reference

Home

Shopping

Articles

Local

News

SNFU

History

Early days, first four LPs (1981–1989)

Singer Chinn and the Belke brothers initially met through the skateboarding subculture in the early '80s . Their shared interest in the burgeoning punk rock movement led to forming the band. The first of many SNFU rhythm sections featured Warren Bidlock on bass and Evan C. Jones on drums.

With Jimmy Schmidtz replacing Bidlock, SNFU released a debut EP, Victims of the Womanizer in 1983. The band quickly built an audience throughout North America on the strength of their live set. Their influential first album ...And No One Else Wanted To Play was recorded in 1984 and released by the California label BYO Records.

Following the success of their debut, the group spent the next few years touring extensively. Their second album, If You Swear, You'll Catch No Fish, was recorded in 1986 and with Dave Bacon on bass and Jon Card playing drums. Card is notable for having worked with several popular Canadian punk rock bands, including Personality Crisis, the Subhumans, and D.O.A..

This was followed in 1988 by Better Than A Stick In The Eye, with bassist Curtis Creager and drummer Ted Simm. The album was distributed by Cargo Records, a larger label than the band had previously dealt with. After more touring, including their first trip to Europe, SNFU disbanded in late 1989. A few years after the breakup, a fourth record was released called The Last Of The Big Time Suspenders, consisting of live material, demos, and studio outtakes.

During SNFU's period of inactivity, Chinn briefly led a Vancouver punk outfit called The Wongs, who released an EP. The Belke brothers began a new melodic rock group called the Wheat Chiefs, who would go on to release one record, Redeemer, in 1996.

Reformation through Brent Belke's departure (1991–1998)

In 1991, SNFU reformed around the Belkes, Chinn, Creager and Card. However, the latter two soon left and were replaced by bassist Ken Flemming (formerly of the Winnipeg-based skate punk band The Unwanted) and drummer Dave Rees. Although Flemming's tenure as bassist was brief, mainly focusing around an extended European tour, he would play a major role in SNFU fifteen years later. He was replaced in 1992 by Rob Johnson, aka "the Buck" or "Starbuck," the bass player for Wheat Chiefs. This configuration of the band debuted with a small-run EP on the Hom Wreckards imprint, Beautiful, Unlike You and I, followed by a multi-record deal with Epitaph Records. This lineup has the distinction of being the only SNFU lineup to appear on multiple studio albums. They released Something Green And Leafy This Way Comes in 1993, The One Voted Most Likely To Succeed in 1995, and FYULABA (aka Fuck You Up Like A Bad Accident) in 1996. This era found the band playing increasingly melodic music, influenced by the third-wave punk sound of the early '90s.

In early 1998, the band announced the departure of both Rees and Brent Belke, the latter of whom was leaving to pursue a career in the film industry. The group continued as a four-piece and hired drummer Sean Stubbs to replace Rees. 1998 saw the release of Let's Get It Right the First Time, a live album recorded during one of the final shows with Rees and Brett Belke, co-released by the Megaforce Entertainment label and the band's new, self-run label, Rake Records.

The final release for the classic '90s lineup was the five-song Ping Pong EP, recorded in 1997 and released in 2000 on CD and 10" vinyl on the Alternative Tentacles label.

As a four-piece (1998–2005)

The band continued to tour and began sporadic work on a new record, a process that would end up taking six years. Stubbs was replaced for a time by Chris Thompson. In 2002, after 10 years in the group, Rob Johnson left the band to pursue new projects, including a solo rap album under the name Freshbread called Big Boss Battle and a new rock band called Air Raid Siren. Johnson was replaced by bassist Matt Warhurst. In 2003, drummer Trevor McGregor of the band Treble Charger replaced Thompson.
In the Meantime and In Between Time, SNFU's finished album, was released on Rake Records in 2004. Many fans acredit this record as some of their finest work . McGregor left shortly thereafter and Shane Smith joined as drummer for the group, playing their 2004 and 2005 tours. At the end of the summer of 2005, SNFU members announced that they had decided to disband.

After the breakup, Chinn, Warhurst, Smith and guitarist Jay R. Black (of Ocean 3) started a short-lived group called Slaveco. Marc Belke began working in radio, hosting his own show.

New lineup (2007–present)

In July 2007, a party and performance were staged for SNFU's 25th anniversary. Chinn, former bassist Flemming on guitar, Bryan McCallum on bass and Chad Mareels on drums played a set "as SNFU" (alternately "asSNFU") to celebrate the occasion. Reportedly, Belke and other former members of the group were offered a chance to participate but declined. The unrehearsed concert was intended as one-off, but the four ended up regularly performing sets of SNFU material and eventually decided they had properly reunited the band and officially continued as such.

There was a mild amount of controversy surrounding the continuation of the band in the absence of founding member and primary songwriter Marc Belke, who renounced the new lineup. In an interview, Chinn stated, "As far as I’m concerned it’s SNFU. The band has changed all throughout the years, and this is just another change. That’s exactly how I see it ... Those songs are my life. I’ll fucking play them ‘til I die.”

In 2008, McCallum was replaced by Denis Nowoselski; in early 2009, Shane Smith returned as the band's drummer, replacing Mareels. The group has since embarked on full Canadian and European tours. Plans to record a new album have also been announced, although no release date has been cited.