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March 22nd, 2026 by Kevin Gomez
Based on their rough start, addictions, and self-admitted lack of talent, there’s not many who foresaw NOFX surviving their first few years – much less four decades later – and having one of the biggest impacts on punk rock music (Descendents frontman Milo Aukerman commented in the film, “They’re the punk rock Beatles”). For a band who got no love in their early days and even years later continued to get no respect, in the words of Rodney Dangerfield, the band is finally getting their chance to celebrate and look back at a storied career.\
“40 Years of Fucking Up,” a film by NOFX holds back no punches and gives a raw history spanning the band’s career. It’s what you would expect a movie about NOFX to encompass: sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. The band held the world movie premiere at SXSW in Austin on March 15th, but arguably the even bigger and more important date was their hometown show in Santa Monica at the Landmark Nuart Theatre. As lead singer and bassist Fat Mike Burkett says it in the film, “I still get nervous for hometown shows.”
A celebrity’s row of who’s who in punk rock history showed up to celebrate NOFX, including Josh Homme, Deryck Whibley, Gerard Way, and Linda Ramone. The event was curated by the Punk Rock Museum, headed by museum Chief Communications Officer Melanie Kaye. Friends of the band, many of whom were featured and thanked in the film graced the red carpet for photo ops inside the movie’s lobby including members of Lagwagon, Bad Cop/Bad Cop and Strung Out.
This was not the band’s first foray into chronicling their lives. In 2008 they aired “Backstage Passport” on Fuse TV, a video diary giving fans a rare glimpse into their touring lives. This was special as NOFX famously shunned media attention, rejecting radio airplay and refusing to submit any music videos to MTV after the network rejected their first three attempts.
In 2015 they released the film, “Backstage Passport 2” on DVD followed in 2016 by “The Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories,” an autobiography about their lives, written in their own words.
The band members were of course in attendance including drummer Erik “Smelly” Sandin, guitarist, “El Hefe” (Aaron Abeyta), keyboardist Karina Denike, Burkett and ex-wife, Erin (who together ran Fat Wreck Chords for 35 years), and their families. Famously absent from the event was guitarist and founding member Eric Melvin.
Before the movie aired Burkett took to the stage to say that he grew up watching movies as an adolescent going to see the sold-out “Star Wars” opening day. He would eventually go on to see a movie that changed his life forever: “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” “It didn’t just change my life; it saved my life,” he declared. He vowed to one day release a movie about music and cross-dressing, which is exactly what he was doing today.
The movie details the band’s early days and home life, including Sandin’s struggles with heroin addiction, but is more centered around the band’s farewell tour, kicked off by Burkett’s decision to retire. A major factor in his decision to call it quits came from the shocking revelation that he had recently been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, which meant an end to his excessive drinking and cocaine. As he put it, “I don’t know how to be sober on stage.”
The film does briefly explore Burkett’s cross-dressing habits, which although started in his teens, he never did so publicly until his 40s. In a rare glimpse of Burkett being vulnerable he even dons one of his latex feminine masks on and explains he hopes being so open about his own interests may inspire others out there to feel more comfortable about their own gender or sexuality.
As I mentioned above the film concludes with the band’s last three performances ever, culminating with the band’s final song written by Burkett, “We Did It Our Way.” Although, that is how the movie itself ended, the real-life drama between Melvin and Burkett continues to play out.
Burkett revealed in a Q&A with the band that his former best friend had made accusations against him, and that, “I didn’t want to be on stage with Eric Melvin anymore and that’s why the band broke up.” The next day Melvin posted a statement on Instagram denying that he ever sued Burkett, never even served him with papers, but rather sent a letter asking for financial records for the band, which he had been requesting for years.
As a fan, even if the band truly is retired and never play another show again, it would be really nice to at least see Melvin and Burkett patch things up as longtime friends and brothers. As Burkett put it, “I lost my best friend.” After “40 Years of Fucking Up,” let’s hope this is one they don’t mess up.
EVENT PHOTO GALERY
by Joey Clark | Highway One Photography
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SID 260321 | TRACI TURNER | EDITOR
