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NOFX is a Skate punk band from the Bay Area, California, United States, formed in 1983.
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, ska punk, pop punk, hardcore punk and other music genres. Their lyrics generally satirize issues such as politics, society, various subcultures, racism, the music industry and religion, often using a high amount of comedy.
NOFX has released 10 studio full lengths, about 10 EPs, and many 7" singles. They’ve sold over 6 million records worldwide.
Their name is derived from the Boston hardcore band Negative FX . 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.
Career
NOFX's first release 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.
Dave then left the band and was replaced by Steve Kidwiller (AKA Steve the Caucasian). They recorded Liberal Animation in 1988 with Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion. 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 family was upset about the racial epithets.
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.
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.
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 Jesse "the chode" Bourke.
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. 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. Fat Mike's most recent interview was done in the November 2006 issue of Thrasher Skateboard Magazine. The band also denied permission to allow the music video for "Seeing Double at the Triple Rock" 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.
Members
Current lineup
- Fat Mike (bass, vocals)
- Eric Melvin (guitar, accordion, vocals)
- Erik Sandin (drums)
- El Hefe (guitar, trumpet, vocals)
Former members
- Scott Sellers (drums) (1985-1986)
- Scott Aldahl (drums) (1986)
- Dave Allen (vocals; deceased) (1986)
- Dave Casillas (guitar) (1986-1989)
- Steve Kidwiller (guitar) (1989-1991)
Discography
For Pressing info and other such things on each record visit http://www.nofxwiki.net/w/Albums
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) | ||
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) |
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) |
EPs
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 |
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 |
Videos
Video Cover | Date of Release | Title | Label | US Billboard Peak | US sales |
1994 | Ten Years of Fuckin' Up | Fat Wreck Chords | n/a |
- Shut Up Already
- Mr Jones
- S&M Airlines
- Stickin' In My Eye
- Bob
- Leave It Alone
- Franco Un-American
- Seeing Double at the Triple Rock
Trivia
- In The Simpsons episode "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade", when Groundskeeper Willie enters Bart and Lisa's name on the wall of lost children, two names in particular stand out, Fat Mike and El Hefe.
References
- http://fatwreck.com/band/index/6
- http://www.nofx.org/qa/qa_read.php3?page=1
- http://www.nofxofficialwebsite.com
- http://www.nofxofficialwebsite.com/oldint/flipside97.html
External links
- NOFX Official Website
- NOFX Wiki
- NOFXFans.com // Great Band! Great Fans!
- NOFX Online Website
- NOFX unofficial Website (Italian)
- NOFX Lyrics
- Warped Tour 2006- NOFX
- NOFX Gigs and tours
- NOFX Polish Website
- NOFX year-by-year history
- Flipside Interview - NOFX interview from 1997
- Transform Online interview - interview from 2005