SNFU:
Pork Rock Punks Play Starlight
The Rocky Mountain Collegian, 9/21/99
Mr. Chi Pig likes pork with his punk rock.
Last Thursday night, hog-masked and manic, he showed SNFU fans at the
Starlight how it's done.
With the spew of his wailing vocals, Mr. Pig flashed hand gestures like
frantic sign language with every lyric. His presence was that of a punk
rock pig let out of his pen, hot footing on stage and squealing for
sovereignty.
It was SNFU's first Fort Collins show in the bands 18-year legacy. They
started playing together fresh out of high school as SNAFU: Situation
Normally All F***ed Up. Shortly after, they dropped the A and became SNFU:
Society's No F***ing Use.
Mr. Pig knew guitar player Marc Belke from skateboarding circles and
noticed he was going to the same punk shows. They decided to start a band.
"We just got together to play for fun at first," Mr. Pig said. "We wanted
to play with our heroes in the first punk wave like DOA and the Sub Humans."
When punk first started it was abrasive, but not all that fast. SNFU broke
the wave with faster music that appealed to more of a skateboarding crowd.
The band was voted No. 5 on "Thrasher" magazine's list of top skate bands
and was on "Thrasher" compilations between 1985 and 1987.
The band's first album "And No One Else Wanted To Play" was released in
1984. Since then they've done seven more on various labels including BYO,
Cargo, Epitaph, and Megaforce. SNFU's latest, "Let's Get It Right The
First Time," is a live album just out this year.
Comparable to their influences, The Circle Jerks and Black Flag, SNFU
thrives on loud guitar and screaming vocals. Mr. Pig has written all SNFU
lyrics since the beginning. He used to write about horror and fantasy, but
said his lyrics get stronger as time goes by and the band takes on
different directions.
"I try to write one song about everything and never repeat it," Mr. Pig
said. "Some songs have a message and some are just (messed up)."
Thursday night's performance was delivered with clean precision. The music
itself was old school punk rock. The guitar and percussion provided tight
energy; Mr. Pig was the star of the show.
Mr. Pig is a man of props, from his manic gesturing to his hog-mask. He
also had a special guest "pro-choice puppet," on his arm. He was an
animated performer, his yellow tuft of hair boomeranging across the stage
at fierce throttles and then disappearing into the crowd again. He donned
typical '80s punk garb for the occasion. The show, aside from a pretty
lame pit, screamed back to the days of the early punk wave.
SNFU is doing less and less touring as time passes, but fans will have
something to look forward to when the band returns home to their native
Canada next week. The band is going back to work on a new album scheduled
to come out mid-2000. In the meantime, SNFU has an EP ready for release
from their Epitaph years to tide people over.
"We're going in a new direction," said Mr. Pig. "We did our first album
when we were teenagers. That was it and then you live with the results.
Now the songwriting is stronger and everything's just going to be better."
-Megan Alderton
Backstage
Pass: An Interview With SNFU
Denver CitySearch, August 1999
If I could use just one word to describe SNFU, it would be "relentless." This band has been making music for about 15 years, releasing 7 albums and putting more miles on a tour bus (or van) than a Deadhead. Plus, show after show, fans are treated to the same kind of blistering punk gig, and it seems that after all this time, they're only getting better.
Most people think of London, New York or Southern California when they think of punk music, but bands like DOA and SNFU are the godfathers of punk rock. Hailing from Western Canada, SNFU proves that Canadian music is more than just Bryan Adams and Celine Dion.
Over the years, the Canadian punk music scene has changed drastically since SNFU began. Lead singer Chi Pig explains the evolution of what is now Canadian punk: "We were really part of a second wave. DOA was really the first. Then there was us, Subhumans, the Viletones, Forgotten Rebels. Now, it's GOB. Plus, there's still a lot of punk music coming out of Quebec."
But the musical scene isn't the only thing that has changed. Over the last seven albums, their songwriting has improved and their sound has become less abrasive. SNFU has also changed the lineup—or has been forced to change it—quite a few times over the years. Starting with five members, they now have four. But they haven't just subtracted one; they've lost about nine members (nearly two a year), leaving Sean Stubbs on drums, Rob Johnson on bass, Muc on guitar, and Chi Pig taking the vocals. All members agree that this is the strongest line p yet. Muc—who spent many years sharing the guitar limelight with others, but is now strumming solo—says of the current lineup, "It forces you to be a better musician."
Chi Pig, who does the majority of the songwriting, feels that he's a better songwriter today than when SNFU began. Chi Pig's theory of his growth is simplistic, yet telling: "In the beginning, on the first record, a song was just a song."
The less abrasive sound may also come from 15 years of making music. Their first record was recorded and mixed in about two weeks, as was the second album. Chi Pig makes comparisons: "We didn't have anything to compare it to, we were just making noise," says Pig. "After seven, you begin to reevaluate the sound."
SNFU has worked with a wide variety of artists, such as David Ogilvy, Skinny Puppy, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Motley Crue and Loverboy. Chi Pig explains their relationship with David Ogilvy, "David was a friend of ours before he produced us. He knew what to look for in us, to make us better performers. He brought out a raw, natural sound and skipped the studio tricks."
Ogilvy mixed "One Most Likely to Succeed" (1995) and was the engineer for "Fyulaba" (1996); both these albums have a sound that's different than the albums preceding it, yet are a little reminiscent of SNFU's style from the early '80s. Many feel that the sound from these two albums are as good as SNFU gets—the best of the best and virtually none of the bad.
SNFU has been slaving away for years for mediocre success while other so-called punk bands seem to make it overnight. "Some just struck a chord, some were in the right place at the right time and some I think have had success because of their record label," says an unresentful Chi Pig.
Next on SNFU's plate is, of course, another album, and Chi Pig, who does the band's cover art, is looking to publish an art book as well as a book on SNFU entitled "About the Band, About Everything." Chi Pig's art has been borrowed by other bands and seen on the skin of kids at shows.
Everyone will always have their very own definition of punk rock, and that's all good, but put an SNFU album up against, say, Offspring, and tell me what you get. Black and white, day and night, oil and water, punk music and the latest commercial fad. Who knows, these bands may go the distance and end up with a sound as mature and yet still as raw as SNFU. But for now, it's fortunate we have Western Canada's best punk act right here, right now.
Interview with SNFU—the Lightning Round:
CitySearch: What is your favorite song to cover?
CitySearch: What song would you most like to cover?
CitySearch: Favorite town to play?
CitySearch: What's better? The road or the studio?
CitySearch: Better show: 21 and over, or all ages?
CitySearch: Favorite band to see live?
CitySearch: What's in your CD/cassette player now?
-Amy Lewis
"Wild World," Cat Stevens, and "Poor, Poor Pitful Me."
"Like a Song," U2. And an a cappella version of Madonna's "Like a Virgin."
Denver [aww, isn't that sweet?], Montreal is good too. And of course the hometown. Smaller towns sometimes have better venues.
When the road is good, it's great. But when you're in the studio, it's like you're home.
All ages. More energy, everyone gets a chance to see the band.
The Damned [Chi]; Neil Diamond [Muc and Rob]. He was on a revolving stage and when his butt was turned to my section, all the women went nuts.
The Smiths, the Dickies, Dead Kennedys [Chi]; Dr. Dre, Snoop, some punk, and some hip-hop [Muc].
© 1999 Ariel Publicity and SNFU