Fat Mike has been the bassist and lead vocalist for the punk rock band NOFX since 1982, when he co-founded the band with guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin in Huntington Beach, California. The trio started out playing at backyard parties, but have become one of the most popular punk rock bands in the world. Over their 33-year career, NOFX has released 12 studio albums and 21 EPs, as well as five live albums and four compilations. The band has sold over 7 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling independent artists of all time. Fat Mike: The Bassist and Lead Vocalist for NOFX
Table of Contents
Early life
Michael John Burkett, also known as Fat Mike, is an American musician, punk rock producer, and lead vocalist. He grew up in El Cerrito with his friends Eric Melvin and Erik Sandin. They all attended John F. Kennedy Middle School together. In 1980 they discovered skateboarding while living in a suburb of San Francisco called El Cerrito. In 1981 at the age of 14, he was hit by a car while skateboarding on the school lawn during lunchtime and shattered his right arm. This injury led him to start playing bass guitar in place of taking drum lessons which he couldn’t afford on his own due to his parents’ divorce which made it hard to come up with money for himself or things he wanted outside of basic needs. Fat Mike: The Bassist and Lead Vocalist for NOFX
Career
Growing up in the 1960s in the suburban town of Agoura Hills, California, Michael John Burkett (aka Fat Mike) was exposed to a vast number of influences. His father brought home albums from artists such as Bob Dylan, Talking Heads, Woody Guthrie, Black Sabbath, Aerosmith and Kiss. As a result, these all made an impact on him. This is evident throughout his career as he has often mentioned them as bands that have influenced him. He joined the punk rock band NOFX in 1983 at age sixteen. They recorded their first demo together Paranoid later that year, followed by their debut EP S&M Airlines which was released on January 1st 1985.
In 1994 they released Punk In Drublic which became their first album to chart on Billboard Top 200 where it peaked at #67.
Personal life
Michael John Burkett, better known as Fat Mike, is an American musician and producer. He is the bassist and lead vocalist for the punk rock band NOFX, but Fat Mike had originally not been in a band until high school when he joined together with Eric Melvin and El Hefe to form Too Much Noise. They eventually changed their name to No Use For A Name as they found out there was another Too Much Noise. Together they released three albums before Eric left the band and got replaced by Pete Parada. Some time later Jon Totleben decided to leave the band as well, but this time he was replaced by Dave Nassie who joined them on their 1999 album Good Night, Thank You.
Awards
In late 1982, Burkett met Eric Melvin at a Patti Smith concert in San Francisco. He decided to start a punk rock band with Melvin. After attempts at naming the band the Ugly Sacks and the Mr. T Experience, they settled on calling themselves NOFX. Their first record was an EP entitled S&M Airlines which was released on Mystic Records in 1990. In 1994, the release of Punk in Drublic followed two years later, and after its success, NOFX signed to Epitaph Records who gave them more creative control over their work. All of their subsequent albums were released by Epitaph.
References
Michael John Burkett, known professionally as Fat Mike, is an American musician and producer. He is the bassist and lead vocalist for the punk rock band NOFX and the bassist for the punk rock supergroup cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. Fat Mike started out with his side project in 1988 when he founded NOFX. When their first album (S&M Airlines) was released in 1989, it failed to make any noise.
External links
Michael John Burkett, known professionally as Fat Mike, is an American musician and producer. He is the bassist and lead vocalist for the punk rock band NOFX and the bassist for the punk rock supergroup cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.
While in art school in San Francisco, he founded seminal punk record label Fat Wreck Chords. In 2010, it was reported that he had been diagnosed with myelofibrosis stemming from a hereditary disease called Primary Myelofibrosis Syndrome.
Net worth
Michael John Burkett, known professionally as Fat Mike, is an American musician and producer. He is the bassist and lead vocalist for the punk rock band NOFX and the bassist for the punk rock supergroup cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. Fat Mike started out with his first major project in 1980 when he helped start The Subhumans, a hardcore punk group that released albums on pioneer punk labels such as Posh Boy Records before breaking up in 1985.