Vincent "Vinnie" Fiorello (born June 24, 1974) is an American rock musician and businessman. He co-founded the

ska punk Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music together. (sometimes spelled skacore) is a subgenre of ska punk that mixes ska with hardcore punk. Early ska punk mixed both 2 tone and ska with hardc ...

band

Less Than Jake Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida, formed in 1992. The band consists of Chris DeMakes (guitars, vocals), Roger Lima (bass, vocals), Matt Yonker (drums), Buddy Schaub (trombone), and Peter "JR" Wasilewski (saxoph ...

in 1992, and was the band's

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

and

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income ...

until 2018. He also founded the record labels

Fueled by Ramen Fueled by Ramen LLC is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by 300 Elektra Entertainment. The label, founded in Gainesville, Florida in 1996, is now based in New York City. History John Janick conceived of the lab ...

, Sleep It Off Records, and Paper + Plastick, in addition to several local businesses in

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gaine ...

Biography

Fiorello was born on June 24, 1974 in

Rahway, New Jersey Rahway () is a city in southern Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A bedroom community of New York City, it is centrally located in the Rahway Valley region, in the New York metropolitan area. The city is southwest of Manhattan ...

. He grew up in New Jersey but moved to

at age 16. Vinnie Fiorello and Chris DeMakes founded the band

while attending the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in 1992. Band members have told various media outlets different versions of the origin of the band's name. DeMakes has stated in interviews that the band's name came from Fiorello's family's pet parrot. His story claimed that the parrot would squawk during the band's practice sessions, leading to Fiorello's mother telling the band that they needed to stop playing because they were disturbing the bird. This would lead to the band referring to themselves as being "less than Jake." In June 2020, however, Fiorello clarified that Jake was not a parrot but was, in fact, an English Bulldog. In 1996, Fiorello co-founded the record label

with

John Janick John Janick is an American record executive. He is the chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M Records. Janick has been named to Billboard’s Power 100 list every year since 2014 and was named Variety's Hitmakers Executive of the year in 2018 ...

. He left the label in 2006. In the summer of 2015, Fiorello and his friend Eric Jazvac opened a

tattoo parlor A tattoo artist (also tattooer or tattooist) is an individual who applies permanent decorative tattoos, often in an established business called a "tattoo shop", "tattoo studio" or "tattoo parlour". Tattoo artists usually learn their craft via an ...

, Wunderland Custom Tattooing, in downtown

. On October 24, 2018, Fiorello announced that while he would remain a member of Less Than Jake, he would no longer be touring with the band. After Fiorello's announcement, the band recruited

Teen Idols The Teen Idols were a pop punk band originally from Nashville, Tennessee. They were formed in 1992 by Phillip Hill and originally broke up in 2003. The band reunited in 2008 in Chicago, Illinois, with a retooled lineup before breaking up again in ...

drummer Matt Yonker as their touring drummer. On September 1, 2019,

Roger Lima Rogério Lima Manganelli (born October 31, 1973), commonly known as Roger Lima, is an American musician, best known as the bassist and co-lead vocalist of the ska-punk band Less Than Jake. He also performs as the lead singer and rhythm guitar ...

announced via social media that despite prior reports, Fiorello was no longer with the band in any capacity and would not be participating in the creation of the band's upcoming album. In October 2019, ''

High Times ''High Times'' is an American monthly magazine (and cannabis brand) that advocates the Legalization of non-medical cannabis in the United States, legalization of cannabis as well as other counterculture ideas. The magazine was founded in 1974 by ...

'' reported that Fiorello had founded a CBD brand called Sailor Diggen's Finest.

Personal life

Fiorello has a daughter, Liliana Rose, who was born on September 3, 2011.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fiorello, Vinnie 1974 births American punk rock drummers American male drummers Living people Musicians from New Jersey People from Port Charlotte, Florida Musicians from Gainesville, Florida Port Charlotte High School alumni University of Florida alumni 20th-century American drummers 21st-century American drummers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Businesspeople in the cannabis industry American music industry executives 21st-century American businesspeople American lyricists

Biography

Personal life

See also

References

External links