Fat Mike has been a household name in the world of punk rock for more than ten years. His resume includes fronting the legendary NOFX and founding what is arguably the world’s best punk record label, Fat Wreck Chords. Today he can add political activist to his list of credentials. With the formation of his Punk Voter website and the upcoming release of the Rock Against Bush compilations, Fat Mike is a man on a mission in ’04. NOFX will also headline the first leg of the Punk Voter tour, as well as play select dates on Warped Tour, all in hopes of sending W. back to Crawford, Texas come November. Though he has garnered some flak due to his latest actions, Mike remains undeterred by his critics. He continues to exercise his right as an American citizen to make his voice heard and do what it takes to unite punks in electing a President who’s more deserving of the title.

Bill – When did you first brainstorm the whole Rock Against Bush concept?

Mike – A couple of years ago. I just thought, “Shit, I’ve got to put out a compilation. I know every band, so I’ll just call everybody up.” Just about everyone I called wanted to do it.

Bill – You have stated publicly that you’re unhappy with Bush’s handling of our economy, his environmental policies and also the questionable tax cuts he’s made. Do you have any additional complaints regarding Mr. Bush? If so, what issue really pushed you over the top and led toward your creation of this campaign against him?

Mike – You know, he’s done so many fucked up things it’s unbelievable. One thing done by Clinton or by a Democrat and they get censured. Bush has done so many bad things. What irks me is how he is trying to make an amendment to the Constitution to ban gay marriage. That’s just one thing that makes me incredibly angry. It’s against civil rights. Also, the fact that he called Iran, Iraq and North Korea “The Axis of Evil.” Just one phrase like that almost put us at war with North Korea. Iran has been doing nothing but trying to make their relations better with us and turn their country into a democratic nation. They’re not the worst people in the world. Bush is not a diplomat. He’s not a politician. He’s a good old boy. He started a war with Iraq for virtually no reason at all. The CIA told him from the beginning that there were no weapons of mass destruction and that Iraq had nothing to do with September 11th. The FBI said the same thing, no connection between Iraq and 9/11. He did it anyway because he’s an asshole. I can’t list everything he’s done badly.

Bill – Tell me about the formation of the Punk Voter website and how the site aims to complement happenings related to Rock Against Bush.

Mike – We’re just trying to get kids pissed off at what Bush is doing to this country and the rest of the world. We’re just putting up news items and trying to inform people of what’s going on. It’s an information-spreading website.

Bill – I’ve heard conflicting rumors dealing with both a Rock Against Bush tour, as well as accompanying compilations. What specific events are confirmed for the upcoming months?

Mike – The CD is on its way and there are 26 bands on it. Eighteen of the songs are unreleased and it comes with a DVD. The DVD has ten-minute trailers for some upcoming political movies. One of the movies is about the Enron scandal. If you watch this DVD, you’re going to get fuckin’ pissed. It just shows explicitly how Bush stole the election in Florida. It shows how he started a war with Iraq for no apparent reason. It also shows how he was in bed with Enron and how Enron helped to destroy this economy, especially California’s economy. I’m going to be handing out these compilations on the Rock Against Bush tour and on Warped Tour. All day long I’m going to pass them out to kids. I feel that if I give the CD to a kid and tell him to check it out, there’s a better chance he or she will do it. I’m going to be doing that along with Matt Skiba, Brian Baker from Bad Religion, members of Anti-Flag and Rise Against. A lot of bands on Warped Tour who care are going to sit at the Punk Voter booth and talk to kids all day long too. The first CD compilation that I was talking about comes out April 20th. The first Punk Voter tour will be NOFX, Alkaline Trio and Jello Biafra. I don’t know who’s going to be in the opening slot yet. That tour will be before Warped Tour. What I’m trying to get everyone to do is buy the Rock Against Bush CD the week it comes out, or buy a few copies, because the higher it goes in Billboard the bigger the statement it will make. We’re really trying to get in the Top 40.

Bill – Have you received much backlash regarding your recent political endeavors?

Mike – No, you know, on the internet kids write things. They’re just trying to be assholes though and piss people off. There are a lot of people who like Bush, so I get some backlash. We’ve had some mail where people wrote in and said they’re never going to buy anything from Fat Wreck Chords again. That’s just how it goes. I’m willing to lose some money and fans over this. I don’t really care. I think the cause is more important than selling some records.

Bill – Thanks to the passage of The Patriot Act, our government has some newfound authority. Do you ever feel threatened that they may in some way try to interfere with Rock Against Bush?

Mike – I don’t think about it. My family always asks if I’m going to be okay. They’re like, “Are you sure no one is going to try and off you or tap your phones?” I just don’t worry about it. There are a lot of people who are speaking out. I’m not lashing out any more than anyone else is. Michael Moore and Al Franken are bigger figures than me. They’re talking a lot more shit than I am.

Bill – How do you feel about other campaigns geared toward getting young people to vote, specifically MTV’s Choose or Lose?

Mike – I think MTV is doing a total crap job with Rock the Vote and Choose or Lose. You can’t tell kids to go and vote. They’re not going to go and vote just because you tell them to on MTV. They’ll vote if you anger them and you show them why they should vote. You can’t just tell them to vote. Most people who are 18 – 25 in this country actually have a favorable opinion of Bush. They’re the largest age group that has a good opinion of him. They have a 60% approval rating, where most age groups are right above 50%. The reason for this is because kids don’t know shit. They don’t read the news, they don’t pay attention and they don’t care. In our scene kids do care. That’s why you just can’t say “Choose or Lose” on MTV. All that does is get another million kids to vote in the wrong direction. You have to piss people off enough to start caring, and in turn start sharing their anger with other people. I think Russell Simmons’ organization has been doing a really good job. They got 80,000 voters registered in Philadelphia. That’s huge. That was for a mayoral race, but still.

Bill – It’s more than fair to say that nowadays punk rock by and large really lacks a lot of the ideals upon which it was founded. The creativity, abrasiveness, recklessness, anger, sense of rebellion; none of that is present with the Top 40 “punk.” Do you think the outcome of this year’s election has the potential to change the direction that punk rock is going in?

Mike – Sure, it might, but I disagree with people. There are some bands that sold-out punk rock and that are huge and commercialized. However, I think the punk rock scene is exactly where it was 15 or 20 years ago. There are still shows at small clubs with a bunch of drunks and addicts having a good time. There are still political bands. The Subhumans draw just as many people as they always have. Last time I was in Chicago I saw The Lawrence Arms at The Metro. It was a packed, fuckin’ fun punk show. There wasn’t anything watered-down about it. Some bands have gone commercial, but it doesn’t mean the punk scene has changed. Some bands have just stolen the punk scene and made it huge. The underground punk scene is still alive and well.

Bill – Are there any bands in mainstream music that you think are doing a good job of making their fans a bit more aware of politics this year?

Mike – Well, New Found Glory put the cover of the Rock Against Bush CD on their website and told everyone to get it. Good Charlotte, who is pretty much the biggest rock band in America right now, I know it sounds funny but it’s true. They’ve sold three million records and are still in the top 50. They’re doing a song for Rock Against Bush Vol. 2. They’re doing some photo shoots for it and some anti-Bush interviews. No matter how much kids think they sold-out punk rock or whatever, they’re still standing up for what they believe, even though their record label is dead-set against it. I asked them to be on the CD and they agreed, but their label said, “No fuckin’ way.” They insisted on doing it and got in a huge fight with their label over it. They still stood up for us, so that says a lot about them for sure.

Bill – You’ve got a tremendously busy year planned. Not only is there all the touring with NOFX, but obviously your commitments to Rock Against Bush and your label as well. How do you plan to maintain your sanity?

Mike – I don’t know. For the past eight to ten years, NOFX has only toured three months out of the year, which is not very much. That’s all the touring I can handle, being an alcoholic and such. We’re doing a lot more touring this year and hopefully I won’t be doing as much drinking. Hopefully I’ll be doing more speaking and more political things. It’s my year to be dedicated to public service. Everyone’s got to do something. This is the year I’m giving up for my country. Hopefully I’ll never have to do this bullshit again. I certainly don’t like it. I hate doing interviews, that’s why I haven’t done any in seven years.

Bill – I know that Michael Moore is one of your favorite authors. What other authors would you recommend for those looking to become more politically informed?

Mike – The Al Franken book is pretty good. I read a book by Paul Krugman that was good, The Great Unraveling, but I don’t really suggest it to kids because it’s kind of heavy. I’ve read some Chomsky, but then again that’s got nothing to do with what I’m going for right now. I’m a very left liberal. What we’re going for is ruining George Bush. I think he’s very, very dangerous. I don’t know, read the shit we put on the Punk Voter site. I mean, go ahead and read The People’s History of the World by Howard Zinn, but all it’s going to do is piss you off. It’s a fuckin’ huge book too.

Bill – If you were ever given the opportunity to meet President Bush how would you react?

Mike – I’d just ask him, “Do you have any idea how much you’re hated by Americans?”

Bill – Would you advise voting for John Kerry?

Mike – We can’t advocate voting for any candidate with Punk Voter. As far as I’m concerned, I’m going to vote for whoever has the best shot at beating Bush. I don’t suggest anyone voting for a third party. I think third parties are great for local elections, like in San Francisco. In this case though, in this presidential election, the main goal is to get rid of Bush.

Bill – Aside from Bush not getting re-elected, what more would you hope for the Rock Against Bush campaign to achieve?

Mike – I think we can be a lobbying group. I don’t see any reason why we can’t be like the AARP or the NRA. If we have a few hundred thousand people who are going to vote as a unit, we can talk to state legislators, presidents and higher-ups. We can get our message heard. We already did. We flew out to Iowa and members of Anti-Flag and Rise Against met with John Kerry and Kucinich. They were talking to them. We were fuckin’ there, it’s not that hard. If they know we’re carrying a few hundred thousand votes they are going to listen. It’s not hopeless. Punk rock has never been organized before. I’m just trying to do it this one time. It does piss me off sometimes when I get a bunch of hate mail or hate messages, like people calling me a drunk or saying that I don’t know anything. I don’t know what I know. I’m just trying to make a difference, so quit bugging me.