NOFX

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Background information
Origin San Francisco, California, USA
Genre(s) Skate punk
Pop punk
Melodic hardcore
Ska Punk
Years active 1983–Present
Label(s) Epitaph, Fat Wreck Chords
Website Official website
Members
Fat Mike
El Hefe
Eric Melvin
Erik Sandin

NOFX is a skate punk band from San Francisco, California, United States, formed in 1983 in Los Angeles.

The original lineup included singer/bassist Fat Mike (Mike Burkett), drummer Erik Sandin, and guitarist Eric Melvin. Since 1991 (and after several line-up changes) El Hefe (real name Aaron Abeyta) has played second guitar and trumpet. The band's sound is diverse, utilizing elements of skate punk, hardcore punk, ska, and other music genres. Their lyrics generally satirize issues such as politics, society, various subcultures, racism, the music industry, and religion, often using a large amount of comedy.

NOFX has released 10 studio full lengths, 10 EPs, and many 7" singles. The group has sold over 6 million records worldwide, and are one of the most successful independent bands of all time [1].

Their name is derived from the Boston hardcore band Negative FX [2]. Fat Mike and other band members are admitted fans of Straight Edge bands like Minor Threat, and some members of NOFX have experimented with the Straight Edge ethos[3].

Contents

[edit] Career

NOFX's first recording was a demo from 1983, produced by Germs drummer Don Bolles, which did not sell any copies. They released their self-titled debut EP NOFX on Mystic Records in 1985, which was later re-released in 1992 as part of the Maximum RocknRoll CD. For a year, Erik Sandin left the band and was replaced by Scott Sellers, then Scott Aldahl. Dave Allen was in the band for about four months, until he died in a car accident. In 1986, the band released "So What if We're on Mystic!", Dave Casillas joined the band on second guitar in 1987 and was featured on the EP The P.M.R.C. Can Suck on This!, attacking the PMRC's call for censorship of music. The original cover was an edited S&M photo, but the re-released version was changed to a photo of Eric Melvin.

NOFX 1995 release HOFX pressed on splatter colored vinyl.
NOFX 1995 release HOFX pressed on splatter colored vinyl.

Dave then left the band and was replaced by Steve Kidwiller (AKA Steve the Caucasian). They recorded Liberal Animation in 1988 (before Dave was replaced by Steve) with Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion. Although the title and some lyrics mocked vegetarianism and animal rights, Fat Mike says that he became a vegetarian, after he wrote the Liberal Animation album. The album was re-released in 1991 on Gurewitz's label Epitaph Records. NOFX had signed to Epitaph by 1989, releasing their second album S&M Airlines. 1990 saw the release of Ribbed. By 1991, there had been a lot of changes to the band lineup. However, the original three members had reunited and Aaron Abeyta (aka El Hefe) joined to round out the group. White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean was released in 1992, which originally had the title White Trash, Two Kikes, and a Spic. The original title was changed because Eric Melvin's grandmother was upset about the racial epithets[4].

It was not until the 1994 release of Punk in Drublic that the band had a commercial breakthrough, with the album going gold. In the same year, pop punk entered the mainstream with the success of The Offspring's Smash and Green Day's Dookie. In 1999, the band released The Decline, a fiery and pessimistic social commentary. Having a duration of 18 minutes and 23 seconds, it is nearly the longest punk song to date — second only to "Yes Sir, I Will" by Crass, which spans more than 22 minutes.[citation needed]

In 2003, NOFX released War on Errorism, an album of political songs. It became the start of their anti-George W. Bush campaign, and a rallying point for leftist punks. Fat Mike organized the website Punkvoter.com, compiled two chart-topping Rock Against Bush CDs, and kicked off a Rock Against Bush United States tour. The band has released many EPs (i.e. Fuck the Kids, The Longest Line) on Fat Mike's own label Fat Wreck Chords. In February 2005, they launched the NOFX 7" of the Month Club, a subscription-based service which saw the release of one new EP almost monthly, from February 2005 to March 2006 (a total of 12 releases). The cover art for these EPs were chosen from fan-submitted entries. The first 3000 subscribers to the club received all of their records on colored vinyl. Fat Wreck Chords later released full sets of the EPs.

On March 14, 2006, an EP entitled Never Trust a Hippy was released. The EP was followed on April 18 by the album Wolves in Wolves' Clothing. On September 12, 2006, the video game EA Sports NHL07 was released, featuring Wolves in Wolves' Clothing on its soundtrack produced by Bill Stevenson and Fat Mike.

In 2007, the band recorded two nights of recent shows in San Francisco, California for an upcoming live album.

[edit] Relationship with the media

Since 1994, they have consented to very few interviews, and have made only a few music videos. Fat Mike did an interview for Guitar World in 2003, giving his opinions on the pop punk bands rising at the time. Fat Mike was interviewed by Australian radio station Triple J in 2004, and in February 2007 by Triple J hosts, Jay and the Doctor, who have also performed shows with NOFX, with their band, Frenzal Rhomb. An extensive, nearly 20-page interview was done for a 2003 issue of AMP Magazine. Fat Mike did an interview with the punk magazine Big Cheese, discussing S&M, his wife, pop punk bands and NOFX's music. He was also interviewed in the November 2006 issue of Thrasher Skateboard Magazine. The band also has denied permission to allow their music videos to be played on MTV.

The credits on the album Heavy Petting Zoo calls on MTV, along with major labels, to quit harassing them and playing their music.

Fat Mike of NOFX has also been criticized for causing Underoath to leave the 2006 Warped Tour, although the members of Underoath have denied that he had anything to do with it. In an interview with Tim McTague, he explained Fat Mike and his involvement with them.

"That wasn’t an issue. I mean, that was an issue on the tour in the sense of like there were some things that were said that probably shouldn’t have been said by him. But it never really got to the point where it affected us. That wasn’t the breaking point really for us at all. I think he definitely played a role in making a lot of our stuff public and exaggerating a lot of our beliefs and a lot of our conversations that we had to him. So he definitely loves to stir the pot, and I’ll give him that. But beyond that, we shouldn’t have been on Warped Tour to begin with. It definitely wasn’t a Fat Mike thing." Interview with Tim McTague

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

Album Cover Date of Release Title Label US Billboard Peak US sales
1988, re-released in 1991 Liberal Animation Epitaph n/a
1989 S&M Airlines Epitaph n/a
1991 Ribbed Epitaph n/a
1992 White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean Epitaph n/a
1994 Punk in Drublic Epitaph 12 (Heatseekers) Gold
1996 Heavy Petting Zoo Epitaph 63 (Billboard 200)
1997 So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes Epitaph 79 (Billboard 200)
2000 Pump up the Valuum Epitaph 61 (Billboard 200)
2003 The War on Errorism Fat Wreck Chords 44 (Billboard 200)
2006 Wolves in Wolves' Clothing Fat Wreck Chords 46 (Billboard 200)

[edit] Live albums

Album Cover Date of Release Title Label US Billboard Peak US sales
1995 I Heard They Suck Live!! Fat Wreck Chords 198 (Billboard 200)
TBD 2007 TBD Fat Wreck Chords

[edit] EPs

Album Cover

 Date of Release Title Label US Billboard Peak US sales
1985 NOFX (EP) Mystic Records n/a
1986 So What If We're on Mystic! Mystic Records n/a
1987, re-released in 1990 The P.M.R.C. Can Suck on This! Colosal Wassail Re-released on Fat Wreck Chords n/a
1992 The Longest Line Fat Wreck Chords n/a
1995 Leave it Alone (EP) Epitaph n/a
1996 Fuck the Kids Fat Wreck Chords n/a
1999 The Decline Fat Wreck Chords #200
2001 Surfer Fat Wreck Chords n/a
2003 Regaining Unconsciousness Fat Wreck Chords 187 (Billboard 200)
2006 Never Trust a Hippy Fat Wreck Chords 186 (Billboard 200)

[edit] Singles

Album Cover

 Date of Release Title Label US Billboard Peak US sales
1992 Liza and Louise Fat Wreck Chords n/a
1994 Don't Call Me White Fat Wreck Chords n/a
1995 HOFX Fat Wreck Chords n/a
1996 All of Me Fat Wreck Chords n/a
1999 Timmy the Turtle Fat Wreck Chords n/a
1999 Louise and Liza Fat Wreck Chords n/a
2000 Pods and Gods Fat Wreck Chords n/a
2000 Bottles to the Ground Epitaph n/a
2001 Fat Club 7 Fat Wreck Chords n/a
2003 13 Stitches Fat Wreck Chords n/a
2005-2006 7" of the Month Club Fat Wreck Chords n/a

[edit] Splits

Album Cover Date of Release Title Label US Billboard Peak US sales
1988 Drowning Roses/NOFX Split X-Mist Records n/a
2002 BYO Split Series, Vol. 3 BYO Records n/a

[edit] Compilations

Album Cover Date of Release Title Label US Billboard Peak US sales
1992 Maximum Rocknroll Mystic Records n/a
2002 45 or 46 Songs That Weren't Good Enough to Go on Our Other Records Fat Wreck Chords n/a
2004 The Greatest Songs Ever Written (By Us!) Epitaph Records n/a

[edit] Videos

Video Cover Date of Release Title Label US Billboard Peak US sales
1994 Ten Years of Fuckin' Up Fat Wreck Chords n/a

[edit] Trivia

  • NOFX have long derided rural or politically conservative metropolitan areas as backward, racist and closed-minded. The California city of Bakersfield seems to embody all the (traditional) values that the band loves to hate. Bakersfield is mentioned in the songs "Leaving Jesusland" and "Instant Crassic" (both from the Wolves in Wolves' Clothing album), each time in quite negative contexts.
  • While sharing a festival bill in Hawaii with Riot Grrrl band Bikini Kill, Fat Mike dedicated the song "Liza and Louise" to the Seattle feminist band.[5].("Liza and Louise" recounts a comical lesbian romance.) NOFX recorded a song called "Kill Rock Stars" (from the album So Long and Thanks for all the Shoes) which admonished Bikini Kill singer Kathleen Hanna that "you can't change the world by hating men". (Kill Rock Stars is the name of Hanna's record label.)
  • "El Hefe" sounds similar to "El Jefe" (which translates to "The Boss" in Spanish).

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://fatwreck.com/band/index/6
  2. ^ http://www.nofx.org/qa/qa_read.php3?page=1
  3. ^ http://www.nofxofficialwebsite.com
  4. ^ http://www.nofx.org/oldint/flipside97.html
  5. ^ http://www.nofxwiki.net/1999/interviews/bikini.html

[edit] External links

NOFX
Fat Mike | El Hefe | Eric Melvin | Erik Sandin
Scott Sellers | Scott Aldahl | Dave Allen | Dave Casillas | Steve Kidwiller
Discography
Studio albums: Liberal Animation | S&M Airlines | Ribbed | White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean | Punk in Drublic | Heavy Petting Zoo | So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes | Pump Up the Valuum | The War on Errorism | Wolves in Wolves' Clothing
Extended plays: NOFX | So What If We're on Mystic! | The P.M.R.C. Can Suck on This! | The Longest Line | Liza and Louise |Don't Call Me White | Leave it Alone | HOFX | Fuck the Kids | Louise and Liza | All of Me | Timmy the Turtle | The Decline | Bottles to the Ground | Pods and Gods | Fat Club 7 | Surfer | Regaining Unconsciousness | 13 Stitches | 7" of the Month Club | Never Trust a Hippy
Compilation and live albums: I Heard They Suck Live!! | Maximum Rocknroll | 45 or 46 Songs That Weren't Good Enough to Go on Our Other Records | The Greatest Songs Ever Written (By Us!)
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