Fat Mike, the 36-year-old singer/bassist of San Francisco-based punk band NOFX, recently created PunkVoter.com, an organization whose goal is to mobilize hundreds of thousands of youths to bring about a regime change in America. Fat Mike is also putting together Rock Against Bush concerts (joining them will be platinum punks Green Day and recent radio faves Good Charlotte, among others) throughout the country and an accompanying compilation CD, proceeds from which will go toward buying ads aimed at defeating Bush in the 2004 election. Can punk rock beat Bush in 2004? HUSTLER: Why did you create PunkVoter.com? FAT MIKE: I started PunkVoter.com because I really couldn’t sleep after George Bush stole the election. I figured, because I’m somewhat of a celebrity—not a big one, but a small celebrity—I have to use my influence on America’s youth to educate them on how bad the Bush Administration’s policies are and hopefully get them to vote in the next election. HUSTLER: Do you tell kids to vote against Bush? FAT MIKE: We can’t legally say that because we’re a 527 corporation right now, which means we’re taking funds from different people in order to make television commercials and magazine advertisements. We’re really trying to educate people on the horrible policies the current administration created. We can say anything we want to; we just can’t say whom to vote for. HUSTLER: Tell us about the Rock Against Bush concerts. FAT MIKE: We’re doing a tour next year. We’re playing only the swing states, with the exception of California, New York and Texas. Some of it’s in March, some of it’s in the summer, some of it’s in September, and the Rock Against Bush CD will be released in March. HUSTLER: What bands are on the CD? FAT MIKE: Green Day, the Offspring, Social Distortion, Rancid, Pennywise, NOFX, New Found Glory, Good Charlotte, the Descendents, Bad Religion, Anti-Flag and Against Me, to name a few. HUSTLER: Did you approach any nonpunk bands? FAT MIKE: No, I wanted it to be a punk-rock compilation. The only band that’s not punk rock is System of a Down, but they wanted to do it; so I’m all for that. There’s going to be a DVD with the comp that will have some people speaking, and we’re getting portions or all of the movie Uncovered, which is a new movie about the war in Iraq made by the same people who made Unprecedented [which documented the shady maneuvers in the 2000 Presidential election]. HUSTLER: Are the concerts going to be free? FAT MIKE: A lot of them are, and a lot of them aren’t. Some of them are benefits to help pay for advertising, and some of them are just to get kids pissed. HUSTLER: Are you going to register people to vote at these concerts? FAT MIKE: Our goal is [to register] a few hundred thousand kids. That’s how many records NOFX sells in the U.S.—400,000 or so. Even if I get a tenth of those kids to vote, who haven’t voted before, then I’ve accomplished my goal. After the 2000 election, I just felt so helpless. My one vote just doesn’t seem to make very much difference, but if we can get the entire punk-rock community together, it’s gonna be a few hundred thousand people voting as a bloc, like the NRA or the League of Women Voters. Hey, if one of our shows in Florida, where there are 1,500 kids—if half of those kids voted, it would have been different. HUSTLER: Are you receiving many contributions? FAT MIKE: Yeah, we’re doing pretty well. HUSTLER: The Dixie Chicks just donated $100,000 to Rock the Vote. Are they gonna give you any money? FAT MIKE: I don’t know. We have to hit ’em up. The Offspring gave money, and all the bands are giving songs to the comp for free. HUSTLER: What do you think of Rock the Vote? FAT MIKE: I think they have good intentions, but they’re nonpartisan; they don’t have any balls. They try to get kids to vote, which is great, but you can’t just get them to vote; they have no reason to. You have to tell them how fucked we’re all getting by the Bush Administration. Then they get pissed, and they want to vote. HUSTLER: What are the ads going to say? FAT MIKE: All different things. They’re going to be informative ads on how the Bush Administration has been lying to America. It’s just going to show quotes that George Bush said. Depending on what month it was, they are completely conflicting with each other. Dick Cheney specifically said that we know for a fact that Iraq has nuclear weapons, and eight months later, he said on Meet the Press that he actually misspoke, and they didn’t have any knowledge of nuclear weapons, but that was after the war. So what the fuck is that? HUSTLER: What are some of the song titles on your new album? FAT MIKE: “The Idiots Are Taking Over,” “Franco Un-American,” “American Errorist” and “Idiot Son of an Asshole.” George Bush is the American Errorist—one error after another. It’s not just Bush; it’s his administration. They’ve lied about the Iraq war tremendously. That’s why people should check out that movie Uncovered. The CIA is telling Bush that there’s no connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, and all the weapons inspectors said there are no weapons there, but he tells the American public there are. Then we go [to war in Iraq]. People have faith in their president, because you’re supposed to, but you shouldn’t when he’s lying to you. HUSTLER: Do you have fans who are currently serving in Iraq? FAT MIKE: Sure. I have some good friends in the armed forces, and they feel stupid; they don’t know why the hell they’re out there. I just got an e-mail today—people have seen this, but I just want to get this out there—George Bush Sr. was asked, “Why didn’t you go after Saddam Hussein?” and he said, “Because it’s a terrible idea—you can’t get out. It would mean that American troops would have to occupy Baghdad, and, in effect, rule Iraq.” And he said there’s no exit strategy, it’s against the United Nations, and it makes no sense. He said that in ’91. It’s not a joke. It’s not a cakewalk like they said it was going to be. All it’s doing is making more terrorists. HUSTLER: On PunkVoter.com, you have guest columnists, one of whom, John Feldmann, from the band Goldfinger, says he was targeted by the FBI and the USA PATRIOT Act. FAT MIKE: He threw an animal-rights protest, and his house got raided by the FBI. The PATRIOT Act gives the FBI the right to go through anyone’s house and seize their computer and their information, and it was all because somebody spray-painted on someone’s house. That’s obviously not terrorism, but the PATRIOT Act is so vague that the FBI can do anything they want to now. That’s what this administration is doing; they’re taking apart the Constitution. HUSTLER: Has the government ever tried to silence you? FAT MIKE: No. I’ve gotten hundreds of bands to be part of this organization; so there are too many targets. The more people that get involved, the harder it is to single anybody out. HUSTLER: Do you ever get any pro-Bush letters from your fans? FAT MIKE: Not too many. People who love Bush are just not informed. There’s a Republican point of view—smaller government— and I can respect that. It’s funny, that’s what it’s supposed to stand for, but it doesn’t really end up that way. It’s a Republican administration, but they’re not; they’re radical. They’re not conservative; they’re trying to change this country, which is the scary part. They just took away everyone’s privacy with the PATRIOT Act. The scariest thing is, if they get a couple more Supreme Court appointees in there, then things are really going to change. HUSTLER: Aren’t horrible administrations good for punk rock? FAT MIKE: There are two things that Bush is good for: We’re getting better punk-rock songs, but also people—liberals and apathetic Americans—are really starting to organize and get off their asses and do something. Punk’s always been political, but it’s never been organized. That’s why I felt it was my responsibility to do this, because I’m a perfect candidate to organize everybody. I don’t have to go through a bunch of managers; I just call the bands. I called Billy Joe from Green Day. I said, “Hey, Billy. You gotta join with this.” It was that easy. HUSTLER: You’re kind of the Bob Geldof of the Anti-Bush movement. FAT MIKE: Well, I hope my band’s better than the Boomtown Rats. |