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Vinnie Fiorello

Vinnie Fiorello (born June 24, 1974) is an American drummer, lyricist and a founding member of the ska punk band Less Than Jake. As a child, Fiorello'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. Fiorello is known to be a collector of Pez dispensers, as is his Less Than Jake bandmate Roger Manganelli.Fiorello grew up in New Jersey but moved to Gainesville, Florida at the age of 16. As a result, almost every Less Than Jake album has a reference to New Jersey. Though his drumming style does not reflect it, Fiorello was influenced by Dave Lombardo of Slayer. It was his idea to record two Slayer cover versions ("Evil Has No Boundaries" and "The Antichrist") and to release a 7". These two songs are found on the rarities collection Goodbye Blue and White.As the lyricist, Fiorello 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.Fiorello 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 Yellowcard, Jimmy Eat World and Home Grown as label alumni. Fiorello 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. Since then, he and his Less Than Jake bandmates have created a new record label, Sleep It Off Records.He also owns the online designer toy and clothes company Wünderland War, formerly Monkey vs. Robot. The company has sponsored a Threadless competition. It is currently manufacturing its third series of toys, called "Symptoms", and is creating a new music management company called SETAFIRE. Fiorello has also recently started Paper + Plastick, a record label focused on joining artwork and music.As well as a musician, Fiorello is a children's author. His first book, Sometimes Robots Like Being Robots: 13 Stories Looking Into the World of Robots, was published in December 2008.