Avenged Sevenfold frontman M. Shadows sat down with Chaoszine for a new interview. The singer chatted about his musical influences and named people from both the metal and punk scene. He said:
“I was influenced by things like Phil Anselmo, James Hetfield Axl Rose, but also really influenced by Tim [Williams] and Vision Of Disorder. Greg Graffin [of] Bad Religion, Fat Mike from NOFX. So it was just like a lot, I just liked a lot of unique voices. I really liked Fat Mike because it was so different.”
Shadows also mentioned Blink-182 and Sum 41. The singer said the two bands were inspired by the NOFX singer in terms of sound and stage performances:
“I mean a whole group of bands came after him; Blink-182 and Sum 41, and they were all just kind of Fat Mike, I wouldn’t want to call him impersonators because they all made great careers, but Fat Mike made that sound and that joking on stage and just being over the top. Greg Graffin was more serious, more like a husky voice and bigger more like what my voice is. Those were all influences, I listened to all of it. I just liked unique voices, that’s why I liked Axl.”
Fat Mike’s Feud With Blink-182
Shadows’ comments on the bands came after Fat Mike discussed their feud with Blink-182.
In a 2022 interview with Spin, he said that the song ‘Punk Rock Cliché’ from NOFX’s ‘Double Album’ was originally meant for Blink-182.
He co-wrote the song with Matt Skiba when Skiba joined Blink-182 in 2015 to replace Tom DeLonge. However, the song was never released as a single and didn’t make it onto Blink-182’s 2016 album, ‘California.’
Fat Mike told Spin that he wasn’t upset and mentioned he had planned to ghostwrite the song and move on. However, he acknowledged that the timing—Skiba joining as DeLonge was leaving—might have contributed to the decision not to release it. He speculated that there might have been concerns about the perception of needing Fat Mike to write a song for Blink-182.
Later, however, Fat Mike assured that there are no hard feelings between him and the band by saying:
“I went to see them [Blink-182] the other night. They were all so friendly and I’m just happy that we’re all friends. I didn’t start talking about that [song] to put a wedge between our friendship. I just wanted to — NOFX did that song because that song had to come out. If they didn’t want to put it out, I was going. So I figured I’d tell the story, but there was no ill will. But, it was great to see all those guys. They’re all good dudes.”
You can see the interview down below.