NOFX Mourn Fat Mike’s Fictional Death in Animated ‘The Big Drag’ Video
NOFX's new music video for "The Big Drag," the opening track on the veteran punk rockers' recent Single Album, may be animated, but it opens with a somber moment.
In the clip, the cartoon band members gather to mourn the seeming loss of their longtime bandleader, singer and bassist "Fat" Mike Burkett, the entrepreneurial (and outspoken) frontman who co-founded the band in the 1980s. The depiction follows the song's exploration of death and dark themes, but the visual representation, created by the Ukrainian duo of artist sisters known as the "Mad Twins," takes it to a different level.
Then, from that sad scene, it goes back through history to present a…crucified NOFX? Watch the video down toward the bottom of this post.
"I'm more excited than….. a very excited person would be about this video!" Burkett says of the clip that emerged on Wednesday (July 7). "Why? Firstly because I didn't have to do anything but write the song. I asked the Mad Twins from Ukraine to choose a song from our album to make a video for. They said it would have to be 'The Big Drag.' They wanted something very dark…. They wrote the treatment for it and I was blown away. It's nothing that I would have ever thought of."
The Twins, Olya and Vira Ishchuk, explain that they "like these kind of deep songs and liked this one right away, it's dark but not depressing to us. We always love when bands develop and do something unexpected in their music, especially those who have 30 years in the scene. … The lyrics are a lot but we wanted to give more visually than just following the lyrics!"
Burkett adds that he did "[throw] in a couple things" regarding the video's conception before marveling at the Twins' fast work. "They said it would take them 6 months of working 10 hours a day to finish it," the NOFX rocker remarks. "They also said it sucks balls to live in Ukraine during COVID in the winter. Well, they finished it in 5 months!!!! And wow!!!!! They fucking killed!!!"
NOFX will perform at their two Punk in Drublic Festival dates later this summer.