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NOFX Biography
If there’s been one constant in NOFX’s twenty-five year career, it’s been their quest to innovate, whether that means writing the world’s most prolific punk song (“The Decline”), playing shows in some of the most dangerous locales in the world (as evidenced in their Fuse TV series Backstage Passport) or tackling subject matter that will make you laugh, cry and critically think—often within the confines of the same song. NOFX (frontman Fat Mike, drummer Erik Sandin and guitarists Eric Melvin and El Hefe) carry on this tradition with their eleventh studio album Coaster, which exposes a more personal and introspective side of one’s of punk’s most revered and enigmatic acts.
“I think that this record is more old-school than anything we’ve done in the past,” Mike says about Coaster. “NOFX were a hardcore band that got melodic, but to me the best kind of music came out of that early ’80s L.A. movement,” he continues, citing acts like the Adolescents and Circle Jerks as constant influences and adding that Coaster is “a little darker and less aggressive than our other stuff.” Recorded with legendary Descendents drummer Bill Stevenson at San Francisco’s Motor Studios, the album accurately captures the eighties sound—although Mike insists this wasn’t a conscious effort. “We’d just start playing a song and we all kept thinking that clean guitar tones would sound better; it just kind of drove it more,” he explains, adding that the band strictly used vintage Silvertone amps and Fender Jazzmasters to capture that era’s incendiary sound.
When you consider what Mike has been through since the band released Wolves In Wolves’ Clothing in 2006, it shouldn’t any surprise that some of Coaster’s lyrical content is bleak—a fact that’s evidenced on the band’s most personal song to date, “My Orphan Year,” which is about the passing of both of his parents in 2006. “Once I had a kid I realized that you have to give your child a lot of attention if you want to be a parent, so when my dad asked me to come see him on his death bed I just said no, where were you when I was a kid” he explains when asked about the song’s content. “Alternately, I was with my mom for the whole month that she died 24 hours a day,” he continues, adding that many people have cried the first time they’ve heard the track. “I know a lot of people who have had similar experiences, so it’s really amazing to be able to evoke that kind of emotion from people.”
However that doesn’t mean that Coaster is a complete downer—and from awkward conversations with lesbian sisters (“Creeping Out Sara”) to a critical view of domestic exceptionalism (“We Called It America”) and the skewering of organized religion (“The Best God In Show”), Coaster is still teeming when the razor-sharp wit and parody that NOFX have become famous for. “People are like, ‘Why don’t you stop bashing these Christians already?’” Mike explains, when asked about Coaster’s subject matter. “It’s because I can’t get away from it. From the daily news to religious wars to Proposition 8 and the fucking gullibility of people thinking there’s some guy who’s the son of God,” he continues with a sigh. “I can’t believe how stupid people are, yet these same people are running the fucking world.”
While the world may not be a perfect place, NOFX have always made the best of it, which is evidenced in their successful TV series that aired last year on Fuse TV. “Backstage Passport wasn’t like ‘Let’s do a TV show,’ it was like, ‘Let’s show people how much fun we have on tour because we don’t know any other band that does,’” Mike explains. “It isn’t showing four guys just bitching about how hard it is to be on the road and how they miss their family, but about how much fun we’re having in crazy situations,” he continues. “We tour with a lot of bands and it always seems like we’re having the best time of our lives, no matter what goes wrong or right at the gigs.” After famously refusing to make videos and give interviews for a majority of their career, both Backstage Passport and Coaster are insightful glimpses into the inner workings of one of punk’s most iconic and guarded bands—and whether you’re new to NOFX or have followed their rise to unlikely cult superstardom over the past two decades, these releases also show that punk’s most irresponsible band can actually mature.sort of. “I wrote a song about my parents dying and then I cry in Israel on TV,” Mike summarizes when asked to condense the past few years into one sentence. “I think this year you definitely get to see the inside of NOFX instead of the goofy exterior,” Mike acknowledges,“and people seem to enjoy it.”
“I think that this record is more old-school than anything we’ve done in the past,” Mike says about Coaster. “NOFX were a hardcore band that got melodic, but to me the best kind of music came out of that early ’80s L.A. movement,” he continues, citing acts like the Adolescents and Circle Jerks as constant influences and adding that Coaster is “a little darker and less aggressive than our other stuff.” Recorded with legendary Descendents drummer Bill Stevenson at San Francisco’s Motor Studios, the album accurately captures the eighties sound—although Mike insists this wasn’t a conscious effort. “We’d just start playing a song and we all kept thinking that clean guitar tones would sound better; it just kind of drove it more,” he explains, adding that the band strictly used vintage Silvertone amps and Fender Jazzmasters to capture that era’s incendiary sound.
When you consider what Mike has been through since the band released Wolves In Wolves’ Clothing in 2006, it shouldn’t any surprise that some of Coaster’s lyrical content is bleak—a fact that’s evidenced on the band’s most personal song to date, “My Orphan Year,” which is about the passing of both of his parents in 2006. “Once I had a kid I realized that you have to give your child a lot of attention if you want to be a parent, so when my dad asked me to come see him on his death bed I just said no, where were you when I was a kid” he explains when asked about the song’s content. “Alternately, I was with my mom for the whole month that she died 24 hours a day,” he continues, adding that many people have cried the first time they’ve heard the track. “I know a lot of people who have had similar experiences, so it’s really amazing to be able to evoke that kind of emotion from people.”
However that doesn’t mean that Coaster is a complete downer—and from awkward conversations with lesbian sisters (“Creeping Out Sara”) to a critical view of domestic exceptionalism (“We Called It America”) and the skewering of organized religion (“The Best God In Show”), Coaster is still teeming when the razor-sharp wit and parody that NOFX have become famous for. “People are like, ‘Why don’t you stop bashing these Christians already?’” Mike explains, when asked about Coaster’s subject matter. “It’s because I can’t get away from it. From the daily news to religious wars to Proposition 8 and the fucking gullibility of people thinking there’s some guy who’s the son of God,” he continues with a sigh. “I can’t believe how stupid people are, yet these same people are running the fucking world.”
While the world may not be a perfect place, NOFX have always made the best of it, which is evidenced in their successful TV series that aired last year on Fuse TV. “Backstage Passport wasn’t like ‘Let’s do a TV show,’ it was like, ‘Let’s show people how much fun we have on tour because we don’t know any other band that does,’” Mike explains. “It isn’t showing four guys just bitching about how hard it is to be on the road and how they miss their family, but about how much fun we’re having in crazy situations,” he continues. “We tour with a lot of bands and it always seems like we’re having the best time of our lives, no matter what goes wrong or right at the gigs.” After famously refusing to make videos and give interviews for a majority of their career, both Backstage Passport and Coaster are insightful glimpses into the inner workings of one of punk’s most iconic and guarded bands—and whether you’re new to NOFX or have followed their rise to unlikely cult superstardom over the past two decades, these releases also show that punk’s most irresponsible band can actually mature.sort of. “I wrote a song about my parents dying and then I cry in Israel on TV,” Mike summarizes when asked to condense the past few years into one sentence. “I think this year you definitely get to see the inside of NOFX instead of the goofy exterior,” Mike acknowledges,“and people seem to enjoy it.”
NOFX All Music Guide Biography
Formed in Berkeley, CA, in 1983 and relocating to Los Angeles not long afterwards, NOFX steered clear of major labels and commercial exposure over the course of their career, recording an impressive number of full-lengths albums plus an assortment of EPs and singles. The band started out as a trio comprising vocalist/bassist Fat Mike (Mike Burkett), guitarist Eric Melvin, and drummer Erik Sandin (aka Erik Ghint/Erik Shun). Sandin quit in 1985, and his place was taken by Scott Sellers; that same year, NOFX also recorded two 7" EPs for the Mystic label, No F-X and So What If We're on Mystic? Sellers quit shortly thereafter and was replaced by Scott Aldahl for only two weeks, upon which point Sandin re-joined the band; vocalist Dave Allen also joined in 1986, but his tenure was tragically cut short by a fatal car accident. Dave Casillas joined as a second guitarist later in the year, by which point NOFX's touring schedule had become far-ranging and rigorous. The EP The P.M.R.C. Can Suck on This was released on Fat Mike's own Fat Wreck Chords label in 1987. Casillas departed the group in 1989 and was replaced by Steve Kidwiller for NOFX's first full-length album, S&M Airlines, which was released on the legendary punk label Epitaph; the band remained there ever since, despite the release of several albums -- such as 1995's I Heard They Suck Live -- and EPs on Fat Wreck Chords, which gradually grew into a premier stable of punk revival artists.
Having appeared on 1990's Ribbed and 1991's Liberal Animation (which was actually recorded in 1988), Kidwiller left the band in 1991, and Aaron Abeyta became the permanent second guitarist (as well as trumpeter), adopting the nickname El Hefe. Dragged into the mainstream spotlight by the mid-'90s success of labelmates Bad Religion and the Offspring, NOFX compensated with albums like 1992's White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean that were even closer to the anti-commercial extreme; exemplified by White Trash's accompanying single "Please Play This Song on the Radio," which lured un-alert radio programmers with a tight melody, but ends with a stream of obscenities. The El Hefe-anchored lineup continued to blossom with 1994's Punk in Drublic; often regarded as the band's best, the album was eventually certified gold. Releases on Fat Wreck Chords continued throughout the '90s, as did the full-length Epitaph albums, like 1996's grungier, less up-tempo Heavy Petting Zoo, 1997's punkier So Long & Thanks for All the Shoes, and 2000's Pump Up the Valuum and Bottles to the Ground; the latter album followed an experimental Fat Wreck Chords EP titled The Decline, which consisted entirely of the 18-minute title track. Next up was the Surfer EP, which showcased select sloppy cuts in spring 2001, the first 500 copies on colored vinyl.
In 2002, NOFX sifted through countless tapes and recording sessions, eventually collecting 47 songs for 45 or 46 Songs That Weren't Good Enough to Go on Our Other Records. "Pimps and Hookers," which was the only new song on the album, was recorded in one day. Later that year, BYO Records got the band to release the NOFX/Rancid split album BYO Split Series, Vol. 3. This particular album had Rancid covering six NOFX tracks while NOFX returned the favor by switching up six Rancid songs. The four-song EP Regaining Unconsciousness came out in March 2003 and served as a teaser for May's The War on Errorism, released on Fat Wreck and littered with political criticisms. With the band's outspoken and leftist nature, it was then not surprising when they launched Punk Voter, a movement of punk bands that sought to politically empower disenfranchised youth and vote George W. Bush out of office. The organization still remained in action, even after Bush's 2004 re-election. Back on the music front, NOFX next released the EP Never Trust a Hippy in March 2006, the full-length Wolf in Wolves' Clothing one month later, and the live album They've Actually Gotten Worse Live! the following year. ~ John Bush & Steve Huey, All Music Guide
Having appeared on 1990's Ribbed and 1991's Liberal Animation (which was actually recorded in 1988), Kidwiller left the band in 1991, and Aaron Abeyta became the permanent second guitarist (as well as trumpeter), adopting the nickname El Hefe. Dragged into the mainstream spotlight by the mid-'90s success of labelmates Bad Religion and the Offspring, NOFX compensated with albums like 1992's White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean that were even closer to the anti-commercial extreme; exemplified by White Trash's accompanying single "Please Play This Song on the Radio," which lured un-alert radio programmers with a tight melody, but ends with a stream of obscenities. The El Hefe-anchored lineup continued to blossom with 1994's Punk in Drublic; often regarded as the band's best, the album was eventually certified gold. Releases on Fat Wreck Chords continued throughout the '90s, as did the full-length Epitaph albums, like 1996's grungier, less up-tempo Heavy Petting Zoo, 1997's punkier So Long & Thanks for All the Shoes, and 2000's Pump Up the Valuum and Bottles to the Ground; the latter album followed an experimental Fat Wreck Chords EP titled The Decline, which consisted entirely of the 18-minute title track. Next up was the Surfer EP, which showcased select sloppy cuts in spring 2001, the first 500 copies on colored vinyl.
In 2002, NOFX sifted through countless tapes and recording sessions, eventually collecting 47 songs for 45 or 46 Songs That Weren't Good Enough to Go on Our Other Records. "Pimps and Hookers," which was the only new song on the album, was recorded in one day. Later that year, BYO Records got the band to release the NOFX/Rancid split album BYO Split Series, Vol. 3. This particular album had Rancid covering six NOFX tracks while NOFX returned the favor by switching up six Rancid songs. The four-song EP Regaining Unconsciousness came out in March 2003 and served as a teaser for May's The War on Errorism, released on Fat Wreck and littered with political criticisms. With the band's outspoken and leftist nature, it was then not surprising when they launched Punk Voter, a movement of punk bands that sought to politically empower disenfranchised youth and vote George W. Bush out of office. The organization still remained in action, even after Bush's 2004 re-election. Back on the music front, NOFX next released the EP Never Trust a Hippy in March 2006, the full-length Wolf in Wolves' Clothing one month later, and the live album They've Actually Gotten Worse Live! the following year. ~ John Bush & Steve Huey, All Music Guide
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