NOFX’s “Barcelona”: How the Unlikely Combination of Fat Mike and David Pastorius Created a Genre-Bending Bass Gem

In October of last year, NOFX played their final shows after performing for 41 years. The seminal punk band used their last show to unveil a new song called “We Did It Our Way,” which bassist/vocalist Fat Mike called a “thank you” to fans. It seemed that might have been the end of their new output, but the group dropped a surprise single on July 9th called “Barcelona.”

The song, they explained, was the first part of a new compilation album called NOFX A-Z, which will be a collection of rarities, demos, and unreleased versions of old songs with titles starting with every letter of the alphabet. (No, NOFX will not be reuniting, says Fat Mike.)

The song was released without warning, but it was also a surprise for its sound. “Barcelona” features some pretty heavy-hitting bass delivered by Fat Mike and an unlikely guest: David Pastorius. The NOFX bassist first hinted at working with Pastorius back in November, a month after NOFX’s final performance.

“I just had the best session in my studio with [David Pastorius], the gnarliest bass player I’ve ever worked with! He jammed some [Codefendants] and then I had him play on a Nofx song that never got released…” Mike shared. “I guess that’s kinda weird that I hired a bassist when I’m a bassist… he was that good! Thanks bro!”

Pastorius, who is the nephew of jazz virtuoso Jaco Pastorius, is a powerhouse of a player that’s worked with artists ranging from Pat Travers to Tech N9ne to Carl Palmer’s ELP Legacy, not to mention his own solo work. With such a unique collaboration, we got the scoop on how it all went down.

“I was in Vegas earlier this year for the Las Vegas Guitar Show, demoing a new signature bass that was made for me by Valkenburg guitars,” Pastorius explains. “I also did a bass clinic thing so during the show, and during it, I looked up and Fat Mike was there. Honestly, I’m not familiar with NOFX’s music, but I have heard of Fat Mike, and I’m familiar with who he is and what he looks like. So anyways, after I was done, he came up and we started chatting, and he was telling me how much he enjoyed my playing, and I was like, ‘Oh, thanks, man.’ So we traded info and then later that night he called and asked if I wanted to come out to his place the next day to do some recording, so I went out and played bass on that track.”

The result was “Barcelona,” which features the bass work of both Fat Mike and Pastorius. Fat Mike takes the intro and beginning verse with Pastorius taking the choruses and the second half of the second verse. Notably, Pastorius also throws in some two-handed tapping at the end of the track that caught fans by surprise. Pastorius admits that he didn’t think Fat Mike would use it in the final track, but was pleasantly surprised to hear it.

Check out his demonstration of the blistering lines, which includes a breakdown of how to play them:

Pastorius adds that he worked on some other tracks with Fat Mike that haven’t been released yet, saying, “We’ll see what happens with that.” If it’s anything like “Barcelona,” we’re all in.

NOFX A-Z is a three-album set that will kick off with A-H in December. For more on David Pastorius, follow his Facebook page.