Vinnie Fiorello

Vinnie Fiorello is the drummer, lyricist and founding member of the ska punk band Less Than Jake. As a child, Vinnie's family owned a dog named Jake who was "treated like a king" according to the band's website FAQ page. As a result, everything in the house became "Less Than Jake", spawning the band's name. Vinnie is known to be a collector of PEZ, along with Less Than Jake bandmate Roger Manganelli. Vinnie grew up in New Jersey, having moved to Gainesville, FL at the age of 16. As a result, almost every Less Than Jake album features a reference to New Jersey. Though his drumming style does not reflect it, Vinnie was influenced by Dave Lombardo of Slayer. It was his idea to record two Slayer covers ("Evil Has No Boundaries" and "The Antichrist", respectively) and release a 7". These two covers are found on rarities collection "Goodbye Blue and White". As the lyricist, Vinnie is generally regarded as the symbolic frontman for the band, despite being the drummer, and is usually the subject of any interviews with the band as it was he and Chris Demakes, the band's guitarist, who founded the band at the University of Florida in 1992. Vinnie is the founder, and former owner, of the Fueled by Ramen record label. Originally a small project to release music of bands he personally liked, the label expanded, releasing music from such high-profile artists as Panic! at the Disco and Fall Out Boy, and list the likes of Yellowcard, Jimmy Eat World and Home Grown as label alumni. Vinnie stated in his blog that he left Fueled by Ramen in late 2006, having been at odds with the record company's direction for a while as well as lacking his personal influence, but the split is not widely considered to be acrimonious. He also owns the online designer toy and clothes company Wünderland War, formerly Monkey vs. Robot. The company have previously sponsored a Threadless competition. They are currently manufacturing their third series of toys, entitled "Symptoms", and is creating a new music management company called SETAFIRE.

See also

• Less Than Jake
• Fueled by Ramen
• Wünderland War

External links

• Vinnie's blog
• Wunderland War's official site
• Wunderland War's MySpace
• Vinnie on premier-percussion.com