L T J !!!
I love Less Than Jake. When I listen to them, I am happy. Its one of those groups that make me think of really great times in life. Whenever I get a request to play something happy, I immediately go to LTJ. I found a couple of their albums on Spotify, which is a new music search player / program brand new to me. Its amazing.
But anyway, I remember back in the day when I was in the architecture program at UF. My friend Johnny was a well known character in the arch building. He was Albert the Alligator too, the school's mascot so he was all over the place. Everyone - all the professors in the department - loved Johnny too. He's got a great life story and is a very zen dude...
Anyway, one night a kid came in from one of Less Than Jake's shows while everyone was working on their models in studio. He said something about LTJ and how cool they were or whatever. Johnny, without knowing that this kid was actually good buds with the band said "Those guys are sellouts!"... for no reason really. Johnny was also aptly named "Johnny Quest" at school. I think Don was the one who took the 'sellout' comment back to the band... So, the band's first hit was born. Johnny Quest Thinks We're Sellouts. Classic...
It wasn't long before the Quest song went wild and LTJ moved from playing shows in Gville to other places... out of the state and then around the world. But the guys from the band were always cool. Gainesville's such a cool town, I love it everytime I return. Its like MY hometown. I really grew into a human there, from a kid that is! But LTJ was the band I always remember, everytime.
Chris, the lead singer / guitarist was going to supply some music for my tv show back in 1999/2000, but it was at that time they started another world tour and I missed the chance. They liked my show. Most people did I think because it was so irrelevant and just fun. There was never a point, always lots of randomness and local faces. I've got to build a website for the show sometime.
The last time I spoke with anyone in the band was Roger. He plays a mean bass. I think that night it was dollar PBR's at the Mellow Mushroom. So, I was doodling in my sketchbook and we chatted for a bit. This was probably 2004 or so. He mentioned that he thought it was weird that the band just got signed "to the same label as Michael Jackson and Madonna". He laughed about it a couple times. I remember saying "that's fucked up!". He smiled and agreed.
We had another beer and he began talking about recording at some producer's house in Malibu. That's where he was flying off to the next day. He's a great guy. He's got the connection to Gainesville that I do I think... yet stronger since he owns a house there. I think he's still running a recording studio out of his house too. Again, every one of the guys in that band are solid. Really down to Earth and cool. Great music. Thank God for Less Than Jake.