. And after that first tour, we came home with the money. I don't even really remember the next tour after that because it just. They just started bleeding into the next one.

[Jeff Zito]

I could tell you. I could tell you that when I first started working in Fort Myers, this is the late 90s, I remember there being a record rep in the. In the office. And his name was Rick Austin. He worked for Capitol Records. And he was. There was a Less Than Jake poster that we had in the studio, and he made reference to it and said, hey, you know, know, these guys are from right down the road. So this is when I first realized a little bit about Less Than Jake. This could have been 1998. I was familiar with the song I Think I love you, the Partridge Family cover. I think it was from a soundtrack, maybe like a huge movie soundtrack with Scream 2. Was that. Is that true? Is that the.

[Chris Demakes]

That. That. That's absolutely true. And I gotta. I got a funny story about David Cassidy with that whole thing.

[Jeff Zito]

Yeah, go ahead.

[Chris Demakes]

So. So again, it involved. It involves my dad. I took him to Vegas. I took him to Vegas in August of 1998. It was his 50th birthday, which trips me out because.

[Jeff Zito]

Yeah, because we're freaking 50. Yeah, man. I know, I know. Crazy.

[Chris Demakes]

So, you know. Yeah. I thought my dad wasn't gonna make it to 51, you know, he's 50. Holy. So I take my dad. Dad take my dad to Vegas. On the way out, we flew out of Sarasota, and that's where Jerry Springer. Jerry was. Jerry was on our flight to Vegas. No way. Which was just. Just hilarious. Yeah. We're walking through first class, and my dad's got one of those fucking camcorders the size of, like, a cinder block.

[Jeff Zito]

Yeah.

[Chris Demakes]

And he's, like, filming Jerry swear. I'm like, are you for real? You know, you're embarrassed.

[Jeff Zito]

You're wanting to crawl into a hole.

[Chris Demakes]

So we get out to Vegas. Now, this is my dad's 50th. But somehow, like, again, he was really vested in my career and he just. He loved every bit of it. Dad was a musician himself, so he was eating, breathing and sleeping this way. He got in touch with someone from the marketing department at Capital, and somehow, hey, you know, David Cassidy was doing a residency. So my dad one and I were walking into the mgm. He's like, where are we going? He's like, just don't worry about it. We're going through. And he meets up with some dude, some security guard takes us back. And he introduces new to David Cassidy, who was one of the stars on the Partage Family, who sang the song I Think I Love youe that less than Jake covered for the Scream 2 soundtrack. Now, I didn't give a fuck who David Cassidy was. I knew who he was, right? But at this point, David Cassidy was 43. Okay? Again, he was a dinosaur to me. And I remember him. I now know why he had the look on his face. Because I've had this look before when you got the fan in front of you, you. That really doesn't want to meet you. Like, someone else is with him that's excited for you to meet them, right? You're, like, looking at you, like, with, you know, like a smacked ass. Like the dog with the head sideways.

[Jeff Zito]

You're like, I don't really care, but this person does. You know that guy? Yeah.

[Chris Demakes]

Yeah. But he was just kind of like, yeah, you're the. You're the band that did the COVID Yeah, cool. Like, get the. Out of my dresser. That was the vibe I was getting.

[Jeff Zito]

Oh, God.

[Chris Demakes]

And so anyways, yeah, my dad, David Cassidy, that took a crazy right turn.

[Jeff Zito]

But that's okay, though. That's what this. We. That. That's. I think that's best part about these. You know, they take right turns. And sometimes, you know, those right turns take you to a place you weren't expecting. And. And it's, you know, it's great. I know exactly what you're talking about. That feeling of when somebody comes up to you and you think like, oh, hey, you know, I gotta. I gotta go meet this person. And they're like, hey, man, I really don't. I know who you are or listen or, you know, I don't. But, you know, it's like, wow, what. What an awkward moment. It's like, thanks or sorry. You don't know what to say. Oh, Jesus.

[Chris Demakes]

Yeah, we. We call that the German compliment. And then we're like, that.

[Jeff Zito]

I got. I know about the French exit. This is the German compliment. Okay.

[Chris Demakes]

Yeah. So you'll. You know, I've gotten off stage before 60,000 people at some festival Sweating my. Sweating my ass off. The crowd went nuts. We just killed it. And there'll be a fan, he'll even be in a less than Jake shirt. I'll have the records he wants you to sign. And the first thing out of the fan's mouth is he's like, hello, Chris, can you sign my record? J, I just want to tell you that you were good today, but you were better the last time I saw you at Highfield Festival.

[Jeff Zito]

Like, no filter.

[Chris Demakes]

Yeah. So you're sitting there scratching your head, going, how do you take that?

[Jeff Zito]

Oh, my God. You know, you're at the University of Florida. Is there any chance in your, you know, back in the. When you're in the moment, back in, you know, the early 90s, and you're. You're a gator, you're going to frat parties and you're, you know, doing beer pong, you're being regular cop. Is there any possible way in your mind that you're thinking what you're doing with the band is going to ultimately turn into a career?

[Chris Demakes]

Career? No. You know, I remember quitting college, I dropped out of uf, and my parents and some close family members, they all said the same thing, like, well, what's your backup plan, right, with the band? And I just remember just looking at them like, there is no fucking. There's no plan for tomorrow. I'm still a kid. And the adventure, you know, the one thing that saved me in my head because I was scared in the sense that, like, you know, at that age, at least, I don't want to let my parents down. We were really close, you know, and they wanted the best for me and they provided and they worked hard for my brother and I. But, you know, there was cases of beer being offered at backyard parties for people to hear my band play. And, you know, there might be some girls there and there might be some other bands, and this is great. And. And I'm in Gainesville. There's a record store on every corner. There's a bunch of different venues. There's international, there's national, there's local bands playing all the time. I was a kid in a candy store.

[Podcast Announcer]

The Celebrity Jobber podcast with Jeff Zito. Celebrity Jobber, what was your major?

[Jeff Zito]

What were you thinking about? You know, I know maybe. Maybe you were just in the moment and you weren't thinking, quote, unquote, backup plan. But did you go with a specific major. Major in, you know, in mind?

[Chris Demakes]

I did. I went. I went with the one that. That didn't have had the least amount of math, which was telecommunications.

[Jeff Zito]

Here we are, and here's why we're talking. How about that? It's, it's, it's known as the easiest major is what they tell you. Like, hey, just FYI, I think it's one of the most unfair questions, by the way, to ask an 18 year old kid, hey, what do you want to major in? Which means what do you want to say? Study so you can, you know, because you're gonna do this job for the rest of your life. It's such an unfair question because, I mean, I don't know what I want to do with my life today, but you know, regardless, I'm 18 years old and I also went to MCC Manatee Community College like Vinnie, like you mentioned earlier. But yeah, but I, I do remember, just like, I don't know what I want to do. Oh, well, communication is the easiest. And it's like, okay, let's do that. And you know, and I guess it's kind of funny, you took communications, I took communications, it's the easiest. But you know, here we are in a communications business, you know, kind of.

[Chris Demakes]

Well, yeah, I mean, I, I wasn't going to be a nuclear physicist. I knew that at a very young age. I knew my strengths and weaknesses and now I can talk about them. But you know, we all had our fears back then, but you know, you build on your strength and that's what I continue to try to do, is just build on, you know, what I'm good at. Build on what's centric to my world. That's why the podcast, it boomerangs back to the band, the band ricochets back to the podcast, back to the songwriting, back to talking to people such as yourself and going on other podcasts and doing interviews and just spreading the word, man, it's. In a lot of ways I feel like we were talking earlier about no Internet and all that. And I feel like picking up the phone and talking to somebody the old analog way and looking in their eye at a show and putting your hand out and asking what their name is and introducing yourself. That human connection will go farther than any digital form ever, in my opinion.

[Jeff Zito]

No doubt. And I think that's what the, you know, not to sound like, not for me to sound like an old man right now. But I think maybe that generation Gen Z, whatever it is, I think maybe they're lacking that. A handshake, a look in the eye. I, you know, I think that that skill goes a long way, you know, in life, which you Know, think about it. Me and you, we asked a girl to the prom. These days, kids, you know, they. They do some kind of skywriting and then a car shows up with a sign and you know, the. There is no interaction like that anymore.

[Chris Demakes]

No, no. You, you know, all of a sudden are hog tied in the back of a. Of a Lincoln and you're on your way to a prom.

[Podcast Announcer]

That's right.

[Jeff Zito]

So all these years we're, you know, in. You're in less than. Jake, you. You just mentioned you're. We're getting older. So the touring schedule is obviously going to kind of come down a little bit. You've got. You got families, you've got kids. Now. Now what, Is there other things that you do outside of music is outside the podcast, outside of the music business? Any other gigs that you are a part of these days?

[Chris Demakes]

Only voluntary things. I mean, this isn't a gig, but. Excuse me. I belong to a. They call it Z Fit where I'm at, But it's like CrossFit, basically. So I do that three to four days a week when I'm off the road to stay in shape. And I love it. It keeps me focused and otherwise I sit around and get fatter than I am. I was a little league coach for my son's little league team this past spring. That's a lot of fun. Yeah, yeah. My daughter is involved in dance. She's taking lyrical interpretation, dance and hip hop this time. Okay, we'll see how that goes. She's. She's seven. Seven years old and she's just trying all kinds of things. And that keeps me. Keep. Keeps you running around. We got a couple dogs here. I got my home studio. I. I wish there was more hours in the day sometimes. Other days when I'm. When I'm consumed and going crazy, I wish there was. There was less days. And I'm sure you can relate to that.

[Jeff Zito]

Definitely. Definitely. Well, I mean, I gotta tell you, man, I think it's remarkable that, you know, Less than Jake has had this career and this career back in the. I just want to say one thing. And my, you know, my involvement in programming at the time was very little to none. But what we were doing at the station, I worked at 99X in Fort Myers, which was very close to you in Port Charlotte. Even though you, You've pretty much formed the band in Gainesville. I think we kind of, of. We kind of took less than Jake. We kind of, you know, made. We made you a local. A local band for us. We. We were like embrace.

[Chris Demakes]

Oh, yeah.

[Jeff Zito]

Embrace you as a local band. But we didn't do enough. We didn't do enough. I, I wasn't involved, like I said at the time. But when you guys were, were, were doing it and you were big, I mean, it was like, you know, newfound glory. And there were so many bands just like that in that scene before they like really blew up. And we, we should have really wrapped our arms around Less than Jake and had a real, you know, because I think the radio station kind of missed the mark on really embracing the band back in 98, 99, 2000. Right at that sweet spot where things really blew up for that genre, you know.

[Chris Demakes]

Well, you know, thanks for saying that. I think, you know, you know, looking in the rear view mirror, I feel lucky, and I don't use that term like self deprecating, but I feel lucky to not only have had a part in it too, but to be remembered as a van that was floating in that scene. You know, you gotta remember, you know, MTV commercial radio, you had about 10, 11 slots an hour. Okay. The rest of it was filled commercials or whatever. And you were hearing the same stuff. It was the Chili Peppers into Soundgarden, into Green Day into whatever it was, right. Your playlists. And there's a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes. There still is. They used to call it payola, however you want to want to call it. There's politics, you know, and I know a lot of bands that work tremendously hard, had great songs that aren't even a blip on the radar. So, you know, I tend to look back as fondly as I can about those times and I'm still lucky to be playing Land to People.

[Jeff Zito]

Any regrets?

[Chris Demakes]

I kind of touched on this a little bit with Mark Hoppus in the episode. I wish I would have stopped and, and smelled the roses back then a little bit at the time, soaked in a little bit more. But I think that's impossible, right?

[Jeff Zito]

It is.

[Chris Demakes]

I don't know if. I don't know if I was capable of. I don't know if I'm capable of slowing down at 51 in my brain, let alone at 21. Right.

[Jeff Zito]

No, I think it is impossible. I mean, it sounds good right now, like, hey, you know, suck, you know, take it all in, take a minute to, you know, enjoy this experience. But, you know, at 21 years old, you're, you know, thinking about catching a buzz, maybe getting laid and, you know, surviving to the next town perhaps. I don't know. But yeah, I think it's impossible to. To do that. But if that's the only regret, man, I think you've. I think success is. I mean, it's a success. The whole thing is a success, man, you know, from start to finish.

[Chris Demakes]

That's how we look at. I just got off the road four days ago. I played Nashville this past Saturday night. And, you know, parents are bringing their kids out now, anywhere from seven years old to teenage age to college age. They're coming out, they're having a night together. The band is, I don't know necessarily commercially bigger than we were 25 years ago in the States, but business is better than ever. There's more people coming to see the band now than ever before. And I'll take it.

[Jeff Zito]

Absolutely. Well, I gotta tell you, Chris, you know, your time is valuable. I appreciate your time. Again, I think it's pretty funny that we, you know, we're from around the same parts and, you know, kind of. Kind of in the same biz a little bit. I'm way less creative, but, you know, really haven't had that conversation before today, and I'm really glad that we. We got a chance to. To do it. And. And I won't let you off the hook for maybe one day when you're bored and not doing anything. You can write me one of those catchy jingles. Mad. I'd owe you forever. So.

[Chris Demakes]

So I, I love. I love that. And thank. Thanks for the kind words, not only about the band and myself, but my father in that time period, you know, you. You were one of the people that were fighting for us at that station. And we, We. We knew who our supporters were. So I really appreciate that, Jeff.

[Jeff Zito]

And. And again, your. Your dad was such a cool guy, and I remember, like, it was yesterday, meeting him at a few of the gigs, and he used to call our show show. And so it was like, kind of my connection to you was. Was through your dad. So it was really great stories about him. And, and remembering him today was really, really good talking to you and, And. And learning more about your family. And they were good people. You said you grew up great. You know, they. They worked hard for you. What kind of business. What did mom and dad do for business?

[Chris Demakes]

Yeah, so they both sang together. And, you know, they would do anything from Holiday Inn, you know, the Holiday Inn bar, nightclub gig, to weddings and birthday parties and corporate functions and graduations and retirement parties. So music was always in the house, and they would do that two, three nights a week, usually the Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and During the day, my dad was in real estate.

[Jeff Zito]

Gotcha. So. So there, there was basically, there was no. When you, you were deciding to go, you know, go down this road and become a musician, mom and dad didn't talk out of it. They were pretty supportive because they were, they were living it.

[Chris Demakes]

Yeah, they were living it. I think that they knew if there was ever a time for me to do it, at least I wasn't 35, 40 years old. You know, I was young and, you know, I think they were as you would be, because the odds are, the odds of making money in the music industry are. It's tough. It's a tough business out there. Very tough. And, you know, they, I don't think they were rooting against us. In fact, I know they weren't rooting against me or the band, but the odds of us doing what we did, they just, they, they didn't see it. We didn't see it. But they were looking at the bigger picture. Like we talked about earlier, what, what happens, what about tomorrow? And tomorrow to them was five, ten years down the road. And all I could think about was, hey, they offered us free beer at the pig party more night. So they said, they said they're gonna pass the hat. You know, maybe we'll get another 20 bucks.

[Jeff Zito]

Right on. Chris to makes a podcast. I'm gonna tell you right now, if you're a fan of music, you gotta check it out because there's some incredible stories. And again, just, I really appreciate your time and it was really great getting a chance to, you know, getting to know you a little bit after all these years. So thank you so much, Chris.

[Chris Demakes]

Yeah, thank you so much. And next time I'm around, hit me up. I'd love to hang out.

[Jeff Zito]

You know, I didn't quite realize this as we were chatting, but I think Chris was doing dishes during that interview. It's a pretty domestic kind of guy. I'm impressed. And if you want to go back to the Marlon Wayne's episode, which is in the early, early parts of this podcast, like, I don't know, number four, number five, number six, somewhere in there, I think he's working out during that entire episode. So. So not only in a band called Less Than Jake, still touring today, 30, 30 some odd years later, and an upcoming European tour on Instagram at Less Than Jake. For more details. So that sounds like his main gig still to this day, all the way back to his first gig at the China Fair in Port Charlotte. Thought that was probably one of the greatest first jobs stories that I've ever heard. And quite common for the job to not pay you during quote unquote training. I've been down that road before, but my dad never got pissed off to the fact of bringing me down to the job and telling the guy that runs the place to reach into the frickin cash register and pull out some cash. Can you imagine if that happened to you and you went back to work there like the next day? Yeah, I, I probably wouldn't have gone back either. So then Chris got a job a few hundred yards away at an Italian joint washing dishes. You know, Chris also talked about having a songwriting job, you know, like his own business where he was writing little jingles for businesses and songs for people who hated their boss. And I tried to get him to write one for the Celebrity Jobber podcast. I at least put it out there, we'll see if I can ever get that, that done. And of course, his podcast, Chris Demakes a podcast, it's available on, you know, all the platforms and on Instagram at. Chris Demakes, that's D E M A K E S A podcast. Really cool guy. Was really excited to chat with him, get to know him a little bit as we've been kind of in this world, you know, over the last 30 years and really, really didn't know each other. So I was glad I finally got the opportunity to do that today. Man, thank you so much for checking out this podcast. The Celebrity Jobber Podcast number one, the Apple podcast music interviews chart. You can follow on IG Celebrity Jobber underscore podcast or you can go to YouTube.com the Celebrity Jobber. You know, it all started in Port Charlotte, Florida, but it really blew up, blew up in Gainesville, Rock City when Chris was a student at uf. And you know, if I told my dad when I was in college that I was gonna start a band, he would have choked me. But since Chris's mom and dad were kind of in the business, musical people and they did kind of gig on the side, so they were really supportive and they were like, hey man, go ahead, do it. Follow your dreams. And at an early age he did and it worked out. He saw the world and is still doing it today. Thank you so much for checking out yet another episode of the Celebrity Jobber Podcast. Please subscribe. Would love a five star rating and please leave a review. We're streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Iheart or wherever you listen to podcasts. So thank you once again and until next week, I'll see you then. I'm Jeff Zito.