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United States Fat Mike is a musician and producer known for his extensive career as the bassist and lead vocalist of NOFX, co-founder of Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, and founder of Fat Wreck Chords.
Hopeless Records acquired the entire catalog of Fat Wreck Chords, the label co-founded by Fat Mike. As part of this landmark partnership, Fat Mike and Erin Kelly-Burkett (co-founders of Fat Wreck Chords) forgave all outstanding balances for artists under contract, amounting to $3.5 million in artist debt.
Fat Mike is the owner and founder of Fat Wreck Chords, an independent punk rock record label established in 1990. The label's catalog has recently been acquired by Hopeless Records.
Wasserman Music serves as the exclusive booking agency for Fat Mike.
In 2014, Burkett started Fatale, a brand of panties marketed towards men.
Michael John Burkett, known professionally as Fat Mike, was born on January 31, 1967, in Newton, Massachusetts. He embarked on his musical career in 1982 with the band False Alarm. Following the dissolution of False Alarm in 1983, he co-founded NOFX alongside Eric Melvin and Erik Sandin, serving as the band’s bassist and lead vocalist. He also became a co-founder and bassist for the punk rock supergroup cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. Burkett graduated from San Francisco State University in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in Social Science and a minor in Human Sexuality. His early influences in punk rock came from Joe Escalante of the Vandals, who introduced him to the genre at age 13.
In addition to his musical endeavors, Burkett established Fat Wreck Chords, an independent record label. Throughout his career, he has appeared as a guest vocalist on tracks for various bands, including Screeching Weasel, Randy, and Lagwagon. His artistic expression extends to his alter ego, Cokie the Clown, under which he released a solo album titled “You’re Welcome” in 2019, featuring Dizzy Reed and Travis Barker. In 2021, he formed Codefendants, a band aimed at blending hip hop, new wave, and punk rock.
Beyond music, Burkett engaged in political activism through Punkvoter.com, which he founded in 2004 to encourage young people to vote against George W. Bush. He also organized the Rock Against Bush campaign, conducting tours with other punk artists and releasing compilation albums to support the cause. These albums, “Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1” and “Vol. 2,” sold over 650,000 copies, with proceeds funding the tour and related advocacy efforts.
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