I have loved NOFX for as long as I can remember.
When I was 15 I hosted a community radio show, and on Saturday mornings when I was meant to do the weather report, I would play 'Drugs Are Good', which resulted in my mum being called into the studio for a 'meeting'.So, when I sat down with NOFX's lead singer and bassist Fat Mike, to chat about NOFX’s final tour ever and his latest release 'Fat Mike Gets Strung Out', I should have known nothing was going to go as planned.
To set the scene, the first ten seconds went like this: Fat Mike: "Hello, you look peppy and happy today!" Hannah: "Today is the best day of my life!" Fat Mike: "Did you get your first period? Sorry, was that sexist? I don't want to offend ma'am."
Fat Mike (whether he meant it or not) had said he didn't want to offend me, words heard very rarely from the punk pioneer, who has built a reputation on being contentious and unapologetically himself. "What a fun way to go through life. No pride, no shame."
For eight years NOFX refused to do interviews. They broke their silence in 2004, leading up to the US Presidential election (won by George W. Bush).
I asked Fat Mike how I could make this chat as much fun for him as possible. "I'm sick of answering questions. Put an exclamation point at the end of everything, it will be funny."
When I did rephrase my question to a statement, Fat Mike asked why I was so angry. We're off to a chaotic start, and I was loving every second.
Nearly a year after playing Good Things Festival, NOFX announced earlier in September they were returning to Australia one, last time. Fat Mike thanks the great goddesses that Good Things was not their last time here.
Ironically, on the Good Things 2022 poster, it said NOFX were playing 'Punk In Drublic' in full, which they didn't want to do because: "NOFX are not a nostalgic act."
Now it looks like they're coming back to do exactly that, along with 'Wolves In Wolves' Clothing', 'The War On Errorism', 'White Trash, Two Heebs And A Bean', 'So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes And The Decline'. Or so I thought.
"Umm yeah. That's not true. We won't be playing 'Punk In Drublic' at all. About three weeks ago, [guitarist] El Hefe said 'you know we just played 'Punk In Drublic' at that stupid festival'; we're not going to do it again. I think we're doing 'Pump Up The Valuum' instead."
NOFX are performing their "best albums" in each country, in their entirety and in order. Each performance will feature a massive 40 songs, with each night curated by 3 specific albums.
It'll be a NOFX tour unlike any other because this time they are actually practicing. Before the Australian shows kick off in Sydney next January, NOFX will be spending time rehearsing in Darwin.
It's not a secret, NOFX love coming to Australia; even giving us a shoutout in 'Franco Un-American (from 2003 album 'The War On Errorism') singing: "Hang down low with the nice Australians."
So, it goes without saying, Fat Mike has fond memories from previous tours here. He shared with me the time he was filmed in a dungeon with Lindsay McDougall (Frenzal Rhomb) and Steveo Jocz (Sum 41).
"Two dominatrixes beat the sh.t out of me and didn't let me breathe very much. Then they put needles through my tits." The next morning, Fat Mike and Lindsay had to go on the 'Morning Show' and it "didn't feel so good". Yet, NOFX can't wait to come back down under.
We know that Fat Mike is being serious when he says that these are NOFX’s final shows, because Fat Mike doesn't lie.
"When I was young, I had a couple friends stay over, they were stoned and I wasn't, because I didn't do drugs until I was 31. My step mum said 'Michael you may fool your dad, but you don't fool me. I know you do drugs.' I was 15 at the time.
"I said, 'I don't do drugs.' She said, 'well I know you do' and I said, 'well you're a c..t'. She went upstairs and told my dad, and he shook me and said, 'you called my wife a c..t' and I said 'dad, she called me a liar'.
"That stuck with me. And what a great way to go through life with honour, without lying. People hate you for it because they look at themselves in a way they don't want to see. I've never cheated on a woman and never taken advantage. What kind of weak-ass person takes advantage?"
NOFX may be on their final tour, playing sold-out shows across the world. However, back in the late '80s, life was very different for the band.
In their book 'The Hepatitis Bathtub And Other Stories', Fat Mike recalls: "We were a van full of foul-smelling, drug-abusing thieves playing barely listenable music and selling fake drugs across America. It was the worst of times and overall, it was starting to wear a little thin."
Around the same time, Operation Ivy put out their 'Yellin' In My Ear' 7-inch, which Fat Mike loved. After an unsuccessful European tour, he planned to return to the States and convince Operation Ivy to let him be their roadie.
However, the punk goddesses had other plans. In Amsterdam, NOFX met another American band called the Yeastie Girlz who introduced Fat Mike to Bad Religion. When he heard their 1988 album 'Suffer', Fat Mike thought that if he tried, he could come close to writing something almost as good. Abandoning all roadie ambitions, Fat Mike had a new plan: stop sucking.
NOFX's time on the road has been far from boring. "We've had some fun. I remember one time in Germany, before the internet, there were porn stores with rooms where you could look at a TV with all kinds of weird sh.t.
"Our drummer [Smelly] did it once and he was like 'dude you won't believe this, you have 124 channels', and we were like 'you're weird', and then we all went into a room. The last one out had to suck everyone's cock. . . No, we didn't, I made that last part up."
I accused Fat Mike of lying to me and he defends himself by saying sarcasm is not a lie. "When Tim Armstrong says, 'Do you like the new Rancid album, 'Life Won't Wait?',' you say 'Yes, I like it,' because it doesn't matter, and you don't want to hurt someone's feelings. In life, you have to feel good."
Fat Mike once wrote on his wall with a marker: 'Successful people live simple lives,' which he still believes to be true, if his life wasn't so "goddess f...ing awfully complicated".
"You can't do 25 different things at once; you have to really concentrate on one thing that you're passionate about and don't let all the other sh.t bog you down."
Fat Mike does't play what his fans want, he tells them what they want to hear. Whether we knew we needed to hear it or not.
This month, he released his latest album 'Fat Mike Gets Strung Out', a record of (mostly) NOFX songs recast and reimagined as classical compositions. Before we could dive in any deeper, he excitedly reveals to me that he's almost "done with the second one".
"Hearing my songs in their purest form is pure joy to me. I wanted people to hear the songs for the vibration because my whole life is really all about vibration. I make sure I like every part, because if I like it, I think other people will like it."
Despite having no expectations on the final product, Fat Mike knew exactly what he didn't want it to be like. "F... the lemon-filled harmonics that are doing Nirvana and Metallica albums, they're just making it loud.
"This is what a classical album should sound like, you get to see the depths of these songs through the melodies, harmonies, and texture. It's not 150 people playing the same 3 chords, and that's one of the reasons why I did 'Fat Mike Gets Strung Out', because I've heard some of that stuff and it sucks."
To achieve his vision, Fat Mike sat down with good friend and frequent musical collaborator, Baz The Frenchman.
"There's actually a lot of distrust between us. The thing about Baz is he is so good at what he does, but he really hates that we're doing my songs opposed to his. . . We work very well together. He's amazing, and we're still doing sh.t together."
What ties together all of Fat Mike's many projects, which include his new venture with Codefendants, opening the Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas, and exploring stand-up comedy? Simple. He wants to bring happiness to the world and believes that is what everyone is supposed to do.
"Being grumpy just makes the world a sh.tty place. I love to make people happy or laugh. It just seems so strange how people treat each other bad in the world."
French philosopher Albert Camus, an inspiration for many NOFX lyrics, once stated: "You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of," a sentiment that Fat Mike believes to be true, as he sees happiness is only present.
Despite being a teenage existentialist and studying existentialism in college, Fat Mike says he believes in something now – and no, it's not the mole men.
"I believe in love. When you find true love, everything else in the world kind of melts away. It's so sad that people don't know how to find it and don't know what it is. I found it twice."
To wrap up the interview, I wanted to bring it back to NOFX. Slightly nervous because I hadn't been able to practice reading this question without crying. I ask Fat Mike what he's proudest achieving with bandmates El Hefe, Melvin and Smelly over the past 40 years. "I'm proud that I'm the only member that never got herpes."
To reference my favourite line from their book: 'Start a punk band. See the world.' NOFX has truly embodied this ethos, and while they may be embarking on one, last tour, it's undeniable that NOFX is the reason so many can proudly say: "I started a punk band and I saw the world."
- written by Hannah Louise
NOFX 2024 Tour Dates
Sat 20 Jan - Hordern Pavilion (Sydney)* Night 1Sun 21 Jan - Hordern Pavilion (Sydney)* Night 2
Tue 23 Jan - The Fortitude Music Hall (Brisbane)* Night 1
Wed 24 Jan - The Fortitude Music Hall (Brisbane)* Night 2
Fri 26 Jan - Festival Hall (Melbourne)* Night 1
Sat 27 Jan - Festival Hall (Melbourne)* Night 2
Night 1 Albums
'Wolves In Wolves Clothing''Punk In Drublic'
'The War On Errorism'
Night 2 Albums
'White Trash, Two Heebs And A Bean''So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes'
'The Decline'
