'It's gonna be a party': Fat Mike teases new documentary at NOFX retrospective

Fat Mike doesn’t bash birthdays.

So it was astir apt conscionable a coincidence the NOFX retrospective astatine the Punk Rock Museum successful Las Vegas past play took spot connected his birthday.

“My woman is going to spank my a— truly hard 59 times,” Michael Burkett, a.k.a. Fat Mike, said connected the extortion of the depository arsenic the prima was mounting and the lights of Las Vegas were coming on. “Then she’ll bash it again with a cane, and past with a paddle. That’s my benignant of birthday.”

That’s an reply NOFX’s fans person travel to expect from the beforehand antheral known for his scabrous wit and irreverent lyrics. Fat Mike has made a vocation retired of letting it each bent retired and not taking himself excessively seriously, often courting ungraded on the way.

From insulting state euphony fans successful 2018 aft the Las Vegas massacre the erstwhile October, to convincing the assemblage astatine SXSW successful 2010 that his change ego Cokie the Clown had peed successful the tequila he’d conscionable shared with the audience, Fat Mike has ever been a provocateur.

But that’s conscionable 1 broadside of the performer.

Fat Mike extracurricular the Punk Rock Museum successful Las Vegas.

(Melanie Kaye)

As the proprietor of Fat Wreck Chords, the statement that enactment retired astir of NOFX’s material, arsenic good arsenic albums by scores of different bands, a deficiency of seriousness was a luxury helium couldn’t afford.

“It’s a batch of responsibility,” helium admitted with a suspiration of alleviation present that the set has stopped touring and the statement has been sold to Hopeless Records. “But being retired of NOFX present is wonderful. I tin bash truthful galore antithetic things that I’ve been wanting to bash for a agelong time.”

Despite his ambivalence to birthdays, the museum, which was co-founded by Fat Mike successful 2023, pulled retired each the stops for a “this is your life”-style day party.

Two rooms connected the 12,000-square-foot museum’s 2nd level displayed ephemera documenting the accomplishments of a grimy small punk stone set that stayed successful the shadows of peers similar Offspring, Green Day and Blink-182, but remained wholly autarkic of large statement power — from its humble beginnings successful 1983 to its last amusement successful 2024.

Photos and fliers lined the walls, roadworthy cases were stuffed with memorabilia, and the dependable of aboriginal demos played connected existent portion recorders filled the space. “It’s the astir important grounds we’ve ever had,” said Vinnie Fiorello, 1 of the museum’s co-founders.

Meanwhile, down connected the main floor, Mike’s erstwhile bandmates Aaron “El Hefe” Abeyta and Eric “Smelly” Sandin led guided tours done the museum, telling stories astir their improbable occurrence arsenic punk stone lifers. Later that afternoon, they gathered successful the museum’s lawsuit abstraction for a sold-out roundtable discussion.

The lawsuit kicked disconnected with the trailer for the upcoming NOFX documentary titled “Forty Years of F— Up,” directed by James Buddy Day, and successful emblematic NOFX fashion, they uploaded the incorrect file. The showing had to beryllium aborted aft a fewer shocking scenes of bandmates bickering and Fat Mike blasting lines of cocaine.

Talk astir a teaser.

For the discussion, Fat Mike, El Hefe and Smelly were joined by their longtime unit who are similar a 2nd household to the band. They shared irreverent stories and raucous laughter. At times, you could astir hide astir the elephant successful the room.

Almost.

Smelly work from a prepared connection addressing the crushed wherefore 1 of the bandmembers, bushed guitarist Eric Melvin, wasn’t present.

Just a fewer hours aft the last amusement of their last tour, Melvin’s lawyers served Fat Mike with papers accusing him of “legal and fiscal malfeasance.” He broke disconnected interaction with the set and directed each connection to spell done his counsel.

After the roundtable, Fat Mike went retired connected the museum’s rooftop, feeling bittersweet and vulnerable.

The acrimony that bedeviled truthful galore bands that NOFX avoided for 40 years had yet caught up with them.

“We ne'er had a f— argument, ever,” Fat Mike explained. “Things got a small sketchy during COVID, due to the fact that radical got hopeless and we couldn’t play. But earlier that, we were each champion friends. It was truthful beautiful. It wasn’t similar different bands.”

Not being similar different bands was the concealed to NOFX’s success. While different bands chased grounds deals, NOFX stayed indie. When the benignant of skate punk that NOFX helped pioneer went mainstream, Fat Mike didn’t code down his enactment to entreaty to a wider audience. He was consenting to wager that, if they stayed existent to their fans, their fans would enactment existent to them.

“When we were kids … we made ourselves targets. By the cops, by the jocks, by everybody. Why did we bash that? Why did we marque ourselves targets? I don’t truly cognize why. It felt good, and it was like, ‘I don’t privation to unrecorded similar you.’”

That determination to unrecorded connected one’s ain terms, nary substance however gnarly oregon weird different radical thought you were, is what fueled Fat Mike and NOFX, and judging from the trailer, that hasn’t changed. That’s what Fat Mike means erstwhile helium says, “NOFX is simply a wholly authentic band.”

NOFX drummer Erik “Smelly” Sandin, left, and Aaron “El Hefe” Abeyta successful the Punk Rock Museum.

(Melanie Kaye)

When members of NOFX were interviewed for the documentary, they were upset. Despite a wildly palmy last tour, not everyone wanted the set to extremity and they spoke candidly astir their feelings. Even though they were hard to watch, Fat Mike decided to see those scenes successful the documentary.

He didn’t privation to shy distant from worldly that made him uncomfortable, including footage from a gory near-death acquisition helium had aft contracting a bacterial corruption successful his ulcer. “I’m connected the level and there’s humor and puke everywhere,” Fat Mike said, mounting the scene. At that moment, helium asked his woman to movie him. “I deliberation I’m dying, and I privation my past words to beryllium connected camera.”

Even much shocking than the documentary’s content, is the mode it volition beryllium distributed. You won’t beryllium capable to ticker it connected a streamer, download it disconnected the net oregon acquisition a carnal copy. The lone mode you tin spot it volition beryllium by getting disconnected the couch.

“You person to spell spot the movie,” Fat Mike explained. “We’re playing it astatine implicit 100 theaters astir the satellite erstwhile a month.”

Inspired by midnight screenings of his favourite movie, “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” Fat Mike went to Cisco Adler, whose begetter Lou Adler co-produced the campy classical that made Tim Curry a legend, to devise a bold program for showing the documentary. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and Landmark Theater are connected committee to marque the imagination a reality.

“I privation our fans to person a spot to go,” Fat Mike said.

It’s a tenable DIY strategy that feels wholly radical. NOFX successful a nutshell.

The documentary includes caller songs performed by El Hefe, Fat Mike and Smelly, and they’re creating merchandise for the screenings similar popcorn buckets, cocoa bars and NOFX 2-D glasses.

“It’s gonna beryllium a party,” Fat Mike promises. Would you expect thing less?

“Forty Years of F— Up” volition premiere successful Austin during South by Southwest connected March 15 and 16 and astatine the Nuart Theater connected March 19 earlier opening worldwide connected April 10.

Jim Ruland is the writer of “Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise & Fall of SST Records” and is simply a columnist for Razorcake Fanzine, America’s lone nonprofit autarkic euphony magazine.