role:: Guitar role:: Vocals
Biography
Christopher DeMakes (born September 27, 1973) is the guitarist and, along with Roger Lima, vocalist of the ska-punk band Less Than Jake. DeMakes is one of the original band members, as well as the former drummer Vinnie Fiorello. While Fiorello was the lyricist, DeMakes and Lima write the music, and have taken over writing the lyrics along with JR.
He was born in Michigan, however, he grew up in Port Charlotte, Florida where he met Vinnie Fiorello. The two friends played in a local band, Needless Guilt and when DeMakes moved to Gainesville, Florida to attend the University of Florida, Fiorello followed suit to ensure their musical collaboration would continue.
DeMakes is known for his stage presence. Along with saying outrageous things on stage, he appears to have a penchant for running around the drum kit during songs and getting the crowd to start huge mosh/circle pits. He sometimes dresses up in costumes for Less Than Jake’s live shows, though this was mostly done during the earlier years. Some examples include a gym teacher, a redneck, a baseball player, an 80’s metalhead, a college professor and more recently, Bob Barker from The Price Is Right.
A few of Less Than Jake’s songs are written about DeMakes’ actual friends. Mark Cruce, mentioned in the lyrics of Mr. Chevy Celebrity is one example of this. Also, according to Fiorello, the song Jen Doesn’t Like Me Anymore is about a girl who had a crush on DeMakes, but ending up hating him in the end.
When not touring with Less Than Jake, DeMakes records solo material. He is a guest vocalist on the 2010 album The Seven Degrees Of Stephen Egerton by Descendents guitarist Stephen Egerton. He performed on the Ska Goes Solo Tour with JT Turret of The Arrogant Sons of Bitches and Ryan Eldred of Catch 22 in 2014. He released the song “Up” on the Ska Goes Solo split 7-inch prior to the tour.
Read more.