NOFX

Who is NOFX?

NOFX is a punk rock band formed out of Berkeley, California in 1983, moving to Los Angeles, California soon after. A band diverse in their sound, some songs could be classified as pop-punk, ska, hardcore, rock, and more.

The Beginning (1983-1988)

Misfit Mike with his devilock in high school

They got the name NOFX while Mike and Eric were trying to think up a cool 'punk' band name. There was an old Boston hardcore band called Negative FX that broke up after the first record and Mike and Eric thought No FX was a cool name. Despite rumors, the name does not mean No Fucking Straightedge.

In 1983, Eric Melvin (guitar) and a friend, trying to start a band, got Fat Mike (Mike Burkett, vocals/bass) to leave his old band False Alarm and practice with them. Melvin's friend didn't like the situation and quit. Mike knew Smelly (Erik Sandin, drums) cause they skated together in Hollywood and Erik liked Mike's Black Flag skateboard. At the time, Erik was in a band called Caustic Cause and NOFX was supposed to be a side project for him. Another guitarist named Dillon practiced with the band but quit when Mike, Eric and Erik played their first show without him.

After playing some more shows, they recorded their first demo with the help of Don Bolles, drummer of The Germs, who agreed to record them if they filled up his car with gas. They put an ad in Flipside magazine, but according to Fat Mike sold no copies of the demo. They toured the western United States playing garage gigs and keggers. They received no money for playing most of the shows and usually ended up sleeping in the tour car or on the floor of the person who hosted the gig.

In 1985, Smelly quit because he was moving to Santa Barbara and was replaced by Scott Sellers. With Scott, they released two 7"s,NOFX and So What If We're On Mystic on Mystic Records, both to later be compiled on The Album 12" and again on the Maximum Rocknroll 12". Scott then quit and moved to San Diego. He was replaced by Scott Aldahl.

In 1986 Dave Allen joined NOFX as a second guitarist and vocalist but ended up dieing in a car accident two months later. The band was put on hold. Mike went to college in San Francisco and Scott quit. Melvin went to city college in Santa Barbara and talked Erik Sandin into joining NOFX again. Dave Casillas was recruited to play guitar and they were back to being a 4-piece. They then toured extensively, including Europe.

After continually getting ripped off by Doug Moody (Owner of Mystic Records) they left the label to create their own label, Collosal Wassail Records. In 1987, The PMRC Can Suck On This 7" was recorded and released. The next year they released their first LP, Liberal Animation, on Collosal Wassail along with a 7" split with the band Drowning Roses.

Record Labels In The Making (1989-1991)

Dave Casillas left NOFX in 1989 and they found guitarist Steve Kidwiller. This guy was their lead guitarist and if you've listened to S&M Airlines or Ribbed you'll know why. He was a great guitarist who could play amazing solos. (I guess he just lacked El Hefe's magic touch) He did come up with the idea for the Ribbed album's title and cover. They couldn't think of anything to call it so he was like "fuck it! let's just put a huge picture of a condom on the cover!" That was the end of that dilemma.

About a month after Steve joined they recorded S&M Airlines. Then they toured for 3 months all over the US and Canada. They didn't rest much back then cause they played in such crappy places for almost no money so a couple months later they went back to Europe for a month and a half.

The Bad Religion guitarist, Brett Gurewitz, cooked up Epitaph Records and signed NOFX, the second band to join Epitaph. (Bad Religion was obviously the first) NOFX brought out S&M Airlines (1989) on the new label.

Anyways, in 1991 Ribbed was released on Epitaph. Mike went to San Fransisco and started up Fat Wreck Chords sometime in 1991. That year Steve left because of problems with where the band was headed (he plays in Speed Buggy now) and also because a couple people in the band were heavy drinkers and one of them was really into heroin. (neither Steve nor NOFX said who it is but everyone knows that Smelly went to rehab and hasn't drank or touched drugs since) and they found El Hefe (Aaron Abeyta, guitar, came from the Mark Curry Band aka Crystal Sphere) to take his place.

Enter El Hefe (1992-1997)

I guess they were really hyped about Fat Wreck Chords or El Hefe's trumpet or something cause they released The Longest Line (1992), and Liza And Louise in the same year. Until War On Errorism was released NOFX had never released an LP on another label since they joined Epitaph. They have a great relationship with Brett and Bad Religion's own Greg Graffin even sang the harmonies on Ribbed cause they didn't know how back then. They produce all their 7"s and things like The Decline on Fat Wreck Chords and apparently they're not putting out any more records on Epitaph.

So they released White Trash Two Heebs And A Bean in 1992 as well, on Epitaph. This record was gonna be called White Trash, Two Kikes And A Spic but Melvin's grandma found out and didn't like the title. There was some mention of like Jewish guilt or something and the title got changed. Later, in 1993, they released a 7" called Don't Call Me White. The year after that they released Punk In Drublic (1994) on Epitaph. On Eurotaph they released an EP titled Leave It Alone (1995). NOFX was pretty popular by now and there were a lot of NOFX bootlegs going around but they all sucked so thy decided to release a live album. I Heard They Suck Live was the result, released on Fat Wreck Chords.

If you've been to a NOFX show you'll know they're awesome live though. They're funny, energetic, more often than not they're drunk, and have amazing performances. They're better live than on their albums. A true sign of a good band.

They're Over Thirty (1997-1999)

In 1996 they released Heavy Petting Zoo on Epitaph. There was a ton of controversy about that album because the cover has a picture of a guy feeling a sheep and the LP version has a guy 69-ing a sheep. (if you don't know, don't ask) a lot of people thought this was gross (it's just a cartoon!) and in France (I think) it was even banned. It was probably banned in other places as well. NOFX's argument was that nothing is actually shown, it's all just implied or something like that. Basically they wanted to offend anyone they could in true punk rock style. It worked. On Fat Wreck Chords in 1996 they released a limited edition picture disc calledHOFX and another 7" called Fuck The Kids (an awesome album), also on Fat Wreck Chords.

Since El Hefe joined NOFX hasn't changed it members. They've just kept on pumping out the killer punk rock tunes. I'm not gonna sit here and name all the albums, if you wanna know that kinda stuff check out theDiscography. Before So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes (1997) they kinda had a different sound on each album. Since So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes they seem to have found their style they like and it is wicked. They're fast and melodic but still have that gritty punk sound on most songs. And they've always been funny as hell. The cool thing about this new style is they always surprise you with what they bring out next, like The Decline ... most punk bands are notorious for short songs. (ie. the Dead Kennedys's song, Short Songs) and NOFX has its share of short songs (Fuck The Kids) so they came out with a single that's 18 minutes and 21 seconds of hardcore punk rock packed into one song. It seriously is a masterpiece.

Getting Political Again (2000-2011)

With the (sort of) election of George W. Bush to office of the President of the United States, NOFX and Fat Mike did a lot of soul searching, and decided that it was time to come out of their self-imposed interview-retirement, and start speaking out about politics, activism, and voting.

To this end, Punkvoter was born. Punkvoter was a multi-faceted Get Out The Vote operation. The tour portion of it went to battleground states (states where the outcome could go either way in the election of 2004) and registered voters, passed out information, and talked a whole lot of shit. The Live-Only song "Idiot Son of an Asshole", a reference to George W. Bush and his father George H. W. Bush, was often played and fans asked to "sing it so loud, they can hear it at the White House."

The Compilation albums, Rock Against Bush Vol. 1 and Vol 2. featured Fat Bands, including NOFX, who contributed the previously unreleased track Jaw Knee Music.

The website punkvoter.com ran a mailing list, and posted news items that were geared toward the punk scene, but with politics always in mind.

After the defeat of John Kerry in 2004, NOFX become notably less political, but never stopped mocking, insulting, and otherwise defaming Bush. The band also released their Greatest Hits album, entitled The Greatest Songs Ever Written (By Us) that same year.

In 2005, the band launched a 7" Of The Month Club. Fans could sign up and would be guaranteed twelve 7" records containing new NOFX songs. While many expected to get a record each month, the club was infamous for delays. By January of 2006, all 12 records were completed and sent out. Much of the Wolves In Wolves Clothing album was derived from songs featured on the 7" records. This allowed fans rare insight into what goes into making a NOFX song.

In 2006, NOFX released Wolves' In Wolves Clothing. Breaking from their previous producer, Ryan Greene, this album was produced byBill Stevenson of the Descendents and Only Crime.

2007 and 2008 marked several years of touring, and the creation of a NOFX Television series called NOFX:Backstage Passport. NOFX toured the world and recorded as much of it as possible, with the idea to create a documentary. When that plan fizzled out, the Fuse network approached them about making the footage into a "Reality TV Show". At the NOFX Backstage Passport Premiere Party, at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood, CA, Fat Mike was heard saying during their set that the band had lost about $150 grand making that show. Fuse has a website for the show.

2009 brings a lot of NOFX Rumors. A 25 years DVD, a punk covers album, a mysterious "Huge Announcement". When it happens, you can document it right here. The Biography of NOFX is ever changing, and always moving forward. Click the Edit button at the bottom of the page to add whatever you think is bio-worthy.

You can find more details in the history of NOFX on their official site. It's written by Eric Melvin and it's long as hell so grab a beer (or 6) before you read it so you won't have to get up.

NOFX isn't a commercial band, that is, you won't see them on MTV or hear them on the radio. In Canada they're on Much Music but not very often. (I've never seen them on MM before) MTV South America apparently has played them, but illegally. This is just to give you an idea of what they think of being commercial:

"Ok, well now you can hear Bottles To The Ground on the radio but this was kinda a mistake. What happened was that NOFX thought it would be ironic to hear Dinosaurs Will Die on the radio. (The song is about the demise of commercial music industry) Well radio stations didn't play Dinosaurs Will Die but took a liking to Bottles To The Ground. So that's the story behind that, NOFX has NOT sold out!"