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Music

NOFX's Fat Mike Lives A Deep S&M Lifestyle

We've got the interview, plus an exclusive stream of "Ronnie & Mags," the title track off their new seven-inch.

Fat Mike submitting to Soma Snakeoil, his dominatrix girlfriend. Photo by Magdalena Wosinska for this amazing Inked story.

NOFX has been a band for 29 years, which, if our demographics are right, is older than you are. That means you should treat them with the respect they deserve, and not get all weird just because they're into S&M.

Last week I called Fat Mike to talk to him about the new NOFX seven-inch "Ronnie & Mags," but whenever I asked anyone what I should talk to him about, they all said the same thing: S&M. Turns out Mike is a staunch advocate for the BDSM community, has kept a dungeon for 20 years, and is proud as hell. Pretty fucking punk rock if you ask me.

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Before you read the scintillating interview with Fat Mike, press that little orange button down there. Your computer will magically stream an exclusive of "Ronnie & Mags," and you're guaranteed to love it. You can pre-order the seven-inch right here. Oh, also, NOFX is going on tour, so we've added those tour dates below.

NOISEY: Hey, is this Mike?
Fat Mike: Yeah man, hey what's happening?

Awesome. I'm really happy to be talking to you. I've been a fan since I was a kid, saw you guys on the Warped Tour back in the late nineties.
Oh good! So it's a friendly interview. [Laughing]

Yeah man, no bad reviews. So I was trying to figure out what to talk to you about, and everyone kept telling me, "talk to him about S&M!" Why does everyone want me to talk to you about bondage? You're just big into it? You love it?
Well, it's my lifestyle. You could talk to a gay person and say "you just love being gay, don't ya?" I'm not saying you're born with it, but the first shit I ever jerked off to was definitely kinky shit. I've done it my whole life, and now that I'm divorced I'm living with a dominatrix. We don't live a 24/7 lifestyle like some people, because we've got kids. But it's our lifestyle.

Was "the lifestyle" something that you ever felt uncomfortable about, or have you always been so proud?
I've always been interested. When I was in college my minor was Human Sexuality. Being a sex therapist was something I was thinking about doing if music didn’t work out. I never used to go to parties or anything until I started dating my current girlfriend. Right now I’m a total proud card-carrying member. I haven’t always been open but I always felt lucky that there was something in my life that I felt passionate about. I think most people don’t feel that way about sex. But yeah, I've had a dungeon in my house for the past 20 years.

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Wow, you've been living in the same place for 20 years?
No. I've lived in a bunch of different places and built a dungeon in all of them.

Wait, so you've built a dungeon everywhere you've lived for 20 years? How big of an endeavor is that? What’s the process?
I mean it’s not like you take a caterpillar truck and dig out a big hole under your house or something. In one house there was a room built back in the prohibition era - there was a secret doorway, which was perfect. What my girlfriend and I have now in downtown LA is a loft apartment. It’s just a big studio. It’s like 500 feet. It’s where we put all of our shit.

Are we talking stone walls?
No, it’s a brick building. There are just walls and walls of toys and furniture.

That’s fucking awesome, dude. I think I'm jealous! Do you have any involvement with any community groups or advocates? Do those groups get a negative connotation?
Absolutely. Both me and my girlfriend are kind of missionaries. I think it should be talked about. It should be out in the open because people don’t enjoy their desires enough. You’re allowed to do whatever the fuck you want as long as it’s consensual. You might as well live out your fantasies and not be ashamed of it.

NOFX.

Fat Mike: It’s so unfair because the transgender, bisexual, gay, and lesbian communities have their groups. They’re all together. They’re all considered one gender or sexual minority. They all lobby together and the BDSM community is not invited ever. [Laughs] And yeah there is a big community and my girlfriend is a big part of that. She teaches classes and she’s very prominent in that community. Society really does not accept BDSM and it does have a negative connotation.

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NOISEY: You're right - you can keep adding letters to LGBTQIA, but BDSM will probably never make it on there. Is this something that bothers you?
I mean sort of, but it also makes everything it a lot more fun. It’s like being a punk rocker. I’m a punk rocker in every part of my life. Nothing I do is accepted by society. I’m a drug user, I’m a punk rocker, and I’m an S&M-er. We won't be added to LGBTQIA because our lifestyle isn’t considered genetic. It’s more of a choice.

There was a case in Europe that I actually donated money to about 15 years ago. It’s called the Spanner Case. Four men were practicing BDSM in their basement and doing pretty rough stuff, dick piercings and stuff, and they made a video. The video got out and they were prosecuted for something they were doing in the privacy of their own home. They went to court and got sentenced to eight years. It went to the British Supreme Court and they didn’t overturn it. It went to the European Supreme Court and they didn’t overturn it. So those four dudes did that time for basically piercing each other’s dicks in the privacy of their own home.

Goddamn.
When it comes to shit like that, there's a problem. There’s a lot of doms who have had their kids taken away because of what they do on their own time. This is looked at as a deviant sexual lifestyle. But we’re just having hotter sex than everyone else, you know! [Laughs]

So as much as I'd like to keep talking about this, I want to ask you just one question about the new record, Self Entitled. It's coming out on September 11 - any reason for that?
It’s so funny because you have to put your records out on Tuesday and our main distributor only puts out records every other Tuesday so it was either going to be September 11 or September 25. We took September 11, it wasn’t a conscious, political choice. But coincidentally, the first song is called “72 Hookers” and it’s about suicide bombers. [Laughs]

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What's that about?
It’s about four suicide bombers that were caught when their bomb didn’t go off. There’s a French documentarian who made a movie about this. They were all sixteen year old kids who had no political interest for the bombing. All four of them were doing it because they wanted to get 72 virgins.

They did it just for the pussy?
It’s really interesting when you hear that and go “Wow they don’t hate the American Way. They don’t even fucking know about America. They just want to get laid.” It’s fucking true. That’s how a lot of that shit works. Suicide bombers aren’t 40-year-olds who have to take care of a family, they’re fucking teenagers who want to get laid.

You think there'd be an easier way, huh?
Yeah you'd think! There have been female suicide bombers too, are they really looking for 72 male virgins?

NOFX 2012 Tour Dates

09/12 - Toronto, ON - Riot Fest
09/14 - Minneapolis, MN - Cabooze
09/16 - Chicago, IL - Riot Fest
09/18 - Indianapolis, IN - Deluxe
09/19 - Cincinnati, OH - Bogarts
09/21 - Corpus Christi, TX - Concrete Street Amphitheater
09/22 - Dallas, TX - Riot Fest

@b_shap