| Mike Burkett | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Michael John Burkett |
| Also known as | Fat Mike |
| Born | January 31, 1967 |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California |
| Genres | Punk rock |
| Instruments | Bass, vocals, keyboards, guitar |
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Labels | Epitaph, Fat Wreck Chords |
| Associated acts | NOFX Me First and the Gimme Gimmes False Alarm Cokie the Clown |
| Website | www.nofxofficialwebsite.com |
| Notable instruments | |
| Danelectro | |
Michael John Burkett (born January 31, 1967 in Newton, Massachusetts), better known as Fat Mike is an American musician, producer, lead vocalist, and bassist for the punk rock band NOFX, as well as bassist for the punk rock supergroup cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.
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The moniker "Fat Mike" was given to Mike by friends after he returned from college and it was evident that he had gained a little weight.[1] While attending Beverly Hills High School, Mike began his musical career with the band False Alarm. After the band split up in 1983, he met Eric Melvin and Erik Sandin and formed the original line-up of NOFX.
Mike is the owner and founder of Fat Wreck Chords, one of the biggest independent labels in North America. He was also the founder of the Rock Against Bush tour. The purpose was to encourage young Americans to vote George W. Bush out of office in 2004.
Mike recently recorded the "Cokie the Clown" EP with NOFX, playing Cokie on both the cover of the EP and the music video for the title-track, "Cokie the Clown". In the video, Mike dresses as Cokie and puts white powder into his squirting flower, representing cocaine. Cokie then walks around Chicago squirting powder in pedestrians' faces, as chronicled in the song itself. The video was shot during the punk music festival, Riot Fest, in October 2009.
Mike appeared in the 2010 music documentary "Sounds Like A Revolution", a survey of new protest music in North America. He also appears as a guest vocalist on the Dropkick Murphys single "Going Out In Style".
Burkett lives in San Francisco, California. He and his wife Erin divorced in 2010 after 18 years of marriage. They have a daughter named Darla.[2]
He is of Jewish heritage, but does not practice Judaism.
At Emo's, a popular nightclub in Austin during the 2010 South by Southwest festival, Fat Mike has made appearances as Cokie the Clown, but one of his most memorable was the SXSW fest.[3] He recounted several graphic and disturbing stories about his life, and played several songs both previously released and unreleased. He also tricked several members of the audience into drinking tequila, before showing them a video of himself filling a partially full bottle of tequila to the top with urine to shocked reactions. The stunt was later revealed as a joke on NOFX's website, which showed Fat Mike switching out the urine bottle for an untainted one before making audience members drink it. Mike has since been banned from Emo's. Fat Mike has been credited with creating the phrase "Nawesome", which means not awesome.[4]
He is a drug-user. He has never used codeine or heroin, however, according to this tweet regarding this drawing published by Vice.
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