A Fat Wreck writer Greg Pratt reveals details about upcoming Fat Wreck Chords doc

Fat Mike Burkett being interviewed for A Fat Wreck.

Interview by Jason Schreurs

If the name Greg Pratt sounds familiar, it’s because you might know him as one of Rice and Bread‘s most prolific contributors (actually, we mostly just call him up and record him talking about his favourite albums, or throw him into the Album Club, but the dude’s busy, so read on…).

A couple of years back, Pratt got involved with a film project that was near and dear to his heart, a documentary film revolving around the story of San Francisco punk rock label Fat Wreck Chords entitled A Fat Wreck. As the film’s head writer, Pratt began the momentous task of making the quintessential Fat Wreck Chords film with his Texas-based team (Pratt is based on the West Coast of Canada), a task he definitely does not take lightly. This is the guy, after all, who has spent decades listening to pretty much every Fat Wreck Chords release ever, and writing in-depth articles on key Fat bands.

Now that A Fat Wreck is nearing completion and in its final fundraising and production push, Pratt was able to talk more about the film and reveal some of its juicier details. With a release date slated for Fall/Winter of 2015, Fat Wreck Chords fans won’t have to wait much longer to raise a warm beer to a big screen.

Do you remember what you thought the first time you heard about this Fat Wreck Chords film project?
The first time I heard about it was when Shaun Colon, the director, sent me a message and I didn’t know him. He had read a story that I wrote about Propagandhi, this big, long history of the band, and he said, “Yeah man, I’m down in Texas and the story really inspired me and I want to make a documentary about Fat Wreck Chords and we want you to be involved.” I was totally stoked, but I was also thinking, “This guy is crazy!” So, I just said, “Yeah, sure man. Get back to me when things are rolling,” expecting to never hear from him again, but then, sure enough, he got back to me a while later and things were indeed rolling full steam ahead. I thought it was a great idea and it’s an interesting story; there’s more to the label than people realize, and I was totally excited to be part of it.

I noticed in some of the press materials that you guys almost admitted that this is kind of a dry story, in the sense that Fat is just a real grassroots effort without a lot of twists and turns…
I see what you are saying, and there was maybe a time where we had a bit of worry that there wasn’t enough of a story arc, I guess. There’s certainly been tragedy; a few players in the Fat Wreck Chords history have passed away, so there’s that, and then there’s the big music industry bust of 2008 or whatever, when everything kind of went to shit and Fat had to downsize in a big way. So those are the big obstacles they’ve faced. But it’s a really interesting story because, to me, when I think of Fat Wreck Chords, I don’t immediately think of ethics or morals, or a strong sense of doing sound business. I think of good punk rock, maybe a little bit of zany, silly punk rock, and I think of really good bands. But what came out through all of the interviews was how astonishingly ethical the label is, and they’ve never wavered from that. No one had anything bad to say about them, as far as how they operated. And to find any other record label that you could say that about for a 25-year history, with the exception of Dischord Records, I guess, would be phenomenal. And the thing about Dischord is the first thing you think of is ethics. And sometimes I think, “Fuck, does Dischord even release music anymore, or are they just this benchmark that I’m striving to attain, as far as the way I live my life,” which is great, I love Dischord. But with Fat, the music has been remarkably consistent all of these years, but behind the scenes the ethics have been really, really standup, and I didn’t know that. So I thought that part of the story was really cool.

Why do you think that Fat was so important and influential to the punk scene in the ’90s?
Fat Mike had a really good ear for really good bands and we was out a lot with NOFX touring, so he’d be playing with bands like Lagwagon and Propagandhi, playing with Strung Out and Good Riddance, so he was just in the right place at the right time, I guess, and scooped up these bands. And when you have a two-year period where you’re putting out the first albums by those bands, the stars all aligned and it was like, “Holy shit, this is going to be good,” and even if the label sucked for the next 20 years, which it didn’t, that would be a heck of a way to get things started.

How did Fat stay relevant through the years? Because, for me, Fat Wreck Chords is all about the ’90s, and it’s about melodic skate punk, and how every band they put out was rad back then, and then I stopped paying attention a little bit, but then they had this huge resurgence for me in the past few years. How have they done that?
Well, as a side note and just to be clear, we’re not associated with Fat, and the documentary is not authorized or officiated by Fat or anything like that, so whatever I say is just me being totally honest. If I thought Fat put out a shitty record, I’d say so, and that’s fine because we’re doing this movie independently of Fat. So speaking as a fan and a music journalist, I’ve heard pretty much every Fat release, ever, which is crazy. And they remained relevant by being super consistent, even when the chips were down, and records weren’t selling, and people had moved on from the melodic skate punk or whatever. They just kept putting out records that they liked, and it sounds cliche, but that’s just what they did. So after that initial boom phase, they went in a bit of a different direction with bands like Dillinger Four, Avail and Rise Against. Over the years, they didn’t put out a hugely diverse range of sounds, but they’ve put out heavy hardcore like Sick of It All, or poppy stuff like Masked Intruder, but it’s all just really good, and really quality. And I’m sure some of these records don’t sell great, but you can tell they are putting it out because they like it, and in the end that always pays off. You look at a label like Epitaph, and everyone knows they put out really good stuff, but they also put out total shit. They put out stuff that no one thinks is good, and we all kind of roll our eyes at it, and Fat’s never put out anything that we just roll our eyes at. So sticking to their guns has worked out for them in the long run.

Fat Wreck Chords definitely has an identity, and that’s probably clear in the movie. But what would you say is the identity of the movie itself? What’s the movie’s angle or take on Fat?
Well, the thing the movie really ended up being about, and I’m saying this when we’re not fully finished yet, but we’re getting there… but it’s really about family. And that’s the one thing we were all really taken aback by; almost everyone we talked to mentioned the word “family,” and we started to notice this very early on, so we came to realize that the movie is really a coming-of-age story, following these guys that were all young punk rockers and no one was thinking they’d sell any amount of records. Everyone went into it with the purest of intentions and not really knowing what they were doing, and flying by the seat of their pants, and through these real solid business ethics, and through this family and community, they created a life together, and for themselves, and for each other, and some even making careers out this, and growing up together, and they started becoming this family. So the film’s really about growing up, and the ups and downs along the way, and, mostly, about family.

You went down to California and did a lot of in-person interviews with a lot of these characters. So, first of all, what was it like peeking behind the veil of Fat Mike? He’s a guy we hear about all of the time and he almost, in some ways, seems like a cartoon character or something. What was it like meeting him?
Yeah, that’s a good question. Um, he was a super nice, and like I said, Fat Wreck Chords were not involved with bankrolling the movie or anything, but they gave us the moral support and thumbs up to do this, so they’ve been helpful and supportive. I can’t pretend to know Mike or anything, but we spent a couple of hours with him and interviewing him. Every time you see a story about Fat Mike he’s always, like you say, some cartoon character or something, like he’s doing something zany, like pissing in a bottle or something. But to sit down with him, you realize that, especially with the way that everyone talks about him with so much respect and admiration for the way he treats people, there’s more to the guy than meets the eye, for sure.

It’s funny that you said, “He’s a really nice guy,” because you hear that about every musician, right on up the line. I’m sure the guy that met Michael Jackson said, “He’s a really nice guy,” too. [Laughs] But I get the sense that with these Fat Wreck Chords folks, that they actually are really nice guys, and I’m sure getting to go down there and hang out with them was quite a blast?
Yeah, everyone was so nice, and it was really cool for me, and the reason I’m involved with this is because I am such a huge fan of Fat Wreck Chords. I was a teenager when it all started, like when the first Lagwagon and Propagandhi albums came out, so it was hugely influential on my life, to this day. Not to sound too hokey, but it totally changed the path of my life. So to get to go down there and meet all of those guys, it wasn’t like a cool fanboy thing; it was just cool to meet everyone and shake their hands and say, “Hey, thanks for all of the good music.” And everyone was totally chill and totally friendly, and not a single person was awkward, or a rock star, or anything like that, and some of these guys have achieved some pretty big things. Like Chris Shiflett, who was in No Use for a Name and is in the Foo Fighters now, you might think he’s going to be, I don’t know… something. But he was a totally nice guy and I think because we all come from the same place, this punk rock background, maybe we’re all in the same boat or something. But everyone was totally, legitimately really nice.

What was the highlight of being down there for you?
It was really crazy because so many things worked out. We got to go into the studio when Lagwagon were recording their new album. That might be the highlight for me, just being able to say we went into the studio when Lagwagon were recording their first album in nine years or whatever it was. We got to see Strung Out in the studio as well. But being able to enter the studio when Lagwagon were recording was one of those things were I thought, “Holy cow, if 14-year-old me knew this would be happening years later he’d shit his pants.”

Greg Pratt (foreground) with Strung Out’s Jason Cruz.

What kinds of things will we see in the film that maybe fans of Fat won’t be expecting, or will be super stoked about?
Well we’ve got tons of archival footage, and if you’re a fan of a band you always love seeing that old footage. Fat Wreck Chords opened up their archives to us and we have in the ballpark of 90 hours of footage that we can use, so that’s old concert videos, and photos and that kind of thing. So I know people are going to be stoked on that. And we’ve got all of the big bands in there, like the original bands I’ve mentioned before, but we’ve also got some of the bands you don’t immediately think of when you think of Fat: Goober Patrol, Wizo, Tilt… bands that I know the real diehards are going to be stoked to see. And then some of the newer bands like Against Me! and The Flatliners, so I think people are going to be stoked because there’s so many interviews we’ve done. We’ve got over 100 interviews and it’s just jam-packed. Out of the real classic Fat bands, there’s only one that we didn’t get, and it’s the one band name I haven’t mentioned up to this point, and they are the only missing piece of the puzzle. [Ed note: Face to Face.] Everyone else is in there and no matter what era of Fat you are into, you’re going to be stoked.

What surprised you the most during the making of this film?
Hearing everyone talk about how solid of a guy Fat Mike is. And I had no reason to think he wasn’t solid, but the public image of him is this party animal, this zany, wacky guy, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear everyone say nothing but good things about him, as far as how he runs his business. The way you read about his partying, you think, “How could he possibly run his business without it being totally haywire?” but no one had a bad thing to say about him, business-wise. And, again, it was a surprise how much of a focus there was on ethics at the label, and just in a real simple sense. And I couldn’t believe how often Dischord Records came up as a comparison because I never would have thought to compare those two labels, but everyone else did. With Dischord, and I love Dischord, of course, but it seems like a real concerted thing with them and they put a lot of effort into their ethics. And with Fat, it’s more like don’t be a fucking asshole, and treat people good, and that seemed to be the motto, and it seems to be working really well.

I know you’re a drummer, and I heard you got a chance to do a little bit of drumming on your trip. Can you tell me about that?
[Laughs] Yeah, actually, that was probably a highlight as well. Yeah, I dabble in the drums; I don’t play them like I used to, but as a kid you’d practice the “Fat Wreck Chords drum beat,” and for the first five years or so of the label there was definitely a signature Fat tempo or beat, so I remember being a teenager and you’d practice that fast drum beat. So when we were filming we went to Jordan Burns’ house, the drummer of Strung Out, to interview him, and his drum set was there. We all got to take a turn and it was pretty funny cranking out the old Strung Out drumbeat on Jordan Burns’ drum kit with him watching, and it was the first time I’d played drums in years. [Laughs] I was horrified inside, but I went for it anyways, and it was a lot of fun.

I assume when I watch this film my mouth is going to hang open at all of the cool things you guys found out about the label, but what are some other highlights that stick out for you?
From what we’ve got so far, definitely a highlight is the section of the movie that talks about the split between Propagandhi and Fat Wreck Chords. Propagandhi are probably my favourite band of all time; I cannot say enough good things about Propagandhi, and I’m not even sure there are words to express how I feel about that band, so I’ve always been particularly fascinated that on their last album for Fat they had a song that famously called out Fat Mike in the lyrics [Ed. note: “Rock for Sustainable Capitalism”] and had a picture mocking him in the CD insert, and it was definitely a bold move, even for Propagandhi. So it was really cool to talk to both sides and get that into the film, and to have them both speak on it. I’m really proud of that particular part of the film. Also, hearing some of the guys talk and open up about what it was like when some of the Fat Wreck Chords comrades have passed away over the years, like Tony Sly from No Use for a Name, Derrick [Plourde] from Lagwagon, and Jim [Cherry] from Strung Out, and hearing everyone talk about that was very touching. And sometimes you might just think Fat is all a bunch of dudes playing loud punk rock and partying, and not giving a fuck, but there’s definitely some pretty touching stuff in there. And there’s also a section of the movie that when I saw the rough edit of it I actually teared up a little bit, where everyone is talking about how Fat Wreck Chords is a family, and the family atmosphere when new bands came in, where it’s so supportive, and it was very touching. It just made me realize that there’s much more that goes on behind this label than meets the eye.

It’s been a long process making this movie, and it’s coming out soon. How are you feeling about it now?
Yeah, it’s been in the works for a couple of years and I’m ready for it to be done. We’re all super excited and you reach a point where you just want people to see it, and we’re definitely there. We’re doing a test screening in San Francisco on August 22 right around the label’s 25 anniversary party, and that screening is going to be just for people who have donated to us and who are involved one way or other, and not the public per se. Then after that, as far as when it’s going to be fully done and have a premier, it’s still up in the air. At one point we were talking October, and I don’t think that’s totally unrealistic, but it’s getting there and it’s starting to ramp up now.

For more information about A Fat Wreck, check out the film’s website here.