>>PREVIEW
THE WARPED TOUR
NOFX
Thursday, July 20
Race City Speedway
The majority of punk rock fans are familiar with NOFX, one of the genre’s biggest acts. Whether you recoil or embrace the speedy hooks (and sometimes-nonsensical, flagrantly poignant lyrics), there’s no denying there’s something addictive and distinct about the So-Cal pop-punk pioneers.
Founder of the mega-indie record label, Fat Wreck Chords, and creator of the youth-targeted political website, punkvoter.com, Mike Burkett, a.k.a. Fat Mike, is known for his vehement distaste for mainstream media and record labels.However, after 23 years of crunching out music, touring every continent and recently upping the ante from occasionally singing about politics to becoming more politically active – Fat Mike isn’t that reflective on the quartet’s evolution internally and in the greater punk arena.
"We’ve gotten better. We had to be one of the worst punk bands ever when we started. We get a trophy for most improved band," he says, laughing quietly.
Currently headlining Warped Tour for the sixth year, he’s enjoying the barbecues, poker and campfire camaraderie as well as some alcohol and drug consumption. Though the latter has decreased with the addition of a daughter to Fat Mike’s family.
"I don’t walk on the edge so much anymore. I’m a lot more careful than I used to be. I try to stay home a lot more. We generally aren’t on tour more than three months a year. It’s plenty, I’d tour less if it was my choice. The problem about going on tour is we tend to stay drunk and at home we don’t. It’s not good for us – touring is not healthy."
Another toxin, in his eyes, is the influx of Christian bands on the festival’s roster.
"When I’m onstage, I really don’t speak of politics much at all. I’ll sing about it in songs but I’m not going to ram it down people’s throats. What I do talk a lot about onstage is Christianity and how wrong it is. But mostly just ’cause there are Christian bands on the Warped Tour and they bother me," he says matter-of-factly.
Are there any retaliations or retorts from the recipients of his rants?
"They don’t say anything back, ’cause they turn the other cheek everytime. Which is one of the things I like about Christianity, one of the few things. It’s an easy fight, it’s like fighting a no-armed boxer."
Joking aside, the increase in Christian bands in a variety of genres – punk, screamo, metal, rock – and their fans irks Fat Mike, who occasionally drops in at bible studies at Warped, not to disrupt but get a dialogue going.
"I actually do show some restraint and some respect when I’m there cause I’m not trying just to tell them how lame they are, I’m trying to get them to think about how hypocritical some of their religious beliefs are. Some of these people feel guilty. They go through life feeling guilty ’cause they’re not as good a person as they could be. The other day I said, ‘You people should feel good about yourselves for doing good things not bad. What kind of religion teaches you to be guilty?’ And that went over pretty well actually."
Another element askew in the punk scene according to Fat Mike is the absence of offensiveness and thought-provoking lyrics. Disillusioned by a perceived growing majority of bands only concerned with not pissing people off, selling more records and "singing bubblegum," what catches his eye are the bands that perform for the love of it and not for fans.
"I like to see bands that are having more fun than the audience and aren’t doing it for the show and aren’t doing it for the kids. They’re actually having a good time and you can tell."
Unfortunately, he himself is finding it harder to do that as he juggles the label, the band and a family life.
"The record label has definitely taken a back seat. I just don’t care about music as much as I used to. How’s that for an honest answer?" he says flatly. "It’s being in the industry so long and having a family and going to work just seems dull to me now. There’s a few bands that I got really excited about but mostly it turns into a numbers game and I really don’t like that."
Though he hasn’t decided to throw in the towel quite yet, recently saying that NOFX will wrap up two years after Bad Religion does. He revealed he envisions a befitting end to NOFX – taking the stage, playing a couple of 30 second songs and then quitting. Perhaps he’ll simply play more golf – a game he figures works well with his slightly rotund and shorter physique.
"I would say it’s relaxing, but it’s not. It’s incredibly frustrating. That’s probably where I’ll die, I’ll have a heart attack from missing a short putt." |
Copyright ©2006 FFWD. All rights reserved.