NOFX facts for kids

Quick facts for kids NOFX
NOFX performing in 2007
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	Punk rock melodic hardcore skate punk ska punk pop punk
Years active	1983–present
Labels	Mystic Epitaph Fat Wreck Chords
Members	Fat Mike Eric Melvin Erik Sandin El Hefe
Past members	Scott Sellers Scott Aldahl Dave Allen Dave Casillas Steve Kidwiler

NOFX are an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983. Bassist/lead vocalist Fat Mike, rhythm guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin are original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on every release of the band, although Sandin departed briefly in 1985, only to rejoin the following year. El Hefe joined the band in 1991 to play lead guitar and trumpet, rounding out the current line-up.

NOFX's mainstream success coincided with increased interest in punk rock during the 1990s, though, unlike many of their contemporaries they have never been signed to a major label. NOFX has released fifteen studio albums, sixteen extended plays and a number of 7-inch singles. The band rose to popularity with their fifth studio album Punk in Drublic (1994), which is their only release to receive gold certification by the RIAA. Their latest studio album, Double Album, was released on December 2, 2022. The group has sold over eight million records worldwide, making them one of the most successful independent bands ever. In 2008, NOFX broadcast their own show on Fuse TV entitled NOFX: Backstage Passport.

History

Early years (1983–1987)

In 1983, guitarist Eric Melvin met bassist/vocalist Mike Burkett (Fat Mike) and started the band under the name NO-FX, after a Boston hardcore punk band called Negative FX. At this time, they were joined by drummer Erik "Smelly" Sandin. NOFX's first recording was a demo from 1984, entitled Thalidomide Child, produced by Germs drummer Don Bolles, which did not sell many copies, and Fat Mike once claimed that no copies existed. The demo would be re-released in 2012. The group released its self-titled debut extended play NOFX on Mystic Records in 1985; it was later re-released in 1992 as part of the Maximum Rocknroll CD.

Founding member Fat Mike

The band's line-up underwent numerous changes prior to 1991. In 1986, the band released the extended play So What If We're on Mystic!.

First four albums and signing to Epitaph (1988–1993)

NOFX recorded their debut studio album Liberal Animation in 1988 with Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion. Although the title and some of the album's lyrics mocked vegetarianism and animal rights, Fat Mike says that he became a vegetarian after writing the Liberal Animation album. The album was re-released in 1991 on Gurewitz's label Epitaph Records. Casillas left the band shortly after the recording of Liberal Animation and was replaced by Steve Kidwiler. The band released its second studio album, S&M Airlines, through Epitaph in 1989.

In 1991, NOFX released its third studio album, Ribbed. Shortly after the album was released, Steve Kidwiler left the band, and Aaron Abeyta (a.k.a. "El Hefe") joined the group. With Abeyta, the band recorded the extended play The Longest Line, followed by the studio album White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean, released in May and November 1992 respectively. Also in 1992, NOFX's former label Mystic Records released Maximum Rocknroll, which compiles early singles and demo songs and is a reissue of their 1989 long-out-of-print compilation tape E Is for Everything. Despite being referred to as an "official" release, Fat Mike has been quoted as saying that he did not know that the album existed until he saw a copy of it "in a store.".

Rise to popularity (1994–1999)

Founding member Eric Melvin

In the wake of the 1990s punk rock revival revolution (dominated by Green Day, The Offspring, Bad Religion and Rancid), NOFX released their fifth studio album Punk in Drublic in July 1994. It is one of the band's most successful albums, peaking at number twelve on Billboard's Heatseekers chart, and obtaining gold status six years after its release. Although one of the album's singles "Leave It Alone" got airplay on active rock radio stations, the most notable being KROQ, its music video never received airplay on MTV. Fat Mike has been quoted saying, "We made the 'Leave It Alone' video, and we decided not to send it to MTV. We just didn't want to be a part of that machine, of that 'punk wave.'"

Due to the success of Punk in Drublic, NOFX received many offers to sign with major record labels, but the band declined the offers.

Punk in Drublic was followed by 1996's Heavy Petting Zoo.

Move from Epitaph to Fat Wreck Chords (2000–2008)

NOFX released its eighth studio album, Pump Up the Valuum, in 2000. It was the band's final album released through Epitaph, as the band decided to sign to Fat Mike's own label, Fat Wreck Chords.

In 2002, the band recorded BYO Split Series Volume III, a split album with Rancid, in which Rancid covered NOFX songs and NOFX covered Rancid songs.

NOFX on Warped Tour '06

NOFX released its ninth studio album, The War on Errorism, in 2003, an album of political songs. It became the start of its anti-George W. Bush campaign. Fat Mike organized the website punkvoter.com, compiled two chart-topping Rock Against Bush albums, and started a Rock Against Bush U.S. tour. The song "Separation of Church and Skate" from the album was featured in the game Tony Hawk's Underground. In 2004, a previously unreleased demo version of their song "Concerns of a GOP Neo-Phyte" was contributed to the compilation album Take Action! Vol. 4.

In February 2005, the band launched the NOFX 7" of the Month Club, a subscription-based service, which saw the release of one new extended play almost monthly, from February 2005 to March 2006 (a total of 12 releases). The cover art for these extended plays was chosen from fan-submitted entries. The first 3,000 subscribers to the club received all of their records on colored vinyl. Fat Wreck Chords later released full sets of the extended plays.

NOFX performing at "The Wall" in Taipei, Taiwan

On March 14, 2006, the extended play Never Trust a Hippy was released. The EP was followed on April 18 by the studio album Wolves in Wolves' Clothing. On September 12, 2006, the video game EA Sports NHL 07 was released, featuring "Wolves in Wolves' Clothing" on its soundtrack, produced by Bill Stevenson and Fat Mike. NOFX's song "Kill All the White Man" was played briefly in the action movie Crank in 2006, and was credited as such in the film's soundtrack.

In January 2007, the band recorded three nights of performances in San Francisco, California, for their second live album, They've Actually Gotten Worse Live!, released November 20, 2007.

NOFX launched a world tour in September 2007, which was the basis for a documentary, NOFX: Backstage Passport, which aired on Fuse TV about its worldwide tour. The show was entitled NOFX: Backstage Passport.

Coaster, Cokie the Clown and Self-Entitled (2009–2014)

Founding member Erik Sandin

In February 2009, NOFX reunited with former members Steve Kidwiler and Dave Casillas for its 25th-anniversary special performances. They played three sold-out shows, one in San Diego, one in Hollywood, and one in S.F. NOFX released a new album, Coaster, on April 28, 2009. The band worked with the same co-producer, Bill Stevenson, who produced its previous album, Wolves in Wolves' Clothing. NOFX was also added to the lineup for the Warped Tour 2009. They also toured Australia and New Zealand in late 2009 with Bad Religion.

NOFX released a new extended play on November 24, 2009, titled Cokie the Clown. It was released on one CD or two seven-inch vinyl records, which are called Cokie the Clown and My Orphan Year. The extended play consists of outtakes from the Coaster sessions. NOFX started its spring 2010 "Fermented and Flailing" tour on April 21. This was the official tour for its album Coaster.

On June 21, 2010, NOFX announced that they were going to release a compilation album titled The Longest EP, a compilation of selected songs from its extended plays from 1987 to 2009. It was released on August 17, 2010.

On November 23, 2010, Fat Wreck Chords released NOFX / The Spits, a split EP with the Seattle, Washington, band The Spits. It contained two new songs from each band.

In June 2011, NOFX began their Great White North Tour, which would have them traveling across Canada. The tour kicked off in St. John's, Newfoundland, on June 14. It was the first time the band had been to Newfoundland.

Along with a self-titled 10" of 1980s hardcore punk cover songs, the band also planned to re-release their first recordings in the summer of 2011. The album was released on a vinyl record and has been distributed to independent record companies around the U.S., Great Britain, and elsewhere.

Guitarist and trumpeter El Hefe joined the band in 1991.

On February 14, 2012, in an article on Rolling Stone's website, Fat Mike said that a new album was on the way. "We're recording in April, and it should be out in the fall. I've got 12 songs, but I don't have a name for it, and only a few of the songs are finished," he says. "We're demo-ing it right now."

NOFX released their twelfth studio album, Self Entitled, on September 11, 2012. NOFX also released X'mas Has Been X'd on January 15, 2013, and their 30th anniversary LP box set on February 19, 2013.

NOFX toured in Australia starting November 5, 2014. They performed in Sydney, Newcastle, New South Wales, Wollongong, Brisbane, Darwin, Northern Territory, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne, Geelong, and Gold Coast, Queensland.

First Ditch Effort, Single Album, and Double Album (2015–present)

NOFX toured the United States in the summer of 2015 celebrating the 25th anniversary of Fat Wreck Chords. On July 19, 2016, the band's thirteenth studio album, First Ditch Effort, was announced, to be released on October 7. On April 17, 2016, they released their autobiography, called NOFX: The Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories.

In February 2019, Fat Mike announced the NOFX 7" of the Month Club, a new subscription-based service scheduled for the release of 12 new extended plays almost monthly. As with the previous 2005 installment, the cover art for these extended plays was chosen from fan-submitted entries.

On January 12, 2021, NOFX announced that they would release their first studio album in nearly five years, Single Album, on February 26.

On September 1, 2022, Fat Mike confirmed in a reply to a comment in an Instagram post that NOFX would be disbanding in 2023, the year of the band's 40th anniversary, and suggested that their final show may take place in their hometown of Los Angeles, California.

On September 27, 2022, NOFX announced their next album, Double Album, would come out on December 2, 2022. They released the single "Darby Crashing," a reworked version of a song from their 2019-2020 "7 inch of the Month Club," on the same day.

NOFX is also planning on releasing three in-progress albums entitled Half Album, Everybody Else Is Insane, and NOFX: A–Z.

Music style

Critics have labeled NOFX's style as primarily punk rock, melodic hardcore, skate punk, ska punk, and pop-punk. Fat Mike in a 2021 Spin interview identified NOFX as a melodic hardcore band, rejecting critics' labeling of the band's style as pop-punk.

Band members

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

• Liberal Animation (1988)
• S&M Airlines (1989)
• Ribbed (1991)
• White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean (1992)
• Punk in Drublic (1994)
• Heavy Petting Zoo (1996)
• So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes (1997)
• Pump Up the Valuum (2000)
• The War on Errorism (2003)
• Wolves in Wolves' Clothing (2006)
• Coaster (2009)
• Self Entitled (2012)
• First Ditch Effort (2016)
• Single Album (2021)
• Double Album (2022)

See also

In Spanish: NOFX para niños