NOFX frontman Fat Mike recently opened up about a behind-the-scenes story involving Blink-182. He revealed how a song he co-wrote with former Blink-182 singer Matt Skiba was ultimately pulled from the band’s album once his involvement became known.
Fat Mike explained that he co-wrote the song while staying at Skiba’s house. It had initially been considered for Blink-182’s first single — until the band learned the truth about its origins.
“You know the song that… you know what? Why not? I could tell the story. I’m going to give you the coolest thing you’ve ever had. First, look up Travis Barker interviews and ‘Punk Rock Cliché.’ He did so many interviews where he said it’s the best song on their album. Travis did interviews before they knew that I wrote it. He thought Matt Skiba wrote it. That’s why the whole thing went kind of wonky,” Fat Mike said.
He then detailed how the collaboration came about and how the situation unfolded.
“So, I was staying at Matt Skiba’s house. I was sleeping on his couch like a week and we wrote the song together. It was my chords and melody. And he wrote some of the lyrics. And then he brought it to Blink. They recorded it. These interviews started coming out. I’m like, ‘Cool.’ And Matt goes, ‘The label said, ‘This is our first single.” And I never had a hit single before. I was like, ‘Wow, this is awesome.’ And I was ecstatic. I’m like, ‘Wow, our first radio single.’ It was never going to happen with NOFX, but Blink, how cool,” he continued.
Fat Mike went on to describe the moment things took a turn.
“And then a month later, Matt says, ‘Well, I told the band that uh you wrote most of it.’ And not only was it not the single, but they took it off the album. Well, I would have ghostwritten it. I just wanted the song on our radio,” he said.
He also offered his theory on why Blink-182 may have made the decision to remove the track.
“What I think it was is I don’t know if they kicked Tom out or Tom quit, whatever. But well, Skiba didn’t tell them that I wrote it, so they learned it all. And they may have felt a little weird about that. But I think they were scared of people saying, ‘Oh, Tom left and you he had to get Fat Mike to write your songs.’ And that’s fair,” Fat Mike explained.
Despite the situation, Fat Mike expressed that his main frustration was the lack of direct communication. He also noted his ongoing respect for Travis Barker.
“What bothered me is like me and Travis, you know, he played seven songs on the ‘Cokie the Clown’ album with me. He’s the best and the coolest guy. I just wish they would have called me and said, ‘Sorry, dude. We can’t we can’t do it.’ And then I challenged them to I go, not challenged. I said, ‘Hey, you guys, how about we do a split seven inch cuz NOFX are going to do the song now.’ You have one side, we have the other side, and we’ll see who does it better,” he concluded.
NOFX has since moved forward with recording the song themselves. Fat Mike has proposed a split release as a potential resolution.
The song at the center of the controversy is “Punk Rock Cliché.” Its history stretches back to the transitional period in Blink-182’s lineup, and understanding the full timeline helps explain why the situation carried such weight for everyone involved.
“Punk Rock Cliché” was originally co-written by Fat Mike and Matt Skiba. It was intended for Blink-182’s seventh studio album, California, released in 2016. The track was brought into the band’s recording sessions after Skiba joined Blink-182 as a replacement for founding member Tom DeLonge. At one point, the band and their label had even earmarked it as the lead single from the album — a significant distinction for a record that marked a major chapter in the band’s history.
Travis Barker had already publicly praised the song before the writing credit issue surfaced. As early as 2015, he spoke about the track in interviews, calling it the best song on the album — all without knowing that Fat Mike had been the primary creative force behind it. His enthusiasm, offered in good faith, only added to the awkwardness once the full story came to light.
The decision to remove the track from California came after Skiba disclosed Fat Mike’s involvement to the rest of the band. Fat Mike acknowledged he could understand the band’s reasoning, but made clear that the manner in which it was handled left him disappointed. The concern, as he saw it, was reputational — Blink-182 had just undergone a high-profile lineup change, and having an outside writer credited on a flagship song could have invited criticism that the band needed help filling the creative void left by DeLonge’s departure.
NOFX ultimately released “Punk Rock Cliché” as their own track in November 2022. Fat Mike’s proposal for a split seven-inch — with Blink-182 on one side and NOFX on the other — remains an open challenge. It would allow both versions of the song to exist side by side and let listeners draw their own conclusions.
Source: 91X San Diego
